------------------------Monitor------------------------- The Newsletter for PC-Based Data Acquisition and Control Issue 35 www.windmill.co.uk June 2001 --------------------ISSN 1472-0221---------------------- Hello again and welcome to our 35th issue. We only send this newsletter to people who have subscribed - should you wish to cancel your free subscription please visit https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html CONTENTS ======== * Windmill News: - More free technical support resources - Leaflets in pdf format now available for download * Monitoring renewable energy * Data acquisition and control conferences and exhibitions * Excel Corner ________________________________________________________ Windmill News ________________________________________________________ More Free Technical Support Resources Our thanks to everyone who downloaded the free ComDebug software. This trouble-shooting software lets you read data from almost any RS232, RS422, RS485 or Modbus device. As with all our software, we offer free technical support for ComDebug. The first places to look for support are ComDebug's on-line Help and our web-based FAQ - which now has more answers. See https://www.windmill.co.uk/techsupp.html If you don't find what you're looking for, use the FAQ support form to send in your question. Copies of ComDebug are available from https://www.windmill.co.uk/serial.html and https://www.windmillsoft.com/daqshop/rs232-modbus.html * Leaflets in PDF Format We're adding leaflets in pdf format to the web site, starting with our COMIML leaflet on automatically acquiring data from serial instruments. To download your copy go to https://www.windmill.co.uk/contact.html If you would prefer to receive a printed copy - just fill in your postal address instead. * Other New Pages To find out which pages on our web site are new or recently revised, see our Site Overview at https://www.windmill.co.uk/software.html ________________________________________________________ Monitoring Renewable Energy ________________________________________________________ A University Centre for Renewable Energy is testing an energy efficient trial home. Both this and the Centre building itself are equipped with photovoltaic solar panels to convert sunlight into electricity. The University needed to assess the performance of the solar panels, and chose Windmill software to do so. The Windmill system calculates the panels' power output and conversion efficiency, displaying the cumulative and instantaneous values both graphically and as a table. Windmill also logs temperature, wind speed, solar radiation, direct current, DC volts, power into the electricity grid and power out of the grid. The data is acquired using Microlink 1500 units provided by Biodata (www.microlink.co.uk). These units are distributed around the two buildings, communicating with the central PC over RS485 cables. For more information about monitoring energy, please contact Windmill Software - monitor@windmillsoft.com Previous issues of Monitor have discussed temperature and wind speed measurement. These are archived at https://www.windmill.co.uk/thermocouple.html and https://www.windmill.co.uk/monitor23.html ________________________________________________________ Exhibitions and Conferences ________________________________________________________ Continuing our bimonthly list of exhibitions and conferences related to data acquisition and control. Control & Instrumentation China 2001 3-6 July Intex Shanghai People's Republic Of China One of nine engineering shows running concurrently and catering to the huge China market. http://www.psc2001.com/ Automation 2001 4-6 September Helsinki Fair Centre Finland Comprises an extensive exhibition and seminar program. http://www.finnexpo.fi/ ISA 2001 11-13 September Houston Texas USA The premier instrumentation, systems and automation conference in North America. This year features 700 exhibitors, over 25 training courses and nearly 100 seminars. https://www.isa.org/events/1,1313,0,00.html Automation Europe 18-20 September Paris France Billed as "the automated installation industrial performance event", companies will be exhibiting their automation, instrumentation, communication, monitoring, test and measurement equipment. 13000 visitors are expected to attend. http://www.automationeurope.com/ Interkama 2001 24-28 September 2001 Dusseldorf, Germany A biennial event showcasing industrial communication, automation and measurement. http://www.interkama.de/ ________________________________________________________ Excel Corner: Charting Resources ________________________________________________________ We had a good response to last month's article on charting with Excel (archived at https://www.windmill.co.uk/monitor34.html). Continuing with this theme therefore, here are some other resources with useful charting tips, tricks and tutorials. Usenet: microsoft.public.excel.charting http://groups.google.com/ Chances are that whatever your problem, either it will already have been answered or someone will be able to offer a solution or explanation. Make sure you read the closest thing they have to a FAQ before posting, namely Chip Pearson's "Hints And Tips For New Posters In The Excel Newsgroups". http://www.cpearson.com/excel/newposte.htm Application Professionals http://www.appspro.com/utilities/Labeler.asp A very commonly requested Excel feature is the ability to add labels to XY chart data points. Here you can download a utility to do just that. Two versions are available - one for Excel 5/95 and one for Excel 97/2000. Stephen Bullen's Excel page http://www.bmsltd.co.uk/Excel/Default.htm Amongst other examples, has a series of charting utilities. Unlike many sites this one clearly shows under which version of Excel each spreadsheet example will work. element k journals http://www.elementkjournals.com/ime/9808/ime9881.htm Explains how to plot only the most recent data, for example data from the last 30 days. As new data arrives, the chart automatically updates. Excel Charting Tricks from PC Magazine http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/stories/solutions/ A tutorial incorporating a series of charting tips. The Excel Logic Page http://geocities.com/aaronblood/pages/charts.html Examples of sophisticated use of charts. ________________________________________________________ * Copyright Windmill Software Ltd * Reprinting permitted with this notice included * For more articles see https://www.windmill.co.uk We are happy for you to copy and distribute this newsletter, and use extracts from it on your own web site or publication, providing the above notice is included and a link back to our website is in place. An archive of previous issues is at https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html and an index of articles at https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html Windmill Software Ltd, PO Box 58, North District Office, Manchester, M8 8QR, UK Telephone: +44 (0)161 834 6688 Facsimile: +44 (0)161 833 2190 E-mail: monitor@windmillsoft.com https://www.windmill.co.uk/ https://www.windmillsoft.com/
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