Omega Vehicle Security OMB-CHARTSCAN 1400 User Manual

Configuration Aspects for Programmers

ChartScan User’s Manual

B-11

The Pre-Trigger state is defined as the period after ChartScan has been configured to collect an acquisition (via
the Trigger Configuration 

T

 command), and before the actual Trigger event occurs.  While the unit is in this

state, the TRIGGER LED will flash.  As in any other acquisition state, the alarms and their associated outputs
will be updated at the fastest rate possible under the current channel configuration.

It is during this state in which ChartScan may be configured to collect Pre-Trigger data.  This may be
accomplished by specifying a non-zero value for the Pre-Trigger 

count

 parameter of the Set Count 

Y

 command.

The Pre-Trigger 

count

 value coupled with the current channel configuration, however, cannot exceed the total

amount of available memory.
If the Pre-Trigger 

count

 is set to a non-zero value, ChartScan will begin sampling Pre-Trigger data at the rate

specified by the current normal scan interval (via the Set Scan Interval 

I

 

command) immediately after the

Trigger Configuration 

T

 command is issued.  When the Trigger event occurs, the Pre-Trigger data portion of the

Trigger Block will contain the most recent Pre-Trigger scans.  The number of Pre-Trigger scans collected will
depend upon when the Trigger event occurs.  If the Trigger event occurs before the number of Pre-Trigger scans
collected at least equals the specified Pre-Trigger 

count

, the number of Pre-Trigger scans will be the number of

scans collected to that point.  Otherwise, the number of Pre-Trigger scans will be the number specified by the
Pre-Trigger 

count

 parameter of the Set Count 

Y

 command.

If it is not desired to collect any Pre-Trigger data while in the Pre-Trigger state, the Pre-Trigger 

count

parameter of the Set Count 

Y

 command may be set to zero.

Pre-Trigger data may not be accessed while ChartScan is in the Pre-Trigger state.  The Pre-Trigger data for a
particular Trigger Block is not made available to be read until the specified Trigger event occurs.
There are two ways to determine if the unit is in the Pre-Trigger state:
1.  Visually check the TRIGGER LED.  If it is flashing then the unit is in the Pre-Trigger state.

2.  Query the Status Byte (

) register and check the Triggered Bit.  If the Triggered Bit is not set and the

acquisition has been configured, then the unit is in the Pre-Trigger state.  When the specified Trigger event
occurs, ChartScan exits the Pre-Trigger state and enters the Post-Trigger state.

The Trigger Configuration 

T

 command has a synchronization parameter 

sync

 that allows you to specify if the

Trigger point is to be synchronized to the Pre-Trigger (normal) scan interval.  If 

sync

 is set, the Trigger point

will occur on the next “tick” of the Pre-Trigger (normal) scan interval.  Otherwise, the Trigger point will occur
at the point at which it is detected.  For example, assume a 

sync

 setting with a Pre-Trigger of 10 scans and a

sample rate of 1 scan per minute.  If a Trigger event takes place 20 seconds after a scan, a recorded Trigger
point will happen on the next scan, 40 seconds later.

ChartScan can be configured to have different timebases for its Pre-Trigger and Post-Trigger states.
The system can be configured such that, when the Trigger condition is met, ChartScan will switch from
the Pre-Trigger to the Post-Trigger state (changing its timebase).  This feature, along with automatic

re-arm

, can be used to collect continuous, gap-free data at two different timebases.

To ensure that the collected data is gap-free, the Pre-Trigger 

count

 must be set to -1 (via the Set Count

Y

 command).  If a value of 0 or higher is used as the Pre-Trigger 

count

, only the number of Pre-

Trigger scans is placed in the buffer after the Trigger condition is satisfied. The following graphs show
an acquisition with the Pre-Trigger set to 100, and then an acquisition with the Pre-Trigger set to -1.