Re: [TASS] Utility Needed

[Alan McCallum <almac@ICONNECT.NET.AU>]

Hello Tassians,
In response to Tom's request I have attempted to write a utility that covers
some of the points below. I have written the program in (shock...horror....)
Quick Basic 4. It is still a prototype. I could re-write in Visual Basic 3, but
this means more old MS DLLS. I can only use the tools that I have.

The program will process files from a pick list. It can be set to scan
contiguous rows, but is defaulted to 200 random rows. The main part of the
program counts bits set for a NAXIS1 row, and displays this result compactly,
with upper & lower bytes arranged in two lines of display. If say bit 4 is set
ON in both bytes for an entire row, this should stand out. It depends on the
chip failure mode. Intermittent gate hanging will, as always, be difficult to
detect.

Tom: The program needs testing on a MkIV file, so I hope you have the time to
do this. If you do need to seriously try to look for a fault, please read the
caveat about Big-Endian bytes in the notes (MK4ADC.txt) I _think_  I have it
right, but this point needs checking. Sorry. I will try to fix any problem, but
I realise that this program in creaky ole BASIC is still only a stopgap. Never
mind. I had some fun for a time.

I am quite interested in GCC, so thanks for the advice Chris.

Back to Tenxcat.

Regards to All.

Alan.

Tom Droege wrote:

> A night of otherwise very good data is junk.  This is because I have blown
> out a 1024 bit in the upstairs to downstairs link.

<snip>

> I mention this because it brings out some standard tests that need to be
> made by any analysis software.  It is necessary to bin the data bit lines
> and make sure that all bit combinations exist.  There are problems in doing
> this.  Most of the data will be clustered around the sky background.  So
> you just can't do a simple bin.
>

<snip>

>
> Here is a utility that is needed:
>
> 1) The utility reads in a standard FITS image.
> 2) It studies it on a byte basis to check that all the 8 data lines have
> both high and low states.  It looks for stuck bits.
> 3) It also studies it on a 16 bit basis to look for problems in the ADC.
>

<snip>

>
> Tom Droege

--
Alan McCallum   (almac@iconnect.net.au)

Drumborg Victoria AUSTRALIA (38.0551S, 141.5868E)
http://orion.iconnect.net.au/~almac/index.html