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ORTEC DSPEC Pro Hardware User Manual

Digital gamma-ray spectrometer
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ORTEC
®
DSPEC Pro
®
Digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometer
Hardware User's Manual
Printed in U.S.A.
ORTEC Part No. 794380
0914
Manual Revision D

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  • Page 1 ORTEC ® DSPEC Pro ® Digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometer Hardware User’s Manual Printed in U.S.A. ORTEC Part No. 794380 0914 Manual Revision D...

  • Page 2: Warranty

    Copyright © 2014, Advanced Measurement Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. ® ORTEC is a registered trademark of Advanced Measurement Technology, Inc. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

  • Page 3: Additional Warranty Statement

    ADDITIONAL WARRANTY STATEMENT Please note that the DSPEC Pro contains no user-serviceable parts. Breaking the seal on the case voids your warranty. The DSPEC Pro should be opened only by ORTEC-authorized service personnel.
  • Page 4 [Intentionally blank]...

  • Page 5: Table Of Contents

    1.6.4.3. More Information ......... 14 1.7. DSPEC Pro SMART-1 HPGe Detector Support ......14 1.7.1.
  • Page 6 2.3. DSPEC Pro MCB Properties in MAESTRO ....... . .
  • Page 7 APPENDIX B. LIST MODE IN THE DSPEC PRO ....... . .

  • Page 8: Safety Instructions And Symbols

    Safety Instructions and Symbols This manual contains up to three levels of safety instructions that must be observed in order to avoid personal injury and/or damage to equipment or other property. These are: DANGER Indicates a hazard that could result in death or serious bodily harm if the safety instruction is not observed.
  • Page 9 [Intentionally blank]...

  • Page 11: Introduction

    List Mode In List Mode, the DSPEC Pro records and stores the pulse value with a time-stamp for every pulse generated by the detector. With List Mode, you can write your own programs that can reconstruct histograms for any time segment without dead time between histograms, or make histograms for overlapping time slices.

  • Page 12: Proven Technologies Of The Dspec Family

    8, 7, or XP SP3. A nearly unlimited number of DSPEC Pros (as well as any combination of other ORTEC USB instruments) can be connected to your computer via USB hubs (and across the network). As an ORTEC C multichannel ONNECTIONS buffer (MCB), DSPEC Pro works in both standalone and networked configurations.

  • Page 13: Enhanced Throughput Mode

    By contrast, the dead time in ORTEC’s Enhanced Throughput Mode can be as little as the rise time plus the flattop. These two scenarios are illustrated in Fig. 1. The DSPEC Pro lets you set a protection time (PT), following a peak-detect, that blocks Patent number 5,872,363.

  • Page 14: Resolution Enhancement Mode Corrects For Charge Trapping

    1.33-MeV gamma ray from Co would be about 1.5 keV FWHM. Real detectors typi- cally have a resolution of 1.8 to 2.2 keV FWHM. ORTEC’s Charge Trapping Corrector (CTC) helps reduce this energy resolution loss caused by charge trapping, yielding the DSPEC Pro’s Resolution Enhancer Mode.

  • Page 15: The Low Frequency Rejector (Lfr) Filter

    Times in Enhanced Throughput Mode. At the maximum protection-time setting, the DSPEC Pro processes pulses in the conventional way. The digital filter in the DSPEC Pro measures the amount of charge collected for each event and uses the result to increment the spectrum memory location associated with that charge measure- ment.
  • Page 16 ® DSPEC Pro Digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometer User’s Manual 794380D / 0914 step signal is obtained by averaging the digitized samples of the signal before and after the step. M samples immediately after the event are first ignored, to allow for a maximum rise time of M times the sample interval.
  • Page 17 794380D / 0914 1. INTRODUCTION The ORTEC LFR filter removes most of the microphonic noise by estimating the microphonic- induced error signal on a pulse-by-pulse basis and subtracting the estimated error signal from the trapezoid output. As noted above, the error signal is proportional to the slope of the baseline during the energy measurement.

  • Page 18: Ballistic Deficit And Adjusting The Flattop Duration

    Low Frequency Rejector checkbox (see Section 2.3.3). Note that you cannot optimize or pole-zero the DSPEC Pro while in LFR mode. The Optimize feature should be used with the LFR filter off (checkbox unmarked). Subsequent measurements can then be taken with the LFR filter on.

  • Page 19: Zero Dead-Time (Zdt) Mode

    794380D / 0914 1. INTRODUCTION peak amplitude, the rising and falling edges are separated by a flattop to form a trapezoid. The width of the flattop is adjusted to be long enough to match the longest charge collection time for the detector employed.

  • Page 20: Off - Uncorrected Spectrum Only

    As a result, the number of counts in the peak will not be correct. When a supported ORTEC MCB operates in ZDT mode, it adjusts for the dead-time losses by taking very short acquisitions and applying a correction in real time —...

  • Page 21: Norm_Corr - Zdt And Uncorrected Spectra Stored

    794380D / 0914 1. INTRODUCTION NOTE When the spectrometer is placed in ZDT mode, the throughput of the instrument is reduced somewhat as extra processing must be done on the spectrum; therefore, if the gamma-ray flux is not changing as a function of time, but absolute highest throughput is desirable, you might wish to store only the LTC spectrum in the MCB memory.

  • Page 22: Choosing A Zdt Mode

    ® DSPEC Pro Digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometer User’s Manual 794380D / 0914 where: = sum of background counts for the channels adjacent to the peak start (low- energy) channel L = sum of background counts for the channels adjacent to the peak end (high-...

  • Page 23: The Norm_Corr Diagnostic Mode

    794380D / 0914 1. INTRODUCTION the extra time. Consequently, the average activity of the short-lived isotope will be under- estimated. If you anticipate significantly varying counting rates during the time taken to acquire the spec- trum, the CORR_ERR ZDT mode should be used. The CORR_ERR mode corrects for dead- time losses over minuscule time intervals by adding counts to the ZDT spectrum in proportion to the instantaneous ratio of real time to live time.

  • Page 24: More Information

    The SMART-1 detector monitors and reports on vital system functions. Also, its identification serial number can be read by a controller such as the DSPEC Pro. For more security it can save authentication codes written to it and report the code at a later time. The authentication code value is replaced with every start command.

  • Page 25: Smart-1 Hpge Detector Construction

    The SMART-1 HPGe detector SOH function operates as follows: When the acquisition is started, the DSPEC Pro clears all the bits of the SOH byte in the SMART-1 HPGe Detector memory. During data acquisition, the SMART-1 HPGe Detector monitors the conditions listed above.

  • Page 26: Host Computer And Software Requirements

    Windows 8, 7, XP Professional SP3. 1.9. About this Manual This manual describes the DSPEC Pro, tells how to connect it in a complete spectroscopy sys- tem, gives instructions on configuring the hardware settings (such as high voltage, presets, and gain), and supplies the hardware commands and responses.

  • Page 27: Getting Started

    Figure 5 shows the DSPEC Pro front panel. Figure 5. DSPEC Pro Front Panel. 2.1.1.1. The Display The DSPEC Pro has a 240 × 160-pixel LCD display for viewing counting settings and status, high-voltage setting and status, stabilizer settings, SMART-1 detector status, and shutdown mode.

  • Page 28: Controls

    The last line on the display gives the firmware version for this DSPEC Pro. 2.1.1.2. Controls ON/OFF To power up the DSPEC Pro, press ON/OFF. It takes up to 20 seconds for the display to appear. To turn off the instrument, press ON/OFF. The DSPEC Pro is designed to avoid accidental power-down so acquisition isn’t interrupted.

  • Page 29: Software And Hardware Installation

    Installing the DSPEC Pro and the MAESTRO MCA Emulation Software takes just four easy steps. You must have Administrator access in Windows to install MAESTRO. For easiest installation do not connect the DSPEC Pro to your computer until MAESTRO has been installed.

  • Page 30: Onnections

    C , enable/disable the drivers for your ORTEC ONNECTIONS MCB(s), and share ORTEC instruments across a network. On the Instrument Families page, be sure to mark the USB-based instruments checkbox, as shown in Fig.9. Otherwise the DSPEC Pro will not be able to communicate with the computer and MAESTRO software.

  • Page 31: Step 3: Connect The Dspec Pro To The Computer

    1) With the computer powered on, connect the DSPEC Pro to the computer’s USB port. 2) Windows will indicate that the DSPEC Pro has been detected. In Windows 8 and 7, the driver will install without a wizard. In XP, the new hardware installation wizard will open.

  • Page 32: Configuring A New Instrument

    Configure Instruments dialog. This will open the Change Description or ID dialog (Fig. 12). It shows the physical MCB location (read-only), and allows you to change the ID Number and Description. If this is a first-time installation of ORTEC products, all your instruments will be “new.”...

  • Page 33: Attaching More Than One Dspec Pro To The Computer

    2.2.5. Attaching More Than One DSPEC Pro to the Computer Once the drivers have been installed for one DSPEC Pro, adding subsequent units is simple. REMINDER Be sure to run MCB Configuration any time you add new DSPEC Pros (or other ORTEC MCBs) to your system, or when you move an instrument from one USB port to another.

  • Page 34: Connecting To And Disconnecting From The Computer

    DSPEC Pro, you will see a “detector not responding” message on the status line at the bottom of the MAESTRO window. When you reconnect the DSPEC Pro to the com- puter, you will have to reselect it from the detector droplist on the Toolbar.
  • Page 35 As all of the values for all the combinations are maintained in the DSPEC Pro, you do not have to repeat optimization for each possible rise time.

  • Page 36: Amplifier 2

    Section 2.3.1, you can use any Rise Time without having to re-optimize. The value of the rise time parameter in the DSPEC Pro is roughly equivalent to twice the inte- gration time set on a conventional analog spectroscopy amplifier. Thus, a DSPEC Pro value...

  • Page 37: Insight Mode

    The Properties dialog remains active and can be used to change settings while viewing the pulses. As none of the traditional analog signals are available in the DSPEC Pro, this mode is the only way to display the equivalent amplifier output pulse. Note that at the bottom of the window the marker channel is displayed in units of time.
  • Page 38 (such as the tail for pole-zero- ing). Figure 15. DSPEC Pro InSight Mode. In the Auto trigger mode, the display is updated every time a new pulse exceeds the trigger level.

  • Page 39: Mark Types

    PHA mode. The display will return to the InSight mode when you return to the first DSPEC Pro. If you exit the program with the DSPEC Pro in InSight mode, it will be in InSight mode on the next startup.

  • Page 40: Amplifier Pro

    Busy When the DSPEC Pro busy signal is active, Busy shows in the Mark box. It represents the dead time. Gate This shows when the gate signal is present on the gate input connector. If the Gate mode on the ADC tab (see Fig.
  • Page 41 Figure 17. DSPEC Pro Amplifier PRO Tab. Low Frequency Rejector — This feature is discussed in detail in Section 1.4. ! The DSPEC Pro cannot optimize or pole-zero in LFR mode. Optimize or PZ with the filter off, then turn it back on for data collection.

  • Page 42: Training" The Resolution Enhancer

    Rise Time and Flattop settings, however, you can adjust this value at any time. Each time you change the rise time or flattop, the DSPEC Pro will automatically set itself to the new minimum protection time.

  • Page 43: To Turn The Enhancer Off

    Resolution Enhancer was used to improve peak resolution. 6) The table of adjustments will be stored in the DSPEC Pro’s memory, and will continue to be used each time you mark the Resolution Enhancer checkbox, until “retrained.”...

  • Page 44: Stabilizer

    Use <F3> or Acquire/ ZDT Display Figure 18. DSPEC Pro ADC Tab. Select to toggle the display between the two spectra. In the Compare mode, <F3> switches both spectra to the other type and <Shift+F3>...

  • Page 45: High Voltage

    The TTL mode is used for most non-ORTEC detectors. Figure 20. DSPEC Pro High Voltage Tab. The polarity is determined by the DIM or SMART-1 module, which also supplies the bias voltage. The recommended HV for SMART-1 is displayed on the dialog.

  • Page 46: About

    Model 296 and not here. 2.3.7. About This tab (Fig. 21) displays hardware and firmware information about the currently selected DSPEC Pro as well as the data Acquisition Start Time and Sample description. In addition, the Access field shows whether the...
  • Page 47 ERR is set until cleared by the program. The numeric values are displayed in the units reported by the DSPEC Pro. Security, Detector temperature, and Live detector temperature are available only for SMART-1 detectors. For non-SMART-1 detectors, they show N/A.
  • Page 48 Live detector temperature This is the detector temperature at the current time. This is available only for SMART-1 detectors. Battery voltage Not used in the DSPEC Pro. Battery % full Not used in the DSPEC Pro. Battery time remaining Not used in the DSPEC Pro.

  • Page 49: Presets

    If you disable all of the presets, data acquisition will continue until manually stopped. Figure 23. DSPEC Pro Presets Tab. The values of all presets for the currently selected MCB are shown on the Status Sidebar. These values do not change as new values are entered on the Presets tab;...

  • Page 50: Mda Preset

    ® DSPEC Pro Digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometer User’s Manual 794380D / 0914 Enter the ROI Integral preset value in counts. With this preset condition, the MCB stops count- ing when the sum of all counts in all channels for this MCB marked with an ROI reaches this value.
  • Page 51 794380D / 0914 2. GETTING STARTED Figure 24. DSPEC Pro MDA Preset Tab. where: a, b, and c are determined by the MDA criteria you choose. Counts is the gross counts in an ROI that is 2.5×FWHM around the target peak energy.

  • Page 52: Setting The Rise Time In Digital Mcbs

    2.4. Setting the Rise Time in Digital MCBs To achieve the best results when using a digital spectrometer, such as the DSPEC Pro, we recommend that you set the rise time of the pulses being processed by the digital filter to the minimum value for the resolution needed.

  • Page 53: Troubleshooting

    ! The USB cable is not properly connected. ! Check the Master Instrument List on the computer to ensure that the DSPEC Pro is on the list. If it is not listed, shutdown and restart the DSPEC Pro, then re-run the MCB...
  • Page 54 ® DSPEC Pro Digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometer User’s Manual 794380D / 0914 ! See the C Driver Update Kit instructions for more detailed information on ONNECTIONS using MCB Configuration.

  • Page 55: Specifications

    ! Coarse Gain Settings 1 to 32 in binary steps (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32). ! Fine Gain 0.45 to 1. The available range of gain settings supports all types of HPGe detectors. Specifically the fol- lowing maximum energy values are achievable using the standard ORTEC preamplifier (maxi- mum to minimum gain): ! COAX 187 keV–12 MeV...
  • Page 56 LLD Digital lower-level discriminator set in channels. Hard cutoff of data in channels below the LLD setting. ULD Digital upper-level discriminator set in channels. Hard cutoff of data in channels above the ULD setting. Ratemeter Monitor the input count rate on the DSPEC Pro display or computer screen.

  • Page 57: Electrical And Mechanical

    Dimensions ! DSPEC Pro 8.1 cm H × 20.3 cm W × 24.9 cm D (3.2 in. × 8 in. × 9.8 in.). ! DIM 11.2 cm H × 3.13 cm W × 6.5 cm D (4.4 in. × 1.25 in. × 2.6 in.).

  • Page 58: Connectors

    Software-selectable polarity. 3.2. HPGe High-Voltage Detector Interface Modules The DSPEC Pro offers high-voltage supply flexibility in the form of modules that connect the detector to the MCA and provide bias and SMART-1 support (if appropriate). These modules have an input connector that connects to the DETECTOR connector (discussed in Section 3.1.2).

  • Page 59: Feature Mask Bits

    The following table describes the feature bits from the SHOW_FEATURES command discussed on page 74. If the feature is supported in the DSPEC Pro the bit is set to 1; if the feature is not supported, the bit is 0.
  • Page 60 ® DSPEC Pro Digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometer User’s Manual 794380D / 0914 Meaning Software-selectable analog offset HV power supply Enhanced HV (SET_HV, SET/SHOW_HV_POL, SHOW_HV_ACT) Software-selectable HV range (ENA_NAI, DIS_NAI) Auto PZ (START_PZ_AUTO) Software-selectable manual PZ (SET/SHOW_PZ) Battery-backed, real-time clock (SHOW_DATE/TIME, SHOW_DATE/TIME_START)
  • Page 61 Device supports the MDA preset Software-selectable ADC type (Matchmaker™) Has ability to daisy-chain MCBs (DART) ZDT functions available (DSPEC Plus, DSPEC jr, DSPEC jr 2.0, DSPEC Pro) DSPEC Plus-style Insight triggering (LIST/SET_TRIG_SAMP) ® Multiple inputs per connection (for example, OCTÊTE...
  • Page 62 Meaning Programmable Current/HV interlock (OASIS) 0 Explorable Stabilizer (LIST_GAIN_ADJU, LIST_ZERO_ADJU) Has programmable input impedance (MCS) Advanced shaping-time feature has no CUSP (digiDART, DSPEC jr 2.0, DSPEC Pro) Selectable HV rise-time (SET/SHOW/LIST_HV_RISE) (SBS-60) — Monitor command support (SHOW_MONI_MAX/LABEL/VALUE) SMART-1 Detector support (SHOW_SMART_DET, SHOW_SNUM_DET, SHOW_HV_RECO) Nuclide report (SET/SHOW_NUCL_COEF, SET/SHOW_ROI_NUCL, ...)

  • Page 63: Firmware Commands And Responses

    4. FIRMWARE COMMANDS AND RESPONSES Most software communication with the DSPEC Pro takes place through the C soft- ONNECTIONS ware layer. C is used by all ORTEC software and can be accessed for other software ONNECTIONS ® development with our C Programmer’s Toolkit with Microsoft ActiveX...

  • Page 64: Dollar Response Records

    ® DSPEC Pro Digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometer User’s Manual 794380D / 0914 Command execution error Invalid Command For macro code 129 (syntax error) or 131 (execution error), the following apply: Invalid Verb Invalid Noun Invalid Modifier Invalid first parameter Invalid second parameter...

  • Page 65: Mcb Commands

    794380D / 0914 4. FIRMWARE COMMANDS AND RESPONSES unsigned checksum of all characters on the record up to but not including the checksum charac- ters, and <CR> represents the ASCII carriage return character. $Axxxccc<CR> xxx is a single 8-bit unsigned number. $Cxxxxxccc<CR>...
  • Page 66 The region-of-interest flags for the channels in the window of interest (see SET_WINDOW command) in the currently selected device (see SET_DEVICE command) are cleared. CLOSE_FILE_FLASH crc No function in the DSPEC Pro; included for backward compatibility. COMP No function in the DSPEC Pro; included for backward compatibility.
  • Page 67 SHOW_HV. DISABLE_HV_DIM Disables the use of the MCB connector on the back of the DSPEC Pro and causes the DSPEC Pro to suppress State of Health information (see SHOW_HV_HEALTH command). Also, the command disables polling of a standard DIM module (e.g. DIM-POSNAI, DIM-POSGE, DIM-NEGGE, or DIM-296) by the DSPEC Pro.
  • Page 68 794380D / 0914 DISABLE_PZ_AUTOMATIC Disables the automatic pole zero mode. See also ENABLE_PZ_AUTOMATIC. DISABLE_PZ_NEED Disables the reporting of an error when the DSPEC Pro has not been pole zeroed. DISABLE_REMOTE No function in the DSPEC Pro; included for backward compatibility. DISABLE_RENH Returns the DSPEC Pro to normal operation if the Resolution Enhancer is enabled.
  • Page 69 Enables the stabilization of the gain peak. See also DISABLE_GAIN_STABILIZATION, SHOW_GAIN_STABILIZATION, and INITIALIZE_GAIN_STABILIZATION. ENABLE_HV Turns on the high-voltage enable output of the DSPEC Pro. See also DISABLE_HV and SHOW_HV. ENABLE_HV_DIM Enables the DSPEC Pro to work with a standard DIM (e.g. DIM-POSNAI, DIM-POSGE, or DIM-NEGGE, DIM-296).
  • Page 70 Sample Ready connector or when the TRIGGER command is issued. See also TRIGGER, DISABLE_TRIGGER, SHOW_TRIGGER, SET_TRIGGER_POLARITY, and SHOW_TRIGGER_POLARITY. ENABLE_ZDT Sets the DSPEC Pro to ZDT mode. See SET_MODE_ZDT for information on selecting the ZDT mode. ENABLE_ZERO_STABILIZATION Enables the stabilization of the zero peak. See also DISABLE_ZERO_ STABILIZATION, SHOW_ZERO_STABILIZATION, and INITIALIZE_ZERO_STABILIZATION.
  • Page 71 CORR_FLAT !1.0 .992 0 255 Legal settings are from !1 to 0.992 in (255 !0 + 1 = 256) steps. LIST_DISPLAY Not used by the DSPEC Pro; included for backward compatibility. LIST_GAIN_COARSE Lists the valid coarse-gain settings. Response: GAIN_COAR 1 2 4 8 16 32 LIST_GAIN_CONV Lists legal conversion gain settings.
  • Page 72 Lists the valid ROI sample settings. Response: ROI_SAMP PUR BLN BLRG BLD BUSY GATE RESV PKDET LIST_SHAP_CUSP Not used by the DSPEC Pro; included for backward compatibility. LIST_SHAP_FLAT Lists the valid flattop width settings. Response: SHAP_FLAT 0.3 2.4 3 24 Settings are 0.3 to 2.4 in 22 steps of...
  • Page 73 ROI flags are not affected. SET_DATA_APPLICATION “string1",”string2" This is used to store information in the DSPEC Pro internal memory that can be used by other programs, such as sample descriptions and energy calibrations. C uses this ONNECTIONS feature.
  • Page 74 ® DSPEC Pro Digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometer User’s Manual 794380D / 0914 SET_DELAY_COLLECTION value Controls the pileup rejector by setting a width threshold such that if a fast channel discrimi- nator pulse is wider than value, the pulse is rejected. This portion of the pileup rejector rejects pulses that are too close together to be detected separately by the fast channel.
  • Page 75 See also SHOW_GAIN_WIDTH, SET_GAIN_CHANNEL and SHOW_GAIN_CHANNEL. SET_GATE_ANTICOINCIDENT Causes the DSPEC Pro to use the ADC gate input signal in anticoincident mode. See also SET_GATE_OFF, SET_GATE_COINCIDENT, and SHOW_GATE. SET_GATE_COINCIDENT Causes the DSPEC Pro to use the ADC gate input signal in coincident mode.
  • Page 76 SET_LIVE ticks Sets the live-time counter to the specified number of ticks. The number represents live time in units of 20 ms (50 ticks/s). Normally this value is set by the DSPEC Pro during data acquisition. See also CLEAR_COUNTER and SHOW_LIVE.
  • Page 77 This sends the value to the port. This command can be issued without entries for port and value because the DSPEC Pro has only one port. If you wish to specify a port number, it must be zero for this unit. See also SHOW_OUTPUT. See also STEP_OUTPUT.
  • Page 78 DSPEC Pro. Setting a peak preset to 0 counts disables the preset. The peak preset may be set to from 0 (disabled) to 2147483647 counts. See also CLEAR_PRESETS and SHOW_PEAK_PRESET.
  • Page 79 SET_SHUT 1 Sets the SHUTDOWN to ORTEC. SET_SHUT 2 Sets the SHUTDOWN to SMART. SET_SHUTDOWN_ORTEC This sets the bias shutdown mode to ORTEC. SET_SHUTDOWN_SMART Sets the bias shutdown mode to SMART. SET_SHUTDOWN_TTL This sets the bias shutdown mode to TTL.
  • Page 80 SET_TRUE ticks Sets the true-time counter to the specified number of ticks. The number represents true time in units of 20 ms (50 ticks/sec). Normally this value is set by the DSPEC Pro during data acquisition. See also CLEAR_COUNTER and SHOW_TRUE.
  • Page 81 794380D / 0914 4. FIRMWARE COMMANDS AND RESPONSES SET_TRUE_PRESET ticks Sets the true-time preset to the specified number of ticks (20 ms/tick). During data acquisi- tion when the true-time counter reaches the preset number of ticks, the preset is complete and the acquisition is stopped.
  • Page 82 ® DSPEC Pro Digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometer User’s Manual 794380D / 0914 SHOW_ACTIVE Returns a 1 if the DSPEC Pro is active (i.e., acquiring spectral data) or 0 if it is not active. Responses: $C00000087<CR> Not active. $C00001088<CR> Active. SHOW_BLRE Shows the baseline restorer time constant in microseconds. See also SET_BLRE.
  • Page 83 794380D / 0914 4. FIRMWARE COMMANDS AND RESPONSES SHOW_CRM Returns the current reading of the count-rate meter. Response: $G0000050781096 Current input count rate is 50781 counts/s. SHOW_DATA_APPLICATION “string” If string matches “string1" in a previous SET_DATA_APPLICATION command, then string2 from that command is returned. The response is a $F record. SHOW_DATE Returns the day, month, and year of the current date as maintained in the battery-backed-up real time clock, in the form dddmmmyyy.
  • Page 84 Examples: $FNAID000 NaI DIM firmware version. $FSMDT000 SMART-1 firmware version. SHOW_DEVICE Shows the currently selected device. Always 1 for DSPEC Pro. SHOW_DISPLAY Not used; included for backward compatibility. SHOW_ETP Reports if Enhanced Throughput Mode is enabled. Responses: Enhanced Throughput Mode disabled.
  • Page 85 SHOW_GAIN_COARSE Returns the coarse gain for the DSPEC Pro internal amplifier. In operation, the resulting signal gain is the product of the coarse gain, the fine gain, and the super-fine gain (used by stabilizer). The coarse gain is returned in terms of an integer gain multiplier.
  • Page 86 ® DSPEC Pro Digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometer User’s Manual 794380D / 0914 SHOW_GAIN_STABILIZATION Reports the state of gain peak stabilization. See also ENABLE_GAIN_STABILIZATION and DISABLE_GAIN_STABILIZATION. Responses: $IT<CR> Gain stabilization is currently enabled. $IF<CR> Gain stabilization is currently disabled. SHOW_GAIN_WIDTH Reports the current width for the stabilizer gain peak. See also SET_GAIN_WIDTH, SET_GAIN_CHANNEL, and SHOW_GAIN_CHANNEL.
  • Page 87 794380D / 0914 4. FIRMWARE COMMANDS AND RESPONSES SHOW_HV_DIM Indicates whether HV_DIM is enabled or disabled. SHOW_HV_HEALTH Returns the status of the state of health for the detector as reported by the DIM or SMART-1. SHOW_HV_POLARITY This returns the HV polarity defined in the DIM as a $F record. Responses: $FNEG<CR>...
  • Page 88 ® DSPEC Pro Digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometer User’s Manual 794380D / 0914 SHOW_INTEGRAL [start_chan,number_of_chans] Reports the sum of the specified group of spectral data channels. If start_chan and number_of_chans is not provided, SHOW_INTEGRAL reports the sum of all channels in the currently selected window that have their ROI flag set.
  • Page 89 794380D / 0914 4. FIRMWARE COMMANDS AND RESPONSES Responses: $G0000000000075<CR> Live time reported as 0 ticks. $G0000000001076<CR> Live time reported as 1 tick (20 ms). $G4294967295132<CR> Live time reported as 4294967295 ticks (over 23000 days). SHOW_LIVE_PRESET Reports the current live-time preset in units of 20 ms (50 ticks/s). See also CLEAR_ PRESETS and SET_LIVE_PRESET.
  • Page 90 ® DSPEC Pro Digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometer User’s Manual 794380D / 0914 Example Responses: MDA_COEF 000000000002.71 000000000000000 00000021.700001 Coefficient a = 2.71, b = 0, and c = 21.7. SHOW_MDA_PRESET [PeakNumber] Reports MDA preset PeakNumber. If PeakNumber is omitted, 0 is assumed.
  • Page 91 794380D / 0914 4. FIRMWARE COMMANDS AND RESPONSES $ D s s s s s n n n n n c c c < C R > where sssss represents an integer number that is the number of the first channel of the “next” group of channels that all have their ROI bit set, and nnnnn represents an integer number that is the number of channels in the group.
  • Page 92 ® DSPEC Pro Digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometer User’s Manual 794380D / 0914 SHOW_PEAK_CHANNEL This command returns the number of the ROI channel with the largest number of counts. An ROI channel is a channel that has the ROI flag set. The lowest number ROI channel with the largest count is reported if more that one channel contains the largest number of counts.
  • Page 93 Reports the start channel and number of channels used in the uncertainty preset calculation. See also SET_ROI_UNCERTAINTY. Response: $D0700000050ccc Calculation is performed on channels 7000–7049. SHOW_SEGMENT Returns the current segment number. Always 1 for the DSPEC Pro. SHOW_SHAPE_CUSP Not used by the DSPEC Pro; included for backward compatibility.
  • Page 94 Shutdown is active (supply is shut down or can’t be turned on). Shutdown is inactive (supply is on or can be turned on). SHOW_SNUM Responds with a $F record indicating the serial number of the DSPEC Pro Response: $F100 Serial number = 100. SHOW_STATUS Returns system status information in the following format: $ M l l l l l l l l l l t t t t t t t t t t a a a a a h h h h h c c c <...
  • Page 95 794380D / 0914 4. FIRMWARE COMMANDS AND RESPONSES Bit 2: High voltage enabled (0=disabled, 1=enabled) Bit 3: Unused Bit 4: Amplifier PZ’d since initialization (0=normal, 1=needs PZ’ing) Bit 5 Optimization since initialization (0=normal, 1=needed) Bits 6–7: Unused Bit 8: Amplifier automatic PZ (1=Auto PZ in progress, 0=normal) Bit 9: Optimization (0=normal, 1=in progress)
  • Page 96 ® DSPEC Pro Digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometer User’s Manual 794380D / 0914 SHOW_TIME_ETP Returns the current Enhanced Throughput Mode protection time. Response: Protection time is set to 12.8 µs. TIME_ETP 0000000000012.8 SHOW_TIME_START Reports the time of the last START command in the form $ N h h h m m m s s s c c c <...
  • Page 97 794380D / 0914 4. FIRMWARE COMMANDS AND RESPONSES SHOW_TRUE Reports the contents of the true-time counter in units of 20 ms (50 ticks/s). See also CLEAR_COUNTER and SET_TRUE. Responses: $G0000000000075<CR> True time reported as 0 ticks. $G0000000001076<CR> True time reported as 1 tick (20 ms). $G4294967295132<CR>...
  • Page 98 Preset set to 8.5%. SHOW_VERSION Reports the DSPEC Pro firmware version number in the form F m m m m - v v v < C R > where mmmm is a 4-character model designator and vvv is a 3-character version designator.
  • Page 99 Starts the acquisition of spectral data. The optional segment mask is provided for compatibility with other MCBs and may be any value from 0 to 65535 but is ignored by the DSPEC Pro. START_FLAT_AUTO Performs optimization of PZ and flattop correction for a single rise time instead of all rise times.
  • Page 100 Stops the acquisition of spectral data. The optional segment mask is provided for compati- bility with other MCBs and may be any value from 0 to 65535 but is ignored. STOP_OPTIMIZE Stops the optimization in progress. The DSPEC Pro may be in an indeterminate mode. See also START_OPTIMIZE. STOP_PZ_AUTOMATIC Stops the optimization in progress.
  • Page 101 APPENDIX A. STATE-OF-HEALTH BIT DEFINITIONS Following are descriptions of the SOH bit. To monitor these within MAESTRO, click Acquire/ MCB Properties..., then on the Status tab (see Fig. 26). Figure 26. The SOH Status Tab within MAESTRO. Description Comment +24V The first four bits monitor the voltages coming from the DSPEC +12V Pro.
  • Page 102 Description Comment Security At the start of the acquisition, the DSPEC Pro queries the SMART-1 detector for its serial number. The DSPEC Pro then writes a random number to the detector. At the end of the acquisi- tion, both numbers are read from the detector and compared to the original values.

  • Page 103: Appendix B. List Mode In The Dspec Pro

    APPENDIX B. LIST MODE IN THE DSPEC PRO The DSPEC Pro is equipped with List Mode, which streams spectroscopy data directly to the computer, event-by-event, without the data “dead periods” associated with the acquire-store- clear-restart cycle of standard spectrum acquisition.
  • Page 104 4 overhead words were returned, you should immediately request another block of data. The DSPEC Pro has buffer storage for up to 96k 32-bit words. Therefore, six requests may be needed to drain the buffer and find all of the hardware time words. In practice, a program buffer of 96k words would always hold enough data to drain an instrument buffer assuming that all six requests were made in less than 1 second.
  • Page 105 794380D / 0914 APPENDIX B. LIST MODE IN THE DSPEC PRO The ADC Word contains a raw 14-bit ADC value and a 16-bit real time stamp. The Hardware Time Word contains the same 16-bit real time stamp. In both cases this value represents the time that the word was created as represented by an internal clock that increments every 200 ns.
  • Page 106 ® DSPEC Pro Digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometer User’s Manual 794380D / 0914 [Intentionally blank]...

  • Page 107: Index

    Pole zero ......25, 27 DSPEC PRO Presets - see Acquisition presets ... . . 39 ADC setup .
  • Page 108 ® DSPEC Pro Digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometer User’s Manual 794380D / 0914 [Intentionally blank]...

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