Issue No27
Graham joins the Board
Year 2000 Compliance
VME News
New Orders for MCS2380 Scaler
EPICS Device Drivers for VME
New Transient Recorders
CAMAC News
FAB CAMAC
Matrix Scanner Watchdog
New CAMAC Serial Module
PC News
Bus Extender for AGP Cards
COMPAQ
News
Support for OpenVMS.
Software News
Software for 1386 PCI/CAMAC Crate
Controller
Windows NT I/O Driver
Data Logger
"Toolbox"Software
High Voltage News
Following the retirement of Basil Tatham after 25 years of loyal service, Graham Cross has been appointed a Director of Hytec Electronics Ltd. Graham comes from Leicester but is now living in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. He married Chris in 1973 and they have two teenage daughters, Kate and Beth. After qualifying in 1973 in Electronics Engineering, he began work at the Hydraulics Research Station in Wallingford as a field survey engineer managing and maintaining a number of coastal data collection sites. In 1976 he moved to work in the Electronics Group at Culham Fusion Research Laboratory, Oxfordshire. At this time he began to write much of the device driver software for PDP-11’s and doing less actual electronics. In 1978 he moved to Systems Programming Ltd as a full time software developer writing applications and systems software including 6 months living in Los Angeles developing software for a Graphics application. In 1980 went to work on the Joint European Torus experiment in Oxfordshire for the Control and Data Acquisition (CODAS) division. Although still working for SPL, he built up a team of 8 programmers developing a wide range of control software applications.
In 1983 he joined Hytec at their Woodley site to develop a Crane Control application for Harwell. He has now been with Hytec for over 15 years developing systems and applications software for a diverse range of projects from High Power Laser control to Power Station data logging. In 1990 he was promoted to Software Manager.
Another Power Station has given us an order to upgrade (parts and software) their Chemical Control Centre Data Logger, which we originally supplied about 10 years ago, to be fully Year 2000 compliant. Compaq/DEC make it clear that only the latest versions of their operating systems are guaranteed to have such compliance, and it’s not the sort of thing a Power Station can take on trust!
For further advice on this very important subject contact graham@hytec-electronics.co.uk
VME News
Currently in production is an EPICS device driver for our new VTR2535T transient recorder. The driver supports all modes of operation of this module (for both memory variants) and includes servicing of VME interrupts for the EPICS’ I/O event scanner. Future EPICS developments will include similar drivers for our 64 channel digital input/output modules.
We’re pleased to see this VME Multi-Channel Scaler is going rather well. This 64-channel 24-bit 10MHz scaler has a "read-on-the-fly" latch which allows all channels to be simultaneously latched and read without inhibiting counting. Designed using the latest FPGA technology, it can be easily tailored to user’s needs at low cost.
The COTS product range has been extended with the introduction of two Transient Recorders. The VTR2536T is capable of recording eight simultaneous voltage traces, with 14-bit resolution, at a sampling frequency of up to 10 MHz and records the data sequentially in its on-board SRAM. Using a trigger option and dividing the memory into two buffer areas allows for data to be re-constructed up to the point of trigger. Memory variants of 512K or 128K samples per channel are available. The VTR2535T has a similar specification but has a resolution of 12-bits.
CAMAC News
What a lovely order! A chip Fabrication Plant in Scotland has bought from us an Ethernet Crate Controller plus Compaq Alpha Computer with software for their Environmental Control Equipment, together with an appropriate Maintenance Contract. I don’t remember a FAB plant buying CAMAC before!
We implemented a major upgrade of the control equipment and software for Dinorwig Pumped Storage Station in Wales, as reported last year. One of the features on the analogue side was that the operators could see at once that it was working satisfactorily whereas the (unchanged) digital side had lost this facility. The digital system consists of 11 Matrix Bins, each with 16 Matrix Cards of 20 inputs, a total capacity to read in over three thousand plant contacts. So, to improve operating confidence, they asked us to supply new Matrix Cards (DSC90), one for each digital input bin. These are similar to the old ones but with a dedicated channel led on one of the channels, called a watchdog, which is driven by a watchdog relay on the MSS1601 CAMAC Matrix Status Scanner. This is then read and linked to the appropriate software to generate an alarm if the matrix scanner stops.
New Hytec CAMAC Serial Port Module
We have just produced a new version of an old favourite, the SP232. This was a basic RS232 in and out unit used for communicating with peripheral systems such as temperature controllers and its main application was in the ISIS control system at Rutherford Lab.
The new unit performs all the main functions of the original but incorporates some useful additional features which others may find attractive. These are:
- Larger Transmit and Receive FIFOs – 256 bytes each instead of 32 bytes.
- Higher speed – up to 115KBps (38.4K as standard) is possible.
- Programmable speed and number of stop bits (these used to be set by links/switches).
- RTS/CTS handshaking on the TX path if required.
- The option of split baud rates for transmit and receive.
- Front panel display of settings: Speed, number of data bits per character, parity on/off etc.
Software News
1386 PCI/CAMAC Controller Device Driver
Part of the Software Department is currently writing device drivers for the PCI 1386 CAMAC Controller under Windows NT. A prototype version will shortly be available which will handle single transfers in either of two modes – mailbox or pass-through where PCI registers are accessed in one operation. The next parts to be written will be Interrupt Handling and Block Transfers.
Port I/O transfers can now be achieved under Windows NT using a device driver. The user routines are made available through a DLL which allows byte sized data and addresses to be supplied. The device driver can be adapted to different products and has been successfully used to drive the 1330/31 Controllers with LABVIEW. For this a set of LABVIEW libraries were developed which access the 1330 address set in order to perform single transfers.
Data Logger based on "Toolbox" of software
I thought it might be of interest to describe the software that we supplied for the
Pumped Storage Data Logger that we upgraded last year. The central core of the design is
based on a suite of real-time networked software tools for process control known as Vsystem.
The software components are available for use out-of-the-box and just require
configuration and integration. Where the system differs from other packages is the
ground-breaking real-time performance which put it in a different performance league.
An Oracle database holds the plant I/O description which is extracted and processed by a
programme to form the Vsystem source database. This off-line operation is only taken when
the plant has been changed. The Block Diagram shows how it all goes together. Plant
signals linked through the relevant Readers form a Plant Image in the Vaccess
Database which in turn feeds the Alarm. This feeds the Alarm Logger and Alarm History, the
Data Archives and Oracle Remote System, the Vdraw for the two screens and of course
the ALPHA computer. Vsystem now supports more platforms than any other process control
software and using the toolbox approach minimises the time-to-implementation but also
accomodates the need for special requirements. Contact graham@hytec-electronics.co.uk for further details.
COMPAQ News
A number of our customers, many of them long-time VMS users, have expressed worries that, with DEC being taken over by Compaq, Open VMS support might disappear. The good news from Compaq is that this is definitely not the case!
To quote the President and CEO of Compaq, Eckhard Pfeiffer in Issue 3 of "OpenVMS Now"magazine:-
….I am writing to affirm Compaq’s ongoing commitment to OpenVMS and our OpenVMS customers around the world. We understand the vital role OpenVMS plays in your business. And Compaq is committed to delivering OpenVMS products, services and solutions to support your needs…..The OpenVMS platform has never been in better shape, and its future has never been more secure…
For a copy of "Open VMS Now" or for any further details on Compaq products contact richard@hytec-electronics.co.uk.
PC News
We’ve had some nice orders for PCs recently, some very low price and some containing exotic Graphics Cards and all sorts. Try us for any variant you’d like. Contact mark@hytec-electronics.co.uk for advice and a competitive quotation.
ADEX have announced another new product for use in the development and testing of AGP (Advanced Graphics Port) cards. The AGPEX4 Bus Extender comes in two forms, the AGPEX4-S for the standard AGP form factor that fits in a PC-AT chassis and AGPEX4-N for NLX form factor. As usual, right-angled versions are available. Bus Extenders, Bus Isolation Extenders and Wearout Extenders are available for all standard PC bus formats. Contact peter@hytec-electronics.co.uk for further details.
Hytec represent the company Iseg of Germany who have a very wide range of high voltage units which are compatible with the Hytec VME and CAMAC modules. This is a sample of what is available:-
- High Voltage sources in Eurocard format
- SHQ Bench-mounting High Voltage Power Supply Units
- CAMAC, EUROCASSETTE, NIM, VME H.V. Sources
- Multichannel High Voltage System with RS232 or CANbus
- PMT HV units controlled via CANbus
For further details contact peter@hytec-electronics.co.uk
Harry Wardell, the design engineer responsible for the very successful VSD2992 Serial Crate Controller and many other modules in the Hytec range, retired from Hytec in October after 43 years in the electronics industry. He was presented with a gold plated 2992 suitably framed and many other gifts from the company and his friends. We all wish him well in his well desired retirement. He remains a consultant to Hytec so we will be keeping in touch.
Ken Smith who has been a consultant to Hytec since 1993 also reluctantly decided finally to hang up his jacket at the end of the year. Ken’s varied career started at Harwell, being site engineer on the first Magnox power station in Japan, and working as Chief Engineer at GEC Elliott Automation. In the early seventies, he became involved with CAMAC and in 1984, he was instrumental in selling the CAMAC business of GEC to Hytec Electronics Ltd., setting up Hytec Leicester with a number of key staff who left GEC. He remained as General Manager of the until stepping aside to become a consultant in 1993, when he reached retirement age.