Instrument Operation and Commissioning
Mercury iPS
The power supply for e1039 is an Oxford Instruments Mercury iPS (intelligent power supply), the manual for which is available here:
http://mymercurysupport.com/sites/default/files/59_UMC0072_01.pdf
The power supply includes one master unit, and one slave unit, each of which are capable of providing up to 40 A of current, or 80 A in parallel. The master has a touch screen and allows control of the magnet current from this front panel, while the slave listens for commands from the master and has no way to control it directly. On being initially commissioned, the master and slave should be connected by the provided DB-9 female to male cable, which goes from the DB-9 'out' port on the master to the DB-9 'in' port on the slave. The master should then be connected via the DB-27 RS232 cable to the computer which will be running the power supply control.
It is inadvisable to attempt to use the USB-B to USB-A connector to connect the master unit to the computer, as the associated driver seems to cause intermittent blue screen errors. If necessary, the power supply control can support this option, but it is best to use only the RS232 connection if possible.
At this point, you should connect the positive terminal of the master to the positive terminal of the slave by screwing in one of the flat metal busbars, and the negative terminals should be connected together with the other busbar. If it is desired to test the power supply while shorted before connecting it to the magnet, use the large copper braid to connect the two busbars, and the large brown resistor to connect the red and black terminals on the back of the Master unit. These two shorts should be removed before the power supply is connected to a real magnet.
At this point, a standard instrument power cable may be connected to the back of both power supplies, and the switches on the back of both units set to on. The Master may then be switched on by pressing the button on the front. It takes several minutes for the power supply to initialize at this stage, so please wait until the front panel displays readings for current and voltage and the like before attempting to do anything else.
USB Relay
The other piece of equipment necessary to commission is the USB Relay board which allows the computer to control the switch heaters for the shim coils, which is a small metal box with alligator clips on the top labeled "USB Relay." This box may be connected to the computer via a provided USB-B to USB-A cable. The shim coils should then be connected to the alligator clips at the top of the USB Relay, with both ends of the circuit for the shim 1 switch heater connected to the clips next to the "1" label, and both ends of the circuit for the shim 2 switch heater connected to the clips next to the "2" label.
This board simply provides two circuit switches which may be opened or closed via the controlling computer, while the light next to each label indicates whether that switch is open or closed. If the light is on, the switch is open, and if it is off, the switch is closed. A small clicking noise is also audible when either switch opens or closes.
The USB Relay sometimes has troubles connecting to the computer the first time it is plugged in, so before attempting to ramp the magnet, it is important to verify that the computer can actually control the shim coils by watching the lights on the box. If the computer is unable to initially connect to the relay, simply unplug it and plug it back in after all other instruments have been connected to the computer. A tool for testing just the function of the relay board is available from the manufacturer at:
https://www.sainsmart.com/products/4-channel-5v-usb-relay-module
Integrated Power Supply & Shims Control
The computer control for the power supply and shims is a labview VI that uses the library of functional subVI's provided by Oxford Instruments for use with the Mercury iPS.