The MAR345 imaging plate/reader is controlled by propriatory software, running on a Red Hat Linux computer (X17B2MAR345). This computer is connected to the internal network, so that files can be transferred to the X17B2 server. It is also connected to the MAR345 hardware via ethernet.
Operating instructions from MARRESARCH can be found here.
Installation instructions (PDF) are here.
The user can run the software from either the Linux computer console, or from a Windows computer by connecting to the Linux computer using SSH. This documention is based on the latter connections, although there should be little difference, except for the SSH part.
Run the SSH Secure Shell Client on the Side Station control computer. You will get this logon screen::
Select Profiles, then MAR345. Enter the Host Name and User Name as shown here:
When asked for the password, use the same password as you would use when logging onto the Red Hat computer directly. You will get the following SSH screen:
Enter MAR345 at the command line. you will get the following SSH screen:
followed by the MAR initialization screen:
This will shortly disappear, giving the MAR control screen. From this menu, you can Erase, Scan, or Collect. You will probably want to Erase first. Erasing takes about 80 seconds. Pressing the Collect button on the control screen allows you to select Single Set (which is what we normally use). The other options we don't use.
Below are four versions of the control screen: when starting, after pressing Erase, after pressing Collect, and, after pressing Go on the control screen:
You will probably want to Erase before you collect your data. Select Erase.Select Single Set:
Since the shutter is not connected to this system, you need to manually open the shutter for the desired exposure time (using a stopwatch). Then press Go. You will get a warning, because there is no ion chamber in the system.
Press Continue (or Ignore). Scanning will begin. It will also take about 80 seconds. You will then get your image:
This image is one obtained right after erasing, and should be blank. You can display other images by selecting Windows, the Files and navigate to a previous image. If you want to change the filename and sequence number, do it from the "Change Parameters" window. If you want to create a new directory, you must do it from Linux (i.e. not from the MAR345 program).