Arguments:

name:     A string with which to label this instance.  Used
          for logging purposes

channels: Type of thermocouple connected to each channel,
          encoded as a string of eight characters, one per
          channel.  Available types are B, E, J, K, R,
          S, T and X (microvolts).  For unused channels enter
          '-'.

channel_names: String containing a comma seperated list of
               labels for the channels.

portname: String containing the device name of the serial port
          that the TC-08 is connected to, e.g. '/dev/ttyS0'

units:    Specifies the units, 'C' for celsius, 'K' for Kelvin.

interval: Interval, in seconds, at which entries are added to the log

name:     String to indentify the particlar instance for logging
          purposes.

id:       Unique ID number used to generate the shared memory key.

master:   True is this instance is the 'master', and should start
          the tc08lnx driver.  False if this is a slave instance,
          which should just connect to a pre-existing shared memory
          area and log file.