Table of Contents

Vertical Recorder

The Vertical recorder widget has the time-history plotting capabilities of the traditional strip chart or Recorder, but with a vertical time axis orientation and an enhanced display. Only one channel can be displayed.

Vertical recorder_settings

When you select the Vertical recorder widget, the following settings will appear:

X Axis (Time)

You can customize the x-axis via the following options:

Changing the X-axis Scale/Auto Scale

NOTE: Run mode feature only, not available in Design mode.

If you want to change the x-axis scale, there are two possibilities:  

  • Enter values

Entering the values is possible when the cursor has the following appearance:

Click on the numbers at both extremes and then type in the new numbers. You can also change the step if you click the dropdown arrow on the left. When you’re done, click the checkmark on the right. 

  • Auto scale

Auto_value

Move your cursor to the axis scale. When you reach the auto-scale area, the cursor changes to the following appearance:

Left click activates auto-scale and right click disables it.

WARNING: The auto-scale function uses the minimum and maximum value of the currently displayed signal for scaling. The scaling will be updated only when you left click!

For additional scaling functions, please visit the Graph Settings - Additional Scaling Functions section of the manual.

Y Axis (Value)

The following options are available:

  • Ticks type (Graph Settings) - Modify the graph grid. These settings apply to both axes and are independent from each other.
  • Display Type - Set the data presentation status.
    • Real value
    • Average - For noisy DC signals, selecting Average can clean up the display. 
    • RMS - Useful when monitoring AC signals which are going to look like a solid band when a long duration is shown.
    • Max
    • Min

Drawing Options

The following drawing options will help you further customize Vertical recorder appearance:

  • Line thickness
  • Show channel limit status
  • Show frame - white frame around the widget
  • Show events - show or hide marked events
  • Show sample points - display individual sample points in Analyze mode
  • Interpolate asynchronous channels - If an asynchronous data source (e.g. CAN) is used, the values are interpolated between two sample points, but for digital signals this is unwanted. Disable interpolation and the value will stay at the same level until the next value is available.

Alarm Levels

You can set high and/or low alarm limits for each Vertical recorder. By default, the alarm levels are set to the minimum and maximum range of the channel, but you can enter your own limits.

Example

We are measuring acceleration. The limits are indicated by the two white lines above the signal values. The two yellow lines show the max. and min. values of the signal during acquisition (not the current time window). A line the color of the channel shows the current value. A thin line indicates small changes in the signal for the last 0.1 seconds - the wider the line, the bigger the change.

1. Signal within limits

We have set the limits to 5 m/s2 and -5 m/s2. The signal is within those limits.

2. Signal out of limits

We have set the limits to 4 m/s2 and -4 m/s2. The signal is above the maximum limit. The value is displayed in red in a white box.

3. Signal back in range after exceeding limits

We have set the limits to 5 m/s2 and -5 m/s2. The signal has exceeded the limits, but is now back in range. This will be indicated by three exclamation points in red in a white box.