How to Use the Program

This section introduces some very basic steps that are needed for performing measurements, tuning and documenting results. Note that many frequently used functions are accessible not only from the menu but also by clicking corresponding toolbar buttons, or from specific dialog windows.

  • Connect the measurement system as described in either

  • Start the Homer.

  • Start a HomSoft application on your PC (i.e., Tu_rs.exe for RS232, Tu_can.exe for CAN Bus). As a first step, the application tries to establish communication between the PC and the Homer. For details, see Establishing Communication and Configuring Communication.

  • After the connection has been established, at least one display window should appear inside the Main Window. If no display window has appeared, click the Window|New Display menu item or the button.

  • After new SW or HW installation or if you are unsure about Homer SW or HW versions, click the Help|About menu item to open the About window (Fig. 45). Always copy this window when reporting problems.

  • Open Homer Sampling Setup window and:

  • By selecting a corresponding tabsheet (CW, Rectified or Pulsed), choose the sampling mode appropriate for the microwave power waveform delivered by your generator, and for the periodicity of the load reflection coefficient variations. (A good idea is to start with CW if you are just learning how to use HomSoft.)

Note: For accurate measurement and correct tuning, it is extremely important to know the actual waveform of your signal and its timing (for details, see Signal Waveforms). To determine these, do not rely on anything but your own measurement. The best way is to sample the waveform as described in Waveform Determining.

  • Click the Display menu item and select the display format of your choice. If applicable (formats Power, LogPower), the menu includes the option to select units (Display|Units).

  • Click the Scale menu item or the corresponding button on the display window toolbar to set proper scales of the display (span of axes, polar radius, etc.). You can do this later, based on a completed measurement, after which the Autoscale function will also be enabled.

  • In the display window, right-click the Legend box or, equivalently, click the toolbar button or the Trace|Properties menu item. This opens the Trace Properties dialog window in which you can choose your drawing preferences, such as

  • which of the available traces will be displayed,

  • properties of the lines connecting the measured points,

  • properties of markers (shape, size, color, etc.).

  • If you wish to observe another quantity or the same results in various formats simultaneously, open a new display window by clicking the button or the Window|New Display menu item and set its display format, scaling, and trace attributes as described above. You can open any number of display windows. The Display, Scale, Trace and Plot menus refer to the currently active display window. To activate a display window, click into it.

  • If you wish to observe the measured data also in numerical form, open either a full-size (Maxi) or reduced-size (Mini) Results windows by clicking View|Results (Maxi) or View|Results (Mini), respectively.

  • Start measurement by clicking the Homer|Run-Pause menu item or the equivalent button (after clicking, the button turns to ). For more options see How to Start and Stop Sweeping.

  • Watch whether an error/warning is not reported. The Homer sends Error Byte with each Measurement Data Object (MDO), which is then decoded and, based on the results, various errors or warnings may be announced in Results windows. The Maxi Results window displays the Homer Error Byte value explicitly in decimal and binary form.

  • Now you can observe the measurement results and make your experiments.

  • Stop measurement. There are two methods, and they are not equivalent (see details in How to Start and Stop Sweeping)

  • After stopping, last traces will remain on the HomSoft screen and in the memory.

  • Save the results in the form of a picture or a text file table (see section How to Save Measured Results). Be aware that saving results in tabular (text) form is more useful for later data analysis than a mere picture (you can create a picture from text data but not vice versa).

Tuning

  • Click the View|System Info menu item or the equivalent  Sys  button to open the System Info window. Go to page Autotune and set autotuning control parameters. The settings can also be made, although less comfortably, via the Tuner|Autotune submenu.

  • Click the Tuner|View menu item or Tuner button to open the Tuner View window.

  • Set tuning stubs to zero positions (All Stubs Home) by the Tuner|Home menu item or the sbHome button.

  • Start measurement.

  • To perform a single autotuning step, click the sbTune1 button.

  • To start continuous autotuning, click the  AT  button (stop it by the same method).