JColvin

Hi @otherguy,
I can't speak towards Attila's physical circuit setup outside of him having used the Impedance Adapter (https://digilent.com/reference/add-ons/impedance-analyzer/start, which uses 0.1% reference resistors) that was plugged into an Analog Discovery 2, but the dotted vs solid lines are there to differentiate which type of calculated measurement is being represented over the range of frequencies, with the different line patterns being shown underneath each toggle-able measurement type:

In terms of the software side setup, it's simply a matter of selecting the "Impedance" tool from the Welcome tab and then clicking on the various plots you want to see and adjusting the various values in the visible dropdowns. Additional explanations of each of the settings are available within the Help tab in the Impedance section.
If you wanted to try it out, the latest beta is freely available for download and has a demo modes for the different hardware options here:
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
JColvin

Nowhere - they are not publicly available.

Hi @silverdiamond,
Presuming you are using the Analog Discovery 3 like in your other post, you can do this within the Wavegen instrument. The key detail would be to change the dropdown from "No Synchronization" to either Independent or Synchronized where you'll then get access to some timing parameters including length of time to wait before starting the defined waveform, how long to run the waveform for, and how many times you want the waveform to repeat.

Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
JColvin

Hi @Anthocyanina,
Is it realizable? Almost certainly. As a wise Digilent employee has told me on more than one occasion, "it's just typing".
Is it practical? That's a question that I'm not able to give an answer to. My opinion is yes this should be considered, but either option of creating a pseudo reduced mode for the AD3 or changing the architecture of the AD2 so that one of the digital pins is completely isolated from the rest of the design so that it can output a stable clock to another device is not a trivial amount of work (particularly the second option).
I do know that the more customer interest there is in a particular feature, the more likely it will be implemented. I know there was a decent amount of interest and multiple questions about this feature after the blog post on Dual Mode was called out in the newsletter (or at least I presume that's what prompted your question to begin with), so Digilent is aware of the customer interest.
But Digilent also needs to have some sort of boundary so we aren't constantly asking Attila to add other new device combinations as Digilent will, of course, continue to make Test and Measurement products so the number of possible combinations will just continue to increase, adding more feature and size to the software that only a small number of users would realistically be able to benefit from. Where this metaphorical line in the sand is, I don't know.
I'll stop musing for now.
Thanks,
JColvin

Hi JColvin
Good morning. I am using a Dell computer operating on Windows. 
I am using version 3.20.1
The analog devices (3) are connected to a USBGear 10 port 3.2 hub. A USB connector from the hub is connected to my computer. After more troubleshooting, is looks like either my USB cable is defective, or the panel mount USB 3.0 is female to female. I will look into his issue and reach out if I am still having issues. Thank you for all your efforts.

Hi @Anthocyanina,
Digilent will be updating (edit: did update) the blog post with some additional information that I typed up regarding the possibility of mix and matching devices. What I had recommended to be added is the following:
 
As for JColvin's personal, yet slightly vague, perspective on the (since I don't have budgetary or decision making powers in any sense) the AD3 with AD2 or double AD2 combo for Dual Mode to help add value / make it so the AD2 is not forced to live forgotten on a shelf collecting dust. I think this could be a useful addition to have, but this comes with a couple caveats that I'll reiterate below.
- AD2 does not support an external clock input (whether solely due to the FPGA logic being full, the Spartan 6 architecture not allowing it in the same way, lack of dedicated PLL that accepts external clocks, some or all of the above, I do not have insight on). Regardless, this ultimately means that while you can pass the trigger signal between two AD2's, because the Analog Discovery 2, whether paired with a second AD2 or a different T&M device, will be working on its own independent oscillator with its own jitter, so you will experience drift on the samples between it and whatever other device. You can potentially mitigate this by stopping and restarting both devices periodically, but that doesn't actually resolve the problem.
- This is a bit more esoteric, but there's also the question of how much additional combinations should be supported natively within the application; the more combinations, the larger the installation size for a feature that fewer and fewer people will be able to take advantage of. I personally think there is a big enough market segment for an AD3 & AD2 combo, but I don't know where that metaphorical line in the sand might be. Plus you can (and have always been able to, at least as far as I know) be able to synchronize different devices to have them collect data together through WaveForms SDK but this is of course a software timed solution.
So in an unhelpful conclusion, is AD3 & AD2 Dual Mode available? No, but technically yes, but no it's not available in the GUI. Will that change? I do not know.
Thanks,
JColvin

Hi @silverdiamond,
The 60 Hz is almost certainly from the ambient environment via the power grid; on my own AD3 with a BNC adapter and probe, I see this most notably when I am holding the probe tip without any load connected, though the amplitude on mine is much smaller (11 mV peak to peak vs your 46 mV and only around 55 dBV). When I am no longer holding the probe (still floating), the 60 Hz portion disappears from the plot view and the magnitude from the FFT drops to ~-70 dBV.
(me holding the probe at the tip)

(probe lying on my desk)

If you wanted to remove this source (presuming you're seeing the frequency when you are holding the probe), I would recommend making sure that your device under test and yourself are properly grounded. The device under test can have a shared ground line through one of the MTE cables, you can ground yourself either by touching one of the ground pins or BNC shields on the BNC adapter, or use a grounding strap to help keep this noise to a minimum.
The FIR filter on the Analog Discovery 3 can be used to filter out certain frequencies, although it's frequency range you can use is between 500 kHz and 30 MHz.
Alternatively, you would use the FIR Windowing to eliminate noise and high frequency components from a signal (this would be used in case your system was sensitive to overshoot or ringing). From my testing, this works up to around 2 MHz before you start to experience signal attenuation that can occur with FIR filters. The pink and green traces in the splash screen for the oscilloscope section of the reference manual offer a visual of smoothing out a signal: https://digilent.com/reference/test-and-measurement/analog-discovery-3/reference-manual#oscilloscope.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
JColvin

Hi @Takashi "The Yaka mein",
I received the following information from the Engineering Services Manager regarding the Ferrite bead / cable snap-on:
8547.10.8000 and EAR99
They also mentioned that the ferrite bead is part of the existing Analog Discovery 2 kit (as opposed to the ferrite being an extra line item within in the bundle), so it would be covered by the existing classifications for the Analog Discovery 2 kit (SKU 421-321 // 1286-1117-ND).
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
JColvin

Hi @otherguy,
You're correct in that it would be ignoring any reactance/reflections from the other wire as it is unconnected/not under load.
I suppose in theory that the ADP3450 with its 4 analog inputs and pair of analog outputs would, at least on paper, be able to properly do impedance analysis on a twisted cable pair, but right now the Impedance Analyzer tool within WaveForms does not support it (WaveForms SDK would not be of any help either). The WaveForms developer is out of office this week, but I will ask them when they get back about the feasibility of adding this sort of feature.
Thanks,
JColvin

Hi @Takashi "The Yaka mein",
I am finding out this information for you. I will let you know what I learn.
Thanks,
JColvin

Hi @jfra,
I asked the layout engineer about this and they let me know that the each of the 8 holes have the same diameter of 3.658 mm.
I think the reason the holes are marked differently on the mechanical file is that some of them (which you marked in blue) don't have the copper(?) ring around the mounting hole.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
JColvin

Hi @aitnim,
I have sent you a PM.
Thanks,
JColvin

Hi @Jennifer Yan,
The PS_SRST_B is present to allow the Xilinx Tools to reset the processor during debug operations through the dedicated pin on the Zynq processor: https://digilent.com/reference/programmers/jtag-hs3/reference-manual#xilinx_zynq-7000_and_soc_support. Xilinx provides a bit more information about this pin here: https://docs.xilinx.com/r/en-US/ug585-zynq-7000-SoC-TRM/External-System-Reset-PS_SRST_B.
If you are not using a Zynq device, then you can leave this pin as a no-connect or implement a weak pull-up, 100k ohm, to keep it from floating.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
JColvin

Hi @jfra,
The Genesys ZU does not have an option to be shipped with ECC memory as you correctly read; the only ECC memory that I know of that was specifically tested would be what it was validated with as mentioned in this post here:
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
JColvin

Hi @jfra,
I'll have to get back to you on exact dimensions (presuming you still need them), but for the 8 circled locations the Genesys ZU (both variants) comes with the following standoffs and screws:
M3 6 mm steel screw
M3 10 mm nylon hex standoff (F/F)
In the interest of being thorough:
The Zmod A has:
M2.5x0.45 5 mm tall aluminum hex spacer (F/F) on each side of it on the top side of the board
M2.5x0.45 10 mm tall nylon hex spacer (M/F) on each side on the underside of the board
The FMC LPC has:
#4 M2.5 10 mm tall aluminum hex foot (F/F) on each side on the top side of the board
M2.5x0.45 10 mm tall nylon hex spacer (M/F) on each side on the underside of the board
The Mini PCIe has on the top side:
M2 1.0 mm tall (Ø4.35x2.4mm) standoff on all four slots
M2x0.4 3.5 mm tall standoff (M/F) on the "back" two slots
M2 screw with a 4 mm head 3 mm in length on top of the standoffs present on the "back" two slots
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
JColvin

Off topic to the purpose of this thread, but regrettably, I have never been able to find a setting to force the Forum to present the replies on an individual thread in chronological order by default. I've also asked Invision Community (who makes the software this Forum is hosted on) about adding/changing this a couple of different times over the years, but to no avail.

Like zygot mentioned, older versions of the software suite are going to be your best bet in terms of reducing install size, though your mileage may vary depending on your intended workflow.
After unchecking everything I don't need during the install process (I sometimes check and then uncheck boxes just to visually confirm the install size goes down), I also tend to go into <xilinx install path>/Xilinx/<version number>/data/parts/xilinx/ and delete the part families I don't need, and within the familes I do plan on using, go into their nested devint folder to delete the specific parts I don't need (such as the automotive versions of the parts, usually with an 'a' prefix such as aartix7) or go into the artix7 folder itself and delete the parts I don't plan to use (such as xc7a12t and cx7a12ti). This same approach can be done for the Vitis folder as well. If you do end up needing a part later for whatever reason, it's usually straightforward enough to download the part family you need by editing the install through Xilinx Information Center.
This is all after the downloading process though, so it doesn't really help anybody without broadband connections, and you quickly get diminishing returns with relatively small part families like Artix 7 (as opposed to the much bigger files from various Zynq Ultrascale parts).
Thanks,
JColvin
I am hoping one day I'll be allowed to optionally exclude Vivado/Vitis HLS from the initial install as I don't plan on using it, but I'm also not holding my breath.

Hi @Celibate0774,
The last four links for WaveForms 3.20.1 all worked for me as is (at least on my Windows 10 machine by highlighting the listed URL, right clicking, and choosing search). I did not verify the hash values though.
As for the first four links, you'll need to change the "+" in Adept2+Runtime to a "%20", so for example, https://files.digilent.com/Software/Adept2 Runtime/2.27.9/digilent.adept.runtime_2.27.9-amd64.deb
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
JColvin

Hi @ayazar,
Your understanding is correct; the SPI programming refers to the ability to directly use / "send out" SPI signals to directly interface with SPI devices.
However, if the flash memory is set up in a master serial configuration with the onboard FPGA / SoC (like how Digilent's boards flash memories are set up where they are only accessible through the FPGA), you can still configure the flash memory through the Vivado Hardware Manager via the JTAG HS3 with the .bin file; it just gets routed through the FPGA.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
JColvin

Hi @oi18ct,
I apologize for the delay; this clearly dropped off my radar.
Measuring the output of the transceiver (-7 V to 12 V) as well as measuring the 5 V UART/TTL signals either individually or simultaneously, will not be an issue for either the Analog Discovery 3 or the Analog Discovery Pro ADP3450/3250 as they both support a -25 V to +25 V analog input, as well as supporting 5 V digital inputs (neither device supports a 5 V digital outputs).
My understanding is that the modbus protocol is not currently supported by the WaveForms software, though you can add a custom interpreter within the Logic Analyzer as shown here: https://forum.digilent.com/topic/18575-good-day-new-digilent-digital-discovery-user/#comment-48984.
As for which device would be better suited for you, I think it will ultimately come down to how many samples you want to collect within a particular time frame (and price point of course). The Analog Discovery 3 can collect up to 32768 samples per channel on the oscilloscope and logic analyzer (though if using them simultaneously, the best configuration combination would be 16384 samples for each oscilloscope channel and 32768 channels. The ADP3450/ADP has DDR memory and so can collect a lot more samples (32 million for each analog input channel and 64 million for each logic analyzer channel) for you to view in app (rather than recording the data to file, which both devices should be able to support without losing any samples while transferring over USB).
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
JColvin
 

Hi @Jim Luby,
I'm not sure where you're seeing the 50 MS/s within the Logger specifically (maybe overall system frequency selection?), but within the Scope tool, you can easily set the sample rate by expanding the time dropdown on the right hand side and picking your desired sample rate (the gear at the top of the screenshot next to the HoldOff will let you choose if those samples are being decimated or averaged at the chosen rate).

In terms of recording both channels for a set amount of time on a trigger, you can use either variant of Record mode (change the Mode dropdown from Repeated to Record for recording to the host computer RAM or do the "Rec." option next to Export for recording to directly to file) and then choose the Config option to set the length of time and trigger position. The trigger itself is set the top toolbar where you can choose the source and condition; you can choose something like a rising or falling edge or a pulse of some length for one of your analog inputs, or be triggered off of the start of one of the Wavegen channels or the Logic Analyzer. The amount of samples / time base / rate will dictate for how long you are recording.

What do you mean by the digitizing of the signals? Are you referring getting Measurements off of the signals (such as getting the measured frequency of the signal shown on screen) or are you looking for the Persistence view option? (I'm only familiar with sample/hold phrasing for spectrum analysis)
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
JColvin

Review the following guide: https://digilent.com/reference/programmable-logic/guides/getting-started-with-ipi
When you get to the microprocessor section, choose MicroBlaze and boards with DDR

Hi @CoraZ7Fan,
I will need to create it; hopefully I'll have that done by sometime next week presuming I don't get told I have higher priority tasks.
Thanks,
JColvin

Hi @CoraZ7Fan,
I got a bit of unexpected spare time; the Statement of Volatility is available in the Additional Resources section of the Cora Z7 Resource Center: https://digilent.com/reference/programmable-logic/cora-z7/start#additional_resources.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
JColvin

Hi @Rachel,
Edit: Looks like Attila beat me to it, but I'll post my response anyways.
pydwf was developed by @reddish, so I will leave it to them for commentary on the compatibility.
The Analog Discovery 2 could have up to 16 KiS (16384 samples) per channel depending on the device configuration selected within the WaveForms Device Manager. The Analog Discovery 3 on the other hand doubles this with up to 32 KiS (32768 samples) per channel, again depending on the selection within the WaveForms Device Manager (The oscilloscope in particular on the Analog Discovery 3 can have up to 64 KiS if you select the 32 KiS configuration within the WaveForms Device Manager and then disable/uncheck one of the channels so that it's buffer is instead allocated to the remaining, enabled channel).
You can learn more about the specific buffer sizes for the devices in the Analog Discovery 3 Specifications document: https://digilent.com/reference/test-and-measurement/analog-discovery-3/specifications.
Yes, both the AD2 and AD3 are compatible with WaveForms new Select+Dual mode where two identical devices (two AD2s or two AD3s for example) can have their two trigger lines connected and then have a unified view within WaveForms (for 4 analog inputs, 4 analog outputs, and 32 digital channels). The Analog Discovery 2 will only be software timed and will experience some drift in synchronization, but the Analog Discovery 3 with it's larger FPGA supports hardware timing for much tighter synchronization between the two devices.
As both trigger lines are used in this feature, it is only possible to concatenate two devices together. You could open up a second instance of WaveForms to control additional devices, but there is no way to neatly synchronize that instance with the Select+Dual at this point in time.
You would most likely be interested in learning about the Analog Discovery Pro 3450 then: https://digilent.com/reference/test-and-measurement/analog-discovery-pro-3x50/start. It has 4 analog inputs and 2 analog outputs at 14-bit resolution and 16 digital channels with 1.2 V to 3.3 V CMOS logic (5 V input tolerant), two external triggers, as well as on-board DDR memory for a much larger buffer for the analog and digital inputs (128 MiS total for the analog inputs and 64 MiS for the digital inputs). It also offers an embedded Linux mode so it can be used as a standalone device without needing to be tethered to a host computer running WaveForms in order to operate.
Digilent also has a slightly different Analog Discovery 5250 (which is based on NI's VB8012), https://digilent.com/reference/test-and-measurement/analog-discovery-pro-5250/start, which offers higher bandwidth and sample rates (up to 1 GS/s and 100 MHz bandwidth on the oscilloscope channels and 1 GS/s Logic Analyzer) and has a DMM, but does not have other features such as a Pattern Generator.
Let us know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
JColvin