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Post your improvement ideas & suggestions for future Signal Express releases.

I would like to second the motion for the "Disable Step" option.

Steve Aykens

9172 8-slot cDAQ chassis OR 9162 cDAQ USB carrier
9234 4-Ch IEPE Sound/Vibration Input Module
9219 (2) 4-Ch Universal Input Module
9213 (3) 16-Ch Thermocouple Input Module
Signal Express 2012 with Sound and Vibration Suite
Labview 2012
DIAdem 2012
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Message 11 of 93
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@sraykens wrote:

 

Stability: Am I the only one who gets crashes/lockups with this software?

 

 


SigEx used to crash on me quite a bit using 3.0 but 2009 seems to be much more stable.

 

It would mostly crash when I was zeroing offsets; if I was actively logging data (to view my offsets), then opened the custom scale edit screen to enter the y-intercept, upon closing the custom scale window SigEx would crash.

 

To be honest I dont' do this anymore because I've been burned so many times. So I take that back, I dont' know if 2009 still crashes during this process. My procedure now is to change my acquisition rate waaay down, log a few seconds of data, stop acquisition, then copy and paste the signal's "average" value into the y-intercept.

"Average" as in more like a roulette wheel stopping at random- whatever number happens to be displayed when I stop acquisition is the one that I use as an offset.

 

This is SUCH a clunky way of zeroing offests; and becomes real fun when I have 30 channels of stick pots I need to zero.

 

Thanks for adding your comments BTW. I really hope SigEx picks up more momentum in the development department.

 

 

 

 

SCXI- 1000 Chassis w/ 1346 adapter
PCI 6281 DAQ card
SCXI- 1520 Bridge Board w/ 1314 Terminal Block (x2)
SCXI- 1180 Feedthrough Panel w/ 1302 Block
Signal Express 2014.
Win7 Enterprise
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Message 12 of 93
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On the topic of Stability, if you have any reproducible hangs or crashes, please feel free to post these issues.

 

My recommendation is that you create a new thread in this forum with the words "crash" or "hang" somewhere in the title. Then include information like:

1) what version of SignalExpress you are using,

2) some information about the machine setup (ie, I'm using X device(s), etc)

3) and most importantly, step-by-step instruction on how to make the issue occur.

4) and optionally include a SE project. Adding a project to the post often cuts down on the step-by-step instructions where the project takes care of the setting up.

 

Thank you for the suggestions!

Phil

 

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Message 13 of 93
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Good point Phil,

I think it's important we dont' derail this thread. I'd like to keep it constructive and focused.

SCXI- 1000 Chassis w/ 1346 adapter
PCI 6281 DAQ card
SCXI- 1520 Bridge Board w/ 1314 Terminal Block (x2)
SCXI- 1180 Feedthrough Panel w/ 1302 Block
Signal Express 2014.
Win7 Enterprise
0 Kudos
Message 14 of 93
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A couple new ones for today...

 

More Default Control: when deleting logs from the log window, it asks if you want to delete from project and disk or just from project.  There is also a checkbox to always delete from disk.  To avoid the loss of data I just had...I would like to see making the "just from project" available as the default...always erring on the side of saving data.

 

Log File metadata Project reference: I would like to suggest a line item in the .txt files that adjoin log files to show the project file used to create the log.  I've had a few that were saved as the date and time...and now I'm not sure any more details.  Many times I save the project file with test specifics (like ProductX_TestY_Date.seproj) to document the settings I used for everything...if the log files are left to just date and time (and then removed from the project file), I've lost my link to the original conditions tested.

 

Steve Aykens

9172 8-slot cDAQ chassis OR 9162 cDAQ USB carrier
9234 4-Ch IEPE Sound/Vibration Input Module
9219 (2) 4-Ch Universal Input Module
9213 (3) 16-Ch Thermocouple Input Module
Signal Express 2012 with Sound and Vibration Suite
Labview 2012
DIAdem 2012
Message 15 of 93
(10,066 Views)

I'll add another vote for:
Auto Zero

Somewhat automated SIGNAL INPUT RANGE min/max

Steve Aykens

9172 8-slot cDAQ chassis OR 9162 cDAQ USB carrier
9234 4-Ch IEPE Sound/Vibration Input Module
9219 (2) 4-Ch Universal Input Module
9213 (3) 16-Ch Thermocouple Input Module
Signal Express 2012 with Sound and Vibration Suite
Labview 2012
DIAdem 2012
0 Kudos
Message 16 of 93
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@sraykens wrote:

 

Virtual Hardware: I hope this one doesn't already exist, because I've wasted a lot of time due to it.  Sometimes I'd like to "code" a project file from my desktop in my cubicle instead of in the lab or at our offsite testing location (or set it up for someone else who hasn't been trained).  However, to set up any DAQmx Acquire steps in a project file, I need to at least have the NI hardware present for it to see.  I'd like to be able to tell it what I'm going to use, create the project file, then send it to the computer connected to the NI hardware and test equipment to actually run the test.  Right now, it searches for compatible devices for the DAQmx step and finds nothing; I want to be able to select what I am going to use.


You can...

I create virtual hardware platforms all the time at my desk for troubleshooting with NI phone support!

 

  • Open MAX and select Devices and Interfaces
  • Click Create New...
  • Select Simulated NI-DAQmx Device or Modular Instrument
  • Choose the hardware you want from the list (I use SCXI chassis) click OK
  • Select a Chassis Address if applicable, click save
  • Now populate your chassis from the list of drop downs and module options

The Virtual hardware should now be available in MAX and will appear in the hardware list in SigEx

 

Hope that helps

 

...now if only the NI Forums had a Private Message option.

 

SCXI- 1000 Chassis w/ 1346 adapter
PCI 6281 DAQ card
SCXI- 1520 Bridge Board w/ 1314 Terminal Block (x2)
SCXI- 1180 Feedthrough Panel w/ 1302 Block
Signal Express 2014.
Win7 Enterprise
Message 17 of 93
(10,061 Views)

This is probably not a "Signal Express" improvement but more of a DAQmx improvement.  Since that gets updated more frequently, here's to hoping it can get fixed.


lbf, not Pounds: In the Force (Bridge) Acquire Step Setup, you have the option of "Newtons", "Pounds", "kgf", and "Custom" (custom is grayed out) in Scaled Units.  However, if I take data in "Pounds" and try to use it in DIAdem, DIAdem doesn't like it because it is looking for "lbf".  I've obviously been able to get around it by creating a Custom scale that does nothing but change the units from "Pounds" to "lbf", but it's another  unnecessary step (and potential headache) I'd like to see fixed.  I would just like to see "lbf" as a fourth option on the Scaled Units drop down menu.

 

Steve Aykens

9172 8-slot cDAQ chassis OR 9162 cDAQ USB carrier
9234 4-Ch IEPE Sound/Vibration Input Module
9219 (2) 4-Ch Universal Input Module
9213 (3) 16-Ch Thermocouple Input Module
Signal Express 2012 with Sound and Vibration Suite
Labview 2012
DIAdem 2012
0 Kudos
Message 18 of 93
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  • SCXI support for new DAQmx 9.1 features

 

We just got our Signal Express 2010 update disks and I was excited to see some new features found in the DAQmx Acquire list. Specifically the Force (Bridge) Input.

Imagine my disbelief when I tried to connect a load cell through my SCXI 1520 and got an error saying "No Supported Signals Found". I later found out that this was a new feature in DAQmx 9.1, and so only supports products with newer hardware revisions. While speaking to an Applications Engineer he said (and this was a comment he passed down from R&D), "Unfortunately, you'll need to continue to use the Custom Voltage with Excitation with any SCXI hardware".

 

The Custom Voltage with Excitation method is a very clunky and potentially erroneous way to condition a load cell and I was very excited to see they finally offered a simple embedded feature that allowed you to enter the mV/V sensitivty of the device without creating a custom scale every time!

 

The NI Applications Engineer I spoke with suggested I put in a Feature Request. So I did.

I suggest anyone working with SCXI and SigEx do the same. The fact that SigEx/SCXI does not natively support simple load cells is absolutely mind blowing.

 

Feature requests

SCXI- 1000 Chassis w/ 1346 adapter
PCI 6281 DAQ card
SCXI- 1520 Bridge Board w/ 1314 Terminal Block (x2)
SCXI- 1180 Feedthrough Panel w/ 1302 Block
Signal Express 2014.
Win7 Enterprise
0 Kudos
Message 19 of 93
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Improve Renaming of Log Files: When renaming log files from within Signal Express, it doesn't rename the log file parent folder or the .txt file with meta data.  When the logs are transferred to another computer and opened using another SE project file or DIAdem.  It seems to be a local rename instead of a permanent version.  I would like to suggest a permanent rename that removes the original name and replaces it with the new desired name.

Steve Aykens

9172 8-slot cDAQ chassis OR 9162 cDAQ USB carrier
9234 4-Ch IEPE Sound/Vibration Input Module
9219 (2) 4-Ch Universal Input Module
9213 (3) 16-Ch Thermocouple Input Module
Signal Express 2012 with Sound and Vibration Suite
Labview 2012
DIAdem 2012
Message 20 of 93
(9,950 Views)