SRS Labs CTC100, User Manual

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Operation 17
CTC100 Programmable Temperature Controller
Save data to and retrieve data from a U SB memory device
If no USB memory stick or hard drive is present, the CTC100 only stores the most recent one
million data points for each channel; older points are erased. Therefore, if the logging interval is
0.3 seconds per point, only the most recent 3 days of data can be displayed. In addition, all stored
data is lost if the CTC100 is turned off.
A USB memory stick can be used to keep a much longer record of logged data
if the CTC100 is turned off. Follow these steps to begin logging data to a USB storage device:
Save data to a U SB device
1. Plug a USB memory stick into the port on the back of the instrument. The memory stick
should be freshly-formatted and completely empty.
ars
on-screen. The message stays on-screen for several seconds while the log files are opened,
then the message disappears.
3. Look for a small, dark-red circle in the upper-right corner of the screen. This is the USB
logging indicator. Touch the circle. When the circle turns light, the CTC100 is saving data
to the USB device. If the CTC100 is unable to write to the device, the USB logging indicator
will remain dark.
4. Before turning the instrument off or removing the USB device, touch the USB logging
indicator again and wait for it to turn dark. This very important step is needed to prevent
damage to the USB device. If this step is skipped (e.g. if a power failure occurs while
logging), the USB device should be re-formatted with a PC before using it again.
Once data has been logged to the USB memory stick, the stick will contain a log file named
\Log\00\ -
The file is an ASCII CSV (comma-separated value) file that can be read with spreadsheet software.
A software package that can be downloaded from the SRS website (www.thinksrs.com, click
Downloads > Software) includes a program that plots log files. No installation is required; just
double-click
icon or drag a log file onto it.
The maximum size of a log file is 2GB for FAT-formatted USB devices or 4 GB for FAT32
devices. The file can reach this size in as little as 6 days, but more typically it should take about 30
days. When the file fills up, Log00.csv is closed and the instrument automatically begins writing
data to a new file named Log01.csv. If Log99.csv fills up, the instrument begins logging to a new
\Log\ -level directory name).
Interface w ith a computer
The Setup CTC100
front panel , has controls for setting up the CTC100 -232,
USB, .
The USB port uses an FTDI USB chip. If the PC asks for a driver, follow these instructions:
Install the U SB driver for Window s P C s
1. Download and install the appropriate FTDI Virtual Com Port (VCP) driver from:
http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm