Aspen
Version 1.4 rev 23 Oct 2017
20
12. The
Exposure and Shutter Options
include a camera Mode drop-down whose entries depend on the specific
camera in use. In
Normal
mode the software controls both the start time and duration of the exposure. In
Kinetics
mode the sensor must be masked so that a specified number of full-width but reduced-height images
known as sections can be rapidly acquired on a single CCD frame. Readout occurs only after all requested
sections have been imaged. For further information, consult the documentation for your camera.
13. For cameras with firmware v17 and later, the exposure process can be further modified by the
Exposure
Triggering
options. The instrument waits for a TTL signal pulse before starting the exposure if
First
is checked.
A separate pulse is required for each subsequent Kinetics section if
Next
is checked. Cameras with earlier
firmware do not support Kinetics, but provide a separate Triggered exposure mode equivalent to Normal with
First checked.
14. The next two options modify the duration of the exposure.
External Shutter Signal
allows the shutter to
be gated open by an external TTL-level signal, with readout occurring at the trailing edge of this pulse.
Ext.
Shutter
and
Readout
is similar but readout is controlled by a separate TTL-level signal, allowing the shutter to
open and close more than once during the same exposure. In either external shutter mode, the
Enable Amp
Output
checkbox disables the CCD voltage while the shutter strobe input is high.
15. IO Port Settings
displays the Apogee I/O Port Settings dialog box. This allows you to configure each I/O pin for
a predefined function. These should be self-explanatory; for advanced use please contact Andor for assistance.
16. Open Shutter
opens the shutter for inspection or cleaning.
17. The two
Status Indicator
lights can be configured to provide basic status information. To prevent light
contamination under very low-light imaging conditions, you can select
OFF
when exposing. You can also select
Always
OFF
or Always
ON
.
18. The two Light Emitting Diodes (
LED A
and
LED B
) can be configured individually. They can be set to illuminate
when the camera is in
Expose
mode (unless disabled by OFF when exposing), when the camera is
Active
,
during
Flushing
to remove charge from the array, at
Wait Trigger
to show when the camera is waiting for a
trigger, when an
Ext Trigger
is received,
Ext Shutter
to show the state of the external shutter,
Ext Readout
to
show the state of the external readout trigger, and when the camera has stabilized
At Temperature
.
19. The
Shrink <<<
button toggles between the full size dialog box and just the Interface or Status section.
20. NOTE: In earlier versions of this plug-in, a Readout on Stop checkbox specified the disposition of exposures
aborted via the Stop button. This capability is now controlled from the Options menu of the Settings tab in the
MaxIm DL window.
