Posts in Category: Operations
Tour of the ALS ring
After our last PRT meeting on Nov 4, Steve Rossi took a group on a tour inside the ALS ring to point out the future site of the Gemini insertion device. This month and next are a great time to visit the ALS, since the ring tunnel is open and available for touring.
The Pilatus 6M detector has arrived!
Here it is at beamline 5.0.2, unpacked from the wooden crate, but not unpacked from its case yet. Install and commissioning in the beamline will begin in just a few weeks!
Scientific Advisory Board First Meeting Sept 18 2015
We are very fortunate to have an outstanding Scientific Advisory Board for the new beamline (“Gemini”) we are building in sector 2 at the ALS. The board members are: Bob Fischetti (APS), Dan Harrington (SSRL), Gwyndaf Evans (Diamond Light Source) and Dan Harrington (SSRL). All of the committee members have extensive experience in building microfocus beamlines, and the discussion during the first SAB meeting was extremely productive.
BCSB Represented at the ACA in Philly
The BCSB had a good showing at the ACA in Philadelphia this year. Dr. Banu Sankaran ran a session on service crystallography, and the BCSB teamed up with other ALS scientists to run a booth at the conference.
The User Forum continues…
Our second User Forum was on March 4, in which we discussed the purchase of a pixel-array detector for beamline 5.0.2. The exciting news since then is that we will be able to purchase a Pilatus 6M for the beamline. Expected delivery is in September of this year.
The third User Forum was on April 2, in which we discussed the diode-beamstop device which the BCSB is developing (allows measurement of flux during data collection), as well as the MiniKappa interlocks on beamline 5.0.2, which will now allow a full 360 rotation of omega (sometimes called Phi) with a maximum kappa angle of 55 degrees.
First User Forum Feb 5
The BCSB had its first User Forum meeting on Feb 5. We discussed the possibilities for the new b3 software interface, showed some screenshots of new the new interface, and gathered information from our users on what they wanted in the “new b3”. It was a very productive discussion! The next User Forum will be March 4, and we plan to cover our Pilatus detector integration plans. Everyone is welcome to attend!
BCSB User Forum
The BCSB is planning on starting a monthly User Forum to solicit feedback from users on the current and future use of the beamlines. We’d love to hear from you about the direction that the BCSB should be taking in terms of beamline upgrades, features, and general operations. If you are interested in participating in the forum, please contact Corie Ralston.
The First Day of Shutdown
These are the dewars that shipped on Monday May 5, the first day of the ALS shutdown. Thirty of those are from the BCSB beamlines!
The last week before shutdown was extremely busy, and it wasn’t just the usual “oh-my-god-the-als-is-shutting-down-I-have-to-run-my-samples-NOW” kind of busy. The week *before* that, the ALS ring went down due to a major power supply failure. Long story short, the ALS managed a miracle and got the ring back up in a week. Meanwhile, however, all our users had lost a week of beamtime. We shaved everyone’s shifts to the bare minimum they needed, offered SSRL time to others, and managed to fit everyone in. But it meant 11pm and 5am startups. The evening, weekend, and early morning staff did a terrific job (kudos to Anthony, Diane and Nate!). In fact, everyone pulled together really well that last week, working as a well-oiled machine to deliver optimal beamtime efficiently in spite of the above-average demand. Thanks, everyone!