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On 9/29/2023 12:00 AM, whit3rd wrote:
> Yeah, it`s more useful to know the power setting BEFORE you hit the ON switch
> sometimes.
In addition to wanting to know, most folks know what they WANT the
setting to be!
An "output enable/disable" control gives you exactly this "margin";
a power switch powers up the controls -- with the outputs disabled.
This allows you to talk to the device to ascertain its current
settings as well as command new settings.
> As for digital-controlled function generators, don`t try to
phase-lock those things.
> There was one at work with a faulty encoder knob, that we sent
to get calibrated.
> It came back calibrated, of course, but still broken.
>
> A knob that applies a plus/minus ten percent shift was my main
need at one point,
> and I had to build the power supply myself; nothing available
off-the-shelf was that flexible.
Bench space is ALWAYS at a premium, here (some of my prototypes would
completely cover a typical bench, leaving no room for test gear). So,
I always want to be able to "hide" those items out of the way -- meaning
their controls and displays are not accessible.
Nowadays, that`s relatively easy with network hooks into tools.
But, that hasn`t always been the case...
I rescued three, triple output, digitally programmable power supplies
many years ago. I had no desire to run GPIB to talk to them (costly
cables, I/F card, requires a nearby PC, etc.). So, I hacked the
design to support a serial port as the transport medium. And,
added support for a crude "programming/sequencing" language so
I could preload a set of actions and then just command the device
to "run the program":
Set V1 12.35V
Set I1 2.00A
Set V2 15.00V
Set I2 1.25A
ENABLE 1
DELAY 5 sec
ENABLE 2
etc. This really makes testing a breeze!
They max out at ~50VDC but that`s been adequate for all but the
worst case PoE tests that I`ve had to perform...
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