B&W-tech Spectrometer & 473 module: Setup+Mods+Info

[diachi]

Re: B&Wtech 473nm unit / Spectrometer Mods & Info

I am running Windows 8.1 which has a version of .Net running on it. Atomicrox told me to put the simple specrto.exe, the dll. file and another file together in the same folder and then double click on simple specrto.exe to bring it up. It is all getting pretty confusing as I am not into all the ins and outs of using Windows to begin with. My daughter is actually better at that than I am.

That *should* work, you may just need to update .NET to a newer version. It's also Windows 8 so could be that... Wasn't known for being a good OS.

 

[paul1598419]

Re: B&Wtech 473nm unit / Spectrometer Mods & Info

No, my system has all the updates to the current ones. I have another option I may try when I get the time. We'll see if I can get this running or not. Damn! I hate having to spend all this time on a version of software that probably won't allow me to even calibrate these things.

 

[CynicalBrad]

Re: B&Wtech 473nm unit / Spectrometer Mods & Info

No, my system has all the updates to the current ones. I have another option I may try when I get the time. We'll see if I can get this running or not. Damn! I hate having to spend all this time on a version of software that probably won't allow me to even calibrate these things.

Got something for you to try. I had to do this a lot when I was stuck on that broken OS called windblows 8 for a month before I upgraded back to 7..

Right click "simplespectro.exe" to bring up the context menu
Left Click Properties
Click the tab on the top of that window labeled "compatibility"
Check the box next to "Run this program in compatibility mode for:"
On the drop down menu under that box, select "Windows 7"
Click the box at the bottom that says "ok"

After that, see if the program will launch for you.

I'm assuming you are used to mac and only using windows for this purpose?

 

[paul1598419]

Re: B&Wtech 473nm unit / Spectrometer Mods & Info

I got this laptop with Windows 8 installed brand new. I have another laptop running Widows 7. I am going to try to get it running in Windows 8.1 as my other laptop has my USB2000 on it and I'd like to separate them. It has been an exercise in futility so far, though.

 

[diachi]

Re: B&Wtech 473nm unit / Spectrometer Mods & Info

Got something for you to try. I had to do this a lot when I was stuck on that broken OS called windblows 8 for a month before I upgraded back to 7..

Right click "simplespectro.exe" to bring up the context menu
Left Click Properties
Click the tab on the top of that window labeled "compatibility"
Check the box next to "Run this program in compatibility mode for:"
On the drop down menu under that box, select "Windows 7"
Click the box at the bottom that says "ok"

After that, see if the program will launch for you.

I'm assuming you are used to mac and only using windows for this purpose?

Yep, that's the thing to try. Should have mentioned that... Not like I work in IT or anything. :crackup:

Don't have a Windows 8 machine or I'd test it out on that too.

 

[Atomicrox]

Re: B&Wtech 473nm unit / Spectrometer Mods & Info

I don't think compatibility mode will do much difference, it's a .NET assembly. The version of .NET shipped with Win8 should be able to run it.

Edit: Paul, I think you'll have better luck with windows 7, it's much easier to use. You may need to install .NET with that link I sent you previously.

 

[paul1598419]

Re: B&Wtech 473nm unit / Spectrometer Mods & Info

If all else fails, I'll try loading it to my Windows 7 laptop. But, I'd much rather have it on this laptop.

 

[diachi]

Re: B&Wtech 473nm unit / Spectrometer Mods & Info

If all else fails, I'll try loading it to my Windows 7 laptop. But, I'd much rather have it on this laptop.

You should upgrade to Windows 10! Performs far better than Windows 8 ever did.

 

[paul1598419]

Re: B&Wtech 473nm unit / Spectrometer Mods & Info

I did that once. Hated it. I am happy with my 8.1 and usually don't have problems with it. This is just one of those examples where it isn't working out for me. I have gone into the help section to see how to add these files to one folder, but it says I can't do that with this system. I don't want to shit can my OS for this one problem. There has to be a way around it.


Edit: SUCCESS AT LAST! I HAVE THE SOFTWARE ON MY 8.1 LAPTOP!

IMPORTANT: The mini plug for powering these spectrometers is not 12 VDC. I tried powering it that way and the fan came on and I thought, this is good, but it caused D501 to short. Haven't figured out what diode it is, but might be a zener. So, we need to externally power these things, but not at 12 VDC.

Went back and double checked the listing for these spectrometers at $199.00 plus shipping and they are definitely using a 12 volt wall wart. Maybe it is just this spectrometer. I won't be using 12 volts on the next one right away. Probably start at +5 VDC and increase as needed.

Found a new version of this spectrometer that uses a +5 VDC supply. So, that is my new supply voltage for these until I see something different. D501 is most likely a zener as it is cathode to the positive input and anode is ground. Running it at +12 volts probably killed it.

 

[diachi]

Re: B&Wtech 473nm unit / Spectrometer Mods & Info

I did that once. Hated it. I am happy with my 8.1 and usually don't have problems with it. This is just one of those examples where it isn't working out for me. I have gone into the help section to see how to add these files to one folder, but it says I can't do that with this system. I don't want to shit can my OS for this one problem. There has to be a way around it.


Edit: SUCCESS AT LAST! I HAVE THE SOFTWARE ON MY 8.1 LAPTOP!

IMPORTANT: The mini plug for powering these spectrometers is not 12 VDC. I tried powering it that way and the fan came on and I thought, this is good, but it caused D501 to short. Haven't figured out what diode it is, but might be a zener. So, we need to externally power these things, but not at 12 VDC.

Went back and double checked the listing for these spectrometers at $199.00 plus shipping and they are definitely using a 12 volt wall wart. Maybe it is just this spectrometer. I won't be using 12 volts on the next one right away. Probably start at +5 VDC and increase as needed.

Found a new version of this spectrometer that uses a +5 VDC supply. So, that is my new supply voltage for these until I see something different. D501 is most likely a zener as it is cathode to the positive input and anode is ground. Running it at +12 volts probably killed it.

Yeah, I'd say 5VDC makes sense, the laser driver also runs on 5VDC IIRC.

Glad to hear you got the software working!

 

[Rivem]

Re: B&Wtech 473nm unit / Spectrometer Mods & Info

Just really checked this thread out. I've seen these things a lot looking at 473nm DPSS lasers, but I thought the spectro would pretty much be unserviceable. That's pretty cool that you guys found some software. Maybe they won't be too far out of calibration/alignment.

 

[CynicalBrad]

Re: B&Wtech 473nm unit / Spectrometer Mods & Info

Calibration seemed pretty terrible on mine and even seemed to indicated it was aligned very poorly for full range. My 520nm read with 30nm of my 635nm and my 405 would not read anything but all the darn fluorescence from anything I diffused it with to try to take a reading.

 

[paul1598419]

Re: B&Wtech 473nm unit / Spectrometer Mods & Info

I spent a long time last night searching for as many versions of this spectrometer that I could find. All of them use +5 VDC as the supply. I think that listing for these at $199.00 showed the 12 volt wall wart on purpose to try to confuse people doing what they did......getting these things running.

Brad, I can't remember if you opened the optical bench on yours. If not, it could have the baffles we have seen now. If these require calibration and it is not possible with the supplied software, there may be another option. I think these can be linked to MS Excel and could be calibrated that way. I don't have a version of it and don't want to pay the $100.00+ to install it.

I need to pull another spectrometer out and power it at +5 VDC and see what I can find out about its calibration. I have a lot of appointments lined up this week and next, so it might be slow going.

 

[paul1598419]

Re: B&Wtech 473nm unit / Spectrometer Mods & Info

Sorry for the double post, but this is NEWS!

I pulled another spectrometer and powered it with +5 VDC at 335 mA. It seems to run just fine now. I was able to get the software to recognize the spectrometer but it is a really crappy program. The base line with no light sits near the top of the Y axis or what the software is calling CCD counts. Nearly everything I try to read falls in the same area of the spectrum. The integration time is soooo slow it is pitiful. I need to open the optical bench and see if there are baffles in this one. That could explain some of what I am seeing, but it is still awful software. Maybe it can be rewritten, otherwise it will need to be replaced. Will post again when I have more t say about this.

 

[CynicalBrad]

Re: B&Wtech 473nm unit / Spectrometer Mods & Info

Do you now see why I am looking for better software? Even with no baffles in mine, it reads the entire visible range in about a 30nm band and is slow to take a reading and near impossible to see the exact reading. On top of that, no way to perform any sort of correction or calibration of the readings.

 

[paul1598419]

Re: B&Wtech 473nm unit / Spectrometer Mods & Info

Yeah, besides being able to recognize the spectrometer, it is pretty useless. I'll bet the BWSpec would work great with these and be useful for calibration if necessary. With a password, the software could probably be shared and so the cost of it too.