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Hello All,

We are in the midst of a seemingly intractable problem with our Nikon  
A1R confocal.  It appears to be a communication issue between the  
image transfer boards in the computer and the confocal controller.   
The initial symptom was an FIFO error message while attempting to  
scan. Upon shut down and restart of the hardware and software, the  
confocal grabber failed to load and Elements came up missing all the  
confocal controls.  We don't have a maintenance contract, so in  
conference with the Nikon repair guys and a lot of help from our  
imaging specialist, we have tried replacing the computer board and  
the cables, and then the controller board.  None of this really makes  
any difference. Periodically in the midst of plugging and unplugging  
cards and cables, the system will work briefly before the error  
messages start showing up.  We actually got it to work for 20 minutes  
with all the old parts back in, but we are now back to a steady diet  
of the "no communication" error message.  I am ready to set up a  
visit from a service engineer, but the Nikon repair dept has sent a  
request for help to the lead engineers in Japan, so we are waiting on  
that.  Has anyone out there ever experienced this kind of problem,  
and if so, what fixed it?

Thanks,
Carol


Carol E. Norris, Ph.D
Facility Scientist
Flow Cytometry/Confocal Microscopy Facility
Biotechnology/Bioservices Center
University of Connecticut Unit 3149
91 N. Eagleville Rd
Storrs, CT 06269-3149

Phone (860) 486-3080
Fax (860) 486-5005