ANY-maze Help > I/O devices supported by ANY-maze > The ANY-maze Operant interfaces > The ANY-maze Operant interface C > The ANY-maze Operant interface C specification

The ANY-maze Operant interface C specification

Introduction

The ANY-maze Operant interface C is a drop-in replacement for a Coulbourn Instruments Environment Connection Board (ECB) and incorporates the functions of both the ECB and the Coulbourn Habitest Linc interface.

Inputs

The interface has 4 Switch inputs, which are identical to the 4 switch inputs on the Coulbourn ECB. These are used to connect components such as levers.

The physical connectors are the same telephone-style RJ12 connectors as are used by the ECB and have the same pin-out.

Outputs

The interface has 2 Cue outputs, 2 Feeder outputs, 4 Spare outputs, 1 Tone output and 1 House light output. These are all identical to their respective outputs on the Coulbourn ECB.

In common with the ECB, the Cue output connectors have 3 switchable output lines, the Feeder outputs have 2 output lines and the other outputs all have just 1 output line. This means that components which require just a single line can be connected to any output, components which require two lines can be connected to either a Feeder or a Cue output, while components which require three lines can only be connected to a Cue output. When you configure the Operant interface ANY-maze will warn you if you connect a component to an output which has more output lines than it requires - for example connecting a single LED stimulus light to a Cue output will work, but it will 'waste' the other two output lines of the Cue connector, so you would do better to connect the light to a Spare connector instead.

All of the outputs on the Operant interface C have the ability to dim LEDs or incandescent lights connected to them.

The physical connectors are the same telephone-style RJ12 connectors as are used by the ECB and have the same pin-out.

-28V connector

The -28V connector is identical to the -28V connector on the ECB and can be used to power something which should always be on, such as a cage fan.

Speaker output / Audio input

The Speaker output replicates the Speaker output on the ECB. On the ECB this output is connected to an Audio input on the back panel of the Coulbourn Habitest Linc interface. In the Operant interface C this audio input is on the side of the interface.

Both the Speaker output and the Audio input use the same connectors as are used in the Coulbourn equipment, specifically a phono connector for the speaker and a 3.5mm mono jack connector for Audio in.

Prog outputs

There are 2 Prog outputs on the side of the interface, which replicate the two Prog outputs on the rear panel of the Coulbourn Habitest Linc. These outputs are used by some components to program an intensity - for example, in the case of the H13-01 2-Pole Shocker, a Prog output can be used to set the intensity of the shock.

The physical connector used for the Prog outputs is the same as the connector on the Habitest Linc, namely a 2.5mm mono jack connector.

Auxiliary output

There are two Auxiliary output connectors on the side of the interface, which replicate the functionality of the Auxiliary connectors on the rear panel of the Coulbourn Habitest Linc. In common with the Habitest Linc, each of the Auxiliary outputs include a common/GND line and a line which is switched to -28V when the output is activated. The Auxiliary outputs are used to control devices that do not connect directly to the telephone-style connectors on the interface. For example, to control a H13-01 2-Pole Shocker you can connect the Shocker's Operate connector to an Auxiliary connector.

The physical connectors used by the Operant interface C for the Auxiliary outputs are DIFFERENT to the connectors used by the Habitest Linc. Specifically the two Auxiliary channels are available on a 4-way pluggable screw terminal block. The pin-out of this terminal block is:

The slightly odd way of referring to the lines as GND and -28V is how Coulbourn Instruments chose to name them. In fact you can also view the lines as:

Test control push button

The white, test control push button, is mounted on the front of the interface. It can be configured to start a test when pushed - this is very helpful as it means you can quickly start a test after placing an animal in the cage.

DC power

The interface is power from a 28V DC power supply which should be connected to the 5.5mm, centre-positive, barrel connector labelled DC.

LED indicator

There is an LED indicator on the front of the interface which shows the interface's status:

USB connector

The interface connects to the computer via a USB 2 'B' connector. The interface will work correctly when connected to either a USB 2 or USB 3 connector on the computer.

Physical

The interface has the same footprint as the Coulbourn Instruments Environment Connection Board and can be screwed into the same mounting holes in the rear wall of a Coulbourn Isolation Cubicle.

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ANY-maze help topic T1412