File	Date	Author	Commit
OpenSQUID	2013-01-02	Felix Jaeckel	[facf73] Add Matlab date and save functionality
CHANGES.txt	2012-12-07	Felix Jaeckel	[95a4d0] Pull the lost README and setup.py files from ol...
License.txt	2012-10-05	Felix Jaeckel	[8293f3] Add GPL license header to all files
MANIFEST.in	2012-12-07	Felix Jaeckel	[95a4d0] Pull the lost README and setup.py files from ol...
README.txt	2012-12-07	Felix Jaeckel	[95a4d0] Pull the lost README and setup.py files from ol...
setup.py	2013-01-02	Felix Jaeckel	[bf0cc4] Remove non-working stuff of setup.py

Read Me

=========
OpenSQUID
=========

OpenSQUID is a software package for the control of superconducting quantum interference device
readout electronics.


=============
Prerequisites
=============

Use of this software is entirely at your own risk! Although we have not observed any damage to SQUID electronics,
we make no guarantees that of any kind.
Obviously, SQUIDs are supremely sensitive devices and they may be destroyed or their performance impacted by improper operation.
If you are not willing to assume these risk, do not use the software!

--------
Hardware
--------

Currently, we support the PCI-1000/PFL-100/PFL-102 system offered by STAR Cryoelectronics.
We have only tested connection through the serial port; operation via the parallel port may be possible, but has not been tried.
At this point, only a single PCI-1000 is supported.
Support for the Magnicon hardware is planned for a future release.

--------
Software
--------

This software is developed in Python using the Python(x,y) [1] distribution.
The communication with the PCI-1000 is handled through PyVISA [2]. Version 1.4 of PyVISA is included in the current Python(x,y) distribution.
The graphical user interface requires PyQt [3], which is also included with Python(x,y).

[1] http://code.google.com/p/pythonxy/
[2] http://pyvisa.sourceforge.net/
[3] http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk/software/pyqt/intro

============
Installation
============




===============
Getting Started
===============

*Connect your PFLs to the PCI-1000 
*You can mix and match PFL-100 and PFL-102 units on the same PCI-1000
*Start the software
*From the "File" menu, select "Configure"
*In the "General" tab, under "PCI-1000" select the correct serial port that your PCI-1000 is connected to.
*The communication to the PCI-1000 is entirely 1-way, so the software has no way of verifying that communcations was received and processed correctly.
*Under the "Mod SQUIDs" tab, select the "channel" for each modulation electronics (PFL-100) that you have connected. Assign an arbitrary name ("ID") to each channel in use.
*The "Scope" column currently has no function and can be ignored.
*Under the "Array SQUIDs" tab, select the "channel" for array electronics (PFL-102) that you have connected. Assign and arbitrary name ("ID") to each channel in use.
*Again, the "Scope" column currently has no function and can be ignored.
*The "Scope" tab can be ignored.
*Click "Ok".
*You should now be able to tune your devices. Follow the same procedures outline in the STAR Cryoelectronics manuals.
*The "HEAT" button is currently not functional. It will be enabled in an upcoming releases.

============
Contributing
============
If you would like to contribute to this software, you can check out the current version from Sourceforge.net using git [4].
If you are a hardware vendor and would like to see support for your product, please contact Felix Jaeckel <fxjaeckel@gmail.com>.

[4] http://git-scm.com/

============
Contributors
============

- Felix Jaeckel <fxjaeckel@gmail.com>
- Randy Lafler <rlafler@unm.edu>


=========
Thanks to
=========

All members of the BoydLabUNM research group:
- Linh Le
- Skylar Scott
- Ruslan Hummatov
- S.T.P. Boyd