Using Event Markers, Cursors, and Notes in DewesoftX for Data Analysis

Course overview

This course deep-dives into DewesoftX’s powerful Markers and Cursors toolkit, essential for advanced signal processing and analysis. You’ll will also learn how to insert Event markers in real time—via keyboard, mouse, or even voice—to highlight acquisition moments, and later explore User Note markers for manual annotations directly on graphs. These tools help you easily reference, filter, and review significant events during post-processing.

The training then introduces the Cursor module, enabling you to automatically detect and capture min/max extrema or level-crossing events, and compute time/value differences between cursor pairs—all crucial for precise signal timing and threshold analysis  . You’ll also become adept at manipulating cursors within plots, customizing reference channels, and extracting meaningful delta metrics.

Central to the course is the use of Processing Markers in 2D and 3D analysis plots—ranging from basic free and max peak markers to specialized tools like RMS, damping, sideband, vector cuts, and trigger markers. These markers offer rich analysis capabilities: signal interpolation, peak region search, and RMS calculations over segments can be visualized and exported via widget tables  .

Finally, the course schedules hands-on sessions with Kinematic markers, tailored for bearing fault detection using envelope analysis and kinematic cursor databases. You’ll learn to map mechanical component frequencies (cage, rolling element, races) via FFT and identify anomalies in vibration signals  . Practical exercises include adding marker modules, adjusting modes (current vs. history), and integrating output channels into further math or reporting workflows.

By course end, you’ll be equipped to accurately tag, extract, quantify, and share key signal information—turning raw acquisition data into actionable insights.

When analyzing data, we are often only interested in specific information, such as the maximum, minimum, or RMS value of the signal. Other times, we would like to note when a specific event happened, either during data acquisition itself or in post-processing.

With this in mind, Dewesoft has implemented a series of markers and cursors—powerful tools that make complex data analysis easier—called Event markers, User notes, Cursors, and Processing markers.

In this lesson, we will show you not only how to work with these tools but also when you should use each type.

The more important information has been collected in our F1 manual, namely:

• Working with events

• Cursor

• Marker table

• Processing markers

Some information regarding User notes has additionally already been covered in our Visual Display Widgets PRO training, specifically the Recorder and Vertical recorder section.

All data files used in this lesson have conveniently been gathered in our Google Drive archive, Markers.

During data acquisition, we might encounter events that will be important for proper data analysis. In order to distinguish data acquired during those events from other recorded data, Dewesoft has implemented Event markers. These are markers that are used to mark areas of interest for reviewing later on.

Event markers can be added to the Recorder widget in Measure mode during data acquisition or in Analysis mode. We do so by pressing the correct key on the keyboard or by pressing the correct button located on the left side of the so-called Event selector.

We can choose between the following 3 Event types:

• Keyboard event - we can add it by pressing the <spacebar> or the icon marked with 1.) in the above image. On the Recorder, a keyboard event will be visible as a thin vertical gray line, marked with a K symbol. The notice will also be added to the Event selector.

• Notice event - we can add it by pressing the <n> key or the icon marked with 2.) in the above image. Once we add the Notice event, we will get a text input dialog box.

• On the Recorder, a notice event will be visible as a thin vertical green line, marked with an N symbol, and the text we have entered. The notice will also be added to the Event selector. This event will always be added to the Recorder at the location when we started entering the event.

• Voice event - we can add this event by pressing and holding the <v> key on the keyboard or by pressing the icon marked as 4.) on the image of the Event selector, then speaking into the microphone. On the Recorder, the event is marked with a vertical blue line, and a V symbol.

To work with Voice events, we have to download a DirectX sound card. The Audio card can be downloaded from our Plugins Google drive. We can follow the directions in the Manual-Add extension installation procedure- to add the sound card. All we need to do then is enable Recording of voice events in Settings, under the User interface tab, Sounds dropdown menu.

In analysis mode, we can add one more event—Cursor info. To add it, we can press the <c> key on the keyboard or the icon marked with 3.) in the image displaying the Event buttons. On the Recorder widget, the event will be visible as a thin olive-colored vertical line, marked with a Cn symbol, where n stands for the Cursor info number.

Let's say we have recorded a datafile with a series of Keyboard, Notice and Voice events, as shown below:

As mentioned previously, all these Event markers are saved in the message window that is basically an event list in the top-right corner of the software, directly below the Edit and Options buttons:

The Event selector gives us an overview of the following events:

• The beginning of the data recording - in the Event selector, this event is named Storing started. On the recorder widget, this event is indicated by a vertical red line with the letter B (beginning) at the top of it.

• The end of the data recording - in the Event selector, this event is named Storing stopped. On the recorder widget, it is marked with a vertical red line and letter E (end) at the top of it.

• Keyboard, Notice, Voice events, and other events.

As we can see, every entry contains the exact date and time at which the event was added, the type of event we are working with, and the note we wrote, if we have added Notice events.

If we want to modify an event, we can do so by clicking on it once so that the entry is marked blue in the Event selector, then right-clicking on it.

In the drop-down menu, we can choose between 3 options:

• Edit - this option enables us to edit the selected marker.

• Remove - this option enables us to remove the selected marker.

• Time - this option enables us to choose if we would prefer to see the time at which the events were added as the absolute or the relative time since the start of data acquisition.

If we have the DirectX Sound Card downloaded and if we have enabled recording of voice events in Settings, we can replay the voice event by clicking on it.

If we double-click on an event directly from the Event selector, we will position the yellow cursor on the Recorder to the timestamp at which this event happened.

If we want to have a slightly better overview of the Event markers, we can go to Setup in Analysis mode and then open the Events module. Here, we will see an expanded Event list that gives us an overview of all our events at once, thus eliminating any scrolling from the Review tab.

Let’s now focus on the Recorder widget.

If we hover over an Event marker, Dewesoft will display a gray box with the time, date, type, and note belonging to the event we are hovering over with our mouse.

Whenever we add Event markers, they are automatically added to the Recorder widget, which might make signal analysis a little harder. That is why we can hide the events. To do so, we select the Recorder, then open the Drawing options drop-down menu under the Recorder's settings. To hide the Events, we need to deselect the Show events checkbox.

All the notes we have entered into the Event text bracket of the Notice markers are saved in a PredefinedNoticeMessages.dxb file that we can find in our Dewesoft System folder.

This means that we can create Event texts prior to data acquisition and then simply choose the suitable text for the event from the drop-down menu while in acquisition mode or post-processing mode.

As with all the *.dxb files, this means that we can share the Event texts with different measurement units.

User note markers are the simplest and least talked-about markers in Dewesoft. We can add them to the Recorder widget and use them specifically to give visual annotations when we do not want to add Event markers. Since these are only visual aids, we cannot export them like we can any other marker in this PRO Training.

As mentioned previously, User note markers can only be added to a Recorder widget. We can add them both during Data acquisition and during analysis, but since the steps are the same, we will only demonstrate this functionality in analysis mode.

Let’s take the signal we created previously when analyzing Event markers. We could see that we noted a voice event before the event actually took place, since we were making the notes manually. Our signal has already been added to the Recorder widget. We should now select the widget so that we can see its settings and navigate to the Interaction section, where we can choose the widget’s Mode. By default, the Mode should be set to Normal, but we should change it to User notes.

Now, we can locate the position on the graph where we want to insert the input. Once we have found it, we simply click on the graph.

We are then automatically redirected to Marker settings. We need to configure the following:

• Associated to - here, we can choose which channel the User note will relate to.

• Position - here, we select at which timestamp we want the user note to be located at.

• Note - this is where we enter a short note.

• Color - here, we can select the color of the User note marker.

As we could see in the moving image above, we will keep adding new User notes until we switch the Recorder widget’s mode back to Normal.

When a marker is selected, it is circled, and orange in color.

By right-clicking into the User note marker, we open a menu, that allows us to:

• Remove all markers

• Edit selected markers

• Remove selected markers

The Cursor module is a way for us to interactively look for level crossings, as well as local minima or maxima of channels.

The module itself was meant to be used in Analysis, but we can add and configure it in Measure mode as well. To add the module, press the More... button in Setup or Ch. setup tab, then look for Cursor under the General section.

The Cursor module has the following setup:

A. Input - this is where we choose the input channel. The input channel is the channel whose value at a certain event we are looking for. We can select multiple input channels for one cursor.

B. Output - these are the output channels we are looking for.

C. Reference channel settings - here, we configure the reference channel settings.
We initially have two things to configure:

• Reference channel - this is the channel on which we will be looking for specific values. We can only have one reference channel per cursor.

• Search mode - this is the condition at which we will get the input channel’s value.
  We have 6 options:

  • Max - Dewesoft will output the value of the Input channel at the timestamp of the first maximum value of the reference channel.

  • Min - Dewesoft will output the value of the Input channel at the timestamp of the first minimum value of the reference channel.

  • Any edge - Dewesoft will output the value of the Input channel when the reference channel crosses a predefined value. This value is manually defined by the user after selecting this mode.

  • Rising edge - Dewesoft will output the value of the Input channel when the reference channel’s rising edge crosses the predefined value (the reference channel is rising). This value is manually defined by the user after selecting this mode.

  • Falling edge - Dewesoft will output the value of the Input channel when the reference channel’s falling edge crosses the predefined value (the reference channel is falling). This value is manually defined by the user after selecting this mode.

  • Manual - Dewesoft will find the value of the reference channel at a specified timestamp. The timestamp is manually defined by the user after selecting this mode.

D. Delta values - when we have at least two instances of the Cursor module set up, we can calculate the delta values between the two of them. We do so by selecting one of the Cursors from the drop-down list.

E. Cursor properties - here, we get to choose the color of the cursor.

Let’s make a cursor for each possible search mode. In the case of Rising edge, Falling edge and Any edge, let’s set the level to 0.5. In the case of Manual Search mode, let’s set the timestamp to 0.2. The input channel will be sine, and the reference channel will be a triangular signal.

We will be able to see our cursors on channels that are assigned to Recorder widgets, so let's do that.

In the above image, we can see the cursors in practice. Cursor 1, max, is positioned at the first maximum of the triangular channel, and Cursor 2, min, will be positioned at the first minimum of the triangular channel. Cursor 3 will be located at the first position where the triangular signal crosses the value 0.5, whereas Cursor 4 will be located at the point where the rising edge of the triangular channel crosses the value 0.5, and Cursor 5 where the falling edge crosses the value 0.5. Cursor 6 will be located at the timestamp of 0.2s.

With the exception of the Manual setting, all Cursors will be calculated based on the visible timeline. This means that, if we zoom into the file or move the zoomed-in region and recalculate, the cursors should be located at the points where the local conditions are fulfilled. 

Let's test this in practice- let's zoom in a little, then move the zoomed-in region. During the test, let's set the recalculation to Auto recalculation.

We previously hinted at the functionality of this module; the Cursor module will return a value of an input channel when a condition for the previously defined reference channel is first met. This value will be returned in the form of a channel that can be further used in formulas or displayed on Widgets.

Altogether, each of these markers should give us 3 channels:

• Value at cursor - this channel gives us the value of the Input signal that corresponds to the Cursor's position on the time axis.

• Cursor - this channel gives us the cursor's position on the x-axis.

• Search position - this channel tells us at which point we started the search.

At this point, let's point out that the module can linearly interpolate data and can therefore extract values with a higher precision than it would if it were to simply take the nearest synchronous or asynchronous sample.

To make an actual example; when we set the search mode to Any level and set the level to 0.5, the software took the two samples from the triangular channel that were the closest to this value—one was just above 0.5 and the other just below 0.5.
The software then extracted the exact time between these two points to find the time where the signal hit 0.5. Based on this time, the module also interpolated all the input channels we selected for the Cursor.

We are now equipped to add one more cursor that will display the Delta values functionality. Let's add Cursor 7, with sine channel as the input and the triangle signal as the reference signal. Let's also set the Delta cursor channel to Cursor 4 (Rising edge cursor).

If we return to the Display, we get to see Cursor 7 on the graph. We can see that Channel 7 is once again set to the first maximum of the triangle channel on the visible X-axis.

The way this functionality works is that any inputs Cursor 4 and Cursor 7 have in common will be subtracted from one another, resulting in a new channel, [Input channel]/Delta. The module will also add an additional delta t channel, Cursor/Delta, which will give us the time difference between the two cursors/events.

We can access the Cursor setup interface directly from the display. A Cursor icon is located at the end of the Data file preview, to the left of the Time selector icon.

If we press the Cursor icon button, we will get a drop-down of all the Cursors we have. If we press one of the names, we will enter the corresponding cursor's channel setup.

In case of a Cursor whose position we set manually and whose position depends on the time-axis, pressing the Cursor icon gives us yet another option; we can automatically move the cursor to the exact position of the yellow cursor, displaying the current timestamp of the datafile.

As you know, there can be multiple different points within a datafile at which a certain value is exceeded by a reference channel, either as a falling edge or a rising edge. In such cases we can use the Input control widget, with Display type set to Control channel and Input type set to Next prev button.

We will add 3 Input control channels: one for Cursor 3, one for Cursor 4, and one for Cursor 5. We will assign their corresponding Search position channels to the widgets.

When analyzing data, we are often only interested in specific information, such as the maximum, minimum, or RMS value of the signal. To make finding these values easier, Dewesoft provides a wide range of so-called Processing markers that are a valuable tool for conducting in-depth analysis and gaining insight from complex data sets.

Processing markers are used to analyze Vector or Matrix data that has been assigned to 2D or 3D graphs.

Processing marker types

Altogether, Dewesoft offers 16 different types of Processing markers; however, not all of them are available for all types of data, and not all of them can be added to channels assigned to the 2D graph widget and the 3D graph widget.
At this point, it might be useful to show which markers can be linked to Vector-type channels (such as FFT, CA pressure, CPB channels) and which can be linked to Matrix type channels (such as Order tracking channels). Additionally, we can note which graph we can use that particular marker type on.

The table shows which markers can be assigned to which type of data.

In the following sections, we will learn how to use each of the abovementioned markers, how to add them to widgets, and how to configure their settings.

How to add a Processing marker to a channel on 2D or a 3D graph?

To add a marker to a channel, said channel needs to be assigned to either the 2D graph widget or the 3D graph widget. Once the channel has been assigned, we right-click on the widget and choose the Add marker option from the drop-down menu. This way, we will be able to choose from a list of markers that can be assigned to a specific channel.

After adding a marker, we will immediately be redirected to the Marker setup, where we will be able to configure the marker to our wants and needs.
If we would like to add a marker to a channel that has been assigned to a 2D graph, we can do so even easier with Marker icons. All we have to do is choose a marker by its icon, then add it to the channel by left-clicking the widget.

The added marker will always be in Current value mode, which allows us to easily track and monitor specific data points. Unlike previously, by adding markers via Marker icons, we will not be redirected to setup mode.

Marker icons can be found in the 2D widget's settings, under the Interaction tab.

Once we are done adding markers, we simply press the Selection icon, which allows us to freely click on the graph, without adding a new marker.

By default, markers are linked to the channel they are added to. As a result, they can be displayed on every graph widget the channel is assigned to. However, we can always unassign markers from widgets, so that we can fully customize how we want to display them.
To do so, we simply select the graph we would like to unassign a marker from, then navigate to the Channel selector and choose the Markers tab. We can then select the marker we would like to unassign simply by pressing its name.

When we link a marker to a channel on a graph, it will be displayed with a predefined color.

When we hover over a marker, it will turn orange. When we click on the marker, its color will turn yellow if our background color is dark, and blue if our background color is light. Once the marker is selected, its value will be circled yellow on a dark background and blue on a light background.

 What is a marker table?

Depending on our display configuration, observed signal, and marker quantity added to the signal, it can sometimes be difficult to read the marker values directly from the widget. Additionally, if our markers are spread across multiple widgets, we might want to keep the marker values in an organized table so that we can later compare them.

In such cases, we can use the Marker table widget, which is designed for presenting different parameters/values of Processing markers at one location. We can add it to our display directly from Design mode as any other widget, and when we do add it, all the currently present markers will be shown in the table.

Let's add another signal, for instance, an Order waterfall of a signal, to a 3D graph next to the 2D graph with the acceleration FFT. Let's also keep the Max marker on the FFT signal and add a Min marker to the Order waterfall.

If we now add the Marker table, we will be able to observe both signals on it.

We can also add a Marker table by enabling the Show marker table option that can be found under the Display options Settings of the 2D or 3D graph widget. Thus, the markers connected to the channels on the graph whose legend is enabled will be the only ones displayed in this table.

Since the Marker table is a widget, we can now adapt its settings to our needs. The first thing we can change is the Visual control, where we can choose between two options:

• All channels - with this option, all markers from the visual display will be listed in the Marker table.

• Selected channels - with this option, only the markers that are linked to specific channels will be listed in the marker table.

If we return to the two marker tables we’ve just added, the first table (that we added from the Widget tab) has the All channels option selected, while the second table (that we added from the 2D graph) has the Selected channels option selected.

The second setting, called Edit columns, gives us the option to select which parameters we would like to see inside the marker table.

We can choose between the following options:

• Label- this is the label of the marker, which is also displayed on the widget. We can edit it by pressing the label and inserting a different name into the box that is triggered.

• Type - this column tells us the type of the marker (in our case, Min and Max).

• Online Status- tells us if the marker is in online or offline mode. When a marker is offline, additional recalculation is needed to display it.

• Channel - tells us which channel is linked to the marker.

• Color - shows the color of the marker.

• X- shows us the X-axis value/range of the marker. If there is only one type of data, the X itself will be renamed as the X axis, i.e. Freq.

• Y - is the Y value of the marker. If there is only one type of data, the Y will be renamed as the Y axis.

• Z - is the Z value of the marker. In the same fashion as for X and Y, if there is only one type of data, the Z will be renamed as the Z axis.

• Time - shows current time related to the yellow cursor position.

• Value - gives us the output value of the marker.

• Add info - gives us additional information about the marker. This is only shown when a marker is placed on the Order tracking data.

• Mode - shows us the marker’s current mode. This can be Current value or Full History mode.

• Edit - if we press this button, we will be redirected to the Marker settings.

• Remove- pressing the (X) button will delete the marker in the corresponding cell.

How to configure the marker setup?

Up to this point, we have already added a Min and a Max marker and have already mentioned adjusting the Marker settings when zooming in and out of the graph. But how do we enter the Marker setup, and what do specific settings mean?

As we could see, adding a marker by right-clicking into the graph will automatically redirect us to the newly added marker's setup, and if we have a Marker table, we can enter the setup by pressing the Edit button there. If we added a marker with the Markers icon or if we would simply like to modify a pre-existing marker, there is another option we can use.
We first navigate to the graph and channel that have the marker we would like to modify. Once we have located the marker, we click on it to select it. Once selected, the marker will be circled in yellow.

We then right-click on the marker, and a familiar options menu should appear. We select the Edit selected marker option and are then redirected to the Marker Setup.

The Marker setup is split into the following sections:

A. Marker Mode consists of two options of how a marker will be presented:

• Current value - will only show the current marker value. We can interact with it while storing data, but we cannot use it as an input for other modules.

• Full History - all marker values will be stored and additional output channels will be created. These output channels can then be used as inputs (math channels) in other modules.
  If we move a marker that is set to Full History directly on the graph, we will have to recalculate the data in order for the marker value to be calculated.

B. Input channel determines to which channel we will pin the marker we are currently adding. This is especially useful if we have multiple channels assigned to the same widget.

C. Marker Scaling indicates the scale used to calculate the marker value. The widget's label on the graph will always take the scaling from the widget's Y-axis settings into account. The value in the Marker table and the channel value (which we can assign to a Digital meter) will always display a value based on the scaling from the Marker setup. There are 4 different scaling options:

• None - no scaling will be done.

• 0 dB - Scale in dB gives the best estimation of signal noise - if 0 dB is the maximum measurable value.

• Sound dB  - the equation for calculating dB is: 20*log10(p/p0) where the p is our value and p0 is the reference of 20 uPa.

• Ref. dB - with the Ref. dB we define our own reference value.

D. The Complex Presentation section gives us the option to choose the type of complex representation the data from the added marker will have. The marker will only appear on the widget if the complex presentation of the data and marker are the same, and is only available for certain channels, such as those from the Order Analysis module. We can choose between 6 different presentations:

• Magnitude

• Phase (deg) [-180°, - 180° ]

• Phase (rad) [-pi - pi ]

• Real

• Imaginary

• Phase (deg) [0°, 360°]

E. The Marker Placement section gives us the option to allow marker placement between data points. When this option is disabled, the marker will always align with an actual data point (we can only place the markers on actual data points). When enabled, we can place the marker between two data points (in other words, we can place the marker freely), which means that the value between data points will be interpolated-as seen on the moving image.

F. The Peak Search function helps us find peaks of data. There are two parameters we can configure:

• With Find peak in region +/-, we will select the region in which we want to locate the peak. This also means that we will not be able to find two peaks in this limited range.

• We can then enable the Interpolate peak option, with which we will be able to determine peaks between the graph spectral lines (between data points).

  • This option uses 3 neighboring lines on both sides of the peak line to estimate the interpolated peak value and axis location. The interpolated amplitude value is calculated from the energy sum of all 7 lines. If this energy sum is too high compared to the original peak line energy, then there are multiple peak components, and we cannot determine an interpolated peak value. Thus, the calculated value will be the peak line value. The same will happen if the peak line value is buried in the noise floor. The interpolated peak axis location is derived from an energy-weighted calculation of the 7 lines.

G. The Marker Color section allows us to select the desired marker color.

H. The Line Thickness section allows us to select the thickness of the marker line on the 2D/3D graph. The options range from 1 to 5, with 1 being the thinnest and 5 the thickest line.

I. In the last section, we can configure settings that are specific to the marker type we are currently working with. Instead of looking further into this section here, we will go through the settings in the following section, where we will introduce each marker type separately.

What is the markers module?

We can say that the Markers module is, functionally, exactly the same as the Channels module, but for markers instead of channels. That means that the module gives us an overview of all the markers we have added to the widget, as well as a simple way of accessing the setup of each individual marker.

The Markers module can be added like any other module in (Channel) Setup by pressing the More tab and selecting Markers from the General section.

The module has all the standard columns: Online and Store, Color, Name, Sampling, Sample rate, Data structure, Data type, Min and Maximum, Value, Unit, and Setup.

A marker-specific column is the so-called Marker Mode, which enables us to easily change the mode of a marker (or multiple markers at once) from Current value to Full history and vice versa. To do so, we simply press whichever mode the marker is currently set to and choose the other mode from the drop-down menu.

A word on marker channels

Whenever we make a new marker, this marker will create additional math channels for the X- and Y-axis; in case the marker was added to a 3D graph, the software will create a channel for the Z-axis as well.

These channels can be added to widgets, such as Digital and Analog meter, Horizontal and Vertical bar, Discrete display, Indicator lamp, and the Recorder widget. If we are working with Matrix-type data, we can assign the Z-axis marker to a 2D/3D table.

We can also use these channels in mathematics from the Math module, but only if the Marker mode of the corresponding channel is set to Full history. If the Marker mode is set to Current value, we get an error.

If we add a Vector cut, X cut, Y cut, X harmonic cut, or Y harmonic cut marker to a channel on a 3D graph, Z axis channels will be created, and these can be added to a 2D graph.

While we are on the topic of cut-type markers, it is important to note the following:
We can continue to link additional markers to cut-type marker channels (once we assign them to a 2D graph), as long as the cut-type markers are in Full history mode.

Let's say that we add two Vector cut markers to a 2D graph; one is in Full history mode and one in Current value mode. We now add the cut channels to two separate 2D graphs and try to add a new marker to each of the channels. If we try to add a new Free marker to a Full history type channel, we will be able to do so with no issues.
If we try to add a new Free marker to a Current value type channel, we will get an error: Input channel cannot be in '''Current value'' mode.

Putting processing markers into practise

In the following sections, we will look into each type of Processing marker separately on an actual dataset. This way, we will be able to easily see each type's key features and better distinguish when (and where) they should be used.

Free markers are markers that can be freely added to any position on the 2D or 3D graph. Their main function is to give us the X-axis value, which is usually the frequency, and the Y-axis value, which is usually the amplitude, at a desired point on the graph.

Let's check out the marker. To start off, we will add an FFT channel from an accelerometer to a 2D graph and an Order waterfall of this acceleration channel to a 3D graph.

We will first focus on the Free marker on the 2D graph. To make analysis easier, Marker mode will be set to Full history, and we will have no Marker Scaling. We will also allow marker placement between data, but we will not enable the Peak Search option. The marker will be red, and, to make visualization easier, the line thickness will be 3.

The Free marker setting is the Position source, which gives us two source options:

• Manual - the position of the marker is defined manually by us. We do so by entering the desired value in the next field bracket, Position. To demonstrate this, we will set the position to 4000 Hz.

• Channel - the position of the marker is defined by the current value of the channel we choose from the Channel drop-down menu. In our case, the reference channel will be ‘’accelerometer’’.

We set the Marker mode to Full history so that we can add the markers as mathematical channels and thus add them to the Tabular values display. We only made a mathematical channel for the X-axis to prove that, for a marker whose position is derived from a channel, the X-axis value will correspond to the value of the reference channel (in our case, ''accelerometer'').

We can divide the display into 6 sections:

• Section 1.) Visually shows the positions of the two markers that were added to the FFT channel of the ‘’accelerometer’’ signal.

• Section 2.) shows the ‘’accelerometer’’ signal on a Recorder widget.

• Section 3.) shows the markers’ parameters in a Marker table.

• Section 4.) shows the X-axis and Y-axis values for the first (light red) Free marker.

• Section 5.) shows the Y-axis value for the second (dark red) Free marker.

• Section 6.) shows the X-axis value for the second (dark red) Free marker and the ‘’accelerometer’ signal value in a Tabular display. If we pay attention, we can see that the two values at the given timestamp coincide, as is expected.

We can now take a look at the Free marker on the 3D graph. We can display both a Vector-type channel and a Matrix-type channel. In this case, the Marker mode will be set to Full history, and we will have no Marker Scaling. We will also allow marker placement between data. The markers will be red and purple.

For the Matrix-type channel, the Free marker-specific setting is the X-axis position (in our case, Orders) and the Y-axis position (in our case, Speed). We will set the Order position to 40 and Speed to 50 rpm.

For the Vector-type channel, the Free marker-specific setting is the X-axis position, which we will set to 4000 Hz, or we could (as in the case of a 2D graph), set the Position source to Manual.

The RMS marker is used to calculate the RMS value of the channel it is assigned to. To do so, the RMS marker will sum up all the FFT lines in the selected band.

Let's make an amplitude FFT of a signal consisting of two sine functions. We will now add this FFT signal to a 2D and 3D graph, and add an RMS marker to it.

As in previous cases, Marker mode will be set to Full history, and we will have no Marker Scaling. We will also allow marker placement between data. The marker will be red.

RMS marker-specific setting is the cursor position. In other words, we need to specify the area in which the RMS value will be calculated. In our case, the frequency range will be [1500 Hz, 5000 Hz].

If we want to change the region, we can do so simply by dragging the cursors between which the RMS value of the channel is calculated. If we change the area, the RMS value will automatically change as well.

Max marker

We will now use the Max marker to find the highest peaks (maxima) in the spectrum of the previously made FFT signal.

In this case, the Marker setup will look like this: We will configure the left part of the Marker setup exactly as we did in the previous cases, so that we can focus only on the Max marker-specific settings.

We need to define the following parameters:

• In the drop-down menu of the Search forparameter, we can choose between:

  • Peaks - in this case, we will only be looking for values whose left and right neighboring points are smaller than the peak itself.

  • All maxima - in this case, we will be looking for the highest peaks in the spectrum, regardless of the neighborhood points.

• Number of peaks - we need to specify how many peaks we would like to observe.

• Set custom search area - if we enable this option, we need to specify the range in which we will be calculating the peaks.

• Set threshold - if we enable this option, we need to specify the minimum value that still counts as a peak. If any of the peaks or maxima have a lower value than the threshold, they will not be shown in a Marker table or presented on the graph.

Let's look for 2 peaks in the frequency range [1000 Hz, 6000 Hz]. We will not be setting a threshold because we do not want to lose any peaks, given the channel we are working with.

We can now make a slight change and search for the first 6 maxima in this frequency range.

 If we are trying to link markers to a matrix channel (for instance, a Waterfall) instead of a vector-type channel, the settings for 3D graph Max markers (and the calculations) change.

We can now go ahead and link a Max marker to an Order waterfall channel (matrix-type channel), which is assigned to a 3D graph.

The basic settings are still the same as they were in the case of a vector-type channel, with the exception that we can now define the search area for both the X-axis (Orders) and Y-axis (Speed). We can now configure some additional settings by pressing the Show advanced settings button. These settings are:

• Threshold - with this option, we can define the Threshold for the found peak area, exactly as we did in the case of the 2D graph.

• Limit peak closeness - with this setting, we define the peak width area—both the X-axis width and the Y-axis width. If there are multiple peaks inside the peak width area, only the center-most peak will be taken into account as a valid peak.

• Peaks per order width - we can do so by defining the maximum number of peaks we want to present per order. We then also need to define the width of the order area (in what area we will be looking for the peaks). Once the defined peaks or maxima are found in order, we will try to find the next peak or maximum value in the data that needs to be in the defined range.

To start off, we will only configure the basic settings. We will look for the first 5 peaks in the Order range [0, 30] and the Speed range [0, 100].

We can now add the Advanced settings. We will not be setting the threshold, but we will set the other parameters. The X-axis peak area will be defined by 10 orders and the Y-axis peak area by 100 rpm. We will also limit the peaks to 2 per order and set the Orders width to 20.

Min marker

Min markers operate the same way as Max markers, except that we use them to calculate the lowest valleys or minimum values in the spectrum. Let's use the same FFT signal of a sine function and link a Min marker to it.

The marker settings of a Vector-type channel will look exactly the same as they did for the Max marker. As previously, the Marker mode will be Full history, we will have no scaling, Marker placement between data will be allowed, and the marker will be red.

We can then define the Min-marker-specific parameters:

• In the drop-down menu of the Search for parameter, we can choose between:

  • Valleys - in this case, we will only be looking for values whose left and right neighboring points are larger than the valley itself.

  • All minima - in this case, we will be looking for the lowest values in the spectrum, regardless of the neighborhood points.

• Number of Valleys - we need to specify how many peaks we would like to observe.

• Set custom search area - if we enable this option, we need to specify the range in which we will be calculating the valleys.

Let's look for 2 valleys in the frequency range [1000 Hz, 6000 Hz]. Unlike the Max marker, the Min marker does not have the option to set up a threshold, which means that we cannot define the minimum value that counts as a valley.

Now, let's take a look at the first 6 minima in this frequency range:

Unlike for Max markers, there are no Advanced settings for 3D graph Min markers linked to Matrix-type channels. The only difference between Min markers linked to a Vector-type channel on a 3D graph and Min markers linked to a Matrix-type channel on a 3D graph is the fact that we need to specify the custom search area for both the X-axis and Y-axis.

What happens if we add a Min or Max marker on a Zoomed-in area on a 2D graph?

Let's take the amplitude FFT of a signal consisting of two sine functions from the previous examples. We will now assign this FFT signal to a 2D graph and zoom in on the signal between the frequencies of 4000 Hz and 6000 Hz. We then decide we would like to add a Max and Min marker to the zoomed-in channel.

We would now like to see the maximum and minimum value of the FFT signal over the entire frequency range, so we unzoom the 2D graph to its full range. To calculate the marker value to the full size, we need to either adjust the marker settings or disable the custom search area.

We use the Delta marker to display the X-axis (frequency) and Y-axis (Amplitude) difference between two different positions.

Let's use this marker to calculate the difference between the peaks of the sine signal's FFT. The basic settings will be set exactly as they were in all the previous cases. The Delta marker-specific setting we need to set is the Position of the two cursors that mark the area on which we would like to calculate the signals' difference. We have already calculated the X-axis of the two peaks with Max markers, and we will now enter these two values into the brackets. The first cursor will be at 1748.05 Hz, and the second at 4667.97 Hz.

As always, we got 2 markers—one notes the Delta value between the cursors in the X-axis direction, the other in the Y-axis direction. The X-axis column for the 2 markers gives the positions of the first and second cursor. We can see that the two peaks are 2919.9 Hz apart on the X-axis, and the difference between their amplitudes is 1.3.

Imagine that we just intercepted an amplitude-modulated radio signal. We know that the carrier frequency was 1000 Hz and that the modulation frequency is 40 Hz. The equation of the signal is as follows:

1Modulated signal =(1-sin(40)) * sin(1000)

We would now like to monitor the modulated frequencies to the left and right sides of the selected centerline. This is where the Sideband markers come in. Let's make an FFT of the amplitude modulated signal and assign it to the 2D and 3D graph. Now, let's add a Sideband marker with the same basic settings we used in all the other markers.

Sideband marker-specific settings are as follows:

• Position source - here, we need to set up the source of the carrier frequency position.
  We can choose between two options:

  • Manual - this means that we need to manually set the position. If we select this option, then the net setting will be Position in which case we will need to insert the carrier frequency in Hz.

  • Channel - this means that we select a channel from which the carrier frequency position is determined. The net setting will then be a Channel dropdown menu, from which we will select the channel that will give us information about the carrier frequency position.

• Number of bands - here, we choose how many bands to the left and right we want to display.

• Delta - here, we will define the delta frequency between bands. For simple Amplitude modulated signals, this is the modulation frequency.

• Lock fundamental frequency - if we enable this option, we will not be able to move the fundamental frequency once we exit the Marker setup. We should still be able to move the Sideband markers.

We will start off by manually setting the carrier frequency position at 1000 Hz. The number of bands will be equal to 1. We will start off setting the Delta to 40 (modulation frequency).

Like previously said, Sideband markers have one center marker and several equally spaced Sideband markers. We can select any one of the Sideband markers and move it to a different position. The other Sideband markers will then also move, maintaining the individual Sideband space.

We use Trigger markers to define a trigger level, and if this trigger level is exceeded by the signal the marker is linked to, the marker output changes from 0 to 1. We can therefore say that Trigger markers are used to monitor signals.

To observe how Trigger markers behave, we will take a signal that is a mixture of sine signals of different frequencies, make an FFT channel out of it, and assign it to a 2D graph. Let's keep in mind that we cannot link a Trigger marker to a channel that is assigned to a 3D graph.

When we add a Trigger marker, its setup looks like shown in the image below:

We once again set the Marker mode to Full history and make sure we do not have any Marker scaling. On the right side, there is only one Marker-specific setting: Position.

To properly display the functionality of the Marker type, we will make an experiment. We know that the FFT peaks' amplitude changes over time. Let's say that our system works properly when the amplitudes are between 0.13 and 0.10. In this case, we will set 2 triggers, a green one at an amplitude of 0.13 and a red one at an amplitude of 0.10. On the Marker table, we will enable the Y column so that we can keep track of the set positions of the markers.

We will assign the two channels we got, Pulse/AmplFFT/Trigger_1 and Pulse/AmplFFT/Trigger_2, to an Indicator Lamp widget to monitor when their value is 1 or 0.

We will also add an equation to monitor at which Timestamps the FFT amplitudes are in the allowed range. To do so, we will make a new equation:

1timestamps within bounds = if('Pulse/AmplFFT/Trigger_1'=0 or 'Pulse/AmplFFT/Trigger_2'=1,0,time)

If the lower amplitude marker (red) is 0, or if the upper amplitude marker (green) is 1, the formula's output should be 0. If the Lower amplitude marker is equal to 1, and the Upper is equal to 0, we are within bounds, and we will want to display the current timestamp.

We have now successfully created a tool that will help us monitor at which timestamps the system will work properly.

Damping markers are usually used in Modal Analysis, when we want to see how our transfer curve is damped. That means that we use Damping markers whenever we are interested in parameters, such as the quality (Q) factor, damping ratio, or the attenuation rate of a selected peak.

We should first define the parameters above.

• Q (quality) factor—this is what we call damping. In FRF, the damping is proportional to the width of the resonant peak about its center frequency fc, and we can calculate it by determining the frequencies f2 and f1, corresponding to the points on the signal that are (usually) 3 dB below the peak level. The higher the Q, the narrower, and ‘sharper’ the peak is.
  The Q factor is defined as:

1Q = fc/(f2 - f1)

• Damping ratio - this describes the level of damping in a system. In other words, it measures how fast a system returns to its equilibrium position after we subject it to external force.
  The Damping ratio is calculated like this:

1ς = 1/(2Q)

• Attenuation rate - this rate describes how fast the gradual loss in intensity of any kind of flux through a medium is. Attenuation itself is usually measured in dB per unit length of the medium.

We can now use the Modal Test module to determine the transfer characteristics of a system- Frequency Response Functions (FRF). These are used to find the natural frequencies and Damping ratios of mechanical structures, so we can use these channels alongside Damping markers. Since FRT channels cannot be assigned to a 3D marker, we can make an FFT of the acceleration signal as well.

Once we have assigned the channels to the graphs, we can enter the Damping marker setup:

The left side of the setup is, once again, the same as for the other markers. Here, it might be good to note that we might want to work with different Complex presentations since Modal Analysis often deals with both Magnitudes and Phases. In this PRO training, we will keep the Complex presentation as magnitude, just to keep things a little shorter.

Damping marker-specific settings are:

• Position source, which can once again be either Manual or Channel.

  • Depending on our position source we then either select the Channel, or set the Position.

• Damping factor type- here, we choose between one of the following previously defined parameters:

  • Q factor

  • Damping ratio

  • Attenuation rate

• Frequency cutoff limit - here, we choose how many dB below the peak frequencies f2 and f1 will be.

To highlight the markers functionality, we will link 3 markers to a 2D graph with a FRF channel and 3 markers to a 3D graph with an acceleration FFT channel. All markers will be configured the same, that is, their Position will be manually selected at 317.50 Hz (the FRF channel's highest peak), and the frequency cutoff limit will be the standard -3 dB. The Damping factor type will be different for each of the 3 markers on an individual graph.

We have now determined the Q factor, Damping ratio, and Attenuation rate for the highest peak of an FRF signal. The values can be read off of the Marker table in the image.

In Order tracking analysis, harmonic monitoring is vital. Lucky for us, Harmonic markers enable us to quickly identify harmonics of the fundamental frequency in the spectrum.
For a proper demonstration of the Harmonic markers functionalities, we have recorded a signal from an accelerometer positioned on a motor. As in the other examples, we make an FFT of the acceleration (acc) signal and assign it to the 2D graph.

We can now link a Harmonic marker to the acc FFT signal. The settings for this type of a marker are pictured in the image below:

Settings that are specific to Harmonic markers are as follows:

• Harmonic position source - here, we choose if we will set the position of the first harmonic Manually or from a Channel. If we choose Manual, we will need to set the position in the next step; otherwise we will have to choose a channel.

• Harmonic count - here, we choose how many harmonics we would like to look at (if there are that many)

We will set the first harmonic position at 415.93 Hz and want to see the first 4 harmonics. From theory, we should be seeing peaks in the FFT signals at:

• 415.93 Hz * 1 = 415.93 Hz

• 415.93 Hz * 2 = 831.86

• 415.93 Hz * 3 = 1247.79 Hz

• 415.93 Hz * 4 = 1663.72 Hz

We can see that the calculated values correspond nicely with the actual peaks on the graph.

We can also pick and drag the fundamental frequency through the FFT spectrum; the harmonics will automatically follow.

We use Kinematic markers to identify the bearing frequencies and bearing faults.

If we want to use Kinematic markers, we have to add an Envelope detection math channel and we need to have at least one bearing in our bearing database.

Let's first focus on the bearing database. This is where we select the type of machinery, and it includes bearing data, such as the cage, rolling element, outer race, inner race, and the frequency at which the component has a peak in the frequency domain.

Here's how we add a new bearing:

• We open the Options menu and navigate to the Editors dropdown menu.

• From there, we select the Kinematic cursor option.

• Once we have opened the Kinematic Cursors editor, we can add a new Kinematic cursor by pressing the (+) button. We can then set a new Cursor name.

• We can then add individual components by pressing the (+) button or append a pre-existing bearing by pressing the Append bearing button.

• We should remember to save the changes by pressing the Save button in the upper-right corner.

For the purpose of this PRO Training, we made custom Kinematic cursor data:

In the Math module, we can now add Envelope detection math. Our input will be an acceleration signal called Signal. In addition to this signal, we also used a Tacho to measure the TTL rotation signal. We will use it to measure the rotation speed.

We then also need to set the channel, calculated with Envelope detection math, as an input channel to the FFT analysis module.

To determine the rotation speed of the motor, we use the Angle sensor math. The relevant signal will be called TTL/frequency.

We can now add a 2D graph to our display and assign our channel, Signal/Envelope/AmplFFT, to it. After that, we can set up Kinematic marker settings.

In this case, we will set our Marker mode to Full history, Marker scaling to none, but we will Allow marker placement between data. We will also set the Peak search region to 3 Hz, and allow the software to interpolate the peak.

Kinematic marker-specific settings are:

• Kinematic cursor - here we need to assign the appropriate marker from the Kinematic cursor editor.

• Position source- here we can choose between two modes:

  • Channel, in which case the next step will be to select the proper channel.

  • Manual, in which case we will have to manually insert the Frequency of rotation. The  frequency of rotation determines the position of the kinematic markers and can be defined in Hz or RPM.

We will set the Kinematic cursor to the previously created Kinematic cursor. Then, to switch things up a little, we will set the Position source as Channel, specifically, TTL/Frequency. Since we have calculated the rpm value, we could also manually insert it. In our case, this value would be 1490.79 rpm.

The kinematic markers are positioned at frequencies that are defined in the Kinematic cursor database. We can also see that the values are well aligned with the measured peaks of the FFT signal. On the Marker table, we can see which mechanical part the frequency is related to.

Vector cut marker

The functionality of the Vector cut marker is pretty straight-forward: they output the selected region of a spectrum as a new vector channel. In other words, we use these markers when we would like to only look at a small part of a vector channel.

Let's say we have a signal that consists of multiple sine functions. When we make an FFT of this signal, we get 4 peaks. We are only interested in the region around the middle two, so we use Vector cut markers to make a new channel to assign to a 2D and 3D graph.

The Vector cut marker settings are straight-forward as well:
Besides the basic settings, all we need to set is the Position of the first and last cursor. Please do note that we can also move the markers directly on the graph to change the position.

Time cut marker

We could say that Time Cut markers are Free markers with enabled Full-History mode that can be linked to a Vector-type channel on a 2D or 3D graph.

The actual functionality of the marker type is best explained in an example, so let’s take the signal from the previous section- a signal that consists of multiple sine functions, whose FFT signal gives us 4 peaks. Let’s add this channel to a 2D graph and 3D graph, and let’s link a Time cut marker to it.

When we enter the Marker's settings, we can see that the Marker mode is automatically set to Full history mode, and that we cannot change it. Let's set the Marker scaling to none, and allow marker placement between data. We can then set its Position source as Manual, and set the position to its 4th peak: 322.27 Hz.

We can now assign the Marker channels to a Recorder widget.

We can now follow how the actual frequency (that was theoretically set to 322.27 Hz) deviates in time.

X and Y cut markers

The X and Y cut markers can only be linked to Matrix-type channels assigned to a 3D graph. They work in a similar fashion to the Vector cut markers on the 2D graph, meaning that they output a new vector channel, corresponding to one spectrum of a reference bin we define.

The above paragraph is easier to understand based on an actual example. Therefore, let's take the signal from an accelerometer we've measured and a TTL signal and use them in an Order tracking module. Out of all the channels we get, Order waterfall and FFT waterfallwill be of most interest to us since they are both Matrix-Type channels. Let's go ahead and assign them to a 3D graph. We will now link an X and Y cut marker to each channel.

On the left side of the Marker setup, we will once again be prompted to choose the Marker mode, Marker Placement, and Marker Color. On the right side, we will get to choose the Position source, which can be a Channel (in which case we will be prompted to select the channel) or Manual, in which case we will manually have to insert the chosen Y- or X- axis position.

To make things easier, let's specify the X and Y axes of the two channels. In this example, we will manually insert the axis positions, so let's specify these values as well, while we're at it:

• accelerometer/Order waterfall:

  • X axis: Orders = 15

  • Y axis: Speed = 100 rpm

• accelerometer/FFT waterfall:

  • X axis: Frequency = 4000

  • Y axis: Speed = 100

The added markers will be presented on the graph as planes (in the marker's color), indicating a cut. Simultaneously, each one of these cuts will create a channel (as mentioned previously) that we can display on the 2D graph. These channels will present the channel value on the Y-axis in relation to the parameter we have specified while making the cut.

We can also move the markers directly on the graph, or add multiple X- or Y- cut markers on one graph:

 X and Y harmonic cut markers

X and Y harmonic cut markers operate exactly the same as Harmonic markers, with the exception of being linked to Matrix-type channels on 3D graphs. That is, they enable us to quickly identify harmonics of the fundamental frequency in the spectrum. Additionally, we will, as with X- and Y- cut markers, get a Vector-type channel of all the harmonic cuts that we can assign to a 2D graph.

Let's show this with an actual example. This time, we will use one channel - accelerometer/Order waterfall, and we will link an X-and Y- harmonic cut to it.

The setup is the same as it was for the Vector-type channels;  on the left side, we select the Marker mode, Marker scaling, Marker placement, and Marker color. On the right side, we select the Harmonic position source (in our case Manual), the First harmonic position, and the Harmonic count.

For our channel, accelerometer/Order waterfall, the positions will be:

• X axis: Orders = 5

• Y axis: Speed = 40 rpm

We will be looking at the first 4 orders.

In the end, we get the following results:

As in the previous cases, the markers can be moved freely directly on the 3D graph widget, and we can link multiple markers of the same type to the same channel.