08-20-2016 05:33 PM
12-03-2023 12:30 PM
Has anyone ever replaced the Grating in the USB4000 Spectrometer and adjusted the ram on the board? I know that the ram on the board will not provide the wavelength change when read through the computer etc. Trying to change bandwidth on the detection to a wider bandwidth instead of the current setting of 885nm to 573nm. What would be the procedure to change the ram software in the USB4000 unit and would it be through the USB connecter and would it require putting all the data from computed source or finding this list of data and just uploading it etc? Thanks in advance to any replies regarding this reconfiguration etc.
12-03-2023 02:05 PM
12-03-2023 03:50 PM
Albert,
Thanks for the quick reply. I did some digging and found a download from USB for calibrating the wavelength of the Spectrometer. I am assuming I will need to download this program from their website to be able to download and upload the calibration Coefficients etc. I am assuming this is what you meant by "You can check in the driver what happens when downloading the data." and Also the fact that you can change values in the program? Thanks for the info hopefully I go in the right direction and don't delete something I shouldn't (Major Oops) have done etc.
12-04-2023 03:06 AM
Hi,
before getting into the point on the wavelength calibration coefficients that are stored on board, please mind that changing / readjusting the grating is something that may result in the unit not working as intended. This is not meant to scare anyone, but due to experience. Often, little details are overlooked. In case of questions, feel free to reach out to us. Ocean is there to help and support. Feel free to reach out directly to me via oliver.lischtschenko@oceaninsight.com or PM me here.
A couple of technical points that often get overlooked:
1. Depending on how the instrument was configured prior to the grating change, there may be an order-sorting filter coated on the detector. That filter is matched for a particular grating and wavelength range. Changing the grating or chaning the tuning of the grating may lead to spectral incompatibility or a severe mismatch. As of course everything (grating, detector and order-sorting filter) have spectrally dependent efficiencies, this may result in a basically blind unit or really weird spectral responses.
2. On the USB4000 some configurations field UV-enhanced detectors. That may add to the point above.
3. Changing from an overview to a high res unit or the other way around is basically not doable. the OSFs are coated onto the detector as mentioned above.
4. Of course, chaning voids warranty and limits our supporting capabilities. Since the USB4000s are discontinued since 2015, there surely is no warranty on the unit - just saying.
If you really insist and know what you are doing, you can change and store the EEPROM-stored wavelength coefficients via the USB EEPROM programming tool. You can find that on the official Ocean webpage (under Microcode) here:
https://www.oceaninsight.com/support/software-downloads/miscellaneous-tools-and-utilities/
Please mind that you have to enter periods as decimal separators - even if it displays commas when reading values and shows commas on the GUI (something that can happen based on your machine´s localization settings). Commata will corrupt the EEPROMs and put the unit into an undefined and unbootable state. You want to avoid that at all cost. Please only tinker with EEPROMs on a laptop with working battery. Everyone who ever flashed a wifi router´s firmware and suffered a loss of power in the process knows that this is not good.
In case of questions or confusion, PM or email me.
Cheers, Oliver
Dr. Oliver Lischtschenko
Senior Applications Engineer
12-04-2023 10:27 PM
Thanks for the reply. Is there a chance you could send the calibration coefficients for a typical 200nm-1000nm using a #10 diffraction grating? with 000 filter and a fiber optic input (slit 000) AWL (TS1) M(S) ? I wish there was coating on the detector so I could go further on the UV scale etc. Many thanks!!!!
12-05-2023 02:46 AM
Hi, thanks. That actually sounds like a really weird and highly specific combination. Thanks for reaching out to me via PN. we will move the discussion there in order to not sidetrack the thread. Thanks