trigger cable (parallele port)

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smoreno
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 6:43 pm
Location: Toronto

trigger cable (parallele port)

Post by smoreno »

Is there another way to send the trigger?
I mean by that my two laptops have no parallel port.
Can I buy a USB adaptor?
Do you have another solution?

Thank you in advance

Mosimann
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2006 2:13 pm

Post by Mosimann »

Hi Smoreno!

I have installed many ActiveTwo EEG Systems, and always use my SONY SX Series to send trigger codes to the USB Receiver! None of the SONY's today come with a parallel port, so I purchased two different PCMCIA Cards; one works extremely well - its the EXSYS EX-1356 1P Parallel EPP/ECP/SPP 32-bit CardBus available in every country I have installed systems.
Also, I have now bought a PCI Express Card for my latest Powerbook Pro running Presentation on the Bootcamp partition. Must say though, that I had no chance to try that out yet.
So, if your Notebook has a PCMCIA port then go for the card described first. Works well. All you have to do, is to install the drivers, then make sure that in Presentation you select the appropriate port plus set the memory address correctly - something like 0xFDD8 (make sure to check the parallel port settings in Hardware settings of your notebook)

Lastly, it should be noted, that all you can output using for example Presentation is 8 bit (0-255). These triggers then will be seen in the LOW-BYTE Section of the ActiView Software!
Have a good weekend, Marc

Mosimann
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2006 2:13 pm

Triggers sent by the PCMCIA Card to the USB Receiver

Post by Mosimann »

Ah yes, one more important thing you should note:

When sending any triggers from a Notebook to the USB Receiver, you must understand that there is a delay between the trigger and the actual stimulus on the Notebook! For example, if you intend to stimulate a visual pattern (on off / pattern), then make sure to stick a photocell (available from us) to the screen. The start acquisition and notice (on the ERGO Tab in ActiView) the on off effect sent by the photocell. Collect a few seconds of EEG, then in a Review Programme (like BESA) you then see the onset of your triggers, plus the onset of that photocell response. The delay between those two onsets MUST be compensated in any averaging process, as otherwise you will have a delayed response and then get to some wrong research conclusion.

Bye, Marc

jrs
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:30 am

Is an ergo input the same as an aux

Post by jrs »

Hi,

We have two aux connectors on our active 2 system - are these the same as the ergo connectors as required by the photo sensor?

Cheers James

Coen
Site Admin
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Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Post by Coen »

All ActiveTwo AD/boxes have 3 AUX connectors on the front/panel. These inputs are initially disabled, and can be used for various sensors. An enabled input can be recognized by a function label (e.g, CMS-DRL, Ergo, GSR. etc.). If you inputs do not bear a label, then they are not yet connected to anything. We can of course install Ergo inputs on the currently unused Aux inputs.

Best regards, Coen (BioSemi)

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