I23 Manual

Check the Diamond I23 web pages for updates, manuals and contact details prior to your experiment.

Before applying for I23 beamtime, users are asked to fill in a questionnaire related to their project in order to allow beamline staff to assess the feasibility of the experiment. Once the questionnaire has been reviewed, users can request from the beamline sample holders of different sizes and combipucks.

Register your shipping dewars with Diamond to use our shipping account and help with tracking.

Always use I23 custom made pins and combipucks to mount and ship your samples.

Understand the visit timings you are scheduled for.

For all experiments we highly recommend preparing your shipments in advance in ISPyB, identifying your pucks by the puck identifier (e.g. CPS-0024) and assigning samples at the same time. This allows pucks to be assigned to robot positions as loaded by either you or Diamond staff making them available in GDA immediately.

For UK users with Diamond registered dewars you can book your next working day shipping to us with Diamond’s DHL account. We recommend shipping your dewars three or more days before your experiment to ensure arrival in time.

Register your PDB and sequences for your proteins in ISPyB. These can then be used automatically if you use default file names in GDA for all future visits in downstream processing such as XIA2, DIMPLE and MrBUMP and avoids the need to do this for each visit.

Refer to the manual for data collection possibilities –

• fluorescence data – find out if you have metals and what energy to use to exploit for phasing
• data collections – optimise your data collections:
  • strategies
  • Multi axis gonimeter
  • inverse beam
  • interleaved MAD

Read the message of the day in GDA for beamline status.

Refer to beamline specific manuals where appropriate.

Start your data back-up as soon as you can.

Start GDA and all your samples will be preloaded in the sample changer view (or press refresh to update if GDA was already running).

Use default file names in GDA to streamline experiments, avoiding the need to type information at each sample load, preventing mistakes and ensuring downstream processing uses the information you have provided in advance (PDB, sequence, space group).

Monitor your results from our automatic software pipelines in ISPyB.

Talk with your local contact about your experiment plans – we are here to help you solve structures.

Unload your last sample with the sample changer.

If on site, with sufficient time to ensure you have removed pucks from the sample changers before the end of your shift.

If using data backup via disk; Finalise your backup disk and unmount cleanly in the data dispenser interface.

Else: Transfer required data using globus.

See Shipping Dewar Home, for details on arranging return shipment 

Diamond pays for sample shipping (2 dewars per shift) for EU and UK users, if using our shipping agent DHL via ISPyB. No other shipping method can be reimbursed.

You can reprocess your data afterwards on our cluster.

Acknowledge beamline access.