FUNCTION Button and LEDs
The FUNCTION button cycles through three functions: HZ,
RPM, and TRIGGER. Each function is indicated by its respective
LED. The button cycles endlessly through the three functions.
Whenever you select a new function, a green LED flashes
slowly. This indicates that the function’s controls are active, but
the Strobe Lamp does not flash. You can change the flash rate
and brightness without actually flashing the lamp.
The HZ and RPM modes are identical except for the displayed
units. Note that the Stroboscope defaults to 10.0 Hz or 600
RPM when turned on. The maximum flash rate is 500 Hz or
30,000 RPM. The minimum flash rate is 1 Hz or 60 RPM.
The TRIGGER mode indicates that one of two things may
happen. The first is that the Strobe Lamp(s) will flash when the
Stroboscope receives a valid external signal, such as a pulse
from a Photogate Head connected to the IN port on the end of
the Stroboscope. The second is that an external Stroboscope
attached to the OUT port will be activated. When the
Stroboscope is in TRIGGER mode, the Digital Display shows the
amount of delay time between the valid external signal and the
lamp flash. The display ranges from 0 to 1000 milliseconds. The
default delay is 100 milliseconds (0.1 seconds).
LAMP Button
The LAMP button controls the Strobe Lamps attached to the
Stroboscope when the Stroboscope is in the HZ or RPM mode.
Press the LAMP button once to start the flashing. The HZ or
RPM LED will shine continuously.
Press the LAMP button again to stop the flashing. The
FUNCTION LED will return to a slow flashing mode. Note that
pressing the FUNCTION button when the lamp is flashing turns
off the lamp and also advances the function to the next
selection.
COARSE and FINE Control Knobs
The COARSE and FINE control knobs adjust the flash rate when
the Stroboscope is in HZ or RPM mode, and they adjust the
delay time between a valid external signal and the lamp flash
when the Stroboscope is in TRIGGER mode. Table 1 shows how
much a single slow 'click' of the COARSE or FINE control knobs
will change the displayed flash rate or delay time. Maximum and
minimum settings are also shown.
Table 1. COARSE and FINE
COARSE
FINE
Maximum
Minimum
HZ
1.0 Hz
0.1 Hz
500.0 Hz
1.0 Hz
RPM
10 RPM
1 RPM
30,000 RPM
60 RPM
TRIGGER
10 ms
1 ms
1000 ms
0 ms
Each control knob incorporates a "speed-up" function that gives
the user the option of high resolution or rapid changes in the
Digits Display. As an example, the combination of
COARSE/FINE and speed-up means that the RPM display can
be changed anywhere from 1 RPM (FINE knob moved slowly)
up to 100 RPM (COARSE knob moved quickly) per "click" of the
control.
BRIGHTNESS Control Knob
The BRIGHTNESS Control Knob operates similarly to the flash
rate controls, except that it controls the brightness of the lamp
while flashing by setting the duration of each flash. The longer
the duration, the brighter the flash and vice versa. The control
operates using a relative scale of 1 to 25 in brightness for all
three functions (HZ, RPM, and TRIGGER), with "1" being the
dimmest and "25" being the brightest.
For TRIGGER mode with an external device connected to the
TRIGGER - IN port, the brightness control range of 1 to 25
arbitrarily maps to a lamp on-time range of 50 to 400
microseconds, since we don’t know the flash repetition rate. In
other words, when the brightness control is at "1", each
triggered flash of the strobe lamp lasts 50 microseconds, and
when the brightness control is at "25", each flash of the strobe
lamp lasts 400 microseconds.
Whenever the brightness control knob is moved while in HZ,
RPM, or TRIGGER mode, the seven-segment display will
automatically switch to display relative brightness. You can
easily differentiate this display from the other displays by
noticing that the brightness is left justified, while all the other
displays are right justified. Three seconds after the brightness
control knob becomes stationary, the display will revert to
displaying Hz or RPM.
SAVE and RECALL
SAVE: If the FUNCTION button is held down for more than one
second, all of the LEDs light up momentarily and the
Stroboscope saves almost all of the setup information to non-
volatile memory. This includes frequency in Hz, RPM, and
TRIGGER delay settings. The brightness setting is not saved.
Only one group of settings is saved, and any previously saved
setups are overwritten.
RECALL: If the LAMP button is held down for more than one
second, all of the LEDs light up momentarily, and the
Stroboscope recalls the setup information from memory. This
includes frequency in Hz, RPM, and TRIGGER delay settings.
The brightness setting is not recalled.
TRIGGER IN and TRIGGER OUT
TRIGGER - OUT
TRIGGER - IN
The TRIGGER - IN and TRIGGER - OUT ports at the end of the
Stroboscope will accept 1/4 inch diameter stereo phone plugs
(also known as "tip-ring-sleeve" plugs).
Stroboscope | ME-6978
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