Validation and Report Templates
Validation Procedure
• Each student must come to the Open Electronics
Laboratory (OpEL), Room 219 or 222 Whittemore Hall
during GTA office hours and validate their experiment
before the deadline – 8pm on Wednesdays.
• The schedule for the GTAs is posted at www.opel.ece.vt.edu.
• Log into the OpEL website to join the queue.
• During the validation, the TA will ask the student to perform a
validation procedure.
• Instructions for the validations with the minimum set of
measurements that you will be asked to perform are posted on
• No late validations will be accepted without excused
absence from the Dean of Students Office.
– A zero will be given for the particular experiment (pre-lab,
validation, and post-validation report) if the validation is not
completed by the deadline.
How the queue really works…
•
•
•
•
When you are in the lab and ready to
validate (or ask a question), log into
the queue manager on the OpEL web
page and enter the required
information.
When your name reaches the top,
the GTA will call for you.
Have your Hokie Card with you as the
GTAs will use it when entering your
grade into the computer.
If you are still waiting for a validation
after the Validation deadline, but you
signed up before the deadline, you
are still late! We strongly encourage
you to get the validations done early.
3
Scholar Modules
Instructions
• States if there are any changes to the Experimental
Procedure in the lab manual.
• Identifies which worksheets from the Report Template
must be uploaded for the Pre-Lab Report.
– The entire Report Template include the completed worksheets
from the Pre-Lab Report should be uploaded as the PostValidation Report.
• Provides information on the Validation:
– What equipment should be brought to the OpEL.
– What circuit the GTAs will expect you to have on your ANDY
board.
– What measurements you should expect to have to perform.
– What the grading rubric for the validation is.
Week 2
Experiments 1 and 3:
Breadboard Basics and Ohm’s Law
Experiment 1
Breadboard Basics
ANDY board
Experiment 3
Ohm’s Law
ANDY board
ANDY board
ANDY board
+5V
+9V
GND
- 9V
Schematic
Construction
PSpice
• The download site and installation instructions are posted
on the ECE 2074 Scholar site.
• Please install both Schematics and Capture if you decide to
install PSpice Version 9.1 (which I strongly encourage you to do).
• Example circuits for Version 9.1 or 10 are posted on
Resources/Technical Support: Circuit Simulation
• Find the appropriate folder and download either Example1.sch
(Schematics) or Example1.zip (Capture)
• For Version 16
– http://filebox.vt.edu/users/kameehan/pspice
• Download Examples.zip
• Extract the folders and files from the zipped files
• Follow instructions posted on Scholar to verify that the installation is
correct if you are using PSpice versions 9.1 or 10
– See me if you plan to use Version 16.2 or Cadence Virtuoso.
Bias Point Calculations:
PSpice Schematics Version 9.1
After Launching Schematics
Select Draw/Get New Part, which will cause
a pop-up window to open with a list of all of
the parts available in the student version of
Schematics.
- Note that there is a key stroke shortcut .
Pick a Part
Type the name of the part in the
box located by Part Name or
Scroll through the list of parts and
click on the name of the one that
you want put into the circuit.
Then, click Place if you have more
parts to select or Place and Close
if this is the last part.
If You Know the Name of Your Part
You can type it in directly into the box below the Toolbar
Help and then hit Enter.
– Either way, a symbol for a dc battery will appear on
the schematic when you move your cursor on to it.
• Left Click to place the part in a specific location on the
schematic.
• Right Click to end the process of placing the part Vdc.
Names of Components
Component
PSpice Name
Component
PSpice Name
DC voltage supply
Vdc
Resistor
R
DC current supply
Idc
Capacitor
C
Ground
gnd_earth
Inductor
L
Connect Parts
Click on the pencil.
Then click the pencil tip to one
end of a part and then to the
end of another part to place a
wire between them..
Save Your Schematic
• PSpice will not run a simulation unless your
circuit is saved.
– You can select any directory in which to save the
.sch file.
• Note: You can send the .sch file to the PSpice GTA or to
me if you need assistance finding errors that prevent
the simulation from running.
Select Type of Simulation
• Click on Analysis/Setup or the
button.
– Bias Point Detail should be clicked. If not, do so.
Run the Simulation
• Click Analysis/Simulate or click on the
A pop-up window should
open, text should scroll by in
the bottom left box. After
“Simulation complete” is
printed, the run is finished.
button.
To Display DC Values
• Click on Analysis/Display Results on Schematic
and enable the voltage and/or current display.
Comment on Analysis
• Note that the calculation performed by PSpice
Schematics is a nodal analysis. The voltage
dropped across a component is the difference
between node voltages.