[Eeglablist] The parallel port - TRIGGERS

[Patrick Simen]

Davide,

We used a USB device from Measurement Computing for which PsychToolbox has a controller toolbox (found in in your PTB folder under PsychHardware/DAQ; see http://www.mccdaq.com/usb-data-acquisition/USB-1208FS.aspx ). We sent analog outputs from a Mac laptop out of this device (a USB 1208-FS, approx $200), and soldered two wires from the DAQ device into a parallel port connector. (If you go this route, make sure you get the right device, a 1208-FS or 1608-FS --- other similar devices by Measurement Computing ending in LS do not work with the DAQ toolbox.)

More recently, I also solved the problem of wiring up the USB device to a parallel port connector without soldering by selecting ribbon cable and a snap-together parallel port connector from a company called SparkFun. This solution seems to work fine.

I've had no serious problems with this approach so far, but you can be limited in the number of distinct events you can encode, depending on whether your amplifier and recording software accept different voltage levels as different event triggers (in which case, no problem), or whether they accept only ON vs. OFF on each of several different pins of the parallel port (in that case, you can only encode a few distinct event types, although you might increase the number by using two of those USB devices -- not sure if PTB can handle that though). 

Good luck,

Pat.

On Jul 12, 2012, at 4:47 PM, Andrew Smart wrote:

> If you have a Dell laptop you can just use a docking station with the right ports - we get fine results for the triggers using these: 
> 
> http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&sku=310-2873
> 
> Andy
> 
> On Thu, Jul 12, 2012 at 2:28 PM, Ruud Kalis <rkalis at ant-neuro.com> wrote:
> Dear Davide,
> 
> We have done some pilot tests at ANT with an express card to paralel port adapter. The manufacturer is Delock:
> http://www.delock.de/produkte/G_66220/merkmale.html?setLanguage=en
> 
> The results for trigger accuracy are ok since express cards are on pci slots on the motherboard. The timing is much better than with the asynchronous usb port. Keep in mind that the lcd screen takes different time for changes in colours. A black - white transition might be slower than a grey - white. Also soundcards in laptops might not have vary good timing.. There is a lot to optimize if you want to achieve a high trigger / stimulus synchronization. But for mobile labs a laptop is just more easy to use.
> 
> Good luck with setting up your experiments!
> Best,
> Ruud Kalis
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Davide Baldo <davidebaldo84 at gmail.com>
> To: eeglablist at sccn.ucsd.edu
> Sent: Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:20:58 +0200 (CEST)
> Subject: [Eeglablist] The parallel port - TRIGGERS
> 
> Hello all,
> 
> When running EEG experiments, I use Psychtoolbox (in Matlab) to
> present subjects with different stimuli
> So far, I have been using a desktop, that has a parallel port that
> allows me to send out the triggers related to the stimuli.
> The triggers are accepted in input from the EEG recording system again
> via a parallel port.
> 
> I would like to use a laptop rather than a desktop to present the
> subjects with the stimuli and to send out the related triggers.
> The problem is that is hard to find a laptop with a parallel port. I
> was wondering if any of you found a solution to this problem.
> 
> That would be very helpful!
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> 
> Davide.
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> --
> Ruud Kalis
> Sales and Support Germany
> ANT (Advanced Neuro Technology)
> Berlin, Germany
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Patrick Simen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Neuroscience Department
Oberlin College
psimen at oberlin.edu
www.oberlin.edu/faculty/psimen


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