electron plus CTL503 Curve Tracer User Manual
- June 17, 2024
- Electron Plus
Table of Contents
electron plus CTL503 Curve Tracer
Notices
Copyright
© Electron Plus 2022-2024
This manual (or part thereof) may not be reproduced by any means (electronic or photographic, including translation into a foreign language) without prior written consent and agreement from Electron Plus as set-out in United Kingdom and international copyright laws.
Electron Plus is a trading style of BFRAD Limited.
Part number
CTL503_User_Manual.PDF
Issue
24.001, February 2024
Location
The latest version of this document can be found on our website: www.electron.plus/pages/manuals
Published by
- BFRAD Limited (t/a Electron Plus)
- Unit 8 Manor Farm Business Centre
- Manor Lane
- Stutton
- Suffolk
- IP9 2TD
- UK
Hereafter referred to as Electron Plus.
Notes
- We frequently update our manuals and add new features and improvements as they available, please ensure that you check our website for an updated version of this document, especially if updating your Electron Plus software.
- We make every effort to ensure the accuracy of this manual’s contents. If you find any errors, have suggestions for expanding on a feature, or feel that we can improve it’s contents then please contact us at [email protected]
- Copying or reproducing this document or any part of this document without written permission of Electron Plus is strictly prohibited.
Trademark acknowledgement
Electron Plus fully recognises and acknowledges any trademark(s) of the
respective trademark holder.
Windows™ is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
Transzorb™ is a trademark of Vishay General Semiconductor, LLC.
Purpose of manual
The purpose of this manual is to enable you to safely setup, configure and
operate your Electron Plus instrument, associated software and/or
accessories.
Please pay particular attention to any section with a warning symbol.
Safety warnings
Warnings, cautions and notes are colour coded through-out this manual. These are divided into several categories and are described below:
WARNING – Pay special attention to anything written here – this is for your safety and continued protection and is critical information!
CAUTION – Damage may occur to your equipment or any DUT (device under test).
NOTE – General text, with useful information or tips.
Getting Started
System requirements
We recommend at least Windows 7 operating system. CTL is available in both 32
bit and 64 bit from the Electron Plus website.
1x USB 2.0 type A (common) for connection to the instrument, at 0.0A
Screen resolution of at least 1440(W) x 900(H), it will work with others, but you risk some of the CONTROL RIBBON items not being visible.
CTL software uses the PC sound card for various alerts, although it will operate correctly without sound
Technical Note We test EPIC builds mainly on Windows 10/64 bit machines
with 1920×1080 monitors.
We also test regularly on Windows 8 and Windows 11
Getting help
Help is available by email:
[email protected]
If you are experiencing an issue with CTL , please email a copy of the
following files (see below) found in the CTL installation folder along
with a description of the problem.
log.txt
bugreport.txt
This will help us understand your problem and provide a quicker fix.
Introduction
Welcome
Congratulations and thank you for purchasing an Electron Plus product.
Please take a few minutes to read the ‘Before you start’ section of this manual, especially as misusing this product can result in damage to it, your device-under-test or potentially place you in-danger.
Before you start
Please ensure you use the power supply adaptor supplied. It is important that
this device is powered with 11.75 to 12.5V, damage may occur if you exceed
12.5V.
Do not over-tighten the RED/BLUE/BLACK terminal post connections. You won’t
end up with better curves and you will risk damaging the instrument.
If you wish to make a permanent safety connection to EARTH read Earthing for
function and safety section.
Like most ‘old-style’ curve tracers, the CTL503 is capable of generating
voltages in excess of 100V, users are expected to be fully aware of the risks
posed by these higher voltages and the precautions and procedures required to
maintain the safety of personal operating the instrument and those nearby.
! If the red light is lit on the CTL503, assume there could be high
voltages present and act accordingly !
New in Software
SPA software is specifically for the Electron Plus range of curve
tracers, this takes over from the earlier EPIC software suite.
Please contact us if you would like copies of previous software versions.
V24.001 Bug fixes
V23.003 View previous sweeps. Major re-write of graphics handling module.
Control ribbon changes. Bug fixes. Flicker amelioration.
V23.002 Bug fixes and some control ribbon changes.
V23.001 Re-write of graphics handling module. Changes to control ribbon.
Addition of CSV/PNG automatic exporting features. Bug fixes.
V22.001 ASA functions have been split out from EPIC (see ASA22 software)
Bug fixes
V21.012 Bug fixes ASA – addition of manual mode
V21.011 Bug fixes
CTL503 – Vgs vs Id (at fixed Vds) mode added
CTL503 – updates to status display
CTL503 – removal of DEVTEST button/function.
V21.010 Bug fixes Addition of version compiled for 32 bit systems CTL503
added to EPIC
ASA200/240 – addition of SIGNAL/COMMON to EDIT page
V21.009 Bug fixes
SPA100 added to EPIC
REF50X added to EPIC
V21.008 Bug fixes
Installation sequence
Please install the CTL software and the associated USB driver software
BEFORE connecting your device to a computer.
You do not need to remove a previous copy of CTL , the new copy will
overwrite the necessary existing file(s). The “settings.txt” file will only be
created if it is not present.
When CTL is first started, it will build a number of files (unless they
are already there from a previous installation) in the installation directory.
If upgrading from EPIC please be aware that the new program EXE is called
after the version number (e.g. CTL24001_32.EXE or CTL24001_64.EXE) and that
previous shortcuts will not work or may link to the previous version.
Installing the Software
Electron Plus products require a USB connection to a PC running EPIC (our
proprietary software) in order to function.
CTL now comes in two compiled versions:
CTL24001_64 – for 64 bit Windows installations & PC’s (we recommend
this).
CTL24001_32 – for 32 bit legacy Windows machines.
You can download the latest copy of CTL for free from
www.electron.plus/pages/software,
CTL is being constantly revised with new features, updates and bug fixes.
- Select which variant you wish to use go ahead and download it (typically by double-clicking on the ZIP file named something like: Install_CTL24001_64.ZIP)
- Open the downloaded file (typically Windows will recognise the ZIP format and open the file and display the contents like a folder), double click the EXE file – typically called Install_CTL24001_64.exe)
- Follow the on screen instructions to complete the installation.
Before starting CTL , we recommend installing any USB drivers, see next section for details.
This manual MAY NOT represent the most up-to-date features and screen-shots, if something is unclear, please contact [email protected] and we will promptly try to assist you.
Installing the USB driver
The product covered in this document communicates with the host PC via USB
using an WCH CH340 bridge IC.
A copy of the official WCH device driver is available from the SOFTWARE
section of our website
www.electron.plus/pages/software,
device drivers can also be downloaded directly from WCH’s website (www.wch-
ic.com/downloads/category/30.html). The driver we use with Windows machines
is: CH341SER and is available as .EXE or a .ZIP
Earthing for function and safety
For functional and/or safety reasons you may wish to EARTH the casing of your
Electron Plus instrument. This is not necessary under most normal
operating conditions.
In this case, we recommend loosening (and re-tightening) the M3 stainless
steel chassis screw (2mm HEX drive) and fitting an earthing wire using either
ring terminal or spade terminal.
If in doubt please contact Electron Plus for further details.
Caution
USB 0V, rear panel, front panel, casing and any external power supply 0V
are all the same potential and connected via low impedances (PCB, metalwork,
etc.) – Avoid creating ‘ground loops’ with your setup!
Note
Some earlier production CTL503 units may have a TORX T10 headed stainless
steel earthing screw fitted instead of the 2mm HEX drive type. If you would
like a 2mm HEX drive screw (our part# SCREW014), please contact the factory
and we will supply one free-of-charge.
Theory of Operation
Operation
Selecting Instrument
When CTL is first installed it will initially start in CTL 503 mode.
To change this:
INSTRUMENT > CHANGE INSTRUMENT and select the actual instrument you wish
to use, you will then have to close and reopen CTL for this to take
effect.
Technical Note
Variable used in settings.txt: Active Instrument=CTL503
Selecting Serial COM Port
To connect to the instrument you will need to select a COM port:
INSTRUMENT > SELECT COM PORT
then this pop-up window will appear:
Follow the on-screen prompts in sequence (for either ‘Method 1’ or ‘Method 2’)
to find and select the appropriate COM port and save your selection. When you
have finished, either close the pop-up window or click the main window (the
pop-up will close automatically).
Technical Note
Each Electron Plus instrument type that uses a COM serial port has it’s
own entry in “settings.txt”, e.g. CTL_ComPort=3
Connecting instrument
o connect to the instrument you can use the options in the MENU or the button
on the CONTROL RIBBON.
INSTRUMENT > CONNECT to connect, or DISCONNECT to disconnect.
An error message will be displayed if EPIC cannot open a serial port to the instrument – this can be caused by the following:
- Not having the serial port driver installed or
- Wrong (or no) serial port COM number being selected or
- No instrument attached or powered on.
Ensure the correct driver is installed, the correct COM port is selected (Selecting Serial COM Port section)
Check for updates
Once per day CTL will check if there is a newer version available. This
feature maybe disabled or re-enabled here:
UTILITIES > DAILY UPDATE CHECK
Tick will enable EPIC to perform the daily update check, unticking will
prevent EPIC from performing the daily update check.
Technical Note
In “settings.txt”: CheckWebsiteForUpdate=1 or 0 determines if this function is
enabled/disabled. DateOfLastUpdateCheck=04/11/2021 is self-explanatory.
If function is enabled and date <> today a small file called “version.txt” is
downloaded from “http://www.electron.plus/wpcontent/”. This contains the
current revision of EPIC also the current revision for each product where a
change/update has been made
Calibration loading
When the CTL503 is first connected during an CTL session it will automatically download all the necessary calibration coefficients. This happens in the ‘background’ and the user need not think about it.
The status of the background download from the CTL503 is displayed in the Status window (seen below).
If a particular CTL503 has not been used with a particular installation of
CTL, then the calibration download must complete before accurate results can
be obtained.
Technical Note
EPIC will wait for two copies of the calibration file to download before
comparing them with each other and the existing copy of “CTL_cal.txt” in the
EPIC folder, if both downloaded copies are identical and there is a
discrepancy with “CTL_cal.txt” EPIC will overwrite “CTL_cal.txt” with the new
data and then check it again.
Base Clamping
Base clamping blurb here.
Control Ribbon
The following sections are descriptions of Instrument Status, Signature Generator, Test Controls and Edit Controls and their functions
Menu Bar
Technical
CSV File Format
At the end of each run there is a CSV file created with the results of the
run.
This is used primarily as a store of information for graph creation in the
software but may also be used by the operator for their own purposes.
Fields are separated by commas and at the end of each line is a carriage
return/new line. The first line contains the headings for each of the columns.
These are:
Step – the step number of the sweep (0 to 12)
Entry – the entry in that particular step (0 to 1000 typically)
Entries – total number of entries for that step
VR – voltage , in volts
VB – base voltage, in volts
VC – collector voltage, in volts
IR – current, in amps
IB – base current, in amps
IC – collector current, in amps
TIB – theoretical base current (what current the base generator is
commanding), in amps
TVB – theoretical base voltage (what voltage the base generator is
commanding), in volts
BGmode – I or V (current or voltage mode)
VCmax – maximum allowable voltage, in volts
VCres – collector resistor setting
ICmax – maximum allowable current, in amps
IB step – step size [current mode], in amps
IB offset – offset [current mode], in amps
VB step – step size [voltage mode], in volts
VB offset – offset [voltage mode], in volts
Step Qty – number of steps in the run
Cpul se – collector pulse length approximate, in us (microseconds),
normally 0, 80 or 300
BGpulse – base/gate pulse length approximate, in us (microseconds),
normally 0, 80 or 300
SampleRate – sampling rate of the system, in Hz
Base Clamp – Clamp On Idle or No Clamp, see Base Clamping section
GraphType – self explanatory
Notes1 – unused at present
Notes2 – unused at present
In future we may add more fields to the CSV output, so please check this section in future manuals if you are doing something with the data stored in the CSV.
Customer Support
