Scintilla: user guide

Scintilla is the desktop control center of the I-Spector gamma and neutron spectrometers (MCA and PSD). It runs on Windows 10/11 and Linux and manages one or more instruments at the same time, over USB or Ethernet. Everything the instrument's own web interface does is available, plus the tools that need a computer: many instruments together, recording on the PC, folders and workspaces.

Files in the NI package scintilla

The deb and rpm packages also install the udev rule that lets a normal user open the I-Spector USB port (/etc/udev/rules.d/99-ni-hid-21e1-001e.rules). Unplug and plug the instrument again after installing. The standalone executables need the same rule:

SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="21e1", ATTRS{idProduct}=="001e", MODE="0666", TAG+="uaccess"

Connecting instruments

• USB: plug the instrument in; it appears by itself in the device list (marked NEW).
• Ethernet: add it by IP address (the factory default is 192.168.50.2), or use Discover to find the instruments on the local networks.
• The same instrument seen over USB and Ethernet is shown once. USB is used when present; Scintilla falls back to Ethernet when the cable is pulled. A link can also be forced.
• The device list (right column) shows the state of each instrument: green online, amber alarm or one link down, red offline. Organise it in folders and workspaces ("Lab A", "Field test"…); only the instruments of the active workspace are polled.
• The network settings of an instrument can be changed over USB or Ethernet (Configuration page, or "Network…" in the device menu).

When an instrument connects, Scintilla sets its clock from the PC.

What you can do

Acquisition and analysis

• Monitor: HV, count rates, temperature, alarms; the HV temperature compensation in effect (thermometer with the ΔV applied).
• MCA spectrum: several tabs, each with its own spectra, zoom and energy calibration; the fixed Spectrum live tab always shows the acquisition. ROIs, fits, peak search, isotope identification, sums, subtractions and averages; auto-calibrate with one or more sources (e.g. Co-60 + Cs-137) and their relative activities; LLD / ULD; saturated counts.
• Start run: timed or counts-limited acquisitions (real time, live time, total counts, or counts in the peak of a ROI), repeated N times, optionally saved on the instrument with a name, folder and run number.
• Waveforms (oscilloscope), PSD map (PSD instruments), Waterfall and Temperature stability (spectra accumulated per sensor temperature).
• Scan jobs: acquisitions over a grid of parameters, with results that can be saved on the instrument and re-run.

Temperature correction

• The gain of the SiPM drifts with temperature. The instrument corrects it (HV temperature compensation, and an energy-gain correction in the FPGA). The Temperature calibration wizard builds the correction curve, from calibrated spectra or with a guided acquisition in a climatic chamber (it can be driven by the chamber's own script).

Instrument storage (instruments with firmware 2026.10.5.1 or later)

• The Storage page shows the spectra, scan jobs, configurations and data logger runs kept in the instrument's flash, in folders, with titles and notes. Spectra can be opened in the spectrum view or downloaded as CSV, JSON, N42, SPE or ZIP.
• Autosave keeps the spectrum being acquired, so a long measurement survives a power cut.
• Backup downloads everything as one .tar.gz; restore puts it back.

Data logging

• On the instrument: the instrument's own recorder (status, ROI counts, spectra), kept in its flash.
• On this PC: Scintilla records the same data as CSV files (default Documents\Scintilla\Logs); several instruments can record at the same time.

Several instruments together

• Configuration table for many instruments, group acquisition with a synchronised start, and multi-instrument spectrum views.

Settings and maintenance

• All the acquisition, HV and alarm settings, named configurations (save / load / compare), light or dark theme.
• Firmware update wizard: microcontroller (.dtfw) and FPGA (.rpd), with a backup of the instrument storage before the update and the restore afterwards.

Where Scintilla keeps its data

• Known instruments, workspaces and folders: %AppData%\Scintilla\devices.json on Windows, ~/.config/Scintilla/devices.json on Linux.
• Per-instrument view data (tabs, ROIs, calibrations, spectra kept only on this PC, scan jobs): in the application's local storage, keyed by serial number. Storage → Reset local data clears it for one instrument.
• PC data logger runs: Documents\Scintilla\Logs (changeable on the Data logger page).

Compatibility

Scintilla works with every I-Spector firmware. The features that need the instrument's help (storage, runs stopped on a ROI peak, temperature correction, factory calibration data…) appear only when the instrument's firmware supports them. Update the instrument from the Firmware page to get them all.

Troubleshooting

• The instrument does not appear over USB on Linux: check the udev rule above, then unplug and plug the instrument again.
• It does not appear over Ethernet: check that the PC is on the same network (default 192.168.50.x); use the instrument's USB connection to read or change its network settings.
• The window stays blank on Windows: install or repair the Microsoft Edge WebView2 runtime.