RE: mca Canberra DSA-2000 HV support

[Mark Rivers <rivers@cars.uchicago.edu>]

Hi Fabian,

I've written the support for the HVPS on the Canberra DSA-2000.  The driver is based on asynPortDriver, and is about 400 lines of code.

It can be downloaded from the Subversion repository here:

https://subversion.xor.aps.anl.gov/synApps/mca/trunk

There is a test IOC example in mca/iocBoot/iocLinux/st_DSA2000.cmd.  The mcaTest.adl medm screen can be used to load DSA2000_HVPS.adl, which is the new medm screen for the HVPS.

The DSA-2000 support is described in the release notes:

http://cars9.uchicago.edu/software/epics/mcaReleaseNotes.html

and in the mcaCanberra documentation:

http://cars9.uchicago.edu/software/epics/mcaCanberra.html

I've tested it with my DSA-2000 and it seems to work fine.  There are a few things I don't understand about the module, and I have a support request in to Canberra about them, but they are minor.

Once you've tested it, and I hear back from Canberra I plan to release mca R7-5, which will contain this new driver.

Cheers,
Mark


P.S. The document from Canberra was sent to me under a non-disclosure agreement, so I couldn't send it to you.  Since I'm quite familiar with programming the Canberra Ethernet modules it was also more efficient for me to write it.



-----Original Message-----
From: Januszewski, Fabian (IAG) [mailto:fabian.januszewski@kit.edu] 
Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2013 5:36 PM
To: Mark Rivers
Subject: AW: mca Canberra DSA-2000 HV support

Hi Mark,

thanks a lot for your quick and detailed reply. That's very helpful.

I'd love to use the HVPS in the DSA-2000, and if it gets supported in mca, I'll definitely use it. But I'd feel bad if you just implemented it for me.

I wouldn't mind to implement it myself, if the Canberra document in question is not protected by copyright (ie. if you wouldn't break a law sharing it).

Thanks again,

Fabian

________________________________________
Von: Mark Rivers [rivers@cars.uchicago.edu]
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 8. August 2013 21:20
An: Januszewski, Fabian (IAG); tech-talk@aps.anl.gov
Betreff: RE: mca Canberra DSA-2000 HV support

Hi Fabian,

The DSA-2000 is an integrated box, which is different from the Canberra programmable NIM electronics, like the ND556/AIM, ICB programmable amplifiers, ADCs and HVPS units.

Functionally the DSA-2000 is the same as the ND556/AIM for acquiring spectra, and my EPICS software works for that.

It also functionally contains the equivalent of the NIM 9660 DSP digital signal processor.  This appears as an ICB device at ICB address 0.  You load the support for the 9660 DSP as follows:

icbConfig("icbDsp1", 0x..., 0, 4)
dbLoadRecords("$(MCA)/mcaApp/Db/icbDsp.db", "P=mcaTest:,DSP=dsp1,PORT=icbDsp1")

That lets you set the shaping time, etc.  It replaces the ADC and amplifier of a conventional x-ray spectroscopy system.  You can load the medm screens for that (dsp9600Filter.adl, dsp9660Gain.adl, and dsp9660Stabilizer.adl) from the main mcaTest.adl.

The DSA-2000 does have programmable high-voltage control.  However, unfortunately they did not make that functionally equivalent to the NIM ICB HVPS modules.  So my software for the NIM HVPS modules will not work.

I do have a document I obtained from Canberra in 2003 that describes the DSA-2000 registers in detail, so I know how to program the HVPS.

Is this something you are actually planning to use, or are you just testing it?  If you are planning to use it I can probably write the HVPS support in a few hours.

Cheers,
Mark



-----Original Message-----
From: tech-talk-bounces@aps.anl.gov [mailto:tech-talk-bounces@aps.anl.gov] On Behalf Of Januszewski, Fabian (IAG)
Sent: Wednesday, August 07, 2013 6:35 PM
To: tech-talk@aps.anl.gov
Subject: mca Canberra DSA-2000 HV support

Hi,

I am trying to set up a Canberra DSA-2000 with EPICS + mca on a linux, x86, 64bits.

EPICS R3.14.12.3
mca R7-4
asyn 4-21

Basic operation is fine, setting up the MCA, acquiring spectra.

I am struggling with access to the integrated HV power supply, and am not sure if this is already supported by mca, so far I can't make it work.

My startup script looks like this:

AIMConfig("AIM1/1", 0x..., 1, 2048, 1, 1, "eth0")
dbLoadRecords("../../mcaApp/Db/mca.db", "P=mcaTest:,M=aim_adc1,DTYP=asynMCA,INP=@asyn(AIM1/1 0),NCHAN=2048")

icbConfig("icbHvps1", 0x..., 0, 2)
dbLoadRecords("../../mcaApp/Db/icb_hvps.db", "P=mcaTest:,HVPS=hvps1,PORT=icbHvps1,LIMIT=1300")

Not sure if the last two lines are correct.

icbShowModules says
NI...:0   9   D#QN   2993780

and

mcaAIMShowModules gives
Module     Type  HW rev.  FW rev.  Owner name      Owner ID       Status      Memory size Free address
NI0...    1       2        7       me     ..:..:..:..:..:..  Reachable     262140      00002000

Errors produced are:

2013/08/08 00:59:50.076 mcaTest:hvps1VOLT_LIM devAsynFloat64 pPvt->result.status=-1, process error
2013/08/08 00:59:50.076 mcaTest:hvps1VOLT_OUT devAsynFloat64 pPvt->result.status=-1, process error
2013/08/08 00:59:50.076 mcaTest:hvps1FRAMP devAsynInt32 process error
2013/08/08 00:59:50.076 mcaTest:hvps1INH_LEVEL devAsynInt32 process error
2013/08/08 00:59:50.076 mcaTest:hvps1LATCH_INH devAsynInt32 process error
2013/08/08 00:59:50.076 mcaTest:hvps1LATCH_OVL devAsynInt32 process error
2013/08/08 00:59:50.076 mcaTest:hvps1RESET devAsynInt32 process error

and then periodically

2013/08/08 00:59:59.576 mcaTest:hvps1INHIBIT devAsynInt32 process read error
2013/08/08 00:59:59.576 mcaTest:hvps1OVERLOAD devAsynInt32 process read error
2013/08/08 00:59:59.576 mcaTest:hvps1STATRBV devAsynInt32 process read error
2013/08/08 00:59:59.576 mcaTest:hvps1BUSY devAsynInt32 process read error
2013/08/08 00:59:59.576 mcaTest:hvps1VOLTRBV devAsynFloat64 process read error

Thanks in advance,

Fabian