When SpecView encounters some kind of Comms Error, it does a retry, and if that fails, then SpecView implements a “Backoff” mechanism to reduce the rate at which requests are made to devices that are not there or are having difficulty.  This is called “Comms Backoff”.

When troubleshooting bad comms, this Comms Backoff can result in long periods of no activity on the comms wires, which is not good for looking at comms LEDs.

To force SpecView to request data quickly, go to File->Preferences and on the first tab (Runtime), you will see the Comms Back Off Multiplier field. Set this to a value of 1 while you are troubleshooting.  Remember to set it back to the old value (usually 30) when you are finished.

The Comms Backoff Multiplier multiplies the usual rate of requesting to get the next request interval.  For example, if a value is being requested every 2 seconds (the default Medium rate), then if that parameter encounters trouble, then the rate is multiplied by the comms backoff (usually 30) and that is the new rate the SpecView tried until the parameter works again.

By setting the Backoff to 1, the usual rate is maintained even during comms problems so that comms toubleshooting can be performed more easily.