Drying Oven

For those of you who came to NE-CAT in April, you may have noticed the new oven out on the beamline next to the C work area.  This oven is for drying cryopucks and any equipment associated using cryopucks.  This is intended to prevent melting of the Styrofoam transfer containers and make puck drying more efficient.  Be careful using the oven, as it is very hot!  Cryopucks placed inside will be dry within 30 minutes.

Grant Submission

The May shutdown coincides with the submission of our P41 grant application to NIGMS, since NCRR has been dissolved (see January update for more information).  The application is for another five years of funding and will continue our efforts on improving NE-CAT to handle all difficult crystallographic problems.

Cluster Enhancement

In addition to submitting our grant application, we made many improvements to the beamlines during the May shutdown. We have acquired four additional compute nodes for our cluster (for a total of 20 nodes).  These nodes have been installed on the cluster during the May shutdown.  The new nodes have 64 GB of RAM per node compared to the 12 GB of RAM of the existing nodes.  They are more powerful than our existing nodes. Initial tests show a 30% enhancement in processing speed.

SDD Installation on 24-ID-C

A second Amptek X-123SDD has been purchased and installed on 24-ID-C.  It adds the capability to perform energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence scans up to 21keV and provides better near edge emission spectrum.

New Readout Electronics

The 24-ID-C beam position monitors (BPMs) have been upgraded with new readout electronics.  This provides faster response and has better gain control. 

“Guillotine” Installed on 24-ID-E

Similar to the cover, known locally as the “guillotine”, on 24-ID-C, a new Lexan curtain has been made by Ed Lynch to cover the front of the Q315 on 24-ID-E.  The pneumatically-operated guillotine will slide into place when users are in the hutch and prevent accidental contact with the front of the detector.