Vernier Spectro Pro - Manual (Page 30)

Spectro Pro Reference
32 Spectro Pro
To create your own experiment files, you will need to set up Spectro Pro
as appropriate for your experiment. You may want to start with an
existing experiment file that is close to the configuration you need.
•
Configure or confirm that Spectro Pro is properly set for the data
collection mode you will use.
•
Define any new columns you need.
•
Set up the graphs as desired. Create the number of graphs, the
scaling, and what is plotted for your experiment.
•
Consider entering an Experiment Note (choose About filename from
the Help menu, where filename is the experiment file name) to give
preliminary instructions that will be displayed when the file is first
opened.
•
Consider adding an explanatory or instructional text window that
will be visible during data collection. (Choose New Window
Æ
Text)
•
Test your setup by performing a trial experiment, and make changes
as needed.
•
If you do not want to save your example data with the experiment
setup, clear the data by choosing Clear All Data from the Data
menu.
•
Choose Save from the File menu. Enter a descriptive file name, and
save the file.
To use the file later with students, place a copy of the file in the default
experiment file directory specified in the Spectro Pro preferences.
Certain settings of Spectro Pro, such as the default location of files
which you are unlikely to change every session, can be stored in
preferences. See Preferences under the File menu. Preferences are stored
locally on the computer. Consult Appendix B for detailed network
suggestions.
Using Spectro Pro on a network is similar to using it on a stand-alone
computer. However, the benefits of network access to Spectro Pro
include the need to install only one copy of the software, further
protection of experiment and calibration files from accidental change,
and reduced hard disk requirements on the local computers. For details,
see the discussion in Appendix B.
During the installation process above, a directory will be placed on your
hard disk which includes Vernier calibration files and experiment files.
Preferences will initially be set to these directories as default.
Creating an experiment file
Customizing Spectro Pro
Using Spectro Pro on a
network
Using Spectro Pro on
stand-alone computers