Spectrometer Electronics

Useful Links

Here is the link to the spectroscopy page.  Here is one to the optics page.  Here is the one to the page about 3D printed parts.  Here is the link to the page about lamps.  Here is the link to the spectrometer software.

Electronics

The electronics includes a detector, a microcontroller board, and a custom amplifier board (shown to the left), plus your host computer, micro-USB cable and a few headers.   The microcontroller board is the Teensy 4.0 which can be purchased (along with headers) from pjrc.com.  The Amplifier board incorporates a 16 bit Analog to Digital Converter (ADC).  A discussion of the circuits in the amp board is provided in the video a little lower

TCD 1304 Detector

The detector is the Toshiba TCD1304 linear array CCD detector (which can be purchased from Digikey, Mouser, or any other electronics supply company) for about $40 USD.  Here is a link to the datasheet.  You can find these a lot cheaper on AliExpress. I suspect the cheap ones failed quality control at Toshiba, but I have found them to be useful and reliable.  I say get them from China, but be wary.

Assembled electronics

There are three layers to the electronics: On top in this figure is the detector.  Below that is the amp board and on the bottom is the Teensy 4.0 microcontroller board.

A Note about Headers

You will need two sets of 14 pin headers (two sets of pins and two sets of sockets) to connect the microcontroller board to the amplifier board.  These are standard 0.1" (2.54 mm) headers you can get from Digikey, Mouser, etc.  You will also need a set of socket headers to connect the detector to the amp board.  While the pins on the detector are 0.1" pitch, they are thinner than normal pins and don't fit well in standard headers.  I am using stock that I have had for a long time and I dont know exactly the make and models.  I think they are Presi-dip models 310-87-105-41-001101 and  310-87-102-41-001101  for the five pin and two pin headers, of which you will need one and three, respectively.  

Simple Amplifier Circuits

The video to the right discusses some basic amplification information.  This is general info.

Circuits used by the Wheetrometer

This video discusses the specific circuits used in the Wheetrometer spectrometer.