x-rayman.co.uk

Hi, everybody!
I'm searching for how to change our CCD for a new one. We have Nonius KappaCCD (since 1999)
with SCX-TE/CCD-1242-E/1.9mm detector (Princeton Instruments), that was damaged and Bruker want a lot of
money for detector upgrade ( about 140 K euro). We are looking for all possibilities, and one of them - change
the detector for another one that may be produced by other companies also. Could anybody help me with
the choice - what detectors are compatible with our machine and how to make changing more easy?
And may be anybody hear about used Nonius CCD detectors at a working stage that remain after
system's upgrading
Thank
Mark

I'm guessing you've already been in touch with Roper/Princeton directly?

Hi Mark,

You have my deepest sympathy. Everyone who has one of these machines loves it seems to want to keep it going forever. Bruker charge an absolute fortune for a detector replacement and, as with all replacement parts you can't tell how long the rest will last. KCCD diffractometers do get decommissioned occasionally though and I would guess that is your best bet. There have been two in the UK in the last couple of years in the UK alone, but competition for parts will be quite severe I suspect. I understand the crystallographer in Cambridge has two Kappas and lost his detector before Christmas. I believe he got a replacement when the dismantled the machine that was in Leeds though and is now up and running again. You may want to discuss it with him.

Best wishes,

A.

Assuming the triggering system is the same in the Roper/Princeton Cammeras and you could get HKL2000 to create a new set of calibrations for your detector (should be possible as they are a third party) then would one of these http://www.princetoninstruments.com/pro ... sheet.aspx be of relevance with a Mo optimised phosphor?

This seems to be the path of least resistance/cost vs going via Bruker directly. I would assume other manufacturers such as Hamamatsu, Mar/Rayonix could provide a detector but interfacing it with the Nonius system - timing circuit, etc may be more difficult that the Princeton route.

I would imaging, Rigaku who also make their own detectors could sell you a Mercury (relatively cheap CCD) but it would not be compatible with the Nonius hardware/software.

Another approach may be to get in touch with some of the X-Bruker/Nonius employees such as the legend who is Rob Hooft (blog) they may not be interested or bound by confidentiality clauses in their contracts but they may be able to help, especially Rob, with coding to use a different detector on the Nonius machine.