Bio-Rad EXQuest Spot Cutter - Manual (Page 299)

PDQuest User Guide
9-10
would load your spots from one MatchSet/analysis set on the plate, then select a
different MatchSet/analysis set, skip the previously loaded wells.
The Current Run Serial field displays the serial number of the cut run. The cut run
serial number increments whenever you perform a previous cut run on a new
MatchSet gel or gels. For example, if you first cut spots from one gel in a MatchSet
and do a cut run, then cut the same spots from a different gel in the MatchSet and do a
run, the serial number for the second run would be 2.
9.2.a Spot Cutter Setup
Before you can use the spot cutter for the first time, you must focus the camera and
adjust the cutting tip height. You must also adjust the spot cutter settings and calibrate
the instrument.
Note: If you have already focused and calibrated the spot cutter using the Basic
Excision Tool, you do not need to perform these steps again.
Focus Cutter Camera
Note: If you are using a lens filter, make sure that it is installed before focusing. If you
add or remove the lens filter after focusing, you will need to refocus.
The Focus Cutter Camera dialog box controls the camera exposure setting. Focusing
and aligning the camera are described in the spot cutter hardware manual.
Click the Focus Cutter Camera button to open the dialog. The platform
light on the spot cutter will turn on and the camera will focus on a small
region at the center of the gel or membrane and begin taking continuous
exposures. The exposures will appear in the Focus window at the rate of about 2 per
second.
At the top of the dialog, click Auto-Expose to reset the exposure time of the camera.
The Time field shows the time of each exposure in milliseconds. The Ceiling field
shows the highest pixel value in the focused region. The Levels field shows the levels
of gray scale in the image. All of these settings are automatically determined by the
software, based on the position and aperture of the camera lens.