Copyright: Copyright ©1997 Marcel Veldhuijzen


Contents

BIP Electronics Lab Sine Wave Generator - 3.0

BIP FreeWare Fun - Wellerlooi, The Netherlands

bikkel@via.nl

http://www.via.nl/users/bikkel

Getting Started

How to set up the software?

How to set up the hardware?

Generator Controls

Frequency

Level and Mute

Sweep Controls

Max

Min

On/Off

The BIP Sine Wave Generator is a member of the BIP Labs 3.0 series which includes a spectrum analyzer, a frequency counter, a function generator, an oscilloscope and more to come. All BIP Electronics Lab software make use of standard PC hardware (already in the PC) and are free of charge available through the Internet.

The BIP Sine Wave Generator uses the sound card's output as sine wave output. A built in sweep algorithm is used by audio hackers to measure frequency repsonses of their amplifiers.The generator has the following properties:

Sampling frequency:

The oscillator automatically uses the highest sample frequency available at the output that you select (usually maximal 44 kHz but people with 22 kHz max. also use the generator without any problems).

Ounput impedance:

The same as the output impedance of your sound card. Normally the output of a sound card is very low (which is good) in order to be able to connect a speaker (which is not needed for this application).

Accuracy:

The generator uses 8-bit samples to generate the sine wave signal. The sine wave is created using a secret algorithm which makes use of special floating point instructions of your microprocessor.

It does not make sense to compare the oscillator with commercially available products with better specs. BIP Labs Software is meant for the amateur that wants to experiment a little with an electronics measuring device before buying heavy expensive equipment.


How to set up the software

Install the software in a separate directory. This directory should at least contain the executable file sine.exe and this help file sine.hlp. After you have started the software you should also see a file sine.cfg in the installation directory.

To uninstall the software simply delete all files from the installation directory. The Sine Wave Generator does not make use of files in the windows- or other system directories, nor from the Registry Database of 32-bits operating systems.


How to set up the hardware

Create a home made measuring cable that fits in the output of your sound card that you wish to use as sine wave output. Use a shielded, mono cable and connect the device that you want to inject with a signal directly to this cable. Use either the right or the left channel output if you have a stereo card.

If you wish to hear the output signal you may also connect a loud-speaker parallel to the output. Some sound cards behave better when a speaker is connected, other cards produce less better sine waves when a speaker is connected: you'll have to experiment a bit.

When your sound card allows you to open both the input and the output simultaneously you can connect the BIP Digital Oscilloscope to the Sine Wave Generator's output to check the quality of the produced sine waves.


On/Off
On/Off turns the sweep on or off. Note that for

strange settings like an output frequency of

100Hz with a minimal sweep frequency (set at

Min) of more than 100 Hz the output is off for

"frequencies" below 0Hz.


Min
The minimal output frequency is equal to the

displayed frequency at output minus the value shown at

Min.


Max
The maximum output frequency is equal to the

displayed frequency at output plus the value shown at

Max.


Level
Use the Level knob to adjust the output level

of the Generator. A level of 0 produces no sine

wave. Press the Mute knob to stop the Generator

and to give the sound card output free for other

applications.


Frequency
To adjust the output frequency of the Sine Wave Generator

turn the frequency knob until the wanted frequency is shown

in the yellow display.

Using the +/- buttons you can fine tune the frequency.


Output Channel

Choose Options, Output Channel to open the Output Channel dialog.

Select the sound card output of your choice that will be used as sine wave output. If no sound cards are listed then you can not use the Sine Wave Generator on your PC.