Multichannel Systems nanoZ manual User Manual

Page 41

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the pins in the Adaptor window. If RoundContact is zero, the pins will be square,
otherwise they will appear round.

4. the next few lines defines the shape of the adaptor as displayed in the Adaptor

window. Typically this will define one or two rectangles
representing one or both of the nanoZʼs Samtec
connectors, however it can be any shape. The NumPoints
field specifies the number of points that comprise the
adaptor outline. The format for these points is: Outline_ = x,
y, where _ is an arbitrary suffix, and x & y are 2D pixel
coordinates. The outline must form an enclosed region.
Repeating the same Outline coordinates on two
consecutive lines indicates that this is the last point in that
shape, with subsequent Outlines representing the next
shape. For example, with the NZA DIP16 adaptor shown
here on the left, the single rectangle requires 6 points, with
the last two points (Outline4, Outline5) having the same
coordinates as Outline0 to complete the rectangle. Unless

you require an adaptor with a special shape, it is probably simplest to just copy
and paste this section from one of the existing 32 or 64 channel adaptors, as
required.

5. the last section of the adaptor definition is the most important, as it defines the
mapping from the nanoZʼs internal MUX to the pins of the adaptor. The
NumChans field specifies the number of adaptor channels to map. The format for
the mapping is: MUX n = x, y, where n is the nanoZ MUX channel (1 ~ 64), and x
and y define the pin location on the Adaptor window. The ordinal position defines
the adaptor pin number. So, for example, the first line in the NZA DIP16 definition:
MUX 51 = -75, 375, means that channel 1 of the adaptor is connected to MUX
channel 51, and is situated on the bottom left-hand corner of the DIP16 socket.

Finally, restart the application or click File | Reload definitions from the main
menu to make the nanoZ application aware of any changes to ʻelectrodes.iniʼ.

Electrode  definitions  

The format for the electrode definitions in ʻelectrodes.iniʼ is similar to that used for
adaptor definitions. Steps 1 to 4 for defining the electrode name, description, site
appearance and outline are almost identical except for subtle differences in the
field names. Step 5 is different:

5. the last section of the electrode definition is the most important, as it defines
the mapping from the adaptor pinout to the electrode site layout. The NumSites
field specifies the number of electrode sites. The format for this mapping is: Site n
= x, y, sizeX, sizeY, where n is site number, x and y define the site location on the
Probe window, and sizeX and sizeY are optional values that replace the default

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