Abstract

A PDP-8/I with an AXO8 laboratory peripheral (Digital Equipment Corp.) has been programmed and interfaced for simultaneous direct data acquisition from two Waters gel permeation chromatographs. Analog-to-digital conversions are made at a variable but set rate from both instruments. A cathode ray tube is used to display sample identification, the contents of any location within the computer core, a graph of the contents of the data buffer, and a plot of the data storage table ( i.e., the gel permeation chromatographic curve). A permanent record of the data is obtained on punched paper tape. Two or more gel permeation chromatographic curves (from tapes obtained earlier) can be displayed on the cathode ray tube for direct comparison. Also, the data can be corrected for base line drift by “drawing” in a base line on the cathode ray tube display. The base line is then subtracted, and a corrected paper tape is obtained for further processing. Final data reduction is carried out on an IBM 1130 equipped with paper tape reader and CalComp plotter. A number of convenience options are included in the data reduction program, such as corrections for axial dispersion and various ways of plotting the data. This approach to data handling has reduced operator time for data treatment about 80% and improved the quality of the results.

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