Cable Details
This page provides details on the cables used in the Super µController.
System Control Box (rectangular box that sits behind microscope)
Front Panel
The DB9 female connectors on the front panel provide four outputs for use with a bipolar stepper motor. These motors contain two sets of windings which are activated with varying amounts of forward or reverse voltage to drive the motors. Here are some excellent links on stepper motor operations:
Jones on stepper motors Bipolar stepper motor operation
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This picture shows one of the motor connectors removed from
the panel. Note that pin number 1 is the rightmost pin on the connector. If you look closely, most connectors will have the pin designations stamped into the connector. Pins 1 and 2 connect to one of the windings in the motor. Pins 3 and 4 connect to the other winding. Sequencing the polarity and power to each winding moves the motor. Changing the connections will alter the direction the motor moves and can be used to make either clockwise or counter-clockwise motion be the "positive" motion direction. |
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The other side of the motor connector looks like this. The
connector is a dual row, 8-pin connector on 0.1" centers. Pins are gold
plated. As shown, pins 1 and 2 connect to motor winding 1 and pins 3 and 4 connect to motor winding 2. The other pins are used for external inputs. For filter wheels, pin 5 is used to detect the state of the home sensor. This is shorted to ground (pin 8) when the home sensor is triggered. Otherwise, it is pulled up to 5v with a resistor. For the objective focus motor, pin 5 is instead connected to Phase A of an optical encoder output. Pin 6 (shown empty here) would be connected to Phase B of the optical encoder. |
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If you need to remove the pins, for example
to switch
direction of the motor, very carefully lift up the plastic retaining clip
using a pin or Xacto-knife. Care must be taken to avoid damaging the clip. Once the clip is lifted, the pin should easily pull out with the wire. It is safest to PUSH the pin out using a needle or other such object as this will put less strain on the wire. To switch the motor direction, swap the positions of pins 1 and 2. When you now run the motor, it will run in the opposite direction as before. |
Control Panel and Fine Focuser Connection:
The filter wheel home sensor connector uses a 1/8" stereo type jack. The tip is connected to the switched part of the sensor and the ground connection is made to the other side of the switch. Polarity really isn't terribly important, because it is just a simple switch. However, sometimes one side might be grounded, in which case it is important to connect it correctly.
Rear Panel
Nikon Hub (RS232):
Computer (RS232):
Both the Nikon hub and Computer interfaces use a straight through cable configuration with female connectors on both ends. Note that only pins 2, 3 and 5 are used for transmit, receive and ground. There is no hardware handshaking enabled so the software must disable any hardware handshaking in the computer's port configuration.
Links:
Cable Details Upgrading the Internal Software Release Notes
Inside the main control unit Configuring a Motor Controller
