Ocean Optics S1024DW Install - Manual (Page 54)

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Experiment Tutorial
Before you begin your experiment, double-check that you have correctly set up your SAD500, installed the
operating software, and set up your light source and other sampling optics. Next:
1. Open OOIBase32. Double-check that A/D Interface settings correspond to your setup by choosing
Spectrometer | Configure from the menu.
2. Now check your spectrometer setup configurations in OOIBase32. A Wavelength Calibration Data
Sheet is shipped with each spectrometer channel. You will need the numbers on this sheet. Select
Spectrometer | Configure from the menu and choose the Wavelength Calibration page. For each
spectrometer channel in your system, enable the channel and enter the First Coefficient, Second
Coefficient and Intercept. (Recently, we began calculating third coefficients for all spectrometer
systems; however, existing customers will have to enter a zero as their third coefficient.)
3. Adjust your acquisition parameters using the Acquisition Parameters dialog bar or the Configure
Data Acquisition dialog box.
4. Acquiring spectral data from your spectrometer is quite simple. Assuming that you have followed the
previous steps and started OOIBase32, your spectrometer is already acquiring data. Even with no light
in the spectrometer, you should see a fluctuating trace on the bottom of the graph. If you put light into
the spectrometer, you should see the graph trace rise with increasing light intensity. If this occurs, you
have correctly installed your hardware and software.
5. Once you installed and configured your hardware and software, and have set up your system, you are
ready to take your measurements. There are four basic optical measurements from which to choose:
absorbance, transmission, reflection, and relative irradiance measurements. The type of measurements
you wish to make determines the configuration of the sampling optics for your system. The choice of
reference and data analysis determines how the answer is presented. For each measurement, a
reference and dark spectrum must first be made. After taking a reference and a dark spectrum, you may
take as many absorbance, transmission, reflection, or relative irradiance measurement scans as you
want. However, if at any time any sampling variable changes (integration time, averaging, smoothing,
angle, temperature, fiber size, etc.) you must store a new dark and reference spectrum.
Application Tips
If the signal you collect is saturating the spectrometer (peaks are off the scale), you can decrease the light
level on scale in scope mode by:
•
Decreasing the integration time
•
Attenuating the light going into the spectrometer
•
Switching to a smaller diameter fiber
•
Using a neutral density filter with the correct optical density
If the signal you collect has too little light, you can increase the light level on scale in scope mode by:
•
Increasing the integration time
•
Switching to a larger diameter fiber
•
Avoiding the use of any optical filters