469D Update Notes     BKT  09-Nov-98

Note:  "xxx" means the name of your system, like "hud" or "ntt".

To install:
1)  Double-click the self-extracting archive "xxx469Update.exe".
    This will create a folder c:\xxx469DUpdate.  Inside this
    folder you will see the files you have to replace.
2)  Create a folder in xxxProj called "Archive".
3)  Drag the files you are going to replace into "Archive" for
    backup purposes.
4)  Drag all the files in folder "xxx469DUpdate" and its subfolders
    to folder "xxProj" and its subfolders.
5)  Edit ALL of your settings files as follows:
    a)  Back up all of your settings files first into "Archive".
    b)  Open settings file with WordPad (you'll find it in Accessories)
        or some other text editor.
    c)  Search for the following section:
	tfe 
	(Tfe
		.
		.
		.
		name 'Spec Analyzer'
	)
	Delete everything between and including "tfe" and the bottom
	parenthesis.
    d) Search for the following text:	(Recorder
       Change it to:			(FileRecorder
    e) Save the file.
6)  Start up 469D.exe and check the update thoroughly and carefully,
    first with hydraulics off and then at low pressure.  Only when
    you are confident that the update is okay should you try high
    pressure.  Don't check out this update with a specimen attached
    to the table.
7)  If you have any problem whatsoever, note any error messages and
    contact MTS service immediately.  Restore the old files you
    were wise enough to back up in "Archive".

What has been updated?
1)  The feedback generator had a serious instability when the crossover
    frequency was lowered to less than 0.16 Hz.  This has been fixed.
2)  APC and AHC had a bug that could cause startup transients.
3)  The panel for APC has been simplified, and a control to enable or
    disable tracking bandpass filters has been added.  You should leave
    them enabled unless you talk to MTS first.
3)  The Spectrum Analyzer has been improved; the sampling rate can now
    be changed and more FFT sizes have been added.
4)  Delta-p feedbacks are now lowpass filtered for improved stability.
    The cutoff frequency can be changed with a new control in the
    Observers panel (in the "Force observer" section).
5)  The reference generator controls in the Observers panel now activate
    according to which control mode is active (displ, veloc, or accel).
    They also deactivate whenever master span is up, because it was found
    that changing reference generator frequencies while running waveforms
    causes large transient motion.
6)  The control mode can now be changed with hydraulics on.  It is
    highly recommended that you try this feature only if you absolutely
    have to; the recommended way is still to turn off hydraulics and
    restore the appropriate settings file.  However, some customers
    with non-MTS hydraulic power supplies require in some cases up to
    two hours to turn on hydraulics again after shutdown.  This feature
    is for them; if you don't have this problem, don't use this feature!
7)  Converting text files to binary files had a bug if the number of
    channels converted was large.  Fixed.
8)  Switch and Restore buttons in the TVC and Force Balance controller panels
    are activated only when master span is zero.  Restoring gains while running
    a waveform often resulted in large motion transients.
9)  Data Player and Data Recorder error messages have been made more informative.
10) AHC had a bug where harmonic no. 32 would not be turned on even when selected.
    This has been fixed.
11) For customers with multi-table systems:  Servocontrollers have been added to
    average displacement to zero.  This will facilitate testing of specimens that
    bridge multiple tables.
12) In previous versions, calling up the file dialog and not dismissing it would
    cause the watchdog timer to time out after 60 seconds, shutting of hydraulics.
    This happened because the Windows-native file dialog takes all of the processor's
    time, leaving nothing for the 469D.exe program to refresh its watchdog timer.
    This has been fixed by not using the Windows-native file dialog, but rather a
    special file dialog made by MTS.  Be aware, however, that if you select files in
    any other program that uses the Windows-native file dialog, like Excel or Word,
    the watchdog timeout can still occur.
13) For those customers with Matlab, a gui-based program "quake.m" has been
    included in the TimeHistories folder to process earthquake records.
    See below for features list.  For detailed instructions on use, type
    "help quake" in the Matlab command window.
14) Some customers have experienced error messages of the form
    "XXX does not understand YYY" due to a bug in the interprocessor
    communication software. This has been fixed.

% quake.m features:
% 1) Modifies earthquake acceleration records to a form suitable for playing
%    into a seismic shaking table:
%    a) Highpass filters the acceleration record to reduce displacement.
%    b) Resamples the highpassed acceleration record to a sample rate that
%       is L/M of the original rate, where L & M are integers.
%    c) Detrends the highpassed & resampled acceleration record to guarantee
%       that acceleration, velocity, and displacement are all zero at the
%       beginning and end of the earthquake.
% 2) Calculates force, velocity, displacement, and flow requirements for a
%    given earthquake acceleration record to verify whether a seismic
%    shaking table is capable of simulating it.
% 3) Reads and writes earthquake acceleration files in two formats:
%    a) MTS "bin" file format, used in the 469D Data Recorder and Data Player.
%    b) Plain text for importing/exporting data to/from other programs.
