Installation
EPC9 Installation
16
3. Installation
Installation Procedure
Please, installation procedure for the EPC9 and the required software is described in the
separate “Installation_8x5” manual.
Calibrating the EPC 9
If you wish to calibrate your amplifier proceed as stated in this section. Calibration is
usually not necessary with a new amplifier, since you can use the calibration files
supplied by HEKA. However, it is advisable to recalibrate the EPC9 twice a year or
whenever the frequency response of the amplifier is not accurate or offset currents
become noticeable.
Note:
The calibration file contains the settings of the digital switches and controls of the
amplifier. These are unique to a given combination of amplifier and headstage (probe)
and cannot be used for another EPC9. Therefore, you have to recalibrate the amplifier,
when you replace the probe! This is a big advantage of the EPC9, since you can use any
probe with any amplifier and replace a broken probe without having to send the amplifier
in for recalibration.
Before starting the calibration make sure that the
amplifier has reached its operational temperature,
since the calibration depends on temperature. We
advice to let the EPC9 warm up for 60 minutes
after powering the amplifier on. Start the
E9SCREEN program. The default installation
copies it into the E9Scren folder inside the HEKA
folder. Windows users might alternatively use the
Start button to launch E9SCREEN from Programs
HEKA. In the program, go to the Calibrate
menu. This menu contains all the items involved in
calibration generation of scale files. If there is no
valid calibration, the menu item Make CFast will
be disabled. If you have an EPC9 Double or Triple
this menu item will also be disabled, unless each amplifier has been calibrated correctly.
To perform the calibration select Calibrate from the Calibrate menu. E9SCREEN will
warn you that this procedure may take up to 10 minutes, depending on the speed of
your computer (6 minutes on a 300 MHz PII system). Go ahead by clicking the Yes
button.
