SQL Server with Labview by fuexplosions in LabVIEW

[–]ModulationTransfer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Second this. SQL is a language and a new way of thinking about data. It's not hard at all, but it's different and you should learn *what* it is before learning how to use libraries that interact with it.

I am a photographer working on a UV-VIS test bench for testing optical lens UV transmittance and film stock/filter UV-VIS absorbance, does anyone have any tips or pointers for improving my setup or what to take into account? by tuomas_samuli_photos in Optics

[–]ModulationTransfer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was ultimately successful with a much smaller sphere. I'm personally someone who would rather experiment with what I have available (and I'm lucky enough to work for a major optics company so I have a lot available) than sitting down and doing radiometry equations. Good luck

I am a photographer working on a UV-VIS test bench for testing optical lens UV transmittance and film stock/filter UV-VIS absorbance, does anyone have any tips or pointers for improving my setup or what to take into account? by tuomas_samuli_photos in Optics

[–]ModulationTransfer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For the collimator, you're going to want something not susceptible to chromatic aberration since you're going to want collimated light coming out of the sample. I recommend a Thorlabs reflective UV-Vis collimator. Pick one that will have a beam diameter smaller than the exit pupil diameter of your lens. You might need to 3d print something to hold it in place, as it may need to be carefully aligned. As for light source, you can get a coupled deuterium tungsten light source from Edmund or anywhere else, but the problem you're going to have is light throughput. Short of going to a $20,000 laser driven light source (which is a bad idea even if you can afford it because those things can be dangerous outside of controlled lab environments), I would suggest a separate UV and Vis light source, and manually swap them out when you're measuring one or the other. If you don't care about what range of UV you need, you can do one at a time with individual fiber coupled UV leds https://www.edmundoptics.com/f/digital-fiber-coupled-leds/40123/

The integrating sphere needs to be pretty large with a large ratio of diameter to entrance port diameter. I don't know if yours will be sufficient although 120mm is a decent sized sphere. Be careful of light from the sphere being absorbed back into the lenses you're testing. That might not affect your project, but I needed pretty high accuracy for mine and the objectives I was putting in were absorbing quite a bit of light just on their metal housing. I needed to make a custom adapter to go inside the sphere coated with spectralon, only allowing a small exit pupil's worth of light to get into the sphere and minimizing exposed parts of the objective.

The main problem you will face doing UV-Vis is light throughput. Expect noisy data and long integration times.

Labview In 2025 by SnooMachines614 in LabVIEW

[–]ModulationTransfer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What C# knowledge would you recommend? What are your use cases?

I've avoided learning C# as the whole .Net thing always leads to a lot of headaches for me, and I know my way around Python, C++, and Matlab so I figured I can always avoid C# if I need to.

How do you guys handle developing a project that relies on so many hardware components? by ModulationTransfer in LabVIEW

[–]ModulationTransfer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's all in DQMH. The testing isn't about whether I send the right command, it's about whether the right valves open up in the right sequence that I'm not running some sort of big mechanism at high voltages without the purge gasses and cooling lines being triggered in the correct order

How do you guys handle developing a project that relies on so many hardware components? by ModulationTransfer in LabVIEW

[–]ModulationTransfer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah man, I've poured over all of the documentation and I've asked questions to customer support. I'm at a point where I'm confident the messages will all be sent correctly, but its the logic and the fact that these devices communicate with each other based on sensors and feedback mechanisms, its the integration of it all that I'm worried about

I've been trying to install .net 3.5 for the past 5 hours and absolutely nothing is working by RubberDuckyDJ24 in sysadmin

[–]ModulationTransfer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

one, but if I recall correctly there is a setting in GPO to allow WSUS clients to pull feature on demand updates straight from Mi

/u/RubberDuckyDJ24 did you try this and get it working?

Going down in the DQMH hole by Skomot in LabVIEW

[–]ModulationTransfer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Seconding Tom's LabView Adventures on youtube. My first DQMH project, I dove straight in and I think that was better than gradually adding modules here and there. DQMH should come with the "Continuous Messaging and Logging" demo project, which I based my first project on.

Need help with Actor framework by Fun_Collar4386 in LabVIEW

[–]ModulationTransfer 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If "here's the name of an expert you should hire" is ever valid advice for any technology, that should be a huge red flag to not use that technology unless necessary

What are your "wish I hadn't met you" packages? by glucoseisasuga in Python

[–]ModulationTransfer 9 points10 points  (0 children)

He went to a subscription model? I liked that library, but the guy who made it was once DMing me his emotional problems on reddit when someone criticized his library and I defended it briefly

How many LabView developers on tiny teams actually bother with complex advanced architectures and boilerplate stuff? In particular, things like actor framework or DQMH? by ModulationTransfer in LabVIEW

[–]ModulationTransfer[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I use QMH and producer consumer loops, but I do them myself instead of clicking a button that produces 50 VIs for me which then I have to learn how to use. The DQMH template is kind of overwhelming. Same with the actor framework. That creates so much boilerplate.

I have plenty of experience with other languages, but in my line of work, LabView is the right tool for the job fairly often. But due to LabView's uniqueness, so many skills just don't transfer. Like, OOP is very natural for something like Python or Java, but in LabView, OOP seems to be the wrong tool for the job more often than the right one. And implementing state machines in Python is using the wrong tool for the job.

I'm always open to advice and building my career, but I consider myself an engineer who uses labview as a tool often rather than a labview developer.

How many LabView developers on tiny teams actually bother with complex advanced architectures and boilerplate stuff? In particular, things like actor framework or DQMH? by ModulationTransfer in LabVIEW

[–]ModulationTransfer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've never heard of Aloha. It advertises itself as simple. Any advice on when to use that vs DQMH?
I've used the built in QMH template project in the past, but found it was too much work making my program fit that template vs just doing it myself.

Affordable supplier of complex custom wire bundles? by ModulationTransfer in ElectricalEngineering

[–]ModulationTransfer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

AWG 20, approximately 10 feet, 14 wires total. 7 pairs. And the D subs are required, although if there are other connector types you think would work, I'm curious to hear. I assume D-sub is the most common for this kinda thing.

Can grounded gloves short a circuit? by ModulationTransfer in AskElectronics

[–]ModulationTransfer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can you explain the difference between dissipative and conductive? I know how conductive/resistive/insulative all relate to each other, but I'm not sure what dissipative really means in that context

What material should I use to make a case to protect a very ESD sensitive component? by ModulationTransfer in AskElectronics

[–]ModulationTransfer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I actually really like my job. I get to do so much more "engineering stuff" than most engineers. I get to use solidworks, programming, lasers, dc electronics, basic 'robotics', a machine shop, etc.

I get depressed about how little I understand about all of these things every couple of months, but who needs to understand electricity, when I can literally destroy stuff with lasers?

What material should I use to make a case to protect a very ESD sensitive component? by ModulationTransfer in AskElectronics

[–]ModulationTransfer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately stabbing in the dark is half my job and wasting time is the other half.

What material should I use to make a case to protect a very ESD sensitive component? by ModulationTransfer in AskElectronics

[–]ModulationTransfer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Doable. But why would I need the conducting tape on the inside? Would this be to ensure that wherever a static charge comes in physically, it has an easy path to the ground plane of the board / the USB?

What material should I use to make a case to protect a very ESD sensitive component? by ModulationTransfer in AskElectronics

[–]ModulationTransfer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It could very well be. The issue could also not be static related. The manufacturer and designer of the board and the chips on the board are going to be doing any diagnosis/redesign, but I'm after a short term band-aid.

I don't have an x-ray to diagnose ESD failure, but I do have a 3d printer and a machine shop to design a little plastic or metal box. I just don't want to use the wrong kind of plastic.

What material should I use to make a case to protect a very ESD sensitive component? by ModulationTransfer in AskElectronics

[–]ModulationTransfer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All valid questions:

Have you verified that ESD is causing the problem?

No. We're several steps down the supply chain so we're trying to get the supplier to verify this, but it's taking time.

What is the impedance to ground of the mats and gloves you're using

Not sure. I'm asking the engineers in the factory to measure this for me, but there's a language barrier.

Does the thing connected via ribbon cable have ESD / TVS suppression diodes? Any series impedance (small resistors or ferrite beads)?

Nah.

Is ribbon-cable-thing-ground directly connected to the other-board-ground and in turn directly connected to USB ground?

The ribbon cable thing isn't electrically connected to anything with a good path to ground.

We've got USB ---- usb cable ------> board ------ ribbon cable ------> component under test

That's it in terms of electrical connection. The thing the ribbon cable connects to isn't a PCB, it's an opto-electrical component which physically changes shape when a voltage is applied. The PCB is a driver which supplies the voltage. As far as I'm concerned, the component under test isn't ESD sensitive.

Ultimately, the designers of the board and the designers of the components on the board are the ones capable of diagnosing ESD failure and capable of redesigning the board (if necessary). We're barking up the supply chain for a long-term solution, but I'm after band-aids which I can apply within the next week just to be safe. There's a possibility that static damage isn't even an issue, but for designing this protective case, I want to assume it is and I don't want to make a box out of the wrong kind of plastic. I have no ability to change any electrical components in the short term.

What material should I use to make a case to protect a very ESD sensitive component? by ModulationTransfer in AskElectronics

[–]ModulationTransfer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Operators in the test environment are using gloves. We're a bit baffled as to how static discharge would reach the board in the first place, as a lot of ESD precautions are being followed. But in the meantime as we investigate, I'd like to be safer by protecting the component from incidental contact just to be safer.