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• TMO: /cds/group/pcds/epics/ioc/common/andorCam/R0.6.0/children/build/iocBoot/ioc-tmo-andor1/edm-ioc-tmo-andor1.cmd
• RIX: /cds/group/pcds/epics/ioc/common/andorCam/R0.6.0/children/build/iocBoot/ioc-rix-dir-andor/edm-ioc-rix-dir-andor.cmd
         /cds/group/pcds/epics/ioc/common/andorCam/R0.6.0/children/build/iocBoot/ioc-rix-vls-andor/edm-ioc-rix-vls-andor.cmd

Slow Full-Frame Tuning vs. 120Hz Full Vertical Binning with DAQ

Many experiments tune the position of the beam on the camera with a slow full-frame image then, after tuning is complete, run fast 120Hz data acquisition in "full vertical binning" (FVB) mode.  To do this, we recommend that users use the IOC's "python viewer" for the full-frame viewing/tuning (without running the DAQ) then switch to FVB for 120Hz DAQ operation.

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• start the appropriate IOC panels (see below for command) on tmo-daq or rix-daq
• end the DAQ run if one is in progress
• click "Stop" in the IOC window to stop the Andor acquiring.  This is done in the "Image Collection" area in the middle-right of the main panel
• switch to full-frame mode by setting "Readout Mode" to "Image" in the middle of the "detail" sub panel
• click start in the IOC window to start the Andor in full-frame mode.  ensure "Cam Trig Event Code" (middle right of main panel) and "Exposure Time" (top right of main panel) are set appropriately (typically event code 120 when beam is going to the soft X-ray line).  Setting exposure time too long will interfere with 120Hz operation.
• open the "python viewer" at the top of the main panel
• tune beam position on camera
• when done tuning click "Stop" in the "Image Collection" area in the middle-right of the main panel
• in the middle of the "detail" subpanel set "Readout Mode" to "FVB" (full-vertical binning)
• click "Start" in the main panel middle-right to start the Andor acquiring in FVB mode
• Verify that "Capture Rate" in the "Image Collection" section of the main panel is what you expect
• start a DAQ run
• check for damage from the Andor in the DAQ-monitoring grafana window: psdaq#DAQMonitoring

Running in 90x90 "Crop" Mode

From Dan Damiani on 06/23/21.

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rixx43518 run 327 is a short run taken with the Andor running at 120Hz in 90x90 crop mode.  Here is an image from AMI:

Rate Measurements in Crop Mode

(from Dan Damiani)

FVB works at 120 Hz with both the 3Mhz and 1Mhz readout mode. This isn’t new. We have used the 1Mhz readout mode with full vertical binning in SXR in previous experiments, so it isn’t surprising that this still works.

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Miscellaneous Thoughts on running the Newton Camera

(courtesy of Dan Damiani)

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A picture of the IOC screens when the camera is working in full-frame mode:

Single-Photon Mode Thoughts

From an email thread with RIX scientists on July 9, 2021:

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We don't think the baselineClamp setting matters, but the IOC does have a different default setting of 0.

Power cycle procedure for camera/USB fiber extender

Occasionally after power cycling the camera or everything if there was a power outage the USB fiber extender will come back in a bad state where it won't communicate with the camera. One time we saw these errors in /var/log/messages when the VLS camera broke:

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1. Power off the camera
2. Power off the camera side of the extender
3. Unplug the server-side extender USB cable from daq-rix-andor-01. The DIR andor extender has the black USB cable (top USB port) and the VLS andor extender is the silver cable (bottom USB port).
4. Re-plug the server-side extender USB cable into daq-rix-andor-01.
5. Power on the camera side of the extender. You should see the link led turn on on the extender, and the host led blink slowly.
6. Power on the camera. The host led on the camera side extender show turn on solid now, and the activity led should blink intermittently.
7. Restart the IOC (the existing IOC process my be locked up and may need to be kill -9 to die) or alternatively just reboot daq-rix-andor-01.

Debugging

You can see log files for the IOC here:  /cds/data/iocData/ioc-rix-dir-andor/iocInfo/.

For camera communication errors ("Unknown" in EDM "Model Number" field) can look for "USB disconnect" error messages in /var/log/messages.  Can see device numbers with "lsusb | grep Andor" and compare to device numbers in /var/log/messages.

Workaround for RIX ANDOR-DIR hang

This is for when the camera is visible with "lsusb | grep Andor" (note uppercase "A") but the camera isn't communicating:

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