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[MidacTCP]

Midac Network Interface

The Midac Network interface uses TCP ports 23, 443, and 16123 to communicate. The network administrator may have to open these ports on the computer which is connected to the spectrometer.

Installation Instructions

Note that all firmware and software have to be installed together as a pair.
Nothing will work correctly if the firmware does not match the PC-side software.

These steps are covered in more detail below.


[1]

Download the needed software

AutoQuant 4.5


AutoQuant 4.5 Contact Midac for AQ4.5 The setup program to install AutoQuant 4.5
Sample Line Definitions for AutoQuant 4.5 tcp_samplelines.sl This file is optional. Right-click on the link and select 'Save As'

Essential FTIR

Essential FTIR Download Essential FTIR
Midac Instrument Plugin setup_midac_network_interface.exe A plugin that allows eFTIR to collect data from the Midac Network Interface

Instrument Firmware

Instrument Firmware midac_aq_v28_app.s19 Right-click on the link and select 'Save As'
IPSetup IPSetup.exe Use this program to set the IP Address of the Instrument
AutoUpdate AutoUpdate.exe Use this re-program the instrument with new firmware
Documentation NetBurnerTools.pdf Documentation for the IPSetup and AutoUpdate programs

[2]

Set the IP Address of the Spectrometer

Midac recommends giving the Spectrometer a fixed IP address, rather than one that is assigned automatically through DHCP.
This is because the software has to know the IP Address of the spectrometer, and if that address changes dynamically, the software will not be able to communicate with the spectrometer.
Also, addresses that are assigned dynamically are also renewed frequently. If this happens
in the middle of data acquisition, communications may fail.

The IP Address that is programmed into the instrument by Midac during in-house testing is probably not going to work on your network.

The IP Address is set through a program called 'IPSetup.exe'. IPSetup.exe is installed into the AutoQuant and Essential FTIR program folders, and can also be downloaded from this site.

Use the windows file explorer to navigate to the appropriate folder and double-click on the IPSetup.exe program. You will see something like this:



But it will look different for your system.
If nothing shows up in the list on the right, please make sure that everything is cabled together and powered up.

Midac recommends that the spectrometer and computer be on the same subnet.
In the IPSetup picture above, the subnet is '192.16.1', that is, the first three numbers in the four-number tuple that make up the IP Address.
These first three numbers must match the first three numbers of your computer's IP Address.

If you don't know the IP Address of you computer, get to a command prompt by clicking 'Start/Run', and enter 'cmd.exe' in the edit box, then click OK.
You'll get a command prompt, and type 'ipconfig' followed by the enter key.
You'll see something like this:


Here, the address of the computer is 192.168.1.2, so the subnet is 192.168.1.
Now, back in the IPSetup program, enter an IP Address in the 'IP' field in the top left of the dialog.
The IP Address must be on the same subnet but not conflict with any other computers on the subnet.
Click the 'Set' button and see what happens, if it works the instrument will show up in the list on the left with the new IP Address..

For more information about the IPSetup program, see 'netburnertools.pdf'.


[3]

Install the latest firmware

The 'firmware' is the program that runs on the spectrometer.
First, download the latest firmware using the link in the Downloads section, above.
You have to right click on the link and select 'save as', otherwise the browser will load the file into a text editor, which you do not want.

Save the .s19 file to your local computer, and then start the 'AutoUpdate.exe' program, which is located in the AutoQuant and/or EssentialFTIR program folders, and can also be downloaded from this site.

Here's a picture of the AutoUpdate program:



Fill in the IP Address of the spectrometer, which was assigned as above.
Click the 'Browse' button, navigate to where the .s19 file was saved, and select it.
Then click the 'Update' button. If successfully, this window will appear:



If you see the message 'Programming Failed with Timeout', the cause is probably a wrong IP Address.

For more information about the AutoUpdate program, see 'netburnertools.pdf'.


[4]

Configure the software with the Spectrometer IP Address

AutoQuant

The IP Address of the instrument has to be entered into the AQ software so it knows how to connect. In AQ, on the 'Instrument' tab, click the 'Setup' button on the right:


In the dialog that appears, select 'Network Interface' from the drop-down menu attached to the 'Add' button:


Then you will see this dialog. Enter the same IP Address. The 'Name' can be anything you like. Note that you can control several instruments from AQ, each with different IP Addresses, so the 'Name' is useful to distinguish between them.



Back out of all of the dialogs, then select the instrument you just configured in the 'Spectrometer' list box.


Click 'Connect', and AQ will connect to the instrument and perform a calibration scan.

On the instrument tab, click 'Background' to collect a background spectrum.

Essential FTIR

The Instrument control for the Midac Network Interface is a separate plug-in, which you can download from this site (above).

The IP Address of the instrument has to be entered into the eFTIR software so that it can communicate with the instrument.

In eFTIR, select 'Midac Network Interface' from the 'Instruments' category.
In the tool that appears, select the 'Instrument' tab, and edit the IP Address field.



Note that the IPSetup and AutoUpdate programs can be launched from here as well, by clicking the 'Configure the instrument' and 'Update firmware' buttons. However, the security settings of your computer may not allow eFTIR to launch other programs.

'Find the Instrument' can be used to determine the actual IP Address of the instrument, but this may fail if the computer and instrument are on different subnets.

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