Congratulations! Welcome your computer to the real world. No longer does your computer have to rely on information that was entered from a keyboard. With VOTEM your computer can acquire its own information directly from the outside world. VOTEM is an inexpensive analog interface, providing the missing Link between a computer and the outside world. VOTEM is actually a complete package, consisting of the necessary hardware and software to turn your computer into a voltage and temperature measurement system. However, we will often refer to the hardware module alone as VOTEM throughout the course of this manual.
We have combined several other useful features in the VOTEM package. The low-power, self-contained unit also provides you with two means (audio and visual) of monitoring the signal as you load programs from tape. Also, the tape signal is amplified and conditioned before being sent to the computer, resulting in more reliable program loads. With this feature you should be able to use a lower volume setting on your recorder and perhaps be able to load programs from tapes which previously would not comply Finally, the conditioned input can also be used as a frequency meter input. The software provided enables a 3.25 MHz Sinclair computer to measure pulse rates beyond 30 KHz.
The absolute accuracy of your voltage and temperature measurements will depend on several things, the most important of which is calibration. The calibration is done in software. It is important that you understand how VOTEM works in order to realize its potential. The next section describes the principle of operation. Later we will discuss the necessary software and the calibration procedure.
If you purchased a kit and you are like most people, you will. probably want to get your hands dirty and start soldering components to the circuit board immediately. If you would like, skip the next section for now but do read it before you go on to the calibration section. A thorough understanding of VOTEM’s operation is essential for maximum performance. Also, please read carefully the section BEFORE OPERATING before applying power to VOTEM.
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