Daqarta
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
Scope - Spectrum - Spectrogram - Signal Generator
Software for Windows
Science with your Sound Card!
The following is from the Daqarta Help system:

Features:

Oscilloscope

Spectrum Analyzer

8-Channel
Signal Generator

(Absolutely FREE!)

Spectrogram

Pitch Tracker

Pitch-to-MIDI

DaqMusiq Generator
(Free Music... Forever!)

Engine Simulator

LCR Meter

Remote Operation

DC Measurements

True RMS Voltmeter

Sound Level Meter

Frequency Counter
    Period
    Event
    Spectral Event

    Temperature
    Pressure
    MHz Frequencies

Data Logger

Waveform Averager

Histogram

Post-Stimulus Time
Histogram (PSTH)

THD Meter

IMD Meter

Precision Phase Meter

Pulse Meter

Macro System

Multi-Trace Arrays

Trigger Controls

Auto-Calibration

Spectral Peak Track

Spectrum Limit Testing

Direct-to-Disk Recording

Accessibility

Applications:

Frequency response

Distortion measurement

Speech and music

Microphone calibration

Loudspeaker test

Auditory phenomena

Musical instrument tuning

Animal sound

Evoked potentials

Rotating machinery

Automotive

Product test

Contact us about
your application!

Revision History - v3.50

Daqarta v3.50 - 1 October 2007:

Main toolbar options added for file Open and DDisk recording operations. DD / Open button changes to DDisk when Generator or Input are active, and file scroll buttons change to Record.

New Options menu with free-floating resizeable Frequency Counter, including frequency and period measurement plus Total and special SpecTot modes for Event Counting.

Free-floating resizeable Voltmeter in Options menu allows RMS, Peak-Peak, separate Pos and Neg peaks, and dB with adjustable reference, plus Peak Hold for all modes.

Trigger Level now allows entry/display of Volts or User Units as well as old % via a small units toggle button to the right of the control.

Trigger Hysteresis control added for better noise rejection during trace sync and Frequency Counter operation.

When Trigger Control dialog is active while in waveform display mode, Trigger Level is now shown as a draggable horizonal line, with Hysteresis limits shown as draggable dotted lines above and below it.

Trigger Source channel actually in use is now shown by a small red square on its selector button. The button selection no longer changes if that channel becomes inactive; the red indicator just moves to an active channel, and is restored to the selected channel when it again becomes active. This keeps the selected Source when Input or Generator is toggled off and back on again.

Spectrum Cursor Peak option provides frequency and amplitude resolution comparable to 65536-point FFTs from 1024-point data.

Spectrum Cursor Track option automatically maintains the solid cursor over the largest spectral peak at all times.

Spectrum Cursor Ratio option now has its own button in Spectrum Control dialog (instead of via an extra toggle of the Cursor Delta Readout button).

If the Input dB button is active on a calibrated line, the Input Line Level (volume) and Master Level (if present) scroll only to real attenuator steps where dB changes, bypassing all the dummy steps inserted by Windows.

Display Channel button selections are now retained when their respective Generator or Input channels are off, including across Daqarta session exit and restart.

Separate Input and Output sound card device selects in Preferences dialog support newer cards, and better selection among multiple cards. Improved automatic detection of default devices.

Managing Multiple Devices explains how to use new shortcut command-line parameters with multiple cards, USB cards, or for running Daqarta from a removable drive on multiple systems.

Synth Device Select allows selection of MIDI synth to use (instead of or in addition to the Daqarta Generator) when multiple devices are present. Synth settings are now saved across sessions.

Long-Duration Tests and Sound Exposures topic added to Applications section.

Burst Train Cycle now provides "infinite" delay after the first full burst train when the maximal value is entered, allowing single-presentation tests.

Full-Scale Range calibration dialog now has separate entries for Stereo and Mono Input ranges, since in mono mode sound cards typically sum both input channels and cut the sensitivity in half.

User Units can now be set to show SPL even without a .CAL file, by manually setting Units Name to 'Pa' first, along with appropriate Units/Volt factor.

All mixer settings now saved before start, including those that Daqarta itself does not control, and restored on exit. Any changes made during operation, whether from within Daqarta or via another mixer controller, are saved at exit in Daqarta0.MIX and restored at the next start.

Daqarta now blocks the annoying beep that Windows inserts when the Master output slider is changed via the Windows Mixer. (There has never been a problem using only Daqarta's own controls.)

Band-Limited Noise now has its upper band edge limited to the current Nyquist frequency. Other Generator frequencies may still be set beyond this to allow experiments with aliasing.

Improved input/output sync stability when both are active.

Improved handling of DDisk toggle and recording when hard drive space is low.

Native .DQA files now keep track of the number of times they have been changed and resaved, reported in the Changes field of the File Info dialog.

.TXT file headers now include the name of the spectrum window function, where relevant. If Spectrum Cursor Peak is active, solid and dotted high-resolution readouts are now included after main data following one blank line.

Increased duration and sensitivity of Auto-Calibrate initial line detection test to avoid spurious non-detection. Right Input now set to same line as Left, but volume set to minimum to prevent spurious input signal interference.

Improved manual output attenuator calibration, especially Meter mode, for use with non-duplex sound cards (which can't use Auto-Calibrate).

Install Daqarta License Key option added to File Menu.

Troubleshooting section added.

After a control entry is concluded with Enter, focus returns to the main window to allow the horizontal arrow keys to move the trace cursors, instead of moving in the control.

Notes area widened to match trace area. If pop-up Notes window is used, it now retains its previous position and is independent of other dialogs.

Cursor Sigma Readout accuracy improved at low levels.

Sigma now always uses the channel of the solid cursor in computations, even if the dotted cursor is set to a different channel. To make this clearer, the Sigma symbol is now shown in the trace color of the solid cursor channel, instead of the solid cursor color itself.

Spectrum Cursor Ratio accuracy improved at low levels.

Histograms now allocate bins by rounding instead of truncation, to improve accuracy.

File Open dialog now shows 'All Data Files (.DQA, .WAV. DAT)' by default, but individual file types can still be selected via drop-down control.

When a .DQA file is opened, the title of the Generator Setup in use when it was created is shown disabled.

The top of the Y-log Spectrum axis is now shown as 'dB V' if it is calibrated but User Units are not active. Still shows plain 'dB' if uncalibrated.

Output-only sound cards are now supported for Generator operation.

Former 'Start Muted if UnCal' Preference option replaced with new Use Vol/dB from .GEN.

Main window title bar now shows name of DDisk file to be recorded, or any file open for viewing.

When a file has been saved, the name of the file is now shown after the "bytes written" message.

Bug Fix: Generator Play Wave was not working properly in Interpolate or Round modes, only in Step.

Bug Fix: Failed to start if new sound card previously set via Sound Card Device Selects did not support the current Sample Rate of the prior card.

Bug Fix: Screen not repainted properly for Open files after minimize/restore (etc.) when no prior Generator or Input use in that session.

Bug Fix: Faulty display sync for mismatched Generator vs. Input channel counts (2 Out / 1 In, or 1 Out / 2 In).

Bug Fix: Wave output volume was getting set to minimum on Daqarta exit. Now restored to pre-Daqarta settings.

Bug Fix: Trigger Holdoff did not work properly at high settings. (Maximum allowable setting now greatly increased as well.)

Bug Fix: Spectrum RMS option was erroneously affecting Y-log dB readings. (Since dB is a ratio, it is the same whether both values are magnitude or RMS.)

Bug Fix: Default folder for saving .CAL and .CRV files was User_Data. Now defaults to App_Data, same as for loading them.

Bug Fix: Speaker .CAL files were applied improperly to spectrum by Use Speaker Cal File on input User Line.

Bug Fix: On sound cards without Master Input controls, Mic or Speaker .CAL files could not be loaded even if an input User Line was calibrated.

Bug Fix: Current SPL state was not restored on next session start for .CAL files with 'Pa' units.

Bug Fix: Long .CAL files (over 4 KB) could be mis-read.

Bug Fix: X-axis tick marks and labels did not always line up properly with cursors and trace data.

Bug Fix: X-axis eXpand Max and Min controls did not accept direct entry of negative values, needed for waveforms with negative Trigger Delay.

Bug Fix: Histogram eXpand Max and Min were not properly limited to 1.0000.

Bug Fix: Very small Trigger Level values were not handled properly via direct entry.

Bug Fix: Generator Dual and Solo controls were not properly enabled for Right output.

Bug Fix: eXpand, X-log, and Zero states were not properly restored after exit and restart.

Bug Fix: When an Average was Paused while reading a DDisk file, manual file motion properly cancelled the average but did not release the button.

Bug Fix: After an initial Sgram display sweep on a DDisk file, hitting Home or manually changing position with <> keys properly showed the new start position for the trace. But hitting unPause did not properly update that to the end of the prior trace as action continued.

Bug Fix: Sgram display of a DDisk file did not run properly in unPaused Triggered mode, and showed wrong X-axis calibration.

Bug Fix: Auto-Calibrate Cancel button sometimes required multiple hits to take effect.

Bug Fix: Moving Duplex Delay summary dialog caused subsequent dialogs to open in wrong positions. Also, the default Duplex Delay dialog position has been moved to the right so trace alignment can be seen without moving anything.

Bug Fix: Some sound cards were treated as having uncalibrated inputs even after calibration.

Bug Fix: Full-duplex operation on Mac Mini running XP could crash.

Bug Fix: After an Average on live data, using the DDisk file scroll keys could cause a crash.

Bug Fix: Sound cards that reported an erroneous number of channels (-1, or only 1 on a stereo card) failed to work properly.

Bug Fix: Some buttons (Spectrum RMS, PSD, etc) failed to show the proper state if toggled by accelerator key instead of mouse click.

GO:

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