FAQs

Q. Who Do I Contact For Problems During My Run?

A. The user support number from within the lab is x2500. From off-site, dial the full number: 510-495-2500. Please look at the page under Contact Us to see the hours that staff are onsite.

Q. Where can I find the site files for processing data with HKL2000? 

A. A page with the site files is here. Copy and paste the text from that page into a text file on your machine. (Note, if you are processing on any of the BCSB machines, you don’t need to do this. When you run HKL2000 on our machines, it should have links to the site files already, but note that for 501 and 502, you have to use the bcsb-cnx machine, and you should only be using HKL2000 if you have already purchased a license.)

Q. How Should I Ship My Dewar?

A. The best way to ship your dewar to the BCSB is via FedEx. Please let a staff person know you are shipping it. It is especially helpful if you could email the FedEx tracking number to BCSB Administration and include whether it is being shipped wet or dry. We will pick it up and bring it to the facility. In general it is best to ship so that it arrives a day before you do.

Address the dewar to:

Q. How Can I Return My Dewar?

A. Contact BCSB Administration or call (510) 495-2450. Please have a FedEx account number to help keep our costs down, where you would like it shipped, a phone number, and whether you would like it shipped full or dry.

Q. Where Are There Accommodations?

A. Berkeley Lab has a guest house near the ALS, and you can make reservations online here.  Be sure to specify that you are running an experiment at the ALS, in order to get access to the reserved block of rooms for ALS users.

Q. Who Should I Contact For Gate Access And Parking?

A. Contact BCSB Administration via email, or call (510) 495-2450.

Please note that due to heightened security, you must give the BCSB Administration an exact list of who is coming to the beamline. Anyone not on the list may be denied access to LBL. According to Lab policy, students are not eligible for parking privileges; consequently, students who are driving will be turned away at the front gate. However, it is possible to request an exception for non-local students. If you would like to request an exception, please contact BCSBBeamtime@lbl.gov.

Q. Where Is A Good Place To Eat Around Here?

A. There are many excellent restaurants in Berkeley and the surrounding areas. We recommend using Google or Yelp to find the cuisine that you want nearby.

Q. What Media Should I Bring For Data?

A. Most people rsync their data home, but you can also bring Firewire and USB external drives. The Linux data collection and processing computers should be able to accommodate Ext2/3 formatted drives. Additionally, there is a Windows computer on some of the beamlines.

Q. Where Do I Get Liquid Nitrogen?

A. Should the large dewar, normally located next to the crystal mounting table at BL 8.2.2, run out and you need LN for freezing crystals, walk around the ring counterclockwise (take a left when you exit BL 8.2.2). Keep walking until you see on the your right two tall silver LN tanks and a monitor showing a demonstration on how to dispense LN from one of the tanks of LN. There is also a house LN dispenser near BL 5.0.1. Walk between BL 4.2.2 and 5.0.1, toward the center of the storage ring. You should see a large silver dewar with a lot of hoses coming from it. Turn about 90 degrees to your left, and you will find a LN fill station. This LN dispensing station requires training by beamline staff on how to dispense LN and wear all appropriate PPE (long pants, closed-toed shoes, goggles/safety glasses, cryo gloves, AND face shield) when dispensing LN.

Q. Where Is the Cold Room And Where Do I Get Ice?

A. Unfortunately there is no longer a 4 °C room at the ALS. However, there are 4, -20, and -80°C freezers that you are welcome to store samples in.  Contact a staff person if you would like to do so.  For ice, go to Building 80, Room 202.

Q. What Pin Type And Length Should I Bring?

A. The ideal range is 18-24mm. If you are using the robot, you can only use the “Hampton 18 mm” pins: see the requirements on the Automounter page for more details.

Q. How Do I Acknowledge The BCSB In My Publication?

A. Please include the following acknowledgement in any publications resulting from work conducted at the BCSB:

The Berkeley Center for Structural Biology is supported in part by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The Advanced Light Source is a Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. The Pilatus detector on 5.0.1. was funded under NIH grant S10OD021832. The ALS-ENABLE beamlines are supported in part by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, grant P30 GM124169.

Please send us your citation — we’d like to hear about your work: BCSBBeamtime@lbl.gov.

Also, authors please report publications resulting from work conducted at the ALS to the ALS Users’ Office.

Thank you for reading!