Software used with the flux mapper at the solar parabolic dish test site
Software for data archiving and data display was developed for use on a Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) PDP-11/34A minicomputer for use with the JPL-designed flux mapper. The flux mapper is a two-dimensional, high radiant energy scanning device designed to measure radiant flux energies expected at the focal point of solar parabolic dish concentrators. Interfacing to the DEC equipment was accomplished by standard RS-232C serial lines. The design of the software was dicated by design constraints of the flux-mapper controller. Early attemps at data acquisition from the flux-mapper controller were not without difficulty. Time and personnel limitations result in an alternative method of data recording at the test site with subsequent analysis accomplished at a data evaluation location at some later time. Software for plotting was also written to better visualize the flux patterns. Recommendations for future alternative development are discussed. A listing of the programs used in the anaysis is included in an appendix.