WinDaq™ Direct Acquisition Manual

Welcome to the web-based Data Acquisition portal for DATAQ instruments. This guide will help you connect your hardware, configure channels, apply math, and log data securely and locally on your own machine.

Prerequisite: Enable Universal CDC Mode

Before using the WinDaq™ Direct Acquisition portal, your device must be set to Universal CDC Mode so the browser can communicate with it.

1. Plug the device into your computer's USB port. If your Mac pops up an info box asking for permission to use it, answer YES (Mac may display a second pop-up when Browser is opened for the first time)
2. Observe the status LED on the device:
   • 🟡 Blinking Yellow: Stop! You are already in Universal CDC mode. You are ready to connect.
   • 🟢 Blinking Green: The device is in standard Windows WinDaq (LibUSB) mode and needs to be switched.
3. To switch modes for DI-1100, DI-2108, DI-2108P, DI-2160, DI-4108-E/M, DI-4208-E/M, DI-4718B-E, and DI-4730: Cycle the power to the instrument. Once the LED turns green, push and hold the button (the LED will turn white) until the LED turns red. Release the button, and it should turn to blinking yellow to indicate it is in Universal mode.
4. To switch modes for DI-2008: Cycle the power to the instrument. Once the LED turns green, push and release the button five times, and it should turn to blinking yellow to indicate it is in Universal mode.

1. Connecting to the Hardware

Click the Connect Device button. Your browser will prompt you to select a hardware port. WinDaq Direct looks for a device matching the DATAQ hardware signatures (it may be labeled "Generic Bulk Device" depending on your OS) and display it in the pop up. Select it and click Connect.

2. Channel Configuration & Display

The configuration table will automatically adapt its settings based on the exact hardware model connected.

• Analog Channels: Can be configured as Voltage inputs or Thermocouple inputs depending on hardware support.
• Report Method (Analog Only): Determines how data is reduced within the decimation window. Options include Last Point, Digital Filter, Maximum, and Minimum. (Note: The DI-188 is hardware-locked to the Last Point report method).
• DI-4718 & 8B Modules: The DI-4718 requires 8B signal conditioning modules. The Range dropdown automatically populates with all 84 supported 8B modules. Selecting a module automatically fills in the appropriate scaling limits.
• DI-2160 Specifics: The DI-2160 features up to 8 strictly digital channels. When connected, scaling options are disabled, and the report dropdown changes to support the native State, Event, Count, and AC Count modes. For State and Event, conversion fields are fully disabled as the full scale is locked from 0 to 1.
• Digital Channels: Where supported, CH9 reads Discrete input states, CH10 acts as a continuous Counter, and CH11 calculates Frequency Rate (Hz).
• Linear Scaling (ax+b): If using Voltage, you can map raw voltages directly to Engineering Units. Enter your known low point (V1 ➔ E1) and high point (V2 ➔ E2). The portal will automatically calculate the slope and apply it in real-time.
• Visibility Legend: During a scan, a legend containing checkboxes appears below the chart. Uncheck any channel to instantly hide it from the display without stopping the background data recording.
• CJC Cal: For DI-2008, you can use this to calibrate the CJC compensation for more accurate thermocouple readings.

3. The Math Channel (M1)

You can create a virtual channel that computes data in real-time using standard JavaScript arithmetic. Use the channel numbers CH1 through CH11 as variables.

Standard Math Examples:

Advanced Signal Analysis Functions:
The math compiler can evaluate waveforms by searching the history buffer for cycle events. It defaults to an auto-calculated midpoint threshold, or you can supply an absolute threshold as the second variable.

Scientific Math Functions: You can also use standard Javascript Math operations (case-sensitive). You do not need to type "Math.", just use the function name directly:

Complex Combination Example: abs(CH1(T) - CH2(T)) * sqrt(CH3)

4. Target Sample Rate

Enter your desired total throughput frequency (Hz/channel). The portal will iterate through your hardware's internal constraints to find the mathematical configuration that gets you as close to your target as physically possible.

5. Trigger Sweep & Analytics

By default, the waveform chart scrolls continuously like a chart recorder. Enabling Trigger Sweep changes the display into a digital storage oscilloscope. The chart will freeze and only update when a specific signal condition is met.

• Source: Select which active physical or math channel the trigger should monitor.
• Edge: Choose whether the event triggers when the signal climbs above the threshold (Rising ↑) or falls below it (Falling ↓).
• Lvl (Threshold): The specific engineering value the signal must cross to activate the trigger.
• Position Marker (Pre/Post Trigger): Determines where the trigger event is placed on your screen horizontally. A thick red vertical line will appear on the chart. Click and drag it left or right to set the capture position (e.g., setting it at 10% means 10% of the screen will show historical data from before the event, and 90% of the screen will capture data occurring after the event).
• Log Trigger Frames Only: By checking this box, CSV recording changes from continuous streaming to transient capture. Clicking Record will sit and wait, and it will only write data to the disk when the specific trigger condition is met (capturing only the 1024-point pre/post data frame frozen on your screen). A timestamp marker is injected into the CSV for every captured event to keep your files organized.

Interactive Analytics Tools

Note: The XY Plot, FFT, and DIO tools are not applicable to and are hidden when the DI-2160 is connected.

• XY Plot: Click the XY Plot button to open a live Lissajous figure. Use the X: and Y: dropdowns in the toolbar to choose which two channels to plot against each other — any combination of analog, digital, or math channels is supported. A red crosshair tracks the newest data point in real-time, and the Swap button exchanges the X and Y selections instantly.
• Live FFT: Click the FFT button to open a live 1024-point Fast Fourier Transform spectrum analyzer (with a Hanning window applied) for any selected channel. Click and drag across the FFT plot to read the exact frequency (Hz) and power magnitude (dB) at the crosshair location.
• Digital I/O Control (DIO): For compatible devices, a DIO button will appear. Configure ports as Inputs or Outputs. You can toggle outputs manually, or enter a math condition (e.g., CH1*CH2>3) to automatically control the output. Conditional states are evaluated at a maximum rate of 50Hz to respect hardware limits.

6. Data Logging to CSV (.csv) or WinDaq (.wdh)

1. Click Record and specify the name and location for your CSV or WDH file on your PC, then click Start to begin recording.
2. Pausing & Resuming: During an active recording, the button turns into a Pause button. You can temporarily suspend recording by clicking it. Whenever you resume, a timestamp marker is automatically injected into the file (e.g., # --- Resumed at 2026-05-14T13:27:31.468Z --- in CSV, or a timestamped event marker in WDH) so your analysis tools know a time-gap occurred.
3. Insert Event: Inserts a user-defined event marker into the data stream, with or without a comment text. In WDH files, event markers are stored in the binary event trailer and appear as annotations in WinDaq Playback.
4. WDH Format Notes: WDH files are fully compatible with desktop WinDaq Playback software. The file header stores the recording start time and channel calibration. Each event marker carries an elapsed-seconds timestamp so WinDaq Playback displays the correct wall-clock time at the annotated point in the data.
5. When finished, click Close File to safely seal the document.

7. Automated Stream Recovery

WinDaq Direct continuously monitors the live data stream and can recover from two types of interruptions without any user action:

• Buffer Overflow (Soft Restart): If the browser's internal receive queue fills up faster than data can be processed (typically at very high sample rates), the portal automatically sends a stop command to the instrument, flushes the stale backlog, and re-sends the full configuration sequence. Recovery normally completes in under two seconds.
• Hardware Timeout (Hard Reset): If no data is received for more than two seconds — for example after a USB glitch or momentary power interruption — the watchdog timer closes and re-opens the serial port, then fully reconfigures the instrument. This process takes approximately three to five seconds.

Recovery Banner: Whenever either recovery path is active, an amber overlay banner appears centered on the waveform chart describing the current recovery stage (e.g., "Gap detected — restarting instrument…" or "Port re-opened — reconfiguring instrument…"). The banner disappears automatically once streaming resumes. No data is lost from what was already written to disk.

Gap Event Markers: If a recording is active when a recovery completes, a "Recording Resumed" event marker with a precise timestamp is automatically inserted into the file — a comment line in CSV, or a timestamped binary event entry in WDH — so any subsequent analysis correctly accounts for the gap in the data.

8. Saving & Loading Configurations

Because the portal writes all of your setup rules (enabled channels, voltage scales, TC types, filters, and math equations) directly into the top of the CSV file, your data files act as configuration templates!

Click Load Config from Reference CSV and select an older log file. The portal will parse the headers and perfectly recreate your exact hardware setup automatically.

9. Automated Test Sequencer (Advanced)

The Test Sequencer allows you to build powerful, automated state-machine logic to control data logging, digital outputs, and test durations without writing any code. Click the ⚙️ Sequencer button at the top of the screen next to the Start/Stop controls.

Clicking the Sequencer button opens a dual-tabbed interface:

• Sequence Editor: A visual drag-and-drop-style builder where you construct your logic flowchart.
  • Sequence Initialization: Defines actions (like presetting a specific DIO state) that execute exactly once the moment the physical "Start" button is clicked and the hardware begins scanning.
  • Conditions (IF): Evaluates expressions using the exact same powerful syntax as the Math Channel (e.g., CH1*CH2 > 200 or FREQ(CH1) > 60), with additional advanced temporal functions:
    • Time-of-Day Triggers: TIME_AFTER(h, m, [s]) triggers after a specific time, and TIME_EXACT(h, m) triggers only during that specific minute (24-hour format).
    • Stateful Duration: DURATION(expr, sec) triggers only if the expression remains continuously true for the specified number of seconds (e.g., DURATION(CH1 > 5, 1200)).
    • Event Counting: COUNT(expr) >= num increments an internal counter each time the expression crosses from false to true, and triggers when the specified count is reached.
  • Actions (THEN): What happens when your conditions are met. Available actions include:
    • Resume/Pause Log: Automatically starts and stops saving data to disk without human intervention.
    • Set DIO Bit: Forces a specific digital pin (D0-D6) to Output mode and drives it High (1) or Low (0). (Note: Whole-port DIO setting is also supported in the backend.)
    • Event Marker: Automatically injects a custom text message directly into your CSV file at that exact timestamp.
    • Show / Clear Message: Displays a large, high-visibility warning or informational text banner in the center of the screen to alert the operator. The message remains until manually dismissed or programmatically removed using the Clear Message action.
    • Delay Timer: Freezes the sequencer on the current step for X seconds before jumping to the next step. Perfect for cooldown periods or timed soak tests.
  • Next Step Jump: Defines which logical step the sequence moves to next. You can loop back to previous steps, or select "Stop Sequence" to end the automation.
• Run / Status Tab: Displays the currently active step and allows you to manually halt the sequence. You can also quickly load pre-saved sequences here.
• Export / Load JSON: After building a sequence, use the Export button to save it as a lightweight .json file. This allows you to share automated testing profiles with colleagues or load them instantly for future tests.