[[email protected]]

This is Newsletter #8 of the Open Instrumentation Project.

The OIP makes open-source software and economical high-technology
instrumentation hardware for students, hobbiests, engineers and
scientists.
Current instruments include oscilloscope (with spectrum analysis),
arbitrary/function waveform generator and Bode Plot network analyser.

Details of the project, hardware and software are at
www.syscompdesign.com

Our contact email is:

1. CircuitGear
-----------
We have just launched CircuitGear, a combination Oscilloscope,
Waveform
Generator and Digital I/O. This is a 20MS/sec dual channel scope, 2MHz
arbitrary waveform generator, 2MHz hardware random noise generator and
8 bit
digital input-output port, all fitted into the same pocket-sized
package as
the DSO-101 oscilloscope.

CircuitGear is currently shipping with basic functionality in the
software
including spiffy new screen readout displays. We're porting spectrum
analysis, Bode plots (vector-network analyser), XY plots and all the
other
features of the DSO-101 scope and WGM-101 waveform generator to
CircuitGear
and expect to post that software by the end of this month.

As usual for the Open Instrumentation Project, the software is Open
Source,
licenced under the GPL, and runs on the Windows, Linux and Mac
platforms.

With CircuitGear, now possible for students and hobbiests to own - and
carry
around with them - a complete electronics lab.

http://www.syscompdesign.com/circuitgear.htm

2. Laplace Cookbook
----------------
The Laplace Cookbook is a new paper in the Application Notes section
of the
Syscomp web page. The paper is a mix of theory and practice, showing
how to
determine the sine-wave frequency response and transient pulse
response of
an electrical network. The paper shows how to use Maxima, an Open
Software
Computer Algebra system, to generate theoretical results -- and how to
confirm these results with measurements using the Syscomp WGM-101
waveform
generator, DSO-101 oscilloscope and Bode Plot software.

http://www.syscompdesign.com/laplace-cookbook.pdf

3. National Instruments Labview
--------------------------------
At the request of one of our university clients, we created Labview
software
that can talk to the Syscomp DSO-101 oscilloscope and WGM-101 waveform
generator. It's been tested under Labview running on Windows and Linux
platforms. If you're interested, contact us and we'll send you the
software.

-------------
Peter Hiscocks
September 2008