TR-2000 Field Calibration Procedure

Equipment Needed
Wavetek 4800A (or equivalent accuracy source)
PC capable of connecting to the TR-2000 via serial port
TR-2000 Field Calibration Software

Objective
Unlike the hardware calibration used in the TR-100 series of transient recorders, the TR-2000 line
uses software calibration to account for the inherit errors with the analog components on the input
boards. This procedure is intended for field service personnel with a working knowledge of the TR-
2000 and Display Station32. The user should also be comfortable using the CLI interface. It should
be noted that although the accuracy of the TR-2000 is 0.1%, it will only be as accurate as the source
used to calibrate it. Therefore, it is recommended that a high accuracy source be used to maintain
published specifications. Also, the TR-2000 must be allowed to warm up for at least one hour prior
to calibration. In addition, the user’s manual for the source being used should be consulted for any
necessary warm-up time specifications.

TR-2000 Input Boards

The TR-2000 has a separate input board for each 8 input channels; i.e. a 32 channel system has 4
input boards. Each input board contains a small non-volatile memory (EEPROM). This device is
read when the TR-2000 is initialized. The calibration values for that board are read from the
EEPROM and stored in the memory of the TR-2000. The calibration values are then used in all
subsequent calculations performed by the TR-2000. The calibration program has the capability to
read from and write to the chip. Once the program has set the calibration values it will update the
EEPROM.

The advantage of this scheme is that the calibration values are retained on the input board. If the
board ever has to be changed its calibration factors will travel with it so the overall system will not
need to be re-calibrated.

In the calibration program each input board is calibrated separately. The board is selected using
‘radio’ buttons at the top of the window under Card selection.

ROCHESTER APPROVED
Digitally signed by Engineering Services
Date: 2000.03.28 10:51:18 -05'00'
Reason: Document is released

Rev. B ECO _11137_

Digitally signed by Bill Heist
A-1082-689
Approved _____________ TR-2000 Field Calibration Procedure
cn=Bill Heist, o=Manufacturing Engineering, c=US
Date: 2000.03.28 10:53:57 -05'00'
Reason: I am approving this document

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 TR-2000 Calibration – Main Window

There are four main options on the main window :-

Connect - connect to a TR-2000

Disconnect - disconnect from a TR-2000
Configure - configure the baud rate and communication port
Exit - exit the program

Communication port configuration

Ensure the communication port has been set up correctly before attempting to connect to a TR-2000.
Use the configure button to set up the parameters. The following window will be displayed :

Select the correct communication port and baud rate. The baud rate is determined by DIP switches
in the TR-2000 (see TR-2000 manual, chapter 6). Connect the selected port on the PC to the
connector at the front left of the TR-2000 with the ‘null modem’ cable provided with the recorder.

TR-2000 Connection
At this point connection with the TR-2000 is possible. The program will attempt a connection by
looking for a CLI command prompt. If this is successful it will attempt to read the EEPROM chip
on the first board of the system. Once the values have been read from the board the actual input
values will be displayed. There are two main parts to the calibration process, offset and gain.

Offset Adjustment
The offset should ALWAYS be adjusted first because it will affect the subsequent accuracy of the
gain offset. To set the offset it is important that no signal is going into the back of the recorder. The

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 best way to ensure this is by using a shorting connector which links the positive and negative
terminals of each analogue input.

At this point the actual level that is being read by the recorder is shown in the actual bits value
column. The actual bits value is what the analogue-to-digital converter has provided to the TR-
2000. The actual value that the TR-2000 will end up reporting is the value in the resultant bits
column. This is the value that is required to be as near as possible to 0. The value in the card offset
field is the actual value which will be sent to the input board when it is updated.
The option is available to adjust the offset for all the channels at once or the adjustment can be
changed for each individual channel. The resultant bits field has two colors to reflect status. When
the field is red the resultant bits is not 0. When the field is green the resultant bits are 0. This is a
visual aid to help in determining that the offset adjustment is correct. However even after
adjustment some of the fields may flash between red and green. It may be necessary to adjust that
channel in that case, however as long as all fields are displaying 0 or close to 0 it can be assumed
that the offset has been calibrated.

Once any adjust button has been pressed a command is sent to the TR-2000 which updates offset
values in the memory of the TR-2000. Although the TR-2000 has its local values updated the actual
EEPROM has not been updated at this stage. The process of writing to the EEPROM is a slow
process, therefore it is only updated when the user switches tabs or switches input cards.
Switching Tabs/ Input Cards/ Disconnecting
Switching tabs refers to switching from offset adjustment to gain adjustment.
Switching input cards refers to switching from button “1-8 Card 1” to button “9-16 Card 2”.
Disconnecting refers to clicking on the disconnect button to disconnect the PC from the TR-2000.

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 Whenever any update of calibration values has occurred e.g. offset adjustment in the previous
example, the EEPROM chip of the input card must have its calibration values updated. The program
detects if the user has changed any value at the previous tab or input card. If a change has been
made a dialog box will pop up asking the user if he wants to update the EEPROM on the input card.

Answer “Yes” to this question if all the adjustments for the card have been made and it is felt that
the card has been successfully calibrated. The actual process of writing to the card is quite slow so
be patient while the card is being updated. Once the values on the display start moving again the
card has been updated.

Gain adjustment
The gain adjustment is more complex to adjust than the offset. A good signal generator is required,
preferably one which generates an accurate rock-solid signal. The user requires knowledge of the
type of channels (voltage or current etc.) and its Full Scale Deflection. These are found in the User
Specification Sheets that are located in Appendix V of the TR-2000 Operation manual and are
specific to each individual instrument.

The channel types and FSDs can also be found by using Display Station to connect to the recorder
and viewing the analogue input configuration.

The TR-2000 is calibrated using a DC input. The input channels of a TR-2000 are defined as either
AC (transformer) or DC (transducer). This indicates the type of input signal and NOT the type of
coupling as in the TR-100 recorder. The TR-2000 uses this information to determine if the FSD is
an RMS value and the inputs must be scaled to accommodate the peak value.

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 The value that will be fed into the recorder should be a signal at 75% of the Full Scale Deflection.
For each channel, type in the FSD and the value being fed in to the input card. If all channels are
setup with the same FSD and expected value then the “Mirror First Selection” check box can be set.
This will copy the first value and first FSD fields into all the boxes. Use the following table to
determine the necessary values:

Type of Channel Expected Full Scale

Amplitude (75% Deflection
FSD)
Voltage 225 VDC 300.00 VDC
Current 1.50 VDC 2.00 VDC
Transducer 9.00 VDC 12 VDC

Once these values have been set up the calibration program will begin to display relevant
information. The actual amplitude field will display the value that the input card would report if no
gain adjustment were applied. The card gain field gives a number between 0 and 2.0 which
represents the gain applied to the actual amplitude. The resultant amplitude is the final value that
will be reported by the TR-2000. This is the field that should end up close to the expected
amplitude.

Press the adjust button to update the card gain values. This will produce a new resultant amplitude.
The values are sent to the TR-2000 memory, however the EEPROM value has not been updated at
this point.

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 When the field is red the resultant amplitude is greater than 0.2 away from the expected value.
When the field is green the resultant amplitude is less than 0.2 away from the expected amplitude.
This is a visual aid to help in determining that the gain adjustment is correct. However even after
adjustment some of the fields may flash between red and green or stay permanently at red. It is up to
the user to determine if the resultant amplitude is accurate enough.

Once the user switches cards or switches tabs or disconnects, the gain values will be written to the
EEPROM.

Transducers
Inputs to be calibrated for transducers are performed in a similar way. If possible the TR-2000
should be calibrated with the transducer in place so as any transducer error will be corrected. For 4 –
20 mA output devices this must the done so the 4 mA zero offset can be removed.

Disconnect
Disconnecting will prompt the user to update the EEPROM if any adjustments have been made. In
any case the connection to the recorder will be dropped and the program terminated.

Verification
To verify that the calibration values have been properly stored in the EEPROM of each input card,
the recorder power should first be cycled. Once the recorder has returned to ‘ON-LINE’ status,
connect to it using the calibration software.

Once a connection has been established, go to the Gain Adjustment tab and select AC calibration.
Using the table below corresponding to the verification level being checked, enter the theoretical
voltage value in the Expected Amplitude column for the channel being verified. The Full Scale
value should be the AC FSD for the type of channel being verified (voltage or current). Once the
software has been set up, feed an appropriate signal into the channel(s) corresponding to the
verification level choosen.

Voltage and Current Inputs

Verification Level Voltage Current
(% FSDrms) (Vrms) (Vrms)
25 % 53.0325 0.3535
50 % 106.0650 0.7071
75 % 159.0975 1.0606
99 % 210.0087 1.4000

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 Traducer Inputs (+/- 12 VDC)
Verification Level Voltage
(% FSD) (VDC)
-99 % -11.88
-75 % -9.00
-50 % -6.00
-25 % -3.00
+25% 3.00
+50 % 6.00
+75% 9.00
+99% 11.88

Examine the Resultant Amplitude column. The values should be within 0.1% FSD of the expected
values. As a quick indicator, the result box will be green if this condition has been met and will be
red if not. Channels that do not verify correctly at each verification level may need to be
recalibrated.

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