ADtape And Adcon

This document serves as a user manual for two Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) programs, ADTAPE and ADCON, designed for data acquisition and manipulation on a PDP-12A system with 4K core memory and a KW12A clock.

ADTAPE facilitates the sampling and storage of analog data from up to 16 A/D channels at rates up to 1000 points/second. Key features include:

• Real-time display of one or two channels on a scope during sampling.
• Flexible control over sampling initiation and termination using Sense Switches, external levels, clock channels, or predetermined delays/point counts.
• Data storage on LINCtape, with options for saving or not saving data.
• An initialization phase involving a series of interactive messages on the scope to configure experiment parameters, followed by a main section controlling the experiment.
• Different operational modes: Visual (display only), Store (collect and save to tape), and Pause.
• Detailed instructions for initial setup, including mounting tapes and setting hardware switches.
• An appendix outlining the data storage format on tape, organizing data in four-block chunks sectioned by sampled channels.

ADCON processes the segmented data collected by ADTAPE, reorganizing and storing it in contiguous blocks on a formatted LINCtape, categorized by individual channel numbers. It allows users to:

• Select specific A/D channels or all sampled channels for conversion.
• Input parameters via scope messages, similar to ADTAPE, to define the location of the source data and the destination for the contiguous data.
• Be aware of potential restrictions and time considerations if using the same tape unit for both segmented and contiguous data.
• Receive a printout on the Teletype detailing the starting block and number of blocks used for each converted channel.
• Choose to run another job or halt the processor upon completion.