Quick-Start Guide

Follow these steps to quickly set up and test the Spectrum-Console package. Before you start, make sure that the Spectrum-Instrumentation measurement cards are mounted properly and the driver is installed. See Spectrum-Instrumentation downloads for further information on how to setup the measurement cards.

1. Clone the Spectrum Console GitHub Repository

Clone the Spectrum-Console repository from GitHub using the following command:

git clone https://github.com/schote/spectrum-console.git

Make sure, that you are in the directory where the code should be located.

2. Set Up a Virtual Python Environment (Optional)

This step is optional, but you might want to create a virtual environment to install the package. Navigate to the cloned repository directory and create a virtual environment, e.g. using Conda:

conda create --name console-env python=3.10
conda activate console-env

3. Install the Repository Locally

Install the cloned Spectrum-Console package locally using pip with the editable option, in case you want to modify the code. Make sure, that the environment was activated successfully. Use the -e flag to install the package in editable mode.

pip install -e .

There are also optional dependencies which can be installed the following way.

pip install -e ".[test, lint, docs, dev]"

Using the same syntax the optional dependency groups can also be installed separately, e.g. if only the dependencies for testing are required.

4. Execute an Example

Navigate to the /examples directory and run an example script:

cd examples
python se_spectrum.py

Congratulations! You have successfully set up and executed an example with the Spectrum Console. For more detailed information, refer to the full documentation.

5. Implementing Your Own Experiments

It is recommended to keep the package as it is and use a separate repository to implement custom experiments. Experiments are user and system specific, which is why they should be managed per system and/or user. Some example experiments are provided in the /examples folder and can be used as a starting point to build custom experiments. When executing custom experiments, make sure that you are working within the same environment and that the package was installed successfully in that environment.