Software

Getting new software for your trough is as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Download the program.
   This is the standard version 5.16 - the one that matches the 6th edition of the manual.
   Its size is about 2MB.
   
   
2. Unzip the installation files. There are 4 files 'zipped' together. So you have to 'unzip' them using 'WinZip' available from winzip.com (and often pre-installed on PC's).

   The file unzips to 4 smaller files ('setup.exe', 'data.001', 'data.002' and 'Nima516help.txt') that fit onto 2 floppy discs. So you can copy and install it on another PC.
   
   

3. Set up. Click on Setup.exe and the Nima software will be installed for you. You can install it to any directory and there are no dynamic link libraries to worry about. If you are upgrading, please load the new software into a new directory. Then you can copy your existing calibration files over and don't have to re-calibrate anything. This is all explained in the 'Nima516help.txt'.

If you have any difficulties, comments or suggestions please get in touch .

Click here to download the latest Nima software.

Software, Generation 5

This is written in National Instruments' LabView and is a proper 32 bit application that can make full use of multi-tasking in WIN95/98/NT and higher.

The software can be run from any directory. This makes it easy to configure for multiple users and it is also possible to run several troughs from one PC.

The software consists of an 'active graphics' screen from which all functions of the trough are available with a mouse click or two. Menus are also available for setting up a run such as an isotherm compression cycle or a multi-layer deposition.

Isotherms of monolayers can be taken in compression and relaxation, at a constant pre-defined speed or in defined Èquasi-statici steps at defined time intervals. Compressing monolayers to a target pressure and holding the film at constant pressure is possible as are pressure-area loops for hysteresis studies of the compressibility/solubility of the monolayer. Holding the barrier at constant area is also possible if, for example, monolayer adsorption studies need to be carried out. For balances with 2 independent barriers, the barriers can be moved in symmetrical or coupled mode so that monolayers can be transferred between separate compartments and sub-phases.

Events can be viewed in pressure v area axes, pressure & area v time axes or others (such as temperature, surface potential). The axes may be expanded to view the data at any magnification. Axes can be auto-scaled or manually scaled. A cursor can be run along each plot and the exact X and Y value of each point can be displayed. Area can be displayed cm² or Angstrom²/molecule.

The sampling and logging interval can be adjusted to give the desired number of points over the period of the experiment. The only limit to the size of the data is the memory available in your PC.

The data is stored as ASCII text files and can be imported into any commercially available graphics / spreadsheet packages such as Cricket, Lotus or Excel. Hence the writing up of publications based on trough data is made particularly easy.

Almost any dipping routine can be pre-programmed - hence dipping speed (up and down), target pressure, start and end positions, number of layers and a wait interval between layers are all programmable. In alternate layer mode, any sequence of layers 'A' and 'B' can be programmed. Each dipping routine can be saved as a named file and recalled at any time.

The software is almost infinitely flexible and new features are being added as customers request them.

PC requirements:

* WIN95 or higher

* free serial port for communicating with the interface

* minimum display size of 800 x 600 pixels

* there are no special requirements or dongles.

Our old DOS version is still available for 486 PCs or lower.

For more information please contact us on info@nima.co.uk