Getting Started With VeeCal Software

[Blitzburgh]

Thank you for your recent rental of VeeCal automated metrology software. Here is a provide a brief overview and information on the use and upkeep of these programs.

VeeCal was launched in 2002 using the programming language of HPVEE. Later iterations of the software went to Agilent VEE and then to Keysight VEE where it is today. Current technology resides in the programs running exclusively on a 64 bit system with Microsoft Excel as the data collection portal.

VeeCal is extremely easy to use and was designed from the ground up by actual calibration technicians who worked in the industry on the most popular and time consuming products. Emphasis was placed on affordability and ease of use. Junior technicians were observed when designing programs to see where they ran into difficulty and where VeeCal could help to make it easier. We believe, given the current technicians salaries, anytime you run 3 items a month through your lab, VeeCal will have paid for itself, either in the sale or rental of the laptop. Spectrum analyzers drop from 10 hour cals down to 90 minutes. Network analyzers go from 6 hour cals down to 45 minutes and so on. Everything has been designed to make your lab more efficient and productive.

Getting Started

THE PASSWORD FOR THIS LAPTOP IS 035LC907 (These are ZEROS not O’s) Some laptops do not require a password so do not worry if you are not asked for one.

Your programs are secured by a unique dongle which is attached to the USB port. The programs will not run without this dongle and you will be prompted to attach the dongle before proceeding. ***You will also receive this notice if the rental period has expired.***

Simply install the dongle and relaunch the program. In certain cases it may be necessary to attach the dongle and reboot the system with the dongle attached. Generally speaking, once the system is booted and the dongle is recognized, the dongle can be removed (moving your laptop from one station to another for example) and reinstalled with no interruption of service.

Dongles are NOT interchangeable. Be VERY careful not to mix up the dongles you have in your laboratory. 92 goes with 92, 66 goes with 66 and so on.

Interfacing

Before beginning your first calibration you will need to have a suitable USB to GPIB interface bus connected to your laptop. VeeCal does not provide the interface bus as many laboratories already have many of these on hand. Suitable models from either National Instruments or Keysight are available for purchase online. Once you have installed the GPIB interface, you will also need to make sure you have the latest drivers for the interface. Currently there are 2 main players for VISA instrumentation. If you install a Keysight interface you can simply work with Keysight’s VISA library. If on the other hand you are installing a National Instruments interface, a warning will tell you during installation that there is a conflicting library already loaded (Keysight) and that National Instruments will set theirs to primary and the other to secondary. Just simply accept and continue as it makes no difference to VeeCal.

Verifying Equipment On The Bus

There are 2 programs you can use for equipment verification on the bus. The first (and most popular) is National Instruments NI Max. ***Not all equipment will return a response – especially older models***
The second option for verification is Keysight’s Connection Expert.
Running either of these programs will help you to identify equipment status and addresses. There is no reason to run either of these programs if your program simply launches and runs, but they can be handy when programs are not communicating or to verify proper loading of the VISA libraries.

VeeCal Launcher

On your desktop you will see a small icon for the VeeCal launcher which opens the procedure for your unit under test.
You can select a program by either selecting the manufacturer’s make and model or simply typing in the model and selecting the relevant result. The filter option is our choice for the easiest method as it will return results even quicker and works with “smart choice”. Simply type in the first 3 or 4 digits of the model number and click Filter. The Launcher will return everything that matches. In the screenshot below we typed “345” and hit filter. 4 model numbers returned results for the programs VeeCal has that matches. If you are using a rental laptop all of these programs will launch. If you are working with a program purchase laptop, only the programs you have purchased will run.

***Physical cals MUST select from the type as they are not MFR/MDL specific. i.e. Load cell, caliper, pin gages, etc.***

Running The Program

When you first start your procedure a start panel launches. The 3 buttons are
standard on all procedures.
ENTER – Press and start your program.
F1: Equipment Required – Lists the lab standards necessary along with minimum
specifications.
F2: Other Information – This button will display the test sequence and date of
creation/revision and any other relevant information.
UUT Information panel has 2 fields that must be filled in to continue. First is the
Identification number field and this is typically an asset number for the UUT.
The second is the serial number. The final 2 fields (Customer name and Work
Order Number) and are not required to continue with operation.
The next panel will bring you to the Excel spreadsheet results panel. Here you
can choose whether to run the UUT “As Found” or “As Left”. Choose As Found if
you are running the unit for the first time and recording initial results. Choose
As Left if you are running the unit a 2nd time after a failure, adjustment, or after
repair. ***You do not have to choose As Left ever, but we include it in case you want to present it to your customer showing the Before and After data***
Instrument driver and address panel. VeeCal has over 250 custom instrument drivers created in it’s database. Here you will select the lab standard you want to use and set it’s address accordingly. The address must match the lab standards address but can be any address you want, with the exception of 1 or 2. ***Once you have set these addresses, it will not be necessary to do this again in the future as VeeCal sets a table unique to your standards and will recall these addresses again in the future.***
Test selection begins in the final panel. You can elect to either run the Full Performance Tests or Selected Tests or abort the procedure altogether by stopping the program. If you choose Selected Tests, the program will launch and run only that test(s) that you chose and then return back to this screen. This is especially handy when making adjustments and then verifying the results.

Contacting Us For Tech Support

We strive to be as support friendly as possible. At anytime, you can reach out to us at sales@veecal.com and we will respond as quickly as we can. Alternatively, you can reach us via phone at 417 230 0717. If we need to see your screen and control your computer, please open the preinstalled AnyDesk program on your computer. Once we log in we may ask you to make connections to better assist us in providing you tech support. Depending on the situation we may open Notepad.exe to communicate with you during this time or via telephone.

Conclusion

We sincerely hope you get many years of great use out of our software and it proves to be an invaluable tool to you and your company. We work nonstop continuously developing software that is relevant and easy to use for the marketplace and hope it revolutionizes your laboratory as it has for countless others.
Michael Kugler President VeeCal, LLC
118 Myrtle Lane Branson, MO.
65616