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Programming defines the Eclipses personality. If the installer wants the unit to act
like an orange, he must program it to act like an orange. If the installer wants the unit
to act like an apple, he must program it to act like an apple. Of course, some creative
installers will program units to act like fruit salad. The Eclipse hardware can be used
in a wide variety of ways; how the hardware works depends upon how the unit is
programmed.
The program resides in the units memory, in an area so small that it cannot be seen
by the human eye. If we were to magnify this area in our minds eye, we could think
of the program as a series of columns, with each column being made up of blocks,
as represented in the diagram below:
Each block has a name and a value, selected from a range of values, and each block
is associated with a particular programmable feature of the unit called a parameter.
In the program mode, the microprocessor is able to access these blocks, and
fortunately for all of us who are not Superman, put the names and their values up on
the display. Programming is accomplished by entering the right value for each
parameter. For instance, program block o4 is the number of linearization points to
be used. If the installer wants to program the Eclipse to 10 point linearization, he
enters 10 into block o4.
Each column contains parameters that are related to a general function of the Eclipse.
Column F (Factors) is made up of parameters that handle the count decimal point
location, rate display and response, and input signal type. Column o (other factors)
determines if the Eclipse calculates flow rate via the linearization method or the
square root extraction method. Column o also contains blocks for square root method
scaling, and linearization method point table setup. Column P (Points) appears if
the linearization method is chosen in column o. It contains two blocks, one for signal
value, one for flow rate, for each of the number of linearization points chosen in
column o. Since up to 15 points may be programmed, column P may have up to 30
blocks. Column P will not appear in the program if the square root extraction method
is chosen in column o. Column d (defaults) is somewhat of a miscellaneous collec-
tion of display, front panel reset, and totalizer mode parameters. It also contains the
PROGRAMMING
