SOFTWARE UPGRADE OF SPECTROPHOTOMETER ULAB-102

Abstract

It was found that the basic software “M.WaveBasic” produced by the company “Mapada Instruments” for the spectrophotometer ULAB-102 does not provide the possibility of automatic scanning of the absorption spectrum. The parameters of the virtual COM port based on the UART-USB converter CP2102 of spectrophotometer ULAB-102 are defined – “115200,n,8,1”. Interface of software control has been studied. The main commands for computer control of the spectrophotometer ULAB-102 are identified: “connect” – start of “PC-spectrophotometer” session; “quit”– and of “PC-spectrophotometer” session; “swl DDD.D” – set the specified wavelength DDD.D in nm; “getdark” – measure the dark signal of the detector; “sa D” – select the specified amplification channel D (1−8); “ge DD” – receive the specified number DD of parallel ADC values of the detector signal; “getwl” – read the current wavelength value in nm; “wuon” – turn on the halogen lamp of the visible range; “wuoff” – turn off the halogen lamp of the visible range; “getwu” – read the current lamp status (on or off). The model of the spectrophotometer that we studied does not have a deuterium lamp of the ultraviolet range. If present, the commands to control this lamp are “d2on”, “d2off” and “getd2” for on, off and read lamp status respectively.

Possibility of software upgrade this device into scanning spectrophotometer was shown. Computer program “ULAB-102 Scan” for automatic measurement of spectrum was developed. In the program “ULAB-102 Scan” user can choose a different step of scanning the spectrum by wavelength − 1, 2 or 10 nm. There are buttons for turning on/off the halogen lamp to save its resource. The duration of the spectrum measurement is 1−5 minutes, depending on the selected wavelength range. Using our program significantly increases the speed of spectrophotometric research and analysis.

Keywords: spectrophotometry, spectrum, upgrade, ULAB-102.