Operational Procedures

Turn on the Raxis system
If you are planning to shoot crystals under cryo conditions, start with step1. Otherwise start with step 5. All step numbers are labeled on the instrument they refer to.

1. Turn on the compressed dry air for the X-stream system. (Flip the handle from horizontal position to upright position, ignore if it is already on.)
Wait for 30-60 minutes before proceeding to steps 2-4. You can continue with steps 5-9 while waiting.
2. Turn on the power for the X-stream system control box.
The warm flow and cold flow have been optimally adjusted to 26 and 35 MSC units, respectively to prevent ice formation. Please do not change these settings.
3. Turn on the power for the helium compressor.
4. Turn on the laptop controlling the X-stream system and open up the "AnaWin32" software (ignore if the software is already open). The default recipe "-180" should appear and start working toward -180oC (shown in channel 1).
5. Turn on the helium tank for the X-ray optics.
The pressure reading on meter A should be around 5psi. You normally just need to turn on the helium tank and the pressure should be at 5psi. Let me know if it is not.
6. Turn on the crystal monitor screen.
7. Turn on the pump for the area detector.
8. Press the X-RAY panel POWER "ON" switch (the left most "On" button on the X-RAY panel).
9. Press the "Start" switch on the vacuum panel. (Skip this step if the vacuum is already on.)
Wait until all 3 lights (RP, TMP, IG) on the vacuum panel turn green, the yellow "operate" light comes on, and the vacuum reading less than 0.170.
10. Go to the computer controlling the Raxis , double click on the "Xg" icon.
Go to "Tasks"; click on "Warm-up Used Filaments". It usually takes about 60 minutes to reach the full power (50kV, 100mA). You can start screening crystals once it reaches full power. However, if you want to collect good quality data, it is recommended that you wait for 2 hours after the generator reaches its full power. This is to ensure that the beam is stable enough for consistent intensity measurements.
11. Please write on the log book:
Date. Your name. Cryo temperature if used. Vacuum level. Filament hour. Your major activities.
13. Lock the x-ray enclosure door. The safety interlock should always be on. Please talk to me first if you need to override it.
14. Double click the "Crystal Clear" icon and you are ready to do your experiment.

Turn off the Raxis system

1. If you are not using the R-axis system overnight, and you are planning to continue with your experiment the next morning:
Go to the "Xg" window. Under "Tasks", click "Turn Down X-rays".
The next day, you only need to click on "Warm-up Used Filaments" to start your experiments. It usually takes about 60 minutes to reach the full power (50kV, 100mA).
2. If you finished your experiment, and nobody signed up immediately after you,
Go to the Xg window. Under "Tasks", click "Shut Off X-ray".
(Occasionally this does not turn the x-ray off. You can push the X-ray "Off" button on the right of Target ON button after the power drops down to 20kV and 10mA.)
3. Always leave the vacuum on unless the generator will not be used for weeks.
4. Press the leftmost "OFF" switch on the X-RAY panel. (label 9)
5. Turn off pump for the area detector. (label 7)
6. Turn off the crystal monitor. (label 6)
7. Turn off the Helium tank. (label 5)
8. If you are using the "X-stream" system, turn off the power for the Helium compressor and the control box. (labels 2 and 3)
9. Turn off the compressed dry air after 2 hours. (label 1)
10. Write on the log book the ending date and any problems you noticed.

Please do not turn off switches that do not need to be turned off. This will only create unnecessary inconvenience for the next user.

Quick Start

1. Turn on the compressed dry air and wait for 30-60 minutes (skip if it is already on).
2. Turn on the power for the X-stream control box.
3. Turn on the power for the helium compressor.
4. Start the "Anawin32" software.
5. Turn on the helium tank for the X-ray optics.
6. Turn on the crystal monitor.
7. Turn on the pump for the area detector.
8. Press the leftmost "ON" switch on the X-ray panel.
9. Press "Start" on the vacuum panel. (Skip if the vacuum is already on.)
10. Start the "Xg" software. Go to "Task". "Warm-up Used Filaments".
11. Log on the logbook.
12. Lock the X-ray enclosure door.
13. Start "Crystal Clear" and you are ready to do your experiment.

Turn Off

1. If you are not using it overnight, go to "Xg", under "Task", click on "Turn Down X-rays".
2. If you finished your experiment, go to "Xg", under "Task", click on "Shut Off X-ray".
(Occasionally this does not turn the x-ray off. You can push the X-ray "Off" button on the right of Target ON button after the power drops down to 20kV and 10mA.)
3. Press the leftmost "OFF" switch on the X-ray panel. (labeled 9)
4. Turn off pump for the area detector. (label 7)
5. Turn off the crystal monitor. (label 6)
6. Turn off the helium tank. (label 5)
7. Turn off the X-stream control box and the helium compressor. (labels 2 &3)
8. Turn off compressed dry air after 2 hours. (label 1)
9. Write the logbook.