Stasar III Spectrophotometer at the Hacktory

[Rob Jefferson]

Hello.

I'm new to the Hacktory, and tonight I came in and saw that there was a spectrophotometer here, a device made by (the seemingly defunct) Gilford Instruments. I'm curious about getting it to work.

Essentially, it's a device that measures the amount of reflected or absorbed light in a particular sample. The user adjusts the wavelength and the temperature, and sees the amount of light of that wavelength that's absorbed. (I'm guessing this is used in part as a diagnostic tool for evaluating, say, blood samples for potential diseases.)

There's a manual available here: 

http://www.eurasiahealth.org/attaches/82685/606-e.pdf

According to the picture of the parts kit at http://www.surplusshed.com/photo.cfm?ID=I1480_1, it appears that there are some things missing that are in the usual kit:

1) An air pump and vacuum receiver, ensuring that the sample is uncontaminated;

2) A cuvette and holder, which holds the sample in question;

3) Some spare parts (primarily tubing, rubber stoppers, and so forth).

I do not know if the parts in question have to be made by Gilford, or if there's a certain degree of interoperability between manufacturers of devices. (Or, if there's somehow a third-party market for these parts.)

There's a calibration standard in a special compartment on the device, but I'm having trouble actually getting it into the cuvette chamber to get a reading. Even if the standard is off after these years, it might be interesting to see how far it's off.

Also, there are ports on the back for printing (a mini(?) parallel interface) and computer control (DE-9 and two-row DE-15). I do not know how to make use of these for their intended function.

Anyway, that's all I have so far, but I'll keep at it. (And it would be awesome if there were other people with similar interest!)

Rob

[Tatjana Ivkovic]

Hi Rob,
my name is Tatjana and have recently came into possesion of one Gilford III stasar Specteophotometer.
It seems odd that no one replied to your request, since it is still very good apparatus.
Did you manage to do something with it?
You posted link for manual but something is wrong with the site and I was not able to download it. Can you please send me another link where I can find it, or any other solution for getting the manual for the apparatus.
Thank you, all the best
Tatjana

[Dale Gallion]

I used to work on these.  The pump is a vacuum model that connects to the vacuum receiver.  A rubber hose connects to a port on the back which in turn is connected to a valve that can be actuated with the stainless steel press plate below the cuvette chamber.   The calibration standard should drop into the cuvette chamber, and with the instrument set at 550 nm (green light) it should read whatever the standard says it should.  There are some adjustments to the visible light source and photomulitiplier that will have to be done after all these years I suppose.   The parallel connector on the back is strictly printer output.   The Stasar could be used in automated sampling systems, therefore the other connections.    It's readout is strictly absorbance or concentration.