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Software Quick Guide#

Acquisition Software Spectrum Studio showing a raman spectrum of toluene with background subtracted at 3000ms integration time and 5 averages

SpectrumStudio is the original control and acquisition software for the BTC110 / B&W Tek OEM spectrometer used in DIYraman.

Click to Download - SpectrumStudio

It is used to:
- Set integration time and averaging
- Apply background subtraction
- Use a wavelength calibration
- Save spectra as CSV for analysis and open-hardware documentation

Adapted from software handbook

The following reference is summarized and adapted from the handbook built in to the software. More information can be found in SpectrumStudio under Help → Contents or by pressing CTRL+F1.

Minimal workflow#

  1. Detect the spectrometer
    Click Detect spectrometers → creates a tab for each device.

  2. Set exposure & noise level

  3. Integration time: type value in the Integration Time box (e.g. 50 ms, 250 ms, 2500 ms).

  4. Averages: set a small number (e.g. 3–15) in Averages.

  5. Start measuring

  6. Live view: Scan continuously (Scan Continuously)

  7. Single snapshot: Scan once (Scan Once)

  8. Set a dark background (recommended)

  9. Block light (objective capped / finger on input).

  10. Take a scan, then click Set background (Use current scan as background).
    → All future spectra are background-subtracted.

  11. Scan again

  12. Take another scan.
    → Now the output spectrum is background-subtracted.

  13. When adjusting the integration time, record a new background to subtract.

  14. Save spectrum data

  15. Click Save or File → Save As…

  16. Store the CSV together with: sample ID, integration time, averages, background on/off, calibration version.

  17. (Optional, as-needed) Adjust wavelength calibration

  18. Record a lamp (CFL/neon).
  19. Click Calibration and tweak coefficients so known lines match their wavelengths.

Essential features at a glance#

Text fields:
- Integration Time – exposure in ms (typ. 50–65000 ms).
- Averages – number of scans the PC averages before showing one spectrum.

Icon Control What it does (in one sentence)
Detect Detect Spectrometers Scans all COM ports and opens one tab per detected spectrometer.
Scan continuously Scan Continuously Repeats scans with current settings for a live spectrum view.
Scan once Scan Once Acquires exactly one spectrum - or number of Averages - defined.
Stop Stop Finishes the current scan and then stops continuous acquisition.
Set background Set Background
/
Clear Background		 Stores current spectrum as dark/background and subtracts it from future scans.
/
Disables background subtraction (background = zero).
Log on / Log off Log Data (On/Off) When enabled, every finished spectrum is written to disk (see Options → Data Logging).
Calibration Wavelength Calibration View or edit pixel→wavelength polynomial coefficients.

Graph interaction & cursors#

Icon Action Use it for
Pointer Pointer / Default Move cursors and interact normally with the graph.
Pan Pan Drag the view around (hold Ctrl over the graph for temporary pan).
ZoomXY Zoom X+Y Draw a rectangle to zoom into a region (hold Shift for temporary zoom).
ZoomX Zoom X Zoom only along wavelength/pixel.
ZoomY Zoom Y Zoom only along intensity.
ZoomOut Zoom Out Step back out of previous zoom levels (right-click on the graph).
Cursors Cursors / Line ID Show a vertical cursor for precise wavelength/line lookup and a horizontal cursor for intensity comparison.
YAxis Linear / Log scale Switch Y-axis between linear and logarithmic intensity.

Spectrometer-Setup