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Alpha NIR User’s Guide   412-0007-10  Ver 150 

 

 

INDIGO OPERATIONS 

• 

Users can purchase Alpha NIR as a turn-key imaging systems complete with 
sensor head with power supply, digital interface cable, frame grabber board and 
driver software, host PC, and custom software based on National Instruments 
LabVIEW.  The software, called IRvista, is a real-time image acquisition and 
analysis application that provides the user with acquisition, storage, retrieval, 
display, processing, and analysis of still images and video in a flexible, 
convenient Windows interface.  IRvista allows the user to control the sensor via 
an integrated RS-232 interface.  Operation of IRvista is described in detail in the 
IRvista user’s manual (Indigo p/n 321.0028.10). 

 

• 

LabVIEW programmers can purchase an Alpha NIR developer’s kit from Indigo 
Systems Corporation.  This kit includes Alpha NIR sensor head and power 
supply, digital interface cable, and National Instruments PCI-1422 frame grabber, 
a board which contains 16 Megabytes of on-board RAM, and which is capable of 
acquiring images at the full 30-Hz frame rate that the sensor head is capable of 
delivering. 

 

• 

Advanced users can design their own interface to Alpha NIR using their own 
digital frame grabber and camera control software.  They need only purchase the 
sensor head from Indigo Systems Corporation.  We provide all necessary 
interface documentation, including timing diagrams, connector pin-outs, and 
command syntaxes in the Alpha NIR Interface Control Document (Indigo p/n 
102.0003.10). 

1.1  IRvista Installation Instructions 

 

These are instructions for installing IRvista 2.51 or later revisions onto a 

personal computer running Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, or Windows XP.  
The recommended operating systems are Windows 2000 or Windows XP.  The 
recommended computer should have a P4 2.0 GHz or faster processor, at least 1 
Gig of RAM, and a high-speed disk drive (7500 rpm or faster).  These are 
recommendations, not requirements. 

 

PROCEDURE: 

 

1.  Open the folder called Disk 1 on the IRvista installation CD and find the folder 

NI-IMAQ.  The CD is Indigo part number 321-0028-00. 

 

2.  Install NI-IMAQ Version 2.5.1 from the IRvista CD only. Do not use the NI-

IMAQ CD that comes with the board! Open the folder NI-IMAQ and find 
install.exe.  Run install.exe. 

 

3.  Shut down the computer and install the PCI-1422 frame grabber into an unused 

PCI slot.  Install the PCI-1422 board using standard ESD and safety procedures.   

 

Summary of Contents for Alpha Nir

Page 1: ...INDIGO OPERATIONS A Al lp ph ha a N NI IR R D Di ig gi it ta al l I Im ma ag ge e A Ac cq qu ui is si it ti io on n S Sy ys st te em m User s Guide Version 150 412 0007 10...

Page 2: ...ver including without limitation damages for loss of business profits business interruption loss of business information or other loss arising out of the use of or inability to use the Alpha NIR camer...

Page 3: ...RDWARE 8 1 3 ALPHA NIR SYSTEM HARDWARE SETUP 10 2 ALPHA NIR EXTERNAL SYNC OPERATION 12 2 1 PROCEDURE FOR ACTIVATING EXTERNAL SYNC WITH IRVISTA 12 3 ALPHA NIR CALIBRATION LIGHT SOURCE NUC PROCEDURE 16...

Page 4: ...is a precision optical instrument and should be protected from shock and vibration Keep the camera stored in the manufacturer s shipping container This camera contains static sensitive electronics and...

Page 5: ...vidicon cameras InGaAs sensors are highly resistant to damage from intense laser beams and do not suffer from image retention making microsecond level exposure times achievable The ability to control...

Page 6: ...of delivering Advanced users can design their own interface to Alpha NIR using their own digital frame grabber and camera control software They need only purchase the sensor head from Indigo Systems C...

Page 7: ...l files in the DLL patch folder and paste them in the folder called Indigo Data which is located at C Program Files IRvista Indigo Data When the confirm file replacement window pops up hit the Yes to...

Page 8: ...drop frames it should always say that the number of frames acquired matches the number of buffers frames received by the IMAQ card 16 Next try recording images direct to disc Save the images to a bin...

Page 9: ...2 frame grabber board 10 NI IMAQ Version 2 5 1 CD and documentation 11 IMAQ cable assembly for Alpha NIR 12 Carrying case Available optional accessories 1 Lens 25mm 50mm Zoom 2 Computer System 3 LabVI...

Page 10: ...r to use the proper camera driver 12 To confirm everything is working properly at this point click grab This should result in display of a dark box in the center of the window this is the output of th...

Page 11: ...laboratory 5 s and 100 s for laser beam or high intensity applications and 500 msec high gain for very low light imaging Click make new default settings to insure the system reboots to the new settin...

Page 12: ...ected live digital video image displayed at about 10 frames per second Note The Factory Test Interface Connector is generally for factory use Please do not attempt to communicate through the camera us...

Page 13: ...Mode integration and digital data output is initiated by the ext_sync input pin A rising edge on the ext_sync pin will cause the camera to begin integration within a 33 46ms frame and begin to output...

Page 14: ...TWID TWID Minimum width of pulse 100ns TPER Minimum period of ext_sync 33460 s TWID Normal Mode Timing TEND Delay from Rising edge of Ext Sync to End of Integration 822076 8 5 clocks 33492 3 7us TSTAR...

Page 15: ...Alpha NIR User s Guide 412 0007 10 Ver 150 INDIGO OPERATIONS 14...

Page 16: ...ur re e e 1 1 1 r S A Al lp ph ha a N NI IR R C Ca al li ib br ra at ti io on n L Li ig gh ht t S So ou ur rc ce e N NU UC C P Pr ro oc ce ed du ur re e N N NI I IR R R C C Ca a al lli iib b br r ra a...

Page 17: ...re made constantly We tend to perform generic corrections with the aperture wide open and the focus set to infinity One can perform a one point correction one the lens is set properly to minimize spat...

Page 18: ...gher VDetCom voltage INTEGRATION TIME MINIMUM VDETCOM VOLTAGE 33 2 msec lens on f 1 4 skimming on Low Gain 4 70V 16 msec lens on f 1 4 skimming on Low Gain 4 70V 500 usec no lens skimming on Low Gain...

Page 19: ...nsity adjust the lamp voltage until the mean value is about 950 counts above the light off mean count value Push the GO button when the light box has stabilized at the desired mean count value 3 2 27...

Page 20: ...VDETCOM VOLTAGE 33 2 msec lens on f 1 4 skimming on Low Gain 4 70V 16 msec lens on f 1 4 skimming on Low Gain 4 70V 500 usec no lens skimming on Low Gain 4 75V 100 usec no lens skimming on Low Gain 4...

Page 21: ...ght off mean count value At 25 usec and with the lamp voltage at 12V maximum the counts may not reach 950 counts above the light off mean count value A NUC can still be performed using a lower count v...

Page 22: ...he seconds and converts them into readable strings The Binary Date Stamp is defined as such First take seconds from 12 00 am Jan 1 1904 Universal time This is a real number with seconds accurate to 1...

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