Navigation:  Tutorials > Networked data acquisition tutorial > DEWESoft 7.0  data acquisition, processing, analyzing and storage software Setting up Measurement Units and Client

 

Client and Measuring Unit Configurations

There are several possible configurations and thus Setups, including:

 

Each MU must be configured as a slave measuring unit in order to utilize the DEWESoft NET software – however if you are going to use one of your MU’s as the controller for the others, then you should configure that one unit as a master measuring unit. It is not possible to have more than one "master" within a single DEWESoft NET system, in order to avoid confusion and conflicts.

 

Hardware setup

To activate the appropriate mode for each system within the DEWESoft NET, first run DEWESoft. Now click on the Settings menu and select Hardware setup....

When the dialog box appears, click on the NET button on the top, and you will see this screen:

 

 

Setting up a Slave Measurement Unit

Assign the role of this system using the selector list (which in the picture above calls Standalone unit). Assuming that this is our first measuring unit, set it to Slave Measurement Unit as shown below:

 

Note that a graphic named Configuration appears which indicates the topology type, where this system is the darker picture ... some kind of Dewetron acquisition system (the picture is only a reference – it is not meant to look exactly like your particular model). The white lines represent the TCP/IP network, which must be connected among all MU’s and the client (represented here as a notebook computer, again only as a reference). The red lines represent the SYNC which must be present if there is more than one MU and you want to show channels from more than one MU on the client at the same time. It also ensures that the data files recorded on each MU are, in fact, really synchronized. Unless you have a hard sync, as mentioned in the paragraph DEWESoft Manual → Data Synchronization, it is not possible to achieve accurately synchronized data files.

 

Setting up a Master Measurement Unit (optional)

As mentioned, if you are going to use one MU to both record data and control one or more other Dewetron MU’s, then you must assign this one to be a Master Measurement Unit:

 

When you assign this system to be a Master MU, the screen will change to show a graphic where a MU is a darker image. By default it will show one MU, as shown above.

Assuming that you have already configured one or more other systems to be slave MU’s, you can click Add here and detect any systems already available on the network:

 

Available systems on NET

In the example above, the system sees one MU on the network, called WEBSTER. Select it and click OK at the bottom of the dialog box:

 

Now this unit is shown as your first MU. If there are other ones, click Add to add them, and they will appear here on the list.

Note – this information is saved automatically by DEWESoft, so you won’t need to enter it next time unless it has changed.

Note the check boxes above:

Use the "lock mouse and keyboard" checkbox if you want to prevent a local operator from changing any settings on the MU, or interfering with the test. With this checked, the MU cannot be operated locally – you will have complete control over the client.

 

Setting up a Master client

In the case where your Dewetron systems are all slave measurement units, you will need one Master client to control them. Let’s assume that we are now sitting at this computer and have DEWESoft properly installed and ready. Click on the Settings menu and select Hardware setup..., then click on the NET button.

Now use the selector to assign this computer to be the Master client, as shown below:

 

Note that the slave MU called WEBSTER was already found in our example. But if you have not already configured and connected to an MU, just click the Add button and select one or more MU(s) in order to add them to the system.

Now click OK to close this dialog and you will notice that the basic DEWESoft screen has a new addition to the top bar – a NET icon:

 

You must click this button and then connect to the MU(s):

 

Click the Connect button and DEWESoft will connect to the MU. This box will close automatically.

The NET icon will change slightly. The green bar indicate the transmission speed:

 

Click on NET icon to show the connection screen. Clicking the Measure bandwidth button in the system will check network performance. With a 100 MBit network the transfer speed is about 10 MB/second while Gigabit LAN offers speeds close to 100 MB/second. Please note that this real bandwidth is also limited by system performance.

 

Notice from the menu - NET option that you have several other useful capabilities → see NET Measurement.