Product News

The PIPSTMII incorporates the patented Whisperlok with the X,Y positioning stage for precise centering of the milling target. The PIPSTMII incorporates a 10-inch touch screen for ease of use and increased control and reproducibility of the milling process. The Digital Zoom Microscope monitors the polishing process in real time, and the color images can be stored in Gatan’s Digital Micrograph software for review and analysis while the sample is in the TEM.

replicas and replaces the SP8-200 and SP8-250 instruments in Pye Unicam's range. A self-test program calibrates the instrument to deuterium-emission lines, checks absorbance read-out against three filters, display lamp age/energy and indicates the nature and location of electronic, optical and mechanical faults.
A laboratory's 10 most commonly used programs can be memorized with their titles for ease of identification and recall. The wavelength scanning facilities include a unique mode, called Synchroscan +, which, after an 'Auto' scan speed is selected, speeds through fiat areas of the spectrum and slows down for peaks, ensuring that they are neither shifted nor cropped. The wavelength and value of each peak or trough detected can be displayed and/or printed. The PU 8800 has an optional printer which can be used to obtain hard copy of any video-screen display. A single print-out can list instrument settings, date, operator code, assay title, each data point and a plot of the data. A bi-directional RS 232C is standard and various software packages for programmable calculators will permit, for example, colour scanning. Other standard features include 1st to 4th derivative and log A scanning, digital smoothing, wavelength selection and reaction kinetics.
Circle No. 5 on Reader Enquiry Card PU 9000--advanced multi-element AA system Possibly the most exciting instrument announced at Pye Unicam's press conference was the PU 9000---a fully automatic sequential atomic absorption system. This is the first intelligent AA system on the market and is capable of selecting and optimizing the conditions for each element during an automatic multi-element run. Thus it is not necessary for the operator to have any prior knowledge ofconditions for any elements in a run. The instrument can, ifnecessary, be manually overriden. Two new developments, which help to make full use of the machine's intelligence, are a data coding system on the hollow cathode lamps (the element and maximum current for each lamp can be detected automatically); and newly designed control systems (conventional rotary gas-control valves, for example, have been replaced by a binary gas-flow switching system).
The PU 9000 has a new optical system which overcomes the limitations ofsingleand double-beam designs. The  double-beam stability without the degradation of signal-to-noise ratio found in conventional double-beam systems. Full energy is transmitted during measurement and this, combined with a master (not a replica) holographic grating, gives unprecedented signal-to-noise ratios. As a result of the optical system, and advanced signal-handling electronics, the instrument has a background correction capability of over 2A even with fast transient signals.
The PU 9007 data/control station has been developed for this AA system and it allows full external computer control for up to 16 elements and offers a number of built-in facilities. These include, for example, video display of programs, task sequences, transients, calibration, ash/ atomize curves and autosampler loading guide. Twin floppy discs give fast operation and storage of displays, programs and results. Hard copy of any video display can be obtained from a built-in printer/plotter. The data/control station can be programmed in BASIC or any other common high-level language so the system can be easily modified to meet special requirements.
The PU 9000 series is available in a variety of configurations, for example without operator over-ride. A built-in autosampler is another option as is the PU 9095 video graphite furnace system and furnace autosampler. Company, Dover, UK.) which allows initial buffer calibration of the instrument and electrode system over the range of pH 6 to pH 8--most pH meters use a conventional pH 7 zero point. Slope control allows corrections to be made for electrode output differences to ensure accuracy. Temperature compensation can be automatic with an optional temperature probe which measures to __0.1C from -30C to 105C; glass and stainless-steel temperature probes are available.
The analyser's conductivity section gives direct readings of solution conductance and, if used with a glass/platinum conductivity cell, will cover the range from 0" to 2000/zS/cm. The range can be extended with different cells to 0"01/S/cm and 2 S/cm. Micro-controlled amino-acid analysis A micro-controlled amino-acid analyser, called the Alpha, has been developed by LKB Biochrom Ltd. The Alpha's micro will store up to 20 different running programs, each ofwhich can include up to 20 individual steps--the programs can be listed so that samples may be run in sequence under varying operating conditions. Samples are loaded in capsules in an integral refrigerated loader and between 5 and 160/tl can be used this means that the optimal sample volume can be loaded and analysed. A unique feature of the Alpha is a heated glass column, which gives the instrument the advantages of clear visibility of the resin bed and solid-state heating: there is no need for circulating water-baths. The Alpha has excellent resolving power and a single, low-volume, longpathlength flow-cell ensures minimal peak diffusion and extra sensitivity. A fluorescence detector is available which can enhance the sensitivity of the Alpha by a factor of 10 compared to ninhydrin detection. in the presence of hydrogen sulphide. As a result, the US National Association of Corrosive Engineers (N.A.C.E.) have published stringent specifications for materials which should be used to contain and control sour gas under pressure--the specifications pay attention to a choice of compatible materials, to grades of steel and to the hardness of the steel used. A range of pressure regulators, including both the diaphragm and piston type of hand-loaded pressure reducers and backpressure regulators, which meet or exceed the N.A.C.E. specifications are made by Tescom. Tescom's 44-1100 series is designed for a reduction of primary pressure up to 10000 psi. A choice of six outlet pressure ranges is available in this series. Lower inlet pressures can be controlled with the 26-1500 series, these are diaphragm-type regulators and there is a choice of three outlet pressure ranges.
Tescom's 26-1700 series is intended for controlling back pressures up to 10000 psi, there is a choice of seven controlled pressure ranges in this set.
Tescom regulators are already used in a number of gas-control systems, both on-and offshore. Typical applications include the supply ofgas to analytical and monitoring equipment. The

Japan'
A report compiled by the Yano Economic Research Institute on the Japanese industrial robot industry will be available later this year. The report is divided into four parts: 'the industrial circle and its present situation'; 'medium-term prospects for the industrial robot market'; 'actual conditions of industrial robots by functions'; and a 'profile of 50 major robots manufacturers'. The report projects that the value of robots made in Japan will reach 255 billion yen in 1984; 20 billion yen's worth of these will be exported. The first microprocessor-controlled, user-programmable automatic two-bed deionizer has been announced. The unit, Hydrofine 400, features counter-flow regeneration for high treated water purity The Chiltern Hydrofine 400 counter-flow regeneration automatic two-bed deionizer.
(Chiltern Water Treatment Company Ltd, High Wycombe, UK.) and economy of regenerated chemicals; it provides treated water outputs in the range of 100-25001/h. The instrument is controlled by a solid-state electronic system incorporating a user-programmable microprocessor, with choice of regeneration by time clock, volume throughput or treated-water quality. Digital displays show time of day or volume of treated water and product resistivity, and the resistivity meter has an adjustable set point. An integral recirculation pump is a standard feature of the Hydrofine 400, it recycles treated water to the plant inlet maintaining a flow through the ion-exchange beds during periods ofno demand, ensuring that there is no deterioration in treated water quality. Normal commercial-strength chemicals are used in the instrument so that no manual dilution is necessary. Harwell have designed and are marketing a coulometry measurement system. The advantages of controlled potential coulometry are that a minimum ofchemical operations is necessary (usually only a solution ofthe material in a dilute mineral acid is required); little sample-handling is needed (particularly valuable in the analysis of radio-active materials); that coulometry is an absolute technique; and the instrumentation can be calibrated against electrical standards. The coulometry measurement system that Harwell are offering includes the following items: a small instrument crate complete with power-supplies and all necessary interconnecting cables; a coulometer module incorporating the potentiostat; a MOUSE (Microcomputer Organized for USErs) interface module which incorporates an auxiliary microprocessor and pulse-counting facilities; a Commodore microcomputer containing 32kbytes of memory, and 80-column display screen, a keyboard and standard interface to provide overall control of the instrumentation and measurement procedure; a tape-cassette drive to store and load the computer programs; comprehensive general-purpose software (supplied on a tape cassette) which allows Product news CAMAG Automatic TLC Sampler I (CAMAG, Muttenz, Switzerland). entry of input parameters, automatic control of the desired analyses, and subsequent display of the measurement results.
Optional extras are, for example, a printer, a range of special electrochemical cells, stepper motors, multiplexing facilities etc. Further, it is possible that Harwell will develop custom specialpurpose software for the computer. power failure and to permit safe closedown at a pre-selected time after working-hours. The console has three automatic cylinder change-over modules, which allow automatic change of gas cylinders without fluctuation in flow or pressure. Cylinder status and activity are indicated by neon signal lights. Although the automatic cylinder-change facility minimizes the risk of gas loss, the unit will cut-off all gases in the event of nitrogen failure and will also cut-off hydrogen on air failure and vice versa. The problem of power failure is overcome by the use of a rechargeable battery power-supply, which can be set via a delay timer to maintain operation for up to 2 h. A digital timeswitch can be set to close-down gas supplies at any time up to 24h after below 0C to l00C, with a switchable resolution of either 0"IC or 1.0C. The instrument is supplied in a plastic case as standard but a metal enclosure is available for applications where it is necessary Product news to prevent ingress ofdirt or moisture. The manufacturer also produces a range of manual probes so the thermometer can be used in laboratory work, for industrial and commercial applications--food processing for example. Sira multi-client project assessing programmable control systems An assessment programme which will provide data to help companies select the best programmable control system for their particular application has been launched by the Sira Institute. The Institute is assessing systems that are widely available, medium priced and intended for general applications involving monitoring sequence control and loop control on plant and machinery. The evaluations will cover the following: reports on Technicon's SMAC II system---discussing how the analytical processor has been redesigned so that it is easy to operate and maintain. The magazine also contains a summary of a paper on the Technicon H6000, an announcement of new LDM/SYSLAB software, and information on the RA-1000 system and Technicon's calibrators. spectrophotometers which have a unique microprocessor-based optical system. The instruments have a single control panel and are operated with eight smooth keys. The cell compartments are big enough to accommodate six 10mm cells or four cells up to 50mm path-length. Wavelength, measurement value, and cell numbers are shown on digital displays; there is also an LED indication of lamp(s) in use and mode of operationabsorbance, transmission or concentration. The microprocessor automatically verifies the wavelength accuracy of the instruments within 90s from switch-on, and if necessary the Ultrospec is recalibrated. In the UV model (Ultrospec 4050) the optical system incorporates deuterium and tungsten halogen lamps, and the computer optimizes energy throughput according to the working wavelength. Mechanical lamp changes are eliminated, together with the need to remember to change sources. A single solid-state detector operates over the whole wavelength range--again eliminating a selection control. The dark current from the detector is constantly monitored and corrected, so very accurate measurements can be made at high absorbance levels.

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The traditional criteria of high performance--low stray light, base-line stability, low noise--match or improve on other instruments on the market.
Accessories include a wide range of cell holders; the LKB Autofill, which offers rapid sample handling of volumes around 500 #1; and a choice of recorders