Setting Your System Properties

Before AugerMap can control your system and acquire data, you need to define some parameters in the System Properties dialog. You’ll typically only set these parameters once since they are based on your system hardware components, however there are a few items you may want to adjust from time to time. If an RBD technician upgraded your system, you should not have to initialize these settings. However, it’s still a good idea to familiarize yourself with them.

To open the System Properties dialog, select Properties from the System menu.

Scanning Settings

The Scanning tab is where you define your Electron Gun Control type and Signal Processor type. Once set, you should never have to change these settings.

Note that in some cases you may have one of the electron gun controls listed, but may not have the option to control the gun through AugerScan. If you have a 660 system, or another system type with an RBD Model 110, you should have one of the controls listed (20-622, 20-620, or 18-080), and should therefore select that control. Otherwise, you must select Use Manual Control.

For systems with a 79-170 control (660 and 4300): The 79-170 control is detected automatically. However, you must select either the system type – either a 660 or 4300.

For these systems, you may also choose the Video Input. The AtoD is avaialable for all systems, the VF is available only if you have an RBD 21V VtoF converter. The VtoF will give you a higher quality image, and take less time to acquire.

AES Settings

The AES tab is where you select all Auger acquisition related controls

Note: Only the Multiplier Control setting needs to be setup before controlling your system and imaging (including taking an SED or ABS image). The rest of the settings are only used when acquiring elemental images and line scans. You will normally defer setting up the rest of the AES settings until your have setup your AugerScan software.

Analyzer Control

Select your analyzer control here. Once set, you should never have to change this setting.

Input

There are three different input types available. If you have a Lock-In amplifier, you should select Lock-In. Otherwise, you would normally select the VF input. In cases where you do not have enough signal in VF mode, you can force the software to use the pulse count input by selecting the PC input.

Note: You should always have VF mode selected if you are using Auto EMS (see below). Auto EMS will automatically select the PC (pulse count) mode if the signal intensity (VF Setpoint) is not reached at the specified multiplier voltage.

AES Scale Factor

The AES Scale Factor determines the resolution of your digital analyzer control. It is normally set to 20 (20 bits/eV). However, this may need some adjustment based the characteristics of your particular analyzer control. You will normally determine this value using AugerScan, and use that same value here. Consult your AugerScan documentation for more information.

Multiplier Control

Select your multiplier control here. Once set, you should never here to change this setting.

Auto EMS, VF Setpoint, and Pulse Count Voltage

If you have a digital CMA multiplier control and are not using a Lock-In amplifier, you can select the Auto EMS option. Selecting this option specifies that the AugerMap software will automatically set the multiplier to an optimal value, using the VF input, based on the VF Setpoint value. If the multiplier ramps up to the Pulse Count Voltage and cannot acquire the counts of defined by the VF Setpoint, the software will automatically select the pulse count input (where the counts will be higher).

The VF Setpoint value and Pulse Count Voltage are typically based on your preamp type and multiplier characteristics. You will normally base these values on the multiplier settings in AugerScan (by using AugerScan’s multiplier gain curve acquisition).