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Chapter 5
First Light
Introduction
This chapter provides a step-by-step procedure for placing the I-PentaMAX system in
operation for the first time. At this point a lens should be mounted on the camera (or, if
necessary, the camera mounted on a microscope) and you should be ready to operate the
system and proceed to viewing your first images. A suggested procedure follows. Note
that the intent of this simple procedure is to help you gain basic familiarity with
operation of the I-PentaMAX and to demonstrate that it is functioning properly. Once
basic familiarity has been established, then operation with other operating
configurations, ones with more complex timing modes, can be established as described in
Chapter 8, Timing Modes. An underlying assumption of this procedure is that a video
monitor is available. Although it is possible to dispense with the monitor and simply
view the images on the computer monitor’s screen, operations such as focusing will be
somewhat easier with a video monitor because the displayed data is updated more
quickly and will be as close to current as possible.
To carry out this procedure, it will be necessary to have a basic grasp of the applications
software. Refer to your software manual for the required information.
Before You Start, if your system includes a microscope Xenon or Hg arc lamp, it is
CRITICAL to turn off all electronics adjacent to the arc lamp, especially your digital
camera system and your computer hardware (monitors included) before turning on the
lamp power.
Powering up a microscope Xenon or Hg arc lamp causes a large EMF spike to be
produced that can cause damage to electronics that are running in the vicinity of the
lamp. We advise that you place a clear warning sign on the power button of your arc
lamp reminding all workers to follow this procedure. While Princeton Instruments has
taken great care to isolate its sensitive circuitry from EMF sources, we cannot guarantee
that this protection will be sufficient for all EMF bursts.
WARNING!