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USERS’ MANUAL

for the

LCS-100-G LED GONIOMETRIC


SPECTRORADIOMETER

REV. 2.0

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TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................2

1.0 UNPACKING YOUR SYSTEM.............................................................................3


2.0 COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS...........................................................................4
3.0 INSTALLING SOFTWARE ...................................................................................5
4.0 OPTIONAL POWER SUPPLIES ..........................................................................6
4.1 USB to RS232 Serial Port Installation .........................................................6
4.2 USB Serial Installation.................................................................................6
4.3 Installing National Instruments GPIB USB Controller...................................8
5.0 INSTALLING HARDWARE ................................................................................10
6.0 OPERATION......................................................................................................12
7.0 CALIBRATION...................................................................................................18
8.0 SPECTRAL PARAMETERS ..............................................................................19

Appendix B Verifying Calibration.............................................................................20

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1.0 UNPACKING YOUR SYSTEM

Please inspect your packaging upon receipt for any signs of rough handling, physical or water
damage. If you find such conditions, please contact the shipping agency in questions and file an
appropriate claim. Should you find that the product is damaged in any way, please contact
SphereOptics immediately with information describing the damage and any information regarding
the damaged packaging:

SPHEREOPTICS CUSTOMER SERVICE:

US HEADQUARTERS — Phone: 603-715-3000 8am-5pm EST


FRANCE — Phone: +33 1 6907 2184
GERMANY — Phone: +49 7556 929-9666

! Do not make any electrical or computer connections until you have read the section on
INSTALLING THE SOFTWARE!

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2.0 COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS

The LCS-100-G LED goniometric spectroradiometer requires the following minimum computer
specifications:
Processor: Pentium 300MHz or greater
Memory: 32 MB RAM Minimum
Hard Drive: 4 MB Required for Software Installation
Operating System: Windows XP.
Required Interface Ports:
1. (1) USB 2.0 Port: for spectrometer.
2. (1) USB 2.0 Port: for optional power supply

NOTE: It is essential to have USB 2.0 for this system – earlier versions of USB do not provide
enough power to the spectrometer and will not allow the system to function properly.

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3.0 INSTALLING SOFTWARE

If the computer already has the current version LCS-100 LED Measurement System, no software
installation is necessary. If it has an older version of LED software, it should be uninstalled and
the most current version installed. Consult with your SphereOptic representative.

The hardware should not be connected during the software installation. To install the software,
place the installation disk in the computer’s disk drive and follow the prompts. The following
screen will appear:

During the software installation, the following screen will appear several times. Click “Continue
Anyway”.

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4.0 OPTIONAL POWER SUPPLIES

The LCS-100-G goniometric spectroradiometer will operate with the LED powered from any
source. However, the software will communicate with either of two power supplies:

SphereOptics LCS-100 LED Power Supply, or


Keithley Model 2400 Series General-Purpose SourceMeters

The SphereOptics LCS-100 LED Power Supply communicates directly with the software over a
USB 2.0 connection.

The Keithley Model 2400 Series General-Purpose SourceMeters communicate with the software via a
National Instruments Model NI GPIB-USB-HS GPIB Controller for Hi-Speed USB 2.0 with NI-488.2
software. Depending on your system configuration, the Keithley Model 24XX General-Purpose
SourceMeters can also communicate via an RS-232 bus interface or via National Instruments Model
NI Single-Port RS-232 Interface for USB with NI-Serial software drivers.

4.1 RS-232 Serial Port Installation

Please make sure that prior to running the software application, the Keithley is properly configure
to communicate via RS-232 by performing the following steps:
1. Press MENU to display the MAIN MENU.
2. Place the cursor on COMMUNICATION and press ENTER to display the
COMMUNICATIONS SETUP menu.
3. Place the cursor on RS-232 and press ENTER to display the RS-232 SETUP menu.
4. Place the cursor on BAUD and press ENTER to display the SET BAUD RATE menu.
5. Place the cursor on 9600 and press ENTER.
6. Place the cursor on BITS and press ENTER to display the DATA BITS menu.
7. Place the cursor on 8 and press ENTER.
8. Place the cursor on PARITY and press ENTER to display the RS-232 PARITY menu.
9. Place the cursor on NONE and press ENTER.
10. Place the cursor on TERMINATOR and press ENTER to display the RS-232 TERMINATOR
menu.
11. Place the cursor on <CR> and press ENTER.
12. Place the cursor on FLOW-CTRL and press ENTER to display the RS-232 FLOW-CONTROL
menu.
13. Place the cursor on NONE and press ENTER.
14. Use the EXIT key to back out of the menu structure.

4.2 USB Serial Installation


Refer to the National Instrument Serial Hardware and Software Help CD for more information
about troubleshooting problems, configuring the hardware and software, programming
requirements, and more.
1. Log on as Administrator or as a user with administrator privileges.
2. Insert the NI-Serial Software for Windows CD.
3. Click Install Software and follow the onscreen instructions.
4. Restart the computer.
5. If you are installing a USB-485/4, connect the external power supply.
6. Connect the USB cable from the USB hardware to an available USB port on your computer or
USB hub.
7. Select Start»Programs»National Instruments»NI-Serial»Troubleshooting Wizard.

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8. The Troubleshooting Wizard window appears. This application verifies the software and
hardware installation and sequentially tests each NI serial port.

Please note the “COM Port” it has been assigned. For this example it is “COM4” and you will
need to recall this setting when you first run and initialize the “Power Supply” from the software
where you will see the following screen:

9. Connect the cables.

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4.3 Installing National Instruments GPIB USB Controller

Installing drivers for National Instruments NI GPIB-USB-HS GPIB Controller for Hi-Speed USB 2.0
with NI-488.2 software

The original manual for the NI GPIB product has been included with your system documentation
for reference. The following are from the accompanying GPIB manual with your system.

(1) Insert CD, then choose Install Software

Figure 4: GPIB Installation

(2) Select the GPIB-USB-B interface.

Figure 5: GPIB Hardware Interface

(3) Restart computer.

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Figure 6: GPIB Installation Cont.

(4) Connect USB Cable from the GPIB-USB located in the rear of the power supply to your
computer.

For help installing your hardware, refer to the GPIB Hardware Guide available on CD through
getting started documentation.

Figure 7: GPIB Getting Started

Follow the prompts in the NI – Getting Started Window to Verify the hardware and software
installation.

This completes the (2) steps for software driver set up. Now that the data interface devices have
been installed in the computer, you may connect all of the remaining system cables as outlined in
figure 3.

The first time you reboot the computer with the new hardware installed, you will be prompted to
complete the hardware installation. Follow the prompts on the Installation Wizards. Do not look
online for software and do not load any CDs. The proper software has been installed on the hard
drive.

Note: You may be asked to install the NI hardware more than once. Repeat the process if
asked.

You may also be asked to install hardware in subsequent connections of the hardware to the
computer. In those cases, simply follow the prompts.

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5.0 INSTALLING HARDWARE

After the software is successfully installed, plug the goniometric spectroradiometer (and the
optional power supply, if used) into the computer’s USB 2.0 port. After the USB connections are
made, power up the plug the goniometric spectroradiometer (and the optional power supply, if
used) . The computer will recognize new hardware and guide you through an installation wizard:

Select “No, not this time” and “Next”

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Then, Select “Install the software automatically (Recommended)” and “Next”.

The system will go through this wizard several times as each new piece of hardware is
recognized.

These software and hardware installation procedures should need to be done only once for any
computer.

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6.0 OPERATION

Ensure that the LED-100-G is powered “on”

Rotary dial

LED
Holder

The LED is placed in the LED holder with the longer leg (anode) inserted in the socket nearer a
red marker dot.

The LED holder is equipped with a rotary dial to permit repeatable and controllable rotational
alignment of the sample LEDs.

Turn on the software and select, “Enter Gonio”

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.

You will be asked to load the appropriate .cal file.

Select the correct .cal file and load it. (The correct cal file is the file for the lamp used to calibrate
the system. It is delivered with your system.) The following working screen will appear:

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6.1 Power supply

For the supported power supplies, the current can be set from the GUI window by selecting:
Tools>Power Supply. Otherwise, the LED must be separately powered.

Note: The next section pertains to initialization for Keithley 24XX SourceMeters on an RS-232
communications bus. If your system is not configured as such, please skip this section.

From Section 4.2, you must know what your serial port number is at this point and from the “RS-
232 Port Setup” screen set the “Com Port:” to this same value.
Next click on the “Open Port & Initialize Device”. Finally click “Exit”

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Set the LED current. The display
will show the current and power
supply voltage.

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6.2 Scan

To perform a goniospectroradiometric scan, first select the span (start-stop angles) and the
increment. These two selections are linked in software so that the span contains an integral
number of increments.

Place the lighted LED into the sample into the sample holder and manually set the rotation angle.
Select “Start Gonio Test”.

The system automatically takes a spectral scan at each increment and calculates a variety of
parameters including:
chromaticity coordinates,
dominant wavelength and purity,
peak, center, and centroid wavelengths, and
luminous intensity.

For white-light LEDs, the CCT and CRI are also calculated.

When the gonio test is completed, a plot of intensity vs. angle will appear, along with a display of
the “view angle”, the angle between 50%-of-peak points, as shown below.

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6.3 Graphs and units

The display can be toggled between Cartesian and polar plots as well as between luminous
intensity (candela) and [radiant] intensity.

6.4 Limit bars on spectral graph

The graph of spectral intensity contains limit bars. The limit bars can be moved to anywhere on
the curve to display the spectral intensity at that point. In addition, the integrated intensity between
the bars is displayed as the “selected intensity”. The total integrated intensity over the entire
spectral range is displayed as the “total intensity”.

6.5 Changing rotation angle

The angle of rotation of the LED is done manually at the point that the LED is inserted into the
instrument. If this rotation angle is manually entered into the software, it will be saved and
exportedt with the spectral and goniometric data.

6.6 Exporting Data

There are three ways to export data to .cvs files that are readable in Excel.

File>Save Angular Data


Sends the entire goniophotometer package of data to a file. Everything except the spectral data is
included for each angle.

File>Save Angular and Spectral Data


Sends the entire goniophotometer package of data to a file. Everything including the spectral
data is included for each angle.

6.7 Save Selective Spectral Data


Sends all the data (including the spectral data), but just for the highlighted position.

6.8 Printing Directly

Either the entire panel or the displayed spectral graph along with LED parameters can be printed
directly from the software to the computer’s default printer using one of the two print commands.

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7.0 CALIBRATION

There are two calibrations possible, a dark current calibration, which should be done on a fairly
regular basis (once or twice a day) and a complete system calibration. A complete system
calibration need not be done as often, once a week or so.

Dark current calibration

The dark current calibration is performed via Calibration>Dark Current Calibration. Follow the
prompts.

Note, the dark current calibration should be done at a fairly high averaging rate (8 averages or
more) to eliminate the effects of noise. The averaging rate is set in the Setup>Setup Spectral
Parameters path, described below.

System Calibration

System calibration is performed via the main GUI screen (System Calibration). Follow the
prompts. The password is “SO”.

The calibration lamp is provided with its own power supply and is placed in the sample holder with
the rotary dial set to zero degrees. There is a pin on the lamp holder which must be inserted into
the “zero” position.

Note: Prior to a System Calibration, the user may want to copy the file
“GonioCalTestData.dat”, renaming it in the process. During a calibration, the file
“GonioCalTestData.dat” is overwritten. The file resides in the directory of the software. The
default is C:/Program Files/LCS-100/Ver4.10.

Note: During the calibration, the following window appears:

Do not continue if the calibration lamp is not available.

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8.0 SPECTRAL PARAMETERS

The spectral parameters of the spectrometer are set by the Setup>Setup Spectral Parameters
path.

Setup Spectral Parameters – Permits:


• Viewing the integration time (either manually-selected, or the last selected automatically)
• Selecting the number of scans to average
• Selecting the number of adjacent data points to include in a smoothing of the spectrometer
reading. IMPORTANT: IF THE SMOOTHING AMOUNT IS CHANGED, A ‘DARK
CURRENT CALIBRATE’ IS REQUIRED.
• Choice between auto ranging and manual ranging (auto ranging is recommended)
• Selecting of the manual range when auto ranging is OFF
• View the “start” and “stop” wavelengths for the spectrometer

Averaging more scans decreases the noise, but takes longer. Increasing the smoothing
decreases the noise, but broadens spectral features.

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APPENDIX A – Verifying calibration

To verify that the calibration process was performed correctly, measure the calibration lamp as if it
were an LED. Then compare the measured intensity to the value reported in the calibration
certificate. They should match to within an acceptably small amount.

Note: The instrument is calibrated to display intensity in µW/sr·nm at the instrument distance of
10.0 cm. The lamp is calibrated in irradiance in µ W/cm2·nm at 10.0 cm and reported in those
units on the calibration certificate. To convert the displayed intensity to irradiance, divide the
displayed number by 100 before comparing.

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Copyright© 2009 by SphereOptics, LLC

This document may not be copied wholly or in part without prior written permission from
SphereOptics, LLC. The contents of this document are subject to change without prior
notification.

Great care has been taken in the preparation of this document, however if you should discover an
error or an omission, please bring it to our attention.

Optowhite and Zenith are registered trade names of SphereOptics, LLC. Other brand or product
names contained in this manual are trade names or registered trademarks of their respective
holders.

SphereOptics LLC
One Horseshoe Pond Lane
Concord, NH 03301

Tel: 603-715-3000
Fax: 603-225-3089
Web: www.sphereoptics.com

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