Greg Ordy
This page describes the Exeter revision history. You may find it helpful in determining if a fresh download is in order.
The software version number consists of a major and minor version number, in the form of major.minor, 5.8, for example. This would be major version 5, minor version 8. In general, a change in minor version number is associated with relatively smaller program changes that have the property that all existing registry and file data will by compatible with other minor versions in the same major version. The major version changes when it is no longer desirable or possible to reuse all existing information. In this case, the new major version install program will perform a conversion so that the upgrade looks and feels like the older version, to the greatest extent possible.
Most users will find that each newer version, without consideration of changes in major or minor numbering, is subjectively better than the older version, and downloading the newer version is always a good idea. A higher version number is indeed better. In some cases, changes made across major versions may cause a user to actually prefer an older version. For this reason, the highest released minor version number of each major version number may be available for downloading. Within a major version, however, only the most recent minor version will be available.
The history information listed below details the changes made to a program. This will include bug fixes and feature enhancements. By examining the table, you can determine if a certain version will be of value to you.
| Version | Maj. | Min. | Date | Description |
| 1.09 | 1 | 9 | Apr. 12, 2005 | Initial release from this web site. |
| 1.10 | 1 | 10 | Apr. 19, 2005 | Added a DDS reset in the first measurement attempt after a VNA error. This helps recover from a loss of VNA power, which breaks the required DDS synchronization. Changed the detection threshold for the VNA unplugged error. In some cases, at high conversion rates, the error would be generated due to the nature of the data flying off of the ADC. |
| 1.11 | 1 | 11 | Apr. 19, 2005 | Added data set cloning, where the data captured in one tool can be shared with other tools. |
| 1.12 | 1 | 12 | Apr. 20, 2005 | Enabled the VNA Reset command on the main dialog window. Each measurement sweep also will begin with a reset. This should reduce the sensitivity to hardware power interruption. Also added the ability to edit data set names in the Trace Manager treeview control. Only the names of data sets captured by the particular tool can be edited. |
| 1.13 | 1 | 13 | Apr. 22, 2005 | Fixed a bug which made the 0x3BC parallel port address unusable. The address made it into the Calibration File, but was mangled while being read from the file. The other two predefined addresses did not have a problem. |
| 1.14 | 1 | 14 | Apr. 28, 2005 | Changed the trace and axis thickness on the Smith Chart to make it more like the rectangular graph. Added a Graph Properties dialog for the Smith Chart that includes a title, legend, and SWR reference circles. Fixed some bugs related to printing. |
| 1.15 | 1 | 15 | Apr. 29, 2005 | Did some tinkering with the Smith Chart trace thickness which was first changed in 1.14. Fixed a bug in the Perform Tool-Specific Dynamic Calibration function. The dynamic calibration was not being reused in some cases where it should have been. |
| 1.16 | 1 | 16 | May 11, 2005 | Added an Always on Top command to the main dialog window. Added Save and Save All commands to the Reflection and Transmission Tools. These only apply to captured data sets, not those loaded from files. The default names of new tools now includes a tool suffix letter if there is more than one tool of that type. This helps keep the multiple tool instance case straight without forcing the user to name tools. Also fixed a bug that showed up when using the New configuration command. Strange, mysterious, and usually undesirable results could happen in certain sequences of using New. |
| 1.17 | 1 | 17 | Aug. 12, 2005 | Exeter was not changed, but a bug in VNAccess.dll was fixed. This bug impacted (Ok, broke) the OZ ADC conversion rate control. Although it is possible to simply download a new VNAcess.dll and replace the one in the Exeter program folder, most users will simply want to download a new Exeter to fix the problem. |
| 1.18 | 1 | 18 | Sept. 10, 2005 | First support for two detectors. The support is basic, in that you can select a detector in a Calibration File, and then all tools in the Configuration will use it. |
| 1.19 | 1 | 19 | Sept. 14, 2005 | Fixed bugs in version 1.18. |
| 1.20 | 1 | 20 | Dec. 25, 2005 | Fixed a bug in the processing of the residual/parasitic parameters on the OSL standards. The specification of these parameters, especially a load resistance other than 50 Ohms, would be incorporated incorrectly. |
| 1.23 | 1 | 23 | Dec 3, 2010 | Fixed a bug on the dialog used to capture reflection data. This concerned the display of data before clicking the OK button. Added supported for the GCSV file format used by the LBDXView program. The exporting of reflection data has been added. Added the Copy Data Set with new Zo and the Compute Derived Data Set dialogs and companion functionality. |