Data transfer from Beckman LS 5800 liquid scintillation counters to IBM personal computers

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Laboratory Automation
• Scientific Instrumentation

Background:

• Liquid scintillation counting is a crucial technique in various scientific fields.
• Efficient data acquisition and management are essential for accurate experimental results.
• Existing methods for data collection from scintillation counters may require specialized hardware or software.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a simple and cost-effective software routine for data collection from a Beckman liquid scintillation counter.
• To facilitate the transfer and storage of scintillation counter data onto an IBM-PC.
• To enable subsequent automated data processing and analysis.

Main Methods:

• A routine was developed using BASICA programming language for the IBM Personal Computer (IBM-PC).
• The routine interfaces with a liquid scintillation counter via an asynchronous communications adapter and an RS232 cable.
• Incoming data bytes are converted into separate lines and stored in a file.

Main Results:

• A functional BASICA routine was created for data acquisition from a Beckman liquid scintillation counter.
• The routine successfully converts raw data into a structured file format.
• The stored data is readily available for further processing and analysis.

Conclusions:

• The developed BASICA routine provides a practical solution for collecting and managing scintillation counter data.
• This approach offers flexibility for various data storage formats and automated processing.
• The system requires minimal additional hardware, making it accessible for many laboratories.