Ocean Optics NeoFox Engineering Note User Manual
Page 16
 
NeoFox Communication Interfaces
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Autogain Enable
Uint
Enum
101
600
NEOFOX_AUTOGAIN_ENABLE
DeviceSetParameter
DeviceGetParameter
 
The Autogain Enable parameter controls whether the NeoFox device will set its gain settings automatically. When 
autogain is enabled, the APD voltage, LED drive levels, and gain levels will be optimized automatically. However, it 
is recommended that the autogain should be run at the beginning of experiments to set up the device properly and then 
disabled during the course of the experiment itself. 
 
 
 
 
Value Description
DLL Constant
0
Autogain disabled
NEOFOX_AUTOGAIN_DISABLED
1
Autogain enabled
NEOFOX_AUTOGAIN_ENABLED
Reference PGA Gain
Uint
Enum
105
500
NEOFOX_RED_LED_PGA_GAIN
DeviceSetParameter
DeviceGetParameter
 
The Reference PGA Gain parameter controls the amount of electronic gain that is applied to the input signal before 
analog to digital conversion. This parameter applies only at times when the reference LED is being sampled and not 
when the actual response of the chemistry is being sampled. 
 
 
 
Value Description
DLL Constant
0
1X
NEOFOX_GAIN_1X
1
2X
NEOFOX_GAIN_2X
2
4X
NEOFOX_GAIN_4X
3
8X
NEOFOX_GAIN_8X
4
20X
NEOFOX_GAIN_20X
5
40X
NEOFOX_GAIN_40X
6
80X
NEOFOX_GAIN_80X
7
160X
NEOFOX_GAIN_160X
Stimulus LED Current
Uint
0<X<25000
143
516
NEOFOX_DAC_LED_CURRENT_BLUE
DeviceSetParameter
DeviceGetParameter
 
The Reference LED Current parameter determines the brightness of the reference LED. The value 0 in this parameter 
corresponds to the lowest possible intensity and the value 25000 corresponds to the highest possible intensity. 
 
APD Gain 
Uint
3500<X<9251
141
572
NEOFOX_DAC_APD_GAIN
DeviceSetParameter
DeviceGetParameter
 
This parameter sets the open loop APD bias voltage gain, with 3500 representing the maximum possible gain and 
9251 representing the minimum possible gain. Note that there is an inverse relationship between this parameter and 
the actual gain. To effectively use this parameter, the APD Voltage value should be monitored and the open loop gain 
should be adjusted as appropriate to achieve the target APD voltage. Users should be careful to constrain values to the 
appropriate range (never lower than 3500), as excessive gain levels may result in damage to the APD. 
 
APD Voltage 
Uint
n/a
17
768
NEOFOX_ADC_APD_VOLTAGE
Read-Only
DeviceGetParameter
 
This parameter allows the user to monitor the APD bias voltage. Higher reverse bias voltages on the APD correspond 
to higher “optical gain”, or conversion efficiency, from the detector. The tradeoff of higher APD bias voltage is an 
increased risk of detector saturation and higher levels of noise. This value is stored in the NeoFox with a fixed point 
representation and hence it must be scaled with the following formula in order to correctly deduce the actual APD 
voltage. 
 
Floating Point APD Voltage Value (in Volts) = Raw Integer APD Value / 2
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