Protek 506, Voltcraft VC506 multimeter

The two devices are identical. Menu in Datalyse:

Graphical measurement
Baud rate 1200, no parity, 2 stop, 7 data bits. The cable is a standard cable. There is no version command but Datalyse will make a measurement when selecting the device. You can gather data when the device displays RS232. You can activate RS232 by pressing Menu a number of times until RS232 is blinking and then pressing Return. The device transmits a maximum of 15 bytes to the pc when measuring. The device responds a little slowly and even slower when measuring frequency or inductance. Hence the minimum time per measurement is 2 seconds when measuring voltage, current, and 5 seconds when measuring frequency or inductance. The device has auto range and is capable of measuring voltage, resistance, current, frequency, capacitance, inductance and temperature and testing diodes. Temperature and frequency is in integers. Protek506:

www.Atimco.dk
Voltcraft: Manufacturer

Conrad Elektronic GmbH Klaus-Conrad- Str. 1 92240 Hirschau Germany

Installation
The installation diskette creates a library and copies all files on the diskette to this library. Save the diskette. Install Datalyse in Windows, and the program should be ready to run!

A few hints
Always use the following procedure when measuring:

Mare sure that PC and device are off! Connect the device to the PC. Turn on the PC. Run the Datalyse program. Turn on the device, when the program tells you to!
When the PC is turned on, it sends some characters to the ports which may cause the device to freeze, start measuring or send an error message to the PC. All of this can be avoided by turning on the PC first! If the communication doesn't function, look to the online help for that device. Here, you can see if the device takes a special cable, the proper baud rate settings and any other pertinent information on that device. The help will also provide you with sample experiments. You will find a description of all functions in the program. There are a lot of screen shots from Datalyse which may for instance be copied for use in a practice manual or students may use the picture in their reports.

Ini-files:
Datalyse.ini contains: separator: #9

This is the separator character used e.g. when copying a table to the clipboard. The default is tab.
companynumber: 1

1: all, 2: Atimco, 3: Buch&Holm, 4: IMPO, 5: Muller+Srensen, 6: Radiometer, 7: SF, 8: Other devices. This setting decides which manufacturer is the default when selecting a device.
path,c:\datalyse\data\

Default directory when opening and saving files.

device,1,off: pt200, impo, pt2, pt1 device,2,on : dmi24 multimeter, impo device,3,on : smart pulley timer, pasco, ----

At the time of writing about 80 devices are available, for this reason it is a good idea to set the devices you do not have to off.
defaultdevice,34,Shimadzu spectrophotometer

With this line device no. 34 has been made the default. You can find the number in the ini-file above.
It does not matter whether you use upper or lower case. Datalyse first looks for the ini-file in its own directory then in the root of the C-drive. aciddata.ini: basedata.ini: 1,2-benzoic diacid/*2.95/5.41 Fluoride/10.83* 1,3-benzoic diacid/*3.62/4.60 Nitrite/10.65* 1,2-benzoic diacid/*3.54/4.46 Carbonate/3.68/7.63/* Aspirin/*3.49 ---Aniline/4.60* --Basedata.ini contains the names and pKa values of bases and aciddata.ini the names and pKa values of acids. You can add new data to these files. These data are used for model for titration curves. Vernier.ini Accelerometer, 5g"m/s"23.94"-59.82 Barometer 0..1.2 Bar"P/Bar"0.6997"0.1357 --Vernier.ini contains name, unit, y-axis factor and y-axis-offset for probes. Note that a probe can also be an analog device. You can add new probes to this file. Multilog.ini Contains a list of 40 sensors. The first 30 are built in, the last 10 are user-definable. This can for instance be vernier-probes. The file Multilog.ini contains:

No.\Title\unit\minimum\maximum\decimals in table
Shortcuts: If a filename is added to the shortcut that file will be opened by Datalyse automatically. If e.g. "apparat:25" is added Datalyse will automatically open the menu Choose device with device number 25 already selected and you only have to press Connect. You can find the number in Datalyse.ini.

Note about the use of multimeters

There are a lot of multimeters with a serial interface, both cheep and expensive. See the description of each individual device. A multimeter with a serial interface can collect data from all devices with an analog output. Measure the voltage from the analog output with the multimeter and connect the multimeter via the serial interface to the PC. In Setup measurement parameters | Probes and axes in Datalyse you can choose an Y-axis factor and Y-axis offset. You can also choose a Vernier - probe. In this case is Y-axis factor and Y-axis offset read from the file vernier.ini (see below). The user can edit the file. Example: The Pressure meter PTM100 gives the analog output 1mV pr mBar, and offset is 0 mBar. Write the following line in vernier.ini:

PTM100 Pressure meter"P/Bar"1000.0"0.0

The setup is:

Title"physical quantity/unit"factor"offset

Vernier.ini:
Accelerometer, 5g"m/s"23.94"-59.82 Barometer 0..1.2 Bar"P/Bar"0.6997"0.1357 CO2 Gas Sensor"ppm"2000.0"0.00 Force Sensor(10N)"F/N"-4.94"12.28 Force Sensor(50N)"F/N"-24.75"62.22 Luxmeter(0..600)"Lux"200"0.0 Luxmeter(0..6000)"Lux"2222"0.0 Luxmeter(0..150000)"Lux"50000"0.0 Heart Rate Monitor"U/V"1.00/0.00 Teslameter (Low amp.)"B/T"0.0032"-0.0080 Teslameter (High amp.)"B/T"0.00016"-0.00029 Pressure Sensor (0..6.8 atm)"P/atm"2.20"0.0
You can add probes in the file vernier.ini. The pin connections of the Vernier-probes seen from the front (the wire goes through the back of the screen to the sensor):

Pin position counterclockwise:

9.00 o'clock: signal 7.30 o'clock: +5V (supply) 4.30 o'clock: GND (common zero for voltage supply and signal)