HH500Lib Programming Library for HydraHarp 500 
Version 1.0.0.0
PicoQuant GmbH - August 2025



Introduction

The HydraHarp 500 is a modern TCSPC system with USB 3.0 interface. 
The system requires a x86-64 PC with suitable USB host controller,
8 GB of memory, two or more CPU cores and at least 2 GHz CPU clock. 
The HydraHarp 500 software is supported on Windows 10 and 11 x86-64. 
The programming library is a DLL with demos for various programming 
languages. Please refer to the manual (PDF) for instructions.
There is a separate library version for Linux, see the separate 
installation package and manual.


What's new in version 1.0

 - This is the first release.


Disclaimer

PicoQuant GmbH disclaims all warranties with regard to this software 
including all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. 
In no case shall PicoQuant GmbH be liable for any direct, indirect 
or consequential damages or any material or immaterial damages 
whatsoever resulting from loss of data, time or profits; arising from 
use, inability to use, or performance of this software and associated 
documentation. 


License and Copyright Notice

With the HydraHarp 500 hardware product you have purchased a license to 
use the HydraHarp software. You have not purchased other rights to the 
software. 
The software is protected by copyright and intellectual property laws. 
You may not distribute the software to third parties or reverse engineer, 
decompile or disassemble the software or part thereof. You may use and 
modify demo code to create your own software. Original or modified demo 
code may be re-distributed, provided that the original disclaimer and 
copyright notes are not removed from it. Copyright of the manual and 
on-line documentation belongs to PicoQuant GmbH. No parts of it may be 
reproduced, translated or transferred to third parties without written 
permission of PicoQuant GmbH. 


Acknowledgements

The HydraHarp 500 hardware in its current version as of this release
uses the open source White Rabbit PTP core v. 4.0 licensed 
under the CERN Open Hardware Licence v1.1 and its embedded WRPC 
software licensed under GPL Version 2, June 1991. For Details please
see https://ohwr.org/projects/white-rabbit/ and the links to license
terms and related documents there. The WRPC software used in the 
HydraHarp 500 was minimally modified and in order to meet the 
licensing terms the modified WRPC source code is provided as part 
of the HydraHarp 500 software distribution download.
When the HydraHarp software is used under Linux it uses Libusb to access 
the HydraHarp USB devices. Libusb is licensed under the LGPL which allows 
a fairly free use even in commercial projects. For details and precise
terms please see http://libusb.info. In order to meet the license 
requirements a copy of the LGPL as appliccable to Libusb is provided 
as part of the HydraHarp 500 software distribution media. The LGPL does 
not apply to the HydraHarp 500 software as a whole.


Trademark Disclaimer

Products and corporate names appearing in the product manuals or in the 
online documentation may or may not be registered trademarks or copyrights 
of their respective owners. They are used only for identification or 
explanation and to the owner's benefit, without intent to infringe.


Installation 

Before installation, make sure to backup any work you kept in previous
installation directories and uninstall any previous installations of 
HH500Lib. The library package is dustributed via download in a 
zip-file. Unzip that file, then locate and run the installer file 
setup.exe. 

The setup program will install the programming library including manual 
and programming demos. Note that the demos create output files and must 
have write access in the folder where you run them. This may not be the 
case in the default installation folder. Consider this intentional in 
order to keep a backup of the original files. Please copy the demos 
to a suitable folder for your own derived work.

Before uninstalling the HH500Lib package, please backup your measurement 
data and custom programs. From the Windows start menu select:  
PicoQuant - HydraHarp-HH500Lib vx.x  >  uninstall.
Alternatively you can use the Windows settings page 'Apps & Features'.


Contact and Support

PicoQuant GmbH
Rudower Chaussee 29
12489 Berlin, Germany
Phone +49 30 1208820-0
Fax   +49 30 1208820-90
email info@picoquant.com
www http://www.picoquant.com
