The Set-up panel is used to configure the operation
of the ccd program, and to perform various special
functions.
Contents
How to Use The Set-up Panel
The set-up panel is displayed by selecting the tools option, set up... sub-option from
the main menu. Note
that the set-up panel is not displayed
automatically unless it was open when the application was
last exited.
Select CCD changes the
default CCD configuration. This is normally changed only when
attaching a new camera.
The download button sends
control code to the CCD Controller. This command is meant to be
used by advanced users only. Improper use can hang the system. The
code must be pre-compiled and in a .lod format. The
default .lod files are located in, for example,
/usr/local/lib/ccd-3.06/remote. (The version number
of the ccd directory changes with each release, and matches the
version number of the ccd control software.) On start up, the
correct .lod file will be downloaded for this particular
CCD camera unless the user specifically chooses not to download
the file. Occasional problems may require that the code be downloaded
again. This would happen after a reset of the CCD controller or a
cycling of the power on the CCD controller. In general, this is
not a function the user should need, but it may be used for debugging.
The Sub-frame button brings up the Sub-frame panel that allows the
user to select which section of the frame to read out and what
binning mode to use.
The Sounds button brings up the Sound
set-up panel which will (someday) let the user select which
sound to use for various operations. The sound-control panel
is not implemented.
The Memory button prints (to standard output)
the current memory usage. It is for debugging purposes only.
The KEVIN check boxes are for the programmers'
use only! Unless otherwise instructed, the user should leave
these buttons unchanged. Changing these buttons will cause
unpredictable things to happen. Furthermore, the function of these
check boxes may change without warning. You have been warned!
The Subframe and Binning panel
The Subframe and Binning panel determines which portion
of the ccd is read out, and how it is binned for readout. The user
enters the location of the subframe (Origin), the number
of binned pixels to be read out (Size), and the
binning factor (Binning). The OK button
accepts the values that the user has set. The Revert
button discards any changes. The Default button restores
all fields to their original values (set in the ccd configuration
file.)
The following diagram illustrates the meanings of the different
parameters in the Subframe and Binning Panel. The bold
parameters are the observer-adjustable entries in the panel.
The large rectangle is the total area of the detector. For the subframe, a small part of the detector must be specified, consisting of an imaging area and a bias area. Normally, the bias area is located to the right of the imaging area, but the system provides for two other bias areas above, as shown in the figure, which are normally not used (ybiaswidth = 0). The origin parameters specify the corner of the sub-frame (in physical, ccd pixels.) The size parameter specifies the number of binned pixels that will be received and stored in the data file. The observer must multiply the size by the binning mode to get the actual number of physical, ccd pixels. The program will automatically add a bias region to the region the observer specifies. Thus an image file will be a slightly larger (in the x direction), because the bias region (which contains the over-clock pixels, if any) is always appended to the data.
More details on Subframes (unnecessary for most observers)
The other parameters described in the above figure are specified in the
configuration file for the particular detector in use. These are
located in /usr/local/lib/ccd-X.XX/config/xxx.cfg. A sample
configuration file is listed below:
# $Id: tek2048.cfg,v 2.2 1993/03/06 04:20:05 yamada Exp $ # Tek2048 1x1 set download=tek2048.lod set xprescan=20 set yprescan=0 set xactive=2048 set yactive=2048 set xpostscan=0 set ypostscan=0 set xbiaswidth="32" set ybiaswidth="0" set defxbin=1 set defybin=1 set defxsubsize=2100 set defysubsize=2080 set defxorigin=0 set defyorigin=0
The prescan and postscan parameters are required because many detectors have pixels which are not part of the actual imaging area of the detector.
Eventually, a graphical interface to setting up subframes may be provided.
This document was written by Hubert Yamada (yamada@ifa.hawaii.edu) and Kevin Jim (kjim@terrasys.com).
