An area detector data acquisition system for X-ray crystallographic studies of macromolecules and other X-ray diffraction experiments

A data acquisition system, incorporating a flat multi-wire proportional chamber, is currently being developed at SSRL in collaboration with research groups at UCSD and LBL [1]. It will be primarily used to rapidly measure X-ray crystallographic data at multiple wavelengths for the investigation of anomalous scattering techniques in the field of protein crystallography. This system, which is in the final stages of development, is controlled by a PDP11/34 computer and incorporates the MWPC area detector, a Huber 5-circle single-crystal goniometer, an alignment carriage, an incident-beam intensity monitor and a fast television display system. An outline of the complete system and the proposed method of data collection will be presented.