PASCO SE-7183 Spectrometer - Manual (Page 9)

7
A BOUT THE SPECTROMETER PROPERTIES
Before saving the reference scan, set the Integration Time, Average, and Boxcar
values.
Save the reference scan with “reference light” entering the spectrometer. Your
“reference light” may be one of the follow (depending on what type of
measurement you plan to make):
Light transmitted through a cuvette containing a 0% solution (for measuring
absorbance and transmission of light through a solution).
A lamp with a known color temperature (for measuring the relative irradiance
of light sources).
Save Dark
Selecting this property causes SPARK to save a dark spectrum, which is used in
the calculation of the Minus Dark, Absorbance, Transmission, and Relative
Irradiance measurements.
Before saving the dark scan, set the Integration Time, Average, and Boxcar
values.
Save the dark scan with the aperture blocked or the light source turned off (so
that no light enters the spectrometer).
Clear Scans
Selecting this property deletes any reference scan or dark scan that was
previously saved.
Lamp
This property had two values, on and off, which control a lamp connected to the
spectrometer.
Elec. Dark Correction
This property enables or disables the correction of the spectral data for the
electrical dark signal. The effect is to shift the entire spectrum vertically so that
it reads close to zero counts in the absence of light.
Color Temperature
The value of this property is the known color temperature (in kelvins) of the
lamp that you are using for the reference scan. You only need to enter this value
if you are going to use the Relative Irradiance measurement.