Optical Spectrum Analyzers
Chapter 8: Settings
Page 29
STN053070-D02
Chapter 8
Settings
Pressing the Settings button in the main menu will open the Settings dialog. By default, the Settings dialog box
will start in Basic level. To see more advanced settings, press the “Switch to Advanced level” button in the lower
left corner of the dialog.
This document will describe the settings found under the Active Device page; the other pages are described in
the ThorSpectra User Guide.
8.1.
Basic Settings
8.1.1. Active Device Settings
The first page in the Settings dialog allows the user to setup the general properties of the data acquisition. The
resolution vs. update frequency slider allows the user to indicate whether to prioritize spectral resolution or high
(temporal) update frequency.
Figure 26. Spectrum Setup Page in Basic Level
8.2.
Advanced Settings
When operating in Advanced level, there are four tabs in the Active Device page.
8.2.1. Acquisition Settings
In the Acquisition tab, it is possible to specify the instrument settings.
The Acquisition Interval is the minimum time between two subsequently collected interferograms. Setting this
to zero (default) will cause the software to perform the measurements as fast as possible. Setting this to a higher
value will induce a pause between each collected interferogram which can be beneficial under some
circumstances, such as when collecting a long time series of measurements.
The Resolution can be set to either “High” (higher resolution, slower update rate) or “Low” (lower resolution,
faster update rate). For Redstone devices, there are two additional resolution modes to choose from, “Medium
High” and “Medium Low.”
The Sensitivity of the Redstone OSA305 can be set to “Low”, “Medium”, or “High.” For OSA20xC devices, there
are instead four options: “Low”, “Medium Low”, “Medium High”, and “High.” Using a higher sensitivity setting
