PQView 3.65.1 is available for download.  We completed nearly one hundred changes to PQView in upgrading from version 3.64.0 to 3.65.1.  Here are some highlights: 

• PQView Launcher: A shortcut to a new application now appears rather than the traditional shortcuts to the Power Quality Data Manager and the Power Quality Data Analyzer.  PQView Launcher allows you to use PQView without having write permission to the “Program Files” folder where PQView is usually installed, which provides better compatibility with Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows 7.  It also allows you to have more than one PQView application open at a time.  For example, you could have three instances of PQDA open at one time, each connected to a different PQView database.  PQView Launcher can be used to “trust” folders when using Microsoft Access 2007 or Access 2010; a database in a trusted folder can be opened without any warning messages from Microsoft Access.
• PQView Agent was upgraded to work on Microsoft Windows 2003 Server and Windows 2008 Server.
• Updates to Data Handlers: The following data handlers were updated: IEEE Std 37.111 COMTRADE Folders, IEEE Std 37.111 COMTRADE Folders with No Mapping, Dranetz® PASS/PNDS Databases, Dranetz® ESS/InfoNode, Electro Industries® Communicator Log, and SoftSwitching® I-Grid® Web Site.
• Data Handler for Electro Industries Communicator Log:  This data handler was redesigned to load data log samples in batches.  This change means that large volumes of data will be imported up to 400% faster than when using PQView 3.64.0.
• PQ Event Roll: We modified the functionality of the Auto Zoom checkbox.  When checked, the time axis of all charts in the same PQ Event Roll window will be zoomed together.  That is, when one chart with time values for an x-axis is zoomed, all other charts will have their x-axis zoom modified to match the zoom of the chart that was just zoomed.  This feature has been requested by many users in the past.
• Optional Fault Location Add-in Module: The add-in module was updated to show the distance to fault in miles or kilometers when non-default values of line parameters are specified.  This makes it easier to use the add-in module with transmission line data.  For distribution circuits, the Fault Viewer was updated to allow one-line diagrams to be displayed that show only the line segments with phases that correspond to the fault phases.
• Derivation of ANEEL Indices: We revised the module in the PQView PQ Data Manager used to derive indices required by the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL).  We also added an ANEEL report in the PQView PQ Data Analyzer.
• Steady State Trends Window:  You can create a new derived chart that cross tabulates the values in the trend chart by day.  This allows each day being plotted to be overlaid on top of each other day.

PQView 3.64.0 is available for download.  This version features the following highlights:

• Full Support for Microsoft Access 2007
• Nearly One Hundred Updates to PQView Agent, the PQView PQ Data Analyzer, and the PQView PQ Data Manager
• Updates to Data Handlers: The following data handlers were updated: Dranetz-BMI PASS/PNDS Databases, IEEE Std 1159.3 PQDIF Files, IEEE Std 37.111 COMTRADE Folders with No Mapping, Landis+Gyr® MAXsys 2510 Text File Folder, SCADA Database for APC, Progress Energy® FMS Database, Ergon Energy SCADA Database, and SCADA Database for CODENSA.
• New Features when Integrating PQView with SCADA Systems
• New Options for Fault Analysis Including Location Incipient Faults

PQView® 3.63.0 is available for download.  Here are some of its highlights:

Updates to Data Handlers: The following data handlers were updated: IEEE Std 37.111 COMTRADE Folders, IEEE Std 37.111 COMTRADE Folders with No Mapping, ION Enterprise Database, Landis+Gyr® MAXsys 2510 Text File Folder, Dranetz-BMI DDB File, GridSense PowerView Text Files, SATEC PAS Databases, and the OSISoft PI System.

ANEEL Indices: You can now derive voltage regulation indices that were established by the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL).  The derived indices include the Relative Duration of Precarious Voltage Violation (DRP), the Relative Duration of Critical Voltage Violation (DRC), and Instrument Availability (DISP).

Fault Location Updates: We modified the fault location setup window, fault one-line diagram visualization window, the fault identification algorithm, and the fault location notification system.  Most notably, you can configure a new Overcurrent e-mail notification to be sent for events that have a large current magnitude but do not have all the necessary characteristics to be identified as a fault.

PQView Users Group Meeting: We made changes to PQView requested at the October 2009 PQView Users group Meeting.

Updates in the PQView PQ Data Analyzer: We updated the Event Viewer, Event Roll, PQ Event Roll, RMS Voltage Variations Analysis Panel, and the Steady-State Trends Window.

PQView 3.62.0 is available for download.  It is available for download from www.pqview.net as well.  This version was used at the PQView Users Group Meeting and Workshops in Boston on October 5 to 7.

We completed about fifty changes or enhancements to PQView Agent, PQView PQ Data Manager, and PQView PQ Data Analyzer in this release.  Here are some highlights for version 3.62.0:

• New Data Handler: We added a new data handler for importing GridSense PowerView Text Files.
• Update Data Handlers: The following data handlers were updated: IEEE Std 37.111 COMTRADE Folders with No Mapping, Dranetz-BMI ESS/InfoNode, ION Enterprise Database, Landis+Gyr® MAXsys 2510 Text File, GridSense PowerView Text Files, Fluke/RPM Scenario Databases, and CYMDIST Databases.

PQView 3.61.0 has been posted for download.  Here are some highlights for this version:

PQView Agent

This is a new application that offers you a means to import more than one database and/or more than one data source simultaneously on the same computer. PQView Agent launches a new instance of Microsoft Access with a fresh copy of the PQView PQ Data Manager (PQDM) with each data source import session. If a PQDM locks up or gets stuck showing an error message while importing the data source, PQView Agent will terminate the process automatically after a user-defined number of seconds. After importing a data source, each PQDM instance will exit. A new PQDM instance is used when it is time to import the data source once again. You can specify how many simultaneous import sessions that you want to run against a single database. PQView Agent will make the job of keeping PQView databases automatically up to date much easier. If you choose to use PQView Agent to import your databases, you no longer need to keep a copy of the PQView PQ Data Manager open on your computer at all times. Next up, we intend to develop a Windows service application that will allow you to run PQView Agent when the computer is logged out 

Updates Requested at the PQView Users Group Meeting in Norway

We updated PQView based on many of the requests from the more than twenty-four attendees at the PQView Users Group Meeting last month in Lillestrøm. For example, we made changes to the way PQView characterizes and analyzes rapid voltage change (RVC) events. We also completed bug fixes and improvements related to NVE 1157 reporting and EN 50160 reporting. Additionally, there is a special patch file available on www.pqview.com that can be used by computers in Norway that offers a workaround to an error message about missing digital signatures.

Download InfoNodes and DualNodes via RAS Connections

You can now use PQView to download measurements from dial-up InfoNodes and/or DualNodes. Use the same dial-up networking phone directory entries that you would use when downloading with NodeLink® or NodeCenter. If used with the first release of PQView Agent, you will find that you can only import from one Remote Access Service (RAS) connection at a time.

Updates to Data Handlers

We updated the data handlers for importing from the OSIsoft PI System, Dranetz-BMI ESS/InfoNode, ION Enterprise Database, Electro Industries Communicator Log, Unipower PQSecure Database, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories EVE files, and CYMDIST Databases. The update to the EVE files data handler was provided by EPRI.

Demonstration Version of Unipower PQSecure Database Data Handler

In this release, you will find a demonstration version of the data handler used to import from Unipower PQSecure databases. This version will import only one meter from a data source and will only import measurements from 2008. The full version of the data handler is available for purchase from Electrotek Concepts. Send an e-mail to pqview@electrotek.com for more information.

Fault Location

The built-in fault location map in PQView’s PQ Data Analyzer was updated. The map now shows line segments differently for underground cables versus overhead conductors. It also colors single-phase line segments differently than multi-phase segments. When estimating the location of multi-phase faults, the single-phase line segments can be hidden automatically. You can now estimate the location of faults by using either a corrected positive-sequence reactance method (that is, the RTF method), using a loop reactance method, or using a loop impedance method. The first and second methods were available in previous versions of PQView, but you could not easily switch between the methods without changing a PQView site property. This version makes comparisons of the two methods much easier, but also adds a new method for finding estimating fault location not by loop reactance but rather by loop impedance.