MLT Series User's Manual

Disclaimer

Zaber’s products are not intended for use in any critical medical, aviation, or military applications or situations where a product's use or failure could cause personal injury, death, or damage to property. Zaber disclaims any warranty of fitness for a particular purpose. The user of this product agrees to Zaber's general terms and conditions of sale.

Precautions

Important: Do not attempt to disassemble or service an MLT device, except under the advisement of a Zaber representative.

Conventions used throughout this document

• Fixed width type indicates communication to and from a device. The ↵ symbol indicates a carriage return, which can be achieved by pressing enter when using a terminal program.

Device Overview

AutoDetect

Your MLT peripheral is equipped with AutoDetect, a feature that allows a Zaber controller to automatically configure its settings for the peripheral when it is connected.

Important: The controller should always be powered down before disconnecting or connecting your MLT peripheral.

To connect the peripheral to a controller:

1. Power off the controller.
2. Connect the MLT peripheral.
3. Power on the controller.
4. The controller will activate the peripheral shortly after it is powered on.

See the Zaber controller user manual for more details on peripheral activation and control.

Connectors

Recommended controller(s) for your MLT peripheral are provided in the product specifications. Zaber's controllers and peripherals are designed for ease of use when used together. Optimal settings for each peripheral are automatically detected by Zaber's controllers when the device is connected.

For reference, the pinout for the peripheral cable connectors is shown below:

Illuminator Interface

Female B-Coded M8 Connector	Pin	Description
	1	LED Temperature
	2	LED ID
	3	LED-
	4	Ground
	5	LED+

Installation

• 

  Remove the 4 M6 x 16 screws that attach the rear stage support to the microscope body.

• 

  Line up the alignment hole and slot in the MLT with the dowel pins in the back of the rear stage support and push the the MLT up against the stage support.

• 

  Install the 4 M6 x 50 screws (supplied with MLT) and tighten firmly.

• 

  Loosen the thumb screw on the left of the MLT.

• 

  Remove the Zeiss or Nikon condenser from its packaging and install it in the MLT by lining up the lip on the top of the condenser with the slot in the MLT and pushing it in firmly. The Zeiss condenser will click into place.

• 

  Tighten the thumb screw to secure the condenser in place.

• 

  If required, install the filter slider by sliding it into the filter slot as shown. The two vertical grooves in the slider should be facing the back of the microscope as shown.

• 

  Feed the MLT power cable though the cable port in the microscope frame. Removing the left side panel with no handle provides easy access to the LED connectors on the X-LCA4 lighting controller.

• 

  Connect the MLT power cable to a free LED connector on the X-LCA4 lighting controller.

• 

  Check that cables will not block the travel of the LDA focus stage. Replace the side panel.

Operation

MLT LED peripherals are designed to be plug & play with Zaber's X-LCA4 controller. The controller will automatically detect the connected LED and apply appropriate driving currents when LED is activated. To Activate the MLT in using the Zaber Launcher software, select the simple movement tab and click "Activate" on the MLT nested under the X-LCA4 which will be flagged as a New Peripheral.

See the X-LCA4 Manual] for more information on how to activate LED peripherals.

By default, the LED channel will be set to 0 brightness upon device initialization. To increase brightness, send commands to the X-LCA4 controller, or turn the manual control knob.

A 0.3 NA long distance condenser is supplied with the MLT. The illustrations below describe some functions of the condenser.

• 

  The condenser accepts 46 mm wide sliders. These sliders can be obtained with colour or neutral density filters and fixed or interchangeable phase stops. See www.zaber.com/products/microscopes/MLT for more details.

• 

  The condenser also features an adjustable aperture diaphragm. Closing this diaphragm reduces the amount of light that is able to pass through the condenser as well as the numerical aperture (NA) of the light passing through. Opening the diaphragm increases the amount of light an the NA (up to a maximum of 0.3).

I/O Usage and Examples

The MLT features one digital input and two digital outputs that operate on a +5 V supply and are TTL compatible. The input and output capabilities of the MLT can also be used with triggers to perform actions based on the current value of the I/O channel.

Digital Inputs

The input will draw up to 1 mA during operation.

Reading the input is accomplished by sending the unit an io get di command, as shown below.

/1 io get di 1↵

@01 0 OK IDLE -- 0

This command queries the input on the device, in this case input 1, which is low.

Digital Outputs

The digital outputs use an open collector buffer with a pre-installed 1 kΩ pull up resistor to +5 V. Each output can sink up to 20 mA.

The digital outputs are set through the io set do command, as shown below.

/1 io set do 2 1↵

@01 0 OK IDLE –- 0
/1 io set do 1 0↵

@01 0 OK IDLE –- 0

The first command sets the second digital output high (5 V). The second command sets the first digital output low (0 V).

Warranty and Repair

For Zaber's policies on warranty and repair, please refer to the Ordering Policies.

Standard products

Standard products are any part numbers that do not contain the suffix ENG followed by a 4 digit number. Most, but not all, standard products are listed for sale on our website. All standard Zaber products are backed by a one-month satisfaction guarantee. If you are not satisfied with your purchase, we will refund your payment minus any shipping charges. Goods must be in brand new saleable condition with no marks. Zaber products are guaranteed for one year. During this period Zaber will repair any products with faults due to manufacturing defects, free of charge.

Custom products

Custom products are any part numbers containing the suffix ENG followed by a 4 digit number. Each of these products has been designed for a custom application for a particular customer. Custom products are guaranteed for one year, unless explicitly stated otherwise. During this period Zaber will repair any products with faults due to manufacturing defects, free of charge.

How to return products

Customers with devices in need of return or repair should contact Zaber to obtain an RMA form which must be filled out and sent back to us to receive an RMA number. The RMA form contains instructions for packing and returning the device. The specified RMA number must be included on the shipment to ensure timely processing.

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Contact Information

Contact Zaber Technologies Inc by any of the following methods:

The original instructions for this product are available at https://www.zaber.com/manuals/MLT.

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