PicoQuant MultiHarp 150 - Warming up Period; Custom Programming of the Multiharp; Software Updates; Support and Bug Reports

PicoQuantGmbH MultiHarpSoftwareV.3.1.0.0
Anoftenoverlookedprobleminfluorescencelifetimemeasurementsispile–upanddeadtimerelatedhistogram
distortion.Itbecomesnoticeableifthedetectorcountrateexceeds~5%ofthesyncrate.Thisiswhyhighexci-
tationratesaresoimportant.TheeffectisaninherentproblemofhighresolutionTCSPCandnotafaultofthe
hardware.TheMultiHarpislesssignificantlyaffectedbysuchissuesbecauseofitsveryshortdeadtime.Never-
theless,thesafestwaytohandledeadtimerelatedhistogramdistortionsistomaintaincountrates<5%ofthe
excitationrate.Ifhighthroughputisaprimaryobjectiveandthedetectordeadtimeisnotlimiting,thenthisrule
ofthumbmayofcoursebeintentionallyignored.Thismaybringabouttheissueofpulse-pile-upbecauseindi-
vidualdetectorpulsesbegintooverlap.Pulsepile-upmayalsobecorrectedforindataanalysis.Indeed,com-
binedwithsuitabledetectors(e.g.,PMAHybridfromPicoQuant)theMultiHarpwillallowfluorescencelifetime
measurementswithcountratesashighas80MHz,i.e.asfastastheexcitationrate.Forfurtherdetailsseethe
literaturegivenattheendofsection2.4andthepublicationsonPicoQuant'sconceptofrapidFLIM.
7.4. Warming Up Period
Observethewarming–upperiodofatabout20minutes(dependingonambienttemperature)beforeusingthe
MultiHarpforimportantmeasurements.Youcanusethistimeforset–upandpreliminarymeasurements.The
maximumpermissibleambienttemperatureis35°C.Makesurethatthecoolingaircancirculatefreelyandno
otherhotinstrumentisdirectlyundertheMultiHarp.
7.5. Custom Programming of the MultiHarp
Aprogrammer'slibrary(DLL)forcustomWindowssoftwaredevelopmentisavailabletobuildyourownapplica-
tionse.g.,inLabVIEW,Matlab,Python,C/C++,C#,andPascal(Delphi/Lazarus).Arichsetofdemocodeispro-
videdforaneasystart.Ifyoucareaboutperformance,considerusingapropercompiledhighlevelprogram-
minglanguagesuchasC/C++orPascal.ScriptedlanguageslikeMatlabandPythontendtobeveryslow.
ThereisalsoalibraryversionforLinux(x86-64processorarchitectureonly)whichisfullycompatiblewiththat
forWindowssothatapplicationscaneasilybeportedacrossthetwoplatforms.
7.6. Software Updates
Weconstantlyimproveandupdatethesoftwareforourinstruments.Thisincludesupdatesoftheconfigurable
hardware(FPGA).Suchupdatesareimportantastheymayaffectreliabilityandinteroperabilitywithotherprod-
ucts.Thesoftwareupdatesarefreeofcharge,unlessmajornewfunctionalityisadded.Thelatestsoftwareis
availablefordownloadatthePicoQuantwebsite.Alternativelyyoucanclickthebutton'CheckforUpdates'in
theHelp-Aboutdialogavailablethroughthemainmenuorthetoolbar.Notethatdownloadingasoftwareupdate
bymeansofthisbuttondoesnotautomaticallyinstallit.Typicallythedownloadscontainzipfilesthatmustbe
unpackedandinstalledmanually.Alsonotethatitmaynotalwaysbeadvisabletoblindlyinstallthelatestsoft-
ware.Thisisthecaseespeciallywhenauserorhis/herteamhavedevelopedcustomsoftwarethatreliesona
certainfeaturethatmayhavechanged.Therefore,alwayscarefullyreadthereleasenotesbeforeinstallingup-
dates.
7.7. Support and Bug Reports
TheMultiHarpTCSPCsystemhasgonethroughextensivetesting.Itbuildsonover20yearsofexperiencewith
severalpredecessormodelsandthefeedbackofhundredsofusers.Nevertheless,itisafairlynewproductand
somebugsmaystillbefound.Inanycasewewouldliketoofferyouoursupportifyouexperienceproblems
withthesystem.DonothesitatetocontactPicoQuantincaseofdifficultieswithyourMultiHarp.
AsafirststepitisalwaysadvisabletostudythemanualortopressF1forhelp.Shouldyouobserveerrorsor
bugscausedbytheMultiHarpsystempleasetrytofindareproducibleerrorsituation.ThenopenHelp - Re-
quest Support.ThisdialogprovidesimportantversioninformationontheMultiHarpsoftwareandhardware(the
latteronlyifitisconnectedandoperational).ItcanbereachedviatheHelpmenuorviathetoolbar.Itprovidesa
smalltextviewerwindow with alistingof MultiHarp hardwareandsoftwareversionsthatyoucancopyand
pasteintoyoursupportrequest.Notethatthisinformationisveryimportantforadequatetroubleshooting.Sup-
portrequestswithoutthisinformationcannotbeprocessedandwillbedelayedbyreturnquestionsforthisinfor-
mation.Ifyoursystemisnotfunctionalatall,theminimuminformationyoumustprovideforsupportistheserial
numberofyour MultiHarp.Itcanbefoundatthebackofthe housing.Theremaybeotherrelevantcircum-
stances,especiallyothernewhardwareinstalledinyourPC,sopleaseprovidedetails.Youcanrunmsinfo32to
obtain  a  listing  of  your  PC  configuration  and  attach  the  summary  file  to  your  error  report  to
www.picoquant.com/contact/support.Ifyoucannotaccessthewebformdirectly,pleasecontactsupport@pico-
Page79