Hi Marty, > As you know, many functions (but not all) on the current BD > instruments are computer controlled. Conceptually you can think of > each instrument as having some memory which the computer writes (and > reads) values, and the instrument interprets. There are 64 of these > locations. Each instrument type may have a different interpretation > of what some of these locations mean. Some are easy to figure out, > such as PMT voltage. Others, such as the pulse processor (or DDM) > configuration, are more complex. I believe BD considers the full > description to be proprietary information. You're right, of course, unfortunately B-D seems to have chosen to put PMT voltages, gains and compensation solely in the proprietary part of the file, eschewing the use of standard keywords (such as $PnV and $PnG) > > The reason for storing these values in the data files is clear - it > allows the user to read them (using CellQuest) to either print them > out or return the instrument to the configuration that was used to > collect the data (although it is unlikely one would get exactly the > same values due to alignment changes, etc.). > That would be a justification for using the FCS-defined keywords as well though wouldn't it? Without having to re-invent wheels. I'm not too sure how much use most of the information that is stored in the proprietary parts could be - what does it matter for analysis how many volts were used on a particular PMT for a particular experiment? -except for QC. But some of it definitely is, as Mario pointed out as a result of my backfiring jibe, the linear gain values can be useful to know. Ray
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