Using the Pine WaveNow potentiostat with the Icron WiRanger wireless USB hub NOV 2013

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1 Using the Pine WaveNow potentiostat with the Icron WiRanger wireless USB hub NOV 2013 Introduction Note that there have been few providers of wireless USB technology other than support for printers and external drives. We have been through several wireless USB hub products from several vendors from (Belkin, IOGear, Icron). Each of them has eventually been discontinued and/or no longer supported by the next version of Windows that is released. We are currently without a Windows 7/8 solution because the industry is not making such a device. General Issues #1 - operating system requirements Windows is XP required. 32-bit has been tested, 64-bit has not and might not be supported. #2 USB hub hardware compatibility We have found that the wireless USB hub has not worked with some PCs, despite using Windows XP. It is presumed to be hardware-related issues with the USB implementation. There is no known way to predict compatibility in advance. #3 - distance/positioning of the local (LEX) and remote (REX) hubs These hubs use the same 54 Mbit wireless-g technology as many wireless ethernet devices (routers & adapters). It can easily cover distances of 100+ feet, but the reflectivity inside the metal glovebox can reduce that. Repositioning of the local or remote wireless hub units can often resolve this. #4 - interference from other wireless devices in/around your lab Occasionally the same wireless-g channel is being used by other equipment in your area and the interference causes the USB connection to fail.

2 There is a procedure for changing the channel WiRanger uses if necessary. This is documented in the Wiranger user manual. Specific Instructions Specific advice regarding use of the Icron WiRanger wireless USB hub with the Pine WaveNow potentiostat: #1 - Wiranger wireless USB will only work with Windows XP. It will not work with Windows 7. It might not work on 64-bit XP, we have only tested 32-bit XP. #2 - WaveNow units manufactured before July 2012 may not work with the WiRanger due to USB hardware incompatibility. The date of manufacture can be determined from the 7-digit serial number on the sticker on the bottom panel. The format is wwyynnn where ww=week yy=year and nnn=sequence#. Units from July 2012 would be 2312nnn. Contact Pine for assistance if needed. #3 - Before attempting to use wireless USB, be sure that directlyconnected USB works. That is, be sure to install AfterMath on your computer, make a direct wired USB connection to the WaveNow, and then make sure that AfterMath is able to control the instrument. #4 - Connect the wireless USB hubs as described in the User Manual - connect LEX to PC USB, power on LEX, power on REX, wait for LEX & REX green "Link" LEDs. #5 - Power on the WaveNow and connect to a REX USB port. After Windows XP recognizes the USB link to the WaveNow, then you can start AfterMath. You should see the WaveNow in the lower left corner of the AfterMath screen. #6 - Run a Bulk Electrolysis experiment to validate the throughput of the wireless link. Set up Bulk Electrolysis for exactly 120 seconds, and take data every 1 millisecond (i.e., total number of intervals = 120,000). Do the first wireless test with the two hubs (LEX and REX) located about 6 feet (2 meters) apart. See screenshots below. #7 - Trial-and-error must be used to determine how far apart you can locate LEX and REX. The maximum distance will be different in various laboratory environments and may change as the environment (electrical and physical) changes. #8 - After you are satisfied that the wireless USB link is working, then you can put REX and the WaveNow in your glove box. During the "pumping stage" in the antechamber, we suggest that you use a gentle approach. That is, don't vacuum pump the electronic equipment for 2 hours under a hard vacuum.rather, you should use three or four pump/purge cycles that

3 are shorter in duration. We have never had any trouble putting electronics through the antechamber; however, it is good to be careful not to stress the electronic components with too much vacuum. #9 - Sometimes it is temperamental, such as after a computer has gone into sleep/hibernate mode, or been running without reboot a few weeks, etc. When this happens some combination of rebooting, power-cycling everything, and switching to different USB ports (on the computer) seems to eventually get it working again.

4 Example of Bulk Electrolysis described in step #6 above: Setup: Good results:

5 Bad results:

6 Troubleshooting The general procedure is to 1) make sure the potentiostat works when directly-connected (non-wireless) and 2) make sure another known device (USB drive) works across the Wiranger wireless USB hub connection. If problems occur, we suggest first trying OTHER USB PORT PAIRS on the PC, and if that fails, another PC entirely. We have encountered what seem to be hardware incompatibilities. The procedure below was created using Windows XP Pro (Service Pack 3 on a Dell Latitude laptop:

7 #1 - Obtain a USB drive (memory stick) that can be used for testing. Connect it to the target PC USB port. Verify that files can be read from the USB drive. Remove the drive. #2 - Install AfterMath using the original installation media. This will also install the appropriate USB device drivers for the potentiostat. Connect the potentiostat to the same USB port used in step #1 and wait for Windows to recognize the device. Run Aftermath and verify that the potentiostat is shown in the lower-left pane in "Idle" state. Remove the potentiostat.

8 #3 - Connect the WiRanger LEX to the same USB port used in the steps above. Power on the LEX, then the REX. Wait for the green "Link" LED on both.

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14 #4 - Connect the USB drive used above into the REX unit. Wait for Windows to recognize the device and verify that files can be read from the drive. Remove the drive.

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17 #5 - Connect the potentiostat to the REX unit. Wait for Windows to recognize the device. Run Aftermath and verify that the potentiostat is shown in the lower-left pane in "Idle" state.

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23 #6 - Run the "Bulk Electrolysis" experiment from the previous section to verify the wireless USB throughput.