Basler aviator Assembly instructions

Basler aviator
INSTALLATION AND SETUP GUIDE FOR
CAMERA LINK CAMERAS
Document Number: AW000832
Version: 06 Language: 000 (English)
Release Date: 15 January 2015

For customers in the USA
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device,
pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection
against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This
equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used
in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio
communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful
interference in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his own expense.
You are cautioned that any changes or modifications not expressly approved in this manual could
void your authority to operate this equipment.
The shielded interface cable recommended in this manual must be used with this equipment in
order to comply with the limits for a computing device pursuant to Subpart B of Part 15 of FCC
Rules.
Export compliance
The pylon Camera Software Suite is not listed on the U.S. Commerce Control List (CCL) and does
not require a license to be exported or re-exported. It does not have a specific export control
classification number (ECCN) and is therefore designated as EAR99.
For customers in Canada
This apparatus complies with the Class A limits for radio noise emissions set out in Radio
Interference Regulations.
Pour utilisateurs au Canada
Cet appareil est conforme aux normes Classe A pour bruits radioélectriques, spécifiées dans le
Règlement sur le brouillage radioélectrique.
Life support applications
These products are not designed for use in life support appliances, devices, or systems where
malfunction of these products can reasonably be expected to result in personal injury. Basler
customers using or selling these products for use in such applications do so at their own risk and
agree to fully indemnify Basler for any damages resulting from such improper use or sale.
Warranty note
Do not open the housing of the camera. The warranty becomes void if the housing is opened.
All material in this publication is subject to change without notice and is copyright
Basler AG.

Contacting Basler Support Worldwide
Europe
Basler AG
An der Strusbek 60 - 62
22926 Ahrensburg
Germany
Tel. [phone]
Fax [phone]
[email protected]
The Americas
Basler, Inc.
855 Springdale Drive, Suite 203
Exton, PA 19341
U.S.A.
Tel. [phone]
Fax [phone]
[email protected]
Asia
Basler Asia Pte. Ltd.
35 Marsiling Industrial Road 3
# 05 - 06
Singapore 739257
Tel. [phone]
Fax [phone]
[email protected]
www.baslerweb.com

Table of Contents
Basler aviator Camera Link 1
Table of Contents
1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 General Preparations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Frame Grabber Preparations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.1 Location of the Serial Port File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.2 Frame Grabber Camera Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Hardware Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1 Avoiding EMI and ESD Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2 Installation Procedure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2.1 Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2.2 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3 Software Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.1 Installing the Basler pylon Camera Software Suite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.2 Configuring the Camera Link Serial Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4 Acquiring Your First Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.1 Getting Started with the pylon Viewer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5 Adjusting Image Quality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6 Next Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Revision History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Table of Contents
2Basler aviator Camera Link

AW00083206000 Installation and Setup Guide for Camera Link Cameras
Basler aviator Camera Link 1
1 Introduction
The installation procedures in this guide assume that you want to get your camera operational and
begin capturing images as quickly and as simply as possible. Accordingly, the procedures describe
adesktopinstallation for onecamera.Theproceduresalsoassumethatyou will be using theBasler
pylon Camera Software Suite to set the parameters on your camera and that you will only have
Camera Link cameras connected to the computer.
1.1 General Preparations
Make sure that the following items are available before starting installation:
A Basler aviator Camera Link camera.
A power supply for the camera. Make sure that the power supply meets all of the requirements
listed in the aviator Camera Link user’s manual (AW000830).
An appropriate C-mount lens.
If you already know which lens you will be using in your application, use this lens. Otherwise,
we suggest that you use a zoom lens for your initial testing and setup. If you need assistance
in determining the best lens for your application, contact Basler technical support. The contact
numbers appear in the title pages of this guide.
A PC equipped with a Camera Link frame grabber.
The PC must be equipped with a 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1
operating system.
The frame grabber must support at least the base Camera Link configuration. It also should be
able to handle a camera with a 65 MHz Camera Link pixel clock.
An appropriate AC power cable (see the camera user’s manual).
An appropriate Camera Link cable (see the camera user’s manual).
An appropriate cable for connecting the camera’s I/O lines if desired (see the camera user’s
manual).
A copy of the Basler pylon Camera Software Suite.
You can download the Basler pylon Camera Software Suite free of charge from the Basler
website:
www.baslerweb.com
You should perform the hardware installation first and the software installation second.

Installation and Setup Guide for Camera Link Cameras AW00083206000
2Basler aviator Camera Link
1.2 Frame Grabber Preparations
The following procedures assume that you have installed a Camera Link frame grabber in your PC,
that you have properly installed all software included with the frame grabber, and that you
understand how your frame grabber operates.
To correctly use a Camera Link camera, you must be thoroughly familiar with the operation
of your frame grabber.
All aviator camera models have a default Camera Link clock speed of 65 MHz, however, not all
frame grabbers are compatible with a clock speed this high. You should check the documentation
for your frame grabber and make sure that it can operate at a 65 MHz pixel clock speed. If it cannot,
the clock speed of the camera can be changed to 20 MHz, 32.5 MHz, 40 MHz, or 48 MHz. For more
information about changing the Camera Link pixel clock speed, see Section 4 on page 15.
1.2.1 Location of the Serial Port File
All Camera Link compliant frame grabbers must be supplied with a dll file which describes the
characteristics of the serial port that is built into the frame grabber. This serial port is used for
communication between your PC and your camera via the Camera Link interface.
The name of the file supplied by the frame grabber manufacturer will have the form clser***.dll
where *** is determined by the manufacturer of the grabber and usually represents the
manufacturer’s name. For example, a frame grabber made by the "Acme" company may supply a
file called clseracme.dll.
By default, your frame grabber’s clser***.dll will be located at the following path: %Program
Files%\CameraLink\Serial
The frame grabber software should take care that the dll file is located correctly for the PC-to-
camera communication via the serial port. If no communication can be established, check whether
the dll file is located at the path specified by the Windows registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\CameraLink\CLSerialPath. If the dll file is not at this
location, contact the frame grabber vendor.

AW00083206000 Installation and Setup Guide for Camera Link Cameras
Basler aviator Camera Link 3
1.2.2 Frame Grabber Camera Files
For your camera to operate properly with your frame grabber, you must install the correct frame
grabber camera file. In essence, the camera file informs the frame grabber about how the pixel
information coming from the camera will be ordered and about the bit depth of the pixel data.
Depending on the frame grabber supplier, there can be a separate camera file foreach combination
of camera model and pixel data format or a camera file may cover several different camera models.
Typically, each frame grabber supplier has a different naming scheme for their camera files. For
example, Matrox refers to the camera files for their grabbers as "Digital Configuration Files" or DCF
files and National Instruments refers to theirs as "Interface Camera Descriptors" or ICD files.
Camera files appropriate for the aviator must be supplied by your frame grabber manufacturer. If
you don’t have the camera files for your frame grabber, you can usually find them on the supplier’s
website.
Once you have the camera files, there are three things you must keep in mind:
The camera file that you obtain and install must be appropriate for the pixel data format setting
that you will be using on your camera. See the aviator Camera Link user’s manual
(AW000830) for information about available pixel data formats.
The camera file must be installed in the correct location on your PC. This location varies
depending on your frame grabber supplier. See the documentation for your frame grabber to
determine where the camera files should be installed.
The camera must be set for your desired pixel data format. You can set the camera’s pixel data
format using the pylon software you will be installing later in this guide.

Installation and Setup Guide for Camera Link Cameras AW00083206000
4Basler aviator Camera Link