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6. Initiating the IGOR Pro Software

  • Page ID
    62642
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    The data collection software used in Learning Modules I – IV is IGOR Pro 5.0 with NIDAQ Tools by Wavemetrics, Inc. All software references in this section pertain to IGOR Pro. If you are using different data collection software, please refer to the user’s manuals accompaning that software.

    1. Open the data collection software, IGOR Pro, by clicking on the desktop icon or going to the Start Menu, and selecting IGOR Pro from the programs folder.
    2. When the program initiates, go the File menu. If this is your first time using IGOR Pro YOU MUST CONSULT THE USER’S MANUAL TO ESTABLISH THE INITIAL DATA COLLECTION PARAMETERS. Otherwise select Recent Experiments and click on the file containing your run parameters. Common run parameters include Channel (wired as #2), Input (same as channel, #2), Gain (1.0), Scan Interval (0.1sec), and Number of Samples. A data table, the channel selector, a graph, and text command window should be visible on the screen.
    3. Click on the channel selector window. Look inside the break-out box to make sure that the input channel in the box is the same channel selected in the software (should be channel #2).
    4. Next, click on the <Scan Control> button and select the appropriate number of scans for the instrument to make by typing that number into the white box. For example if the instrument scans every 0.1 sec, the number of scans should be ten times the anticipated run time (a 10 minute run is 1200 seconds, or 12000 scans).
    5. Click on the graph window. For example if you are using channel 2 to collect data, the graph title should say “Graph0: Input 2”. If it does not, close the graph by clicking on the [X] button in the upper right corner of the window. Go to the window menu at the top of the tool bar. Select <New Graph> and a window should pop up.
    6. Select the appropriate channel, for example “Input 2”, from the list under “Y Waves” and select “calculated” from the list under “X Waves”. Click on the <Do It> button at the bottom left corner of the window.
    7. To auto scale both the y-axis and the x-axis, enter “setaxis/a” in the text command window. To adjust the y-axis, go to the text command window and enter “setaxis left -1, 1”. To adjust the x-axis, enter “setaxis bottom 0, ####” in the text command window, where #### is the desired number of seconds.

    This page titled 6. Initiating the IGOR Pro Software is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Contributor.

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