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When working, everything appears normal and it scans fine. It does not lock up often. When it does lock up, no data ever comes out, and the LED always remains red. This is the output from CuteCom on Debian: ************************************* *** B&W TEK, INC. *** *** Your...

I'm actually using a PCI serial port card, and the spec locks up with no serial cable connected. I've never had any of the other good spectrometers do this. They usually spit out a bit of data on power up with the led momentarily going green.

Hi Paul, Well, I suppose I'll leave it where it is then. I'm kind of glad I started this project because one of my once good B&W spectrometers is now having intermittent issues; sometimes it locks up when powering on.

Hi all, Just a quick update to those who are interested. I managed to find time to write some code (C and asm). At the moment, everything appears to be working as expected, and there are no mods. The spectrum readout looks good. I did have swap the MCU with one that had a PWM on pin 26...

Hi Civitus, Yes, assuming one has cables, software, etc., all that would be required is this board attached to the bench. I ruined the PCB on one of my spectrometers by using a 12 V adapter. Some of the damaged parts are user irreplaceable due to read protection bits being set as uk-laser found...

Hi Chloderic, Unfortunately, I had to mainly go with SMDs to keep the cost down. Through-hole would require a larger PCB. Also, some of the ICs are only available in surface mount packages, and the ones that are available in through-hole generally cost more.

Hi Chloderic, No problem. If you're wondering, I'm using a PIC24EP128GP202 for the MCU. Considering the 8051 is 8 bits at 25 MIPS, and the PIC24 is 16 bits at 70 MIPS, there should be quite a noticeable difference in processing time, especially for short integration times. There's plenty of...

I finally received the PCBs and found some time to install a few components. I'm happy the mounting holes line up perfectly. Hopefully I'll have a working unit eventually.

I've been working on an inexpensive dsPIC/PIC24 based controller for the spec. Either the internal 12-bit ADC of the MCU or the 16-bit ADS8866 can be used. Other than the MCU and optional 8866, the only other ICs are an opamp and two VRs. For the serial interface, I'm using a voltage divider and...

I've been looking at MCUs with 16bit ADCs, but the ADC spec usually isn't as good as stand-alone ADCs: https://www.mouser.com/Semiconductors/Embedded-Processors-Controllers/Microcontrollers-MCU/_/N-a85i8?P=1yrfw6s&Ns=Pricing|0 A PIC24 with one of these probably would get the job done...

That's unfortunate. I guess the only options are reverse engineering the CPLD or a MCU alternative.

Well, good luck with reading the CPLD. Thanks for the info. I've used ISE but it's been a while. Unfortunately, the only computer I have with a parallel port that can handle that software is partially disassembled right now.

I have a few computers with parallel ports, including a few old Compaq Portable III machines. I could try to read the CPLD from one of my good units. Do you have or know of program capable of performing the task? I've got a programmer but I think it will only work with Actel chips. As far as...

I tend to use assembly and take advantage of the peripherals where timing is critical. The 8051 on these spectrometers is a bit archaic, but it gets the job done with a little help. Hopefully, I'll get some time to improve my hack job. Have you attempted to read flash of the CPLD yet?

Completely understandable.

Well, it's not much of a design at the moment. I wanted to pursue it further and make a PCB with a more suitable MCU, equipped with a 16-bit ADC, but the project got pushed to the back burner due to higher priority things. I used a prototype that I happen to have lying around from an old work...

It might be worth a shot running it with a MCU or DSC if you have one lying around. I bought four units and cooked one by powering it with 12 V. I ended up removing the PCB from the bench and used a dsPIC with a 12 bit ADC to drive the CCD.

Re: B&Wtech 473nm unit / Spectrometer Mods & Info I removed the short on mine my replacing the CPLD. The microcontroller responded but the unit gave me error codes and just returned zeros on the scan. The CCD is probably still good on yours since it is powered by a VR, and not directly from...

That's awesome. That one looks fairly compact compared to other ones.

Re: B&Wtech 473nm unit / Spectrometer Mods & Info I haven't had much time to play around with these lately. I think should examine the lasers a little more now that diber mentioned loosing power on one of them. Out of the four units I received, one was missing the shield over the ADC. Never...