TE Technology TC-720 - Manual (Page 47)

CONTROLLER OPTIONS BOX
The SAMPLING indicator will flash green each time the software updates the sensor temperatures and power output. The
menu options provide for EEPROM write control, sample rate adjustment, data logging control, and the downloading of
default values.
The EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) is a non-volatile memory used to store controller
settings. This allows the controller to remember its settings even after power to the controller has been turned off. The
TC-720 and TC-720 OEM automatically turn on EEPROM WRITE ENABLE when power is applied to the controller regardless
of whether EEPROM WRITE ENABLE was turned off when power to the controller was removed. With EEPROM WRITE
ENABLE turned on, any changes to the controller settings are automatically written to EEPROM. With EEPROM WRITE
ENABLE turned off, any subsequent changes to the controller settings are only saved in RAM and will not be stored to
EEPROM. The maximum number of writes to an EEPROM location is 1,000,000. Even though this provides for many write
cycles, you might want to turn EEPROM WRITE ENABLE off if, for example, you are writing your own code to ramp set points
via the computer.
The SAMPLE RATE determines the amount of time the software waits before updating the status of the controller. This is
particularly useful if you will be operating controller for a long time and you want to limit the amount of data you save. The
minimum time is 1 second, and it can be adjusted in 1 second increments.
To SAVE DATA TO FILE, enter a filename in the text box, including the entire path to the file, such as <C:\PROGRAM FILES\TE
TECHNOLOGY\TC-720\TESTDATA.TXT>. Alternatively, if you want to append data to an existing file, you can click the folder
icon to select an existing file. Then click the SAVE DATA TO FILE button to begin saving test data. If you click the SAVE DATA
TO FILE button before entering a filename and path in the text button, an error screen will pop up and a default filename
and path will automatically be entered in the text box. Click the continue button on the error pop-up if applicable. The
arrow on the button will turn green to indicate that the software is saving test data. The software saves the data into a TAB-
delimited format which can then be readily imported into a spreadsheet program for further analysis.
To view the data in Microsoft Excel:
1. Open a blank worksheet
2. Select Data > Import External Data > Import Data, and click Next
3. Select the file you wish to import and click Next
4. Choose to import Delimited Data Type and click Next
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