HydraHarp 500 TCSPC Software 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.

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 500 software is used under Linux it uses Libusb to 
access the HydraHarp 500 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 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 

The HydraHarp 500 software is distributed via download as a zip-file. 
Unzip that file with its complete folder tree to a temporary disk folder. 

Dependent on your version of Windows you may need to log on as 
administrator in order to perform the software setup. It is important to 
perform the setup as administator because otherwise the device driver 
installation will fail. Only if you intend to use the software without 
hardware, e.g. as a file viewer, you may run setup without administrator 
rights.

The setup program will install the HydraHarp 500 software including 
driver, manual, online-help, sample data and programming demos for 
data access. The setup program will copy the device driver but it will 
not immediately load it. This is done by the regular Windows Plug&Play 
device management when you connect the device. Dependent on the 
version of Windows you may be prompted again at this stage in oder 
to confirm the driver installation.

To uninstall the HydraHarp software you may need to log on as 
administrator  (dependent on your Windows installation). 
Backup your measurement data.
From the start menu select:  PicoQuant - HydraHarp 500 v.x.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
