Biotek EL800, Operator'S Manual

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Appendix A:
Computer Control
BioTek Instruments, Inc.
11. Click Test Comm. Gen5™ will attempt to communicate with the reader.
If you receive “The Reader is communicating!” message, click OK , and
then OK again to save the settings. Click Close at the Reader
Configuration dialog to return to the main screen.
If the test is not successful and you receive an error message, refer to the
Problems section below, or to the Troubleshooting section of Gen5’s
Help system for assistance.
Gen5 Secure only: An Audit Trail dialog will appear after exiting
Reader Configuration, whenever you add, modify, or delete a
reader. If desired, enter any comments, then click Close .
Problems
If Gen5 fails to communicate with the reader and displays a serial communications
error, try the following troubleshooting suggestions:
•
Confirm that the correct Reader Type was selected in step 9.
•
Try a different COM port.
•
Check the serial cable connections. Ensure that the cable is properly
attached to the port defined in step 10, and is not a Null cable. If this is
suspected, add another Null and try again.
•
Confirm that the reader has passed its Self Test. The reader will not
communicate if it fails an internal system test.
If the test still fails, refer to the Troubleshooting section in Gen5’s Help system for
further assistance.
Getting Started With Gen5
The following instructions briefly show you how to define and perform a “Quick
Read” in Gen5 (
File|New Experiment|Default Protocol
). It’s called “Quick”
because you can perform a reading without having to take the time to create a new
protocol.
If the reading is part of an experiment or assay that you will perform numerous
times, you will need to create a new protocol (
File|New Protocol ).
Refer to Gen5’s Help system early and often to learn how to create protocols,
assign well identifiers, read plates, print reports, perform data reduction, and
more.