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Chapter 3: Getting Started
Now that you installed the SoftMax Pro Software software on the computer, removed the
tape from the drawer and the cuvette port, and connected the cables, it is time to get
started.
WARNING!
Never use the instrument in an environment where potentially
damaging liquids or gases are present.
1. Set the power switch on the rear of the instrument to the On position. Wait for the
instrument to complete its diagnostic check and the plate drawer opens.
2. Start the software on the computer. To start the software under normal conditions, wait
for the instrument to complete the start-up sequence, and then double-click the
SoftMax Pro
icon on the desktop to start the program.
Power off the instrument when not in use.
Control Panel
When you connect the instrument to a computer that runs the SoftMax Pro Software, you
use the computer to define most instrument settings within the software. You can optionally
use the instrument control panel in conjunction with the SoftMax Pro Software to open the
plate drawer, to adjust the temperature, and to adjust the wavelength settings. See the
SoftMax Pro Data Acquisition and Analysis Software User Guide
.
When you connect the instrument to a printer and operate it in stand alone mode, the
instrument control panel enables you to run basic Absorbance read mode protocols. The
instrument control panel consists of a 2-x-20-character LCD and the following buttons.
Temp On/Off
- For the Endpoint read type, press to turn the incubator on or off. When
the incubator is on, the set temperature and the actual temperature display in the LCD.
Temperature settings are not applicable for the Kinetic and Spectrum read types.
Temp
and
- Press to adjust the plate chamber temperature by 0.1°C increments.
Press and hold to rapidly adjust the temperature in 1°C increments.
λ
and
- Press to adjust the wavelength by 1 nm. Press and hold to rapidly adjust the
wavelength in 10 nm increments. Wavelength settings are not available for the
VersaMax.
96/384
- For the SpectraMax 340PC384, press to select to read a 96-well plate or a 384-
well plate.
REF
- For the SpectraMax Plus 384, press to do a Cuvette Reference correction method
read of buffer, water, or air taken in the cuvette that is used as I
0
to calculate Absorbance
or % Transmittance with the PathCheck Pathlength Measurement Technology. If no
reference read is taken, the instrument uses the I
0
values stored in the instrument
firmware. See
PathCheck Pathlength Measurement Technology on page 20
3
