Controlling a Radioactivity Monitor using WinWedge at Colorado State
Summary: Colorado State University’s Physics Department uses WinWedge for full two-way serial communication with a radioactivity monitor: decay readings from radon gas air samples stream into Microsoft Excel in real time, and students send commands to the instrument by clicking buttons embedded right in the spreadsheet.
The Challenge
The department needed to monitor radioactive decay from radon gas in air samples and wanted students to work in Excel — an interface every student already knows — rather than learn specialized data acquisition software. Laboratory Coordinator Brian Jones had been making do with “a simple BASIC program that was, frankly, unacceptable,” and had considered a custom application, but that route required programming and would have produced an interface far less intuitive than a spreadsheet. It would have also required them to do their own support and maintenance and do custom updates over time
The Solution
WinWedge provides the serial input and output between any RS232, USB or Ethernet-connected instrument – in their case the radioactivity meter – and Excel. Readings transfer automatically into the spreadsheet in real time for graphing and analysis, and — the distinctive part — commands travel the other direction. In their case the commands from WinWedge to control their meter were activated by mouse-controlled buttons embedded in the Excel worksheet. WinWedge can send control commands to control instruments in many ways including hot keys. foot switches (useful in manufacturing), automatic timer controls, Excel macro controls and more. Students never see WinWedge at all; they just see data popping into Excel and buttons that control the experiment.
Jones chose WinWedge for its ease of use, its serial interface into Excel and every other Windows application, and its complete transparency to students.
The Results
- Real-time decay data graphed and analyzed in Excel as it arrives
- Full two-way serial communication — instrument control from spreadsheet buttons
- An interface students already know, with zero programming
- Replaced an unmaintainable custom BASIC program
How You’d Set This Up Today
Two-way device control remains one of WinWedge’s most-used capabilities — and one that free utilities generally lack. On current Windows 11 systems, the instrument typically connects through a USB-to-serial adapter that creates a virtual COM port (i.e. COM 5), and the same Excel-button technique (or hotkeys, or timed polling) sends commands to any instrument that accepts them: balances that transmit on request, monitors that need a start command, meters that respond to queries. TALtech’s support engineers help to set this up with labs, process control, manufacturing and others – at no charge.
In Their Words
“I am very pleased with the WinWedge. It is exactly the tool I need for our application, and it was a real godsend.” — Brian Jones, Laboratory Coordinator, Colorado State University
He said he was “particularly pleased with its ease of use” and that he “would recommend WinWedge absolutely for laboratory data collection like this”. He closed by adding “Thanks for making a great product.”
Collecting Data from Your Own Instruments?
Need to request readings from an instrument, not just listen to it? Download a free WinWedge trial or call (800) 722-6004 and we’ll help you set up two-way communication with your device.
- Easy for students to use
- Transparent to user
- Full two way serial communication with ability to send commands to radioactivity monitor
- Interfaces with any software program such as Microsoft Excel
Originally published in our application archives · Updated August 2026