SITK Usage FAQ

How do I access the SITK® VIs?

From the Wiring Diagram of your VI bring up the function tool bar.  Select the “User Libraries” icon to show SITK® libraries.  Selecting the desired  library to show the SITK® VIs.

 

How are the SITK® VI's organized?

Camera -Contains all the camera specific VIs.

 

Display -Optional, contains a simple image display.

 

File -Optional, contains VIs to read and write SPE and TIF files.

 

Image -Contains functions that allow the data to be retrieved into LabVIEW™ data types.

 

Pulser -Optional, VIs for supporting the PTG (pulse timing generator) sold by Princeton Instruments.

 

General -Contains the main load/unload of the SITK® VIs also contains some diagnostic VIs.

 

Spectrometers -Optional, controls for Acton Spectrometers.

 

What is an SPE file?

This is a Princeton Instruments file format used by the WinView and WinSpec programs. Files stored from the SITK® VIs can be read and analyzed using this software. For more information on this file type, please send email to support@princetoninstruments.com.

 

Why does the TIFF file I created not open in other software?

The TIFF files typically used by other software usually consists of either 8 bit grayscale data or24 bit RGB color data.

The SITK® software will create TIFF files of whatever data type is needed to keep the resolution of the data intact.  This is usually 16 bit unsigned data for most cameras but can be signed integer or floating point depending on whether or not data correction processing was done, such as background subtraction or flatfield application.  There are several applications that will be able to read these TIFF files such as MatLab™  and LabVIEW™ itself.

 

Why do I get a license error when trying to use the SITK®?

The SITK® software is protected by a license file to prevent unauthorized usage.  A license error shows that the license file is either not present, not activated or the trial period has ended.  To obtain a license file or activation code, the SITK® software must be registered.  Due to differences between the Windows 32 bit and 64 bit operating system, a different licensing scheme is used for each.  Note that the software serial number can be found on the CD/DVD label and/or the back of the CD/DVD case.  Use “trial” for the serial number if registering for a trial license.

   1) 32 bit SITK®: Run the registration program SITKInfo.exe.  It will email us the information we need to generate your license file.  If your computer is not email enabled, you can use Manual mode to save the information to the text file SITKInfo.txt then send it to Support@RCubedsw.com as an attachment from another computer.

   2) 64 bit SITK®: A 45 day trial license is automatically generated upon first use of the software.  To obtain an activation code, run the registration program LVTKReg.exe and send the output to Support@RCubedsw.com.

 

 

Why do I get an error 5501 when my VI calls CameraOpen?

This is a general “failed to open camera” error.  There are several reasons this can happen.

   1) Invalid or missing license file.  Sometimes there will be a license error before this error that the user misses.  Make sure the SITK® is licensed correctly by running DiagnosticToolkitTest.vi (see above).

   2) Ensure that the camera is connected and powered on and is being recognized by the computer.  Look in the Device Manager (Start->Control Panel->System->Device Manager) to make sure that the camera shows in the list of devices.  If the camera is shown but has a yellow flag, it means the device driver is not working.  You can try letting Windows update the driver or you may need to reinstall the drivers.

   3) If you have a camera that uses the PVCam interface, the file “C:\Windows\pvcam.ini” is required.  You will need to run the program RSConfig.exe (supplied as part of PVCam) to create the file.  Make sure the camera is connected and powered on.

        a. If you are using Windows 7, sometimes the pvcam.ini file will be created in a “mirror” folder instead of C:\Windows.  Open Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows.  If pvcam.ini is not present, look at the top menu bar for “Compatibility Files”.  Click on this and you will be in the “mirror” folder and should see pvcam.ini.  Manually copy the file to C:\Windows.

 

 

 

 

My SITK® doesn't work before it even gets to data collection?

Try running the following example VIs:

 

DiagnosticsToolkittest.vi - This will display the major, minor, external build and internal build number, make sure these match the version you intended to install.

 

DiagnosticsCameratest.vi - This will display the PvCam version that LabVIEW™ is running. This should be version 2.6 or greater. If this is not version 2.6 or greater, check the Windows folder to see if another copy of PvCam.dll is present. If there is one, you must rename, move or remove it.

 

ExTestReadingFromImageExample.vi - This will display values using the image VIs. There is no camera communication so this is a test that the non-hardware portions of the SITK® are working.

 

ExSimpleAsyncExample.vi - This example is a simple data collection of one frame at a time. It should work on all camera systems.