Configuring Buxco Temp/Humidity Probe and Pressure Transducer in Ponemah

The Buxco Halcyon chamber with temperature/humidity probe and pressure transducer can be connected to the ACQ-7700 to be brought into Ponemah for analysis of Whole Body Plethysmography data.

To do this, the modified temp/humidity probe (Figure 1, part# 601-2249-001) will need to be used along with the modified pressure transducer (part# 600-1114-001).  The temp/humidity probe has a splitter (part# 601-2250-001) to separate the temp and humidity signals into two cables (red and green).  The pressure transducer also has a separate black cable. 

Figure 1: Modified temp/humidity probe connected to the splitter.  The red (temperature) and green (humidity) cables plug into the inputs on the Universal XE card of the ACQ-7700.

Physical Connections

Plug the temp/humidity probe into the top port of the WBP Chamber. Plug the pressure transducer into the transducer airflow holes in the side of the chamber, such that the DSI label is rightside up. All cables terminate at a connector that plugs into the Universal XE amplifier card of the ACQ-7700 (Figure 2). 

Figure 2: Round Temp/Humidity probe on top of chamber and black square pressure transducer on side of chamber with their corresponding terminal connections into the ACQ-7700 Universal XE.

Ponemah/ACQ-7700 Calibration

To calibrate these transducers, launch Ponemah and navigate to the Hardware menu | 7700 Amplifier Setup. 

• Temp/Humidity Probe
• In the Universal XE | General tab (Figure 3):
1. Set the Mode to V.
2. Set the Low pass filter to 30Hz. 
3. Leave the the rest of the settings at default values.
• In the Universal XE | Calibrations tab (Figure 4):
1. Set the Excitation to 7.5V.
2. Enter the low and high values on the label provided.
   Note: Temperature calibrations are standard for all modified temp/humidity probes, but the Humidity calibration values are specific to each probe. 
   
   
   
   

• Pressure Transducer
  • In the Universal XE | General tab (Figure 3):
    
    1. Set the Mode to Transducer.
    2. Set the Low Pass Filter to 30Hz.
    3. Leave the the rest of the settings at default values.
  • In the Universal XE | Calibrations tab (Figure 4):
    1. Set the excitation to 5V.
    2. Enter Low and High Units based on the actual flow values you will use for calibration.
       1. The Low Unit should be 0.
       2. The High Unit is typically based on the flow rate your bias flow can achieve.
       3. These values should be entered in units of mL/sec.
    3. Calibrate the Pressure Transducer
       1. With no flow being provided to the chamber, left-click the Low Cal cell associated with the Pressure Transducer channel.
       2. Select the Measure button.
       3. Apply the bias flow to the chamber and wait for the flow in the chamber to stabilize. Typically, a TSI Flow Meter is placed between the bias flow and chamber to obtain an accurate flow rate and know when the desired flow has been achieved.
       4. Left-click the High Cal cell associated with the Pressure Transducer channel.
       5. Select the Measure button.
    4. The Value cell associated with the Pressure channel provides real-time, calibrated data from the transducer connected to the channel. It may be used to test the calibration by applying various flows through the chamber. 

Figure 3: Ponemah ACQ-7700 calibration dialog for Universal XE General Tab.

Figure 4: Ponemah ACQ-7700 calibration dialog for Universal XE Configuration Tab.