Ocean Optics S2000 - Manual (Page 91)

Experiment Tutorial
Before you begin your experiment, double-check that you have correctly installed your A/D converter, installed
the operating software, and set up your light source and other sampling optics. Next:
1.
Open OOIBase32. Although you already configured your hardware when you installed your A/D converter,
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 and
a floppy diskette with the Spectrometer Configuration file on it is shipped with each spectrometer. You will
need these calibration coefficients 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
make sure the First Coefficient, Second Coefficient, Third Coefficient and Intercept correspond to those of
your system.
3. Adjust your acquisition parameters using the Acquisition Parameters dialog bar or select Spectrum |
Configure Data Acquisition from the menu.
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 near 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.
6. 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
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