Hello all,
I have an unusual request. I am starting a lab in California and got my hands on two old (!) but functional qPCR machines - model and make in the title (image attached). However, I do not have a computer to connect them to and by reading through manuals and looking for how these machines used to connect to a computer for data acquisition, it appears that they have to be connected to a Windows XP-based PC, running Opticon software with a National Instruments data acquisition card installed.
Does anyone per chance have one of these computers sitting around - maybe, you used to have the same qPCR machine and it's not gone, but the computer is still available, etc. Or if you have the whole setup - qPCR machine + PC that it connects to. Please contact me if you do - it would be a shame to sell these for parts just because I can't find a computer to connect them to (BioRad doesn't seem to want to support them anymore).
Best regards,
Dennis
Dennis,
If it's any help, the DAQ card you need is quite common:
PCI-6036E - have a look on eBay.
And cables, equally, aren't that rare.
Getting the software, perversely, may be the hardest step.
Dennis Kolosov,
The instrument you are talking about was developed and provided to the customers during Windows XP operating systems. So, the software is based on Win Xp. I understand that your instrument is absolutely fine and you want to use the Opticon Monitor Software provided to the customers. In my opinion there are two options, first to run the system with the provided software in any windows that may support. Second, need to develop the custom software which may run on the present computers (Example Windows 10). The development of custom software is really tedious and time consuming job and if you do not have person with similar software development skill its really difficult. Also you need software commands or DLL to develop new software which only the manufacturer can provide (Generally not included in the user manual)
So my first option is to use the same software to make the device functional. Following things need to be checked-
1) What is the communication port type being used by the instrument (I could not find or probably missed it in the manual)
2) If you have that kind of port in the latest computer try installing the software in latest Windows ( Say Win 10).
3) If some special card was used for communication Please check the type of slot it uses.
4) Generally many software developed in XP can also work in the latest Windows 10 or Windows 7.
5) If you have the similar port in latest computer with windows but shows error during installation. Check for Win 7 based systems.
Please provide further details for possible discussion and solution.
Best of Luck
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Engineering
- Computer Engineering
- Computer