TEM users:
TEM CCD camera lost some functions, but it is still working well at binning 1. Please use binning 1 instead of binning 2, 3 and 4. The image size for binning 1 is very big (11Mb for each image) , so please record TEM images only when necessary.
We will repair the camera and have it fully functional soon. If you have any questions, you may contact Dr. Zheng.
Good news. A loaner CCD camera is installed yesterday night. It is tested at 80 kV and 200 kV this morning. It works well. You may use it now.
Our camera is still under repair. When it is fixed, we will replace the loaner camera with our CCD camera.
The loaner camera has been shipped from Gatan factory today and will arrive here at about 11am tomorrow. Gatan engineer will install the loaner camera tomorrow afternoon and test it the day after tomorrow.
I will cancel all reservations in next two days. If you want to check your samples with TEM tomorrow morning, this is fine.
I just received a message from Bill Mollon:
“the loaner camera did not finish checkout test. I’ll call them in the (tomorrow) morning to find out what the issue is with it. I can safely say, based on this info that the engineer will not be at your site tomorrow.”
I will keep you posted tomorrow.
I met Bill Mollon, Product Marketing Manager, Gatan, Inc. yesterday and discussed our camera issue. He responded today with a plan:
“After talking to Engineering and Service here in Pleasant, here is the current plan:
1. Your system arrived in our office today and is in the process of being evaluated and worked on.
2. A loaner camera system is being prepared and finishing the quality checkout procedure tomorrow.
3. The loaner camera system is scheduled to ship on Monday to your facility
4. Service has pulled an engineer to be available to install the camera next week. Since it will arrive Tuesday, he is planning on installing first thing Wed.
I will let you know as soon as I find out from the QA test that it will ship on schedule Monday.”
Bad news just arrived. An engineer in Gatan factory has been working on our camera for last several days, but he could not fix it, and finally gave up today. The camera is going to be shipped to Gatan California R&D department today. I will keep you posted.
If you have any urgent needs, please let me know.I may introduce you to other TEM facilities.
Gatan engineer Rick Warner responded to my email positively. He stayed late Thursady night and did the repairs. He also did bench testing later. He installed the camera on a Gatan service microscope on Friday. He will test the camera together with our camera controller on the coming Monday (Feb 22). If everything goes smoothly, the camera will be shipped back to us immediately and an installation and on-site testing will be scheduled soon.
I received a message from Gatan on Wed:
“We just secured all the necessary parts yesterday for this repair. It is in line-up for repairs, but it will most likely be the end of this week before they start on it. I would estimate the unit will not be totally repaired and tested until end of February.
Regards, Jeanie Schnelbach”
I emailed to Jeanie after receiving the message and urged her to help expedite the repair and installation process. I am waiting for her response.
Receceived a message today from Gatan which is still waiting for the driver board. As for when the camera can be fixed, there will be more definite answer for us on Tuesday.
I just spoke with a Gatan person. Gatan factory is waiting for a board to be made for our camera. There was a big storm in last weekend there, which made the shipping situation worse. I was asked to call back in a couple of days for updates.
The PO was approved on Monday (afternoon). A speciall box for the camera arrived at UCI from Gatan. The CCD camera was immediately shipped to Gatan factory by FedEx. It was delivered to the factory on Wed (8:43am) according to FedEx record.
Regrettably, Gatan engineer could not fix the TEM camera on-site this morning because some unexpected problems showed up. The camera has to be shipped to Gatan factory for repair. I am asking for an approval for a new PO.
There will be no CCD camera on the TEM this week. I will keep you updated.
I just got off from the phone. It is confirmed that Gatan engineer will arrive at UCI on Monday, repairing the TEM CCD camera. Two new boards are received this morning. More news is coming on Monday or Tuesday.
Some users are wondering why we can not get an engineer here till Feb. 1. This is because Gatan engineers are normally much busier in Jan than in other months. They need to solve not only new machine problems, but also old ones which occurred during Dec holidays.
Fortunately, the CCD camera works well for binning 1 at both 200 kV and 80 kV. Please let me know when you need some assistance.
A field repair service for the TEM CCD camera is scheduled on Feb 1.