November Status Update

NIH Site Visit

On November 8th, the site-visit for NE-CAT's P41 grant application to NIGMS took place.  Reviewers were presented with short talks on our three Technology Research and Development (TR&D) Projects, PIs of the Driving Biomedical Projects for each of our TR&Ds spoke on the importance of NE-CAT to their research, and the reviewers were given a tour of the facility.

Long Term Puck Storage

For robot users who are unable to test and/or collect on all their samples during a trip, a new puck holder has been made by Ed Lynch.  This holder goes into the large NE-CAT long term storage dewar and users can leave a puck full of samples in it for their next trip.  In fact, some users have already taken advantage of our on-site storage and kept pucks in this holder between trips.  The holder can carry up to 4 pucks per level, for a total of 20 pucks.  The design is available to any group that would like to adopt for their use.

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MD2 hardware

During October, the X-Y stage of the MD2 on the 24-ID-C beamline developed problems with precise stepping. It was sent back to Maatel for repairs. It has been fixed and is back in operation.

During November, the mini-kappa goniometer exhibited issues with kappa movements. It was also sent to Maatel for repairs. Maatel engineers found the coupling between the planetary gear system and the kappa motor to be broken. It is expected to be repaired and returned in early December.

Friedel Flipping

For users who wish to perform Friedel flipping during SAD or MAD data collection, this ability has been added in the CONSOLE software.  Friedel flipping is available for the Static Alignment data collection methods.  To use Friedel flipping, first, set a total number of images to be collected.

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Then, enter the number of images per wedge in the Friedel Flipping box and click ‘Generate’.

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This will create a list of runs which divides the total number of original images into wedges of the correct size and sets up the proper angle for each wedge.

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Remote

During 2012-3 run cycle, remote operations were officially started on the 24-ID-E beamline.  It has been a great success and the unique, simple web-based design is very popular among the users.  It works in all operating systems that support HTML5-capable web browsers and from any location that supports high speed internet access.  Currently, over 50% of the groups use the 24-ID-E beamline via the remote access suite.