ECE 3424 Software
Downloading, Purchasing, and Registering DSSF3 Light
DSSF3 Light software, available online from Yoshimasa Electronic, uses the
sound circuitry of your computer to let it function, in real time, as a signal
generator, an oscilloscope, and a spectrum (FFT) analyzer in the audio
frequency range. This Realime Analyzer software, required for hardware
homework projects in the MSU ECE sequence of courses on electronic circuits,
is a small part of the Acoustic Analyzing System 5E software package used for
acoustic engineering. Indeed, Realtime Analyzer will appear on the Start menu of
your computer as an item under Acoustic Analyzing System 5E after installation.
To receive the discounted price of $75 (instead of $83) available to MSU ECE
students, follow carefully the instructions provided to us by Yoshimasa Electronic
in the document How to download, purchase, and register DSSF3 Light.
Installing OrCAD PSpice®
For this course, you will need to install on your laptop the free demonstration
version of either OrCAD PSpice® 9.2 or 10.0, which both use the Capture
schematic capture software. PSpice versions 9.1 and earlier use Schematics
schematics capture software, which is not acceptable for our purposes.
The CD-ROM included with the (free) text by Tront contains installation files for
demonstration version of OrCAD PSpice 9.2. To install, just follow the directions
in the Preface.
A demonstration version of OrCAD PSpice 10.0, the latest version, is available
from a local server for downloading, if you prefer. You can begin to install OrCAD
PSpice 10.0 on your computer by clicking on this link and then saving the file
OrCAD_Demo_121903.zip (174 MB) in a special temporary folder, C:\temp, that
you create on your hard disk as a home for this file and others that will be
created during the installation process. Because the file is large, transferring it to
your hard disk may take several minutes.
After you have saved the file in it, open the folder C:\temp and double-click on
the file OrCAD_Demo_121903.zip. In the resulting WinZip window, Extract the
contents of OrCAD_Demo_121903.zip into the folder into which you downloaded
it, that is, C:\temp. This action will produce a bunch of files in the directory you
specified. Now close WinZip. In the folder C:\temp, locate the file setup.exe (105
KB). Double-click on this file to begin the last stage of the installation process.
Follow the instructions. The simplest approach is to accept all of the default
suggestions during the installation.
After the installation process is complete, you can select and delete the folder
C:\temp and all of the installation files it contains by clicking on the folder to
select it and then pressing the Delete key. To reclaim all of the space on your
hard drive, however, you will need to empty the Recycle Bin on your desktop.
Alternatively, you can download the latest version of OrCAD Demo Software
directly from the OrCAD site.
Software for Producing ZIP Files
With Windows XP, you can produce zip files by right-clicking on the icon or listing
of a file and then selecting the "Send to" item. Alternatively, you can use ZIP
utility software such as WinZip. You can download and install a free 21-day
evaluation version, although the regular version offers several advantages for the
modest price of $29.
Downloading and Running the Short Course on Digital Audio
Download the file a Shortcourse on Digital Audio (4,466 KB executable file) into a
convenient directory and, because it is an executable file, you can run it, without
further installation, to view the tutorial.
Downloading and Installing Cool Edit
A few homework projects will require Cool Edit 96 software, an audio signal
generator and editor that you can download (2,128 KB) and install. Although Cool
Edit is no longer offered for sale, this free demonstration version offers all the
functionality we need for this course and is simpler to use (and of course
cheaper) than contemporary digital audio editors, most of which now provide
many more features than we need.
Installing Microsoft Equation Editor
Although the Microsoft Equation Editor comes as a part of Microsoft Office, the
original installation on your particular laptop may not have included it. If Microsoft
Equation does not appear on the list of objects that you can insert into a
Microsoft Word file, you can add it to your installation. You will need your
Microsoft Office CD-ROM.
To begin the installation process, open the Control Panel on your laptop and click
on the Add or Remove Programs icon. From the list of software currently
installed on your computer that results, click Microsoft Office and then click on
the Change button. From the ensuing dialog box, click on the Add or Remove
Features button and then drop down the list of Office Tools. From the list of
features under Office Tools, click on the down-pointing arrow beside Equation
Editor and select Run on My Computer. Then, click on the Update Now button at
the bottom of the dialog box, insert the Microsoft Office CD-ROM as directed,
and complete the installation. Microsoft Equation now should appear in the list of
objects that you can choose to insert in a Microsoft Word document.
For tips on using the Equation Editor, see
http://spot.pcc.edu/~ssimonds/thisandthat/msword.htm.