Specifications

8
SECTION 3.0
OPERATING PROCEDURE
3.1 CHECK-OUT LIST
Remove the filter slider and clean filters, if necessary, with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol or
lens cleaning fluid. Do NOT rub hard.
Before taking readings, turn the photometer on and allow at least 10 minutes warm-up time at
observatory temperature. The green TEMP LED will light up in approximately 1 minute after the
unit is turned on. This indicates that the detector is at the default operating temperature of -25 C.
It is suggested that the operating temperature be changed to at least -35 C or -40 C if a cooler
ambient temperature condition will allow it. See Figure 3-1.
Figure 3-1. Front Panel Controls
When powered up, the SSP-4 is waiting to connect to the PC running SSP4DATA.EXE or
another interface program using a serial interface. In this state, the integration time is set to 0.001
second so that any characters sent on the serial interface to the SSP-4 will not lost. In order to use
the photometer manually, the integration (INTG) time needs to be set to 1, 5, 10 or 30 seconds
using the 2-Button interface. See Section 3.3.
After warm-up, observe that the count with the mirror down (no light on detector) is within the
range of 3 to 7 with GAIN and INTG set at 1. If reading is not within this range, adjust the offset
pot with a small screwdriver until the correct reading is obtained.