Test and Measurement Technical Data

dScope Series III Quick Start Guide

Introduction
This is intended not only as a quick start guide if you have just purchased a dScope Series III, but as a bit of an overview for the process of getting started using a dScope if you have never used one before and have just been handed one.

What you'll need

A PC running Windows 98, 2000, XP or Vista with a spare USB port on which you have Administrator rights
The dScope software which is available for download here.
A dScope

Getting Going

Install the software
1. Before connecting the hardware, download the latest software and install it.
Connect the dScope hardware:
1. Connect the dScope to the mains and turn on using the power switch on the back. The LED on the front panel should show red and the fan will stay off. The dScope is now in standby.
2. Connect the dScope to the PC using the USB lead - Windows will detect the new hardware and the "New Hardware" wizard will run twice: dScope uses two USB drivers, one for the firmware loader and one for operation. During this step, Windows will notice that the drivers are not signed. You will need to tell Windows to continue anyway.
3. Windows now knows about the dScope system and you can run the software.
Run the dScope software
1. The software will say "Accessing hardware". This will typically take a few seconds while the software checks the firmware in the hardware and updates it if necessary.
2. You will then hear a few relays clicking in the hardware, the fan turn on and the "On" LED will turn green.
3. The dScope will load its default configuration and you are now up and running.
Run your tests
1. What you do now is entirely up to you and is beyond the scope of this guide.
2. You can save your settings by saving them as a "configuration" which can be recalled later.
Shutting down
1. When you have finished using dScope, just exit the software - the hardware will go back to standby, the fan will go off and the "On" LED go red.
2. If you are not going to be using dScope for a while, turn off the power on the back panel.

Notes

The first time the dScope software is run, you'll need to run as an Administrator so that Windows can register its automation interface. After that, it can be run with restricted user rights.
The dScope firmware (used within the dScope hardware) is managed automatically behind the scenes when the software is run. When a new version of software is released, it will include new firmware if necessary and the hardware will be updated automatically the first time the software is run.
Newer versions of dScope software can open older Configurations, but Configurations saved with newer versions of software can usually not be opened with older versions of software.
If you register dScope on this web site and supply a valid email address, you will emailed when a new version of dScope software is released.
dScope software has fairly modest requirements in terms of PC hardware and for most purposes will run just fine on fairly slow hardware as processing can be accomplished within the audio acquisition time. For larger size FFT buffers and more complex scripted calculations, a faster PC will make a lot of difference as larger and larger calculations need to be performed. The PC requirements are hard to quantify as they are also very dependent on the operating system. As a guide, dScope will run quite happily on a 1GHz PC with 256MB of RAM under Windows XP.