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Before you begin: The instrument generates X-rays and should be only operated by authorized users trained in radiation safety. Do not expose any part of your body to X-rays!
Remember to display a 'Caution: Radiation' sign, as well as a warning for others to stay 1 meter (3 feet) away at all times.
Getting Started
Place a fully charged battery into the Tracer5 Tracer 5 by opening the bottom of the handle. Alternatively, insert the AC adapter labeled ‘pXRF Power Cord’ into the power port below the screen (Fig. 1, B) and plug the cord into a regulated power outlet.
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Note: The device can be used on its own or it can be connected to a laptop and, using the program Bruker RemoteCtrl 
, the device screen will be mirrored on the laptop. On the laptop, log in using the daq profile (Name: daq, Password: daq). Once logged in, connect the device to the laptop using the USB cord labeled ‘pXRF to computer cord’ connected to using the device in the USB Mini-B port (Fig. 1, D).
Turn on the Tracer5 Tracer 5 by pressing and holding for the power button for 1-2 seconds (Fig. 1, Left) and the device will initialize.
Open the Bruker RemoteCtrl program found on the desktop and select ‘File’ and ‘Connect’. A smaller window will open and the device’s serial number will appear in the box (Fig. 2). This may take several seconds. Highlight the serial number and select ‘OK’.
The following screens and functions can be accessed on the device itself or using Bruker RemoteCtrl.
Once the Login screen appears (Fig. 3, Left), select the ‘Login’ button, enter the password (5432112345) (Fig. 3, Center) and select ‘Ok’. A radiation warning will be displayed, press and release the trigger to acknowledge this warning.
Figure 2. Connecting to BrukerRemoteCtrlBruker RemoteCtrl.
Figure 3. Login Screen (Left), Passcode enter screen (Center), and current settings shown after Login (Right).
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You are now in the main display screen (Fig. 4). Note: The device is armed with a proximity sensor and will display ‘Not Armed’ until something is placed in front of the device measurement window if this safety feature is enabled. Once the proximity sensor detects a surface or sample, the box will become green and display ‘Ready to Test’.
If the device displays 'Ready to Test' the trigger is active! Keep clear of the trigger when repositioning the device!
Figure 4. The main display screen (. Left, X-ray is not armed. Right, X-ray is armed and ready to measure).
Application and Settings
The current application can be changed by selecting ‘Application’ 
, choosing a different application type and selecting ‘OK’. This device has 5 applications installed. The best application for our purposes is GeoExploration. Each application has different scanning parameters which preferentially pick up some elements better than others. The device will keep the chosen application until manually changed.
Some application settings, such as beam scan duration, can be adjusted by selecting ‘Settings’ 
on the main display screen. Select ‘Ok’ when finished adjusting the following settings:Three settings can be adjusted in this screen (Fig. 5):
- Duration: This screen will display the number of phases used by the current application. The time in seconds spent on each phase can be adjusted or set to unlimited (ending when the trigger is released). Note: The longer the scan time, the greater the accuracy and precision and the lower the % error of the measurement will be. For geological samples, 1 minute per phase or longer is not uncommon, but not required.
- First Result/Test: This is the number of seconds before results will be shown on the display once a measurement has been triggered.
- Trigger Active: The trigger can be set to ‘Auto’ or ‘Manual’ by selecting this button.
- Auto (Preferred): The measurement proceeds by pressing and releasing the trigger. Preferred
- Manual: The trigger must be pressed for the duration of the measurement. If the trigger is released at any time during the measurement, measuring will stop.
Figure 5. Settings display screen. User will only see the top box. Supervisor will see the screen as is.
Select ‘Ok’ when finished adjusting or 'Cancel' to return to the previous screen. Note: These settings may return to default if a new application is selected, therefore, check these settings before beginning to measure samples.
Making a Measurement
Edit Sample Information
On the main display (Fig 4, Left), click the ‘Edit Info’ button in the middle of the bottom row of buttons. This screen (Fig. 56) is where the sample information is entered or modified. All fields in the right column are editable by double clicking and should be reviewed and changed for each sample as needed:
- Sample Type:
- Standard – a powdered standard in a sample cup
- SHLF – a measurement taken directly on a section half or of a piece from a section half
- PWDR – Sample – a powdered sample in a sample cupDiscrete – for any other samples
- Expedition: The current expedition, example
- Example: 397
- Site & Hole: The site and hole the sample was taken from, example
- Example: U1586A
- Core/Section: The core number with letter indicating the core type and the section in that core that is being measured or that the sample was taken from, example: 1H/6. If measuring a standard, enter the standard name, .
- Sample example: 1H/6 or 32X/1
- Standard example: BCR 2 or BHVO 2
- TextID: The unique sample number for every sample. This is found on the lower right corner of the typical sample label below the QR code, example: SHLF11754181. If measuring a standard, use the information from the appropriate QAQC label provided. If a standard does not have a QAQC label, leave this field blank. Note: If the device is connected to the laptop and using Bruker RemoteCtrl software, you can attach and use the barcode scanner to enter the TextID by scanning the QR code on the section half or sample label.
- Example: SHLF11744181
- Top Offset (cm):
- For a section half or sample piece from a section half (discrete, unaltered piece), this is the distance in cm from the top of the core section, example: 34 or 101.5 (Do not put a range, just the beginning number of the measured area or sample!).
- For powdered , other discrete samples and standards, use 0.
- Comment: Use this to provide any additional information, such as a physical description for reference or to indicate a replicate measurement.
Figure 56. The ‘Edit Info’ screen.
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Remember to manually fill out the Log Sheet as you are editing the sample information. For the current version of the log sheet, do not worry about the Run#, this will be automatically assigned and you can fill that in after the measurement starts. It is important to fill in the Time (in UTC) as this will help the X-Ray technician match up the sample with the measurement and correct any errors, if any, before uploading the data. The most important pieces of information is are the sample TextID and the Offset (if from a SHLF) as these are unique values needed to upload the data to LIMS.
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A beep will sound when the device has finished measuring and the device can be moved away from the sample or repositioned for the next measurement. At this point, the previous measurement’s data has been stored and added to the results file.
Exporting Files
Downloading the Data
The Tracer updates the ‘Data’ folder after each new measurement with an associated .pdz file and also adds the data to the appropriate application '.tsv' file and 'Results.csv' file. The element results are all reported in % Weight in both the '.tsv' and '.csv'.
To download To export the results, connect the device to the computer if not already connected. Also, log into the OES 
using your personal credentials.
Open the Bruker Instrument Tools program found on the desktop. Go to to Device,then Connect and select 900G7838. Click Connect(Fig. 6 7 and 78).
Figure 67. Menu bar of Bruker Instrument Tools.
Figure 78. Connection window of Bruker Instrument Tools.
After connection, a file tree will appear on the left side of the program window (Fig. 9). Select the folder ‘Bruker’ and double click to open it. Then select the ‘Data’ folder and double click to open.
Figure 9. Inside this folder is a series of .pdz files, a File tree for the Tracer 5 in Bruker Instrument Tools.
Inside the Data folder is:
- A .pdz file (spectra files) for each measurement
- A .tsv file for each application used
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- (i.e. GeoExploration.tsv)
- A .csv results file named Results.csv
If a USB stick is installed, the data is automatically written to the 'Data' folder on the USB. The Tracer is also set up to save each data measurement to the internal memory as a back up in case the USB stick should fail. The Tracer automatically updates the ‘Data’ folder folders in the Bruker and USB folders after each new measurement with an associated .pdz file and also adds the data to the appropriate application .tsv file and .csv ‘Results’ file. When you export, all data files should be downloaded all or just selected .pdz files, but the .
Highlight all the files and then select the ‘Download’ option in the toolbar of the program window (Fig. LOL, Box). A smaller window will appear and here you can select the location you wish to download the files to. Download all data files (.tsv, .csv, and .pdz) to C:\DATA\IN (Fig. 10, Arrow). The .tsv and .csv files will have all measurements that have been taken since the most recent last internal memory clean-up, which will typically be done after each site or more frequently depending on the number of measurements executed. The data can be copied from this folder for data processing.Highlight the files you want to download and then select the ‘Download’ option in the toolbar of the program window. A smaller window will appear and here you can select the location you wish to download the files
Figure 10. Downloading data with Bruker Instrument Tools. The box indicates the download button. The arrow indicates the location to save the data to.
Opening the .tsv file in Excel
The .csv file is not set up well for further data processing, however, the .tsv file can be opened in Excel in a more user-friendly set up to work with.
Open a new workbook and go to the Data tab and select 
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You will be prompted to your computer saved folders and you can select the folder where you saved the navigate to the folder containing the GeoExploration.tsv file file.
Once you find the folder select All Files in the , select All Files from the drop down menu at the bottom right (Fig. 8, Box). Then select the GeoExploration.tsv file and click click Import. (Fig. 811).
Figure 811. Finding the GeoExploration fileImporting data from the .tsv files into Excel. The red box indicates where to select 'All Files'.
A window will open showing you a preview of the file. Select 'Tab' from the 'Delimiter' drop down menu options if it is not already there. Click Load. (Fig. 912)
Figure 912. Data Preview in Excel of the .tsv file. The red box indicates the correct 'Tab' should be selected as the delimiter.
The data will be exported to Excel and should look like Figure 10. The editable column information (sample information) imported to Excel in a more useable format (Fig.13). The columns with the sample information will be the last columns to the right.
Figure 1013. Exported file from pXRF device.
This file can then be saved in Uservol through the server (once you have signed in (when logged into the OES) to access for data processing. The file may contain repeat data, simply delete the rows of unwanted data.
!!! Clearing data from the internal memory and USB!!!
Note: The internal memory of the device is only 512MB (~1200 scans)! Therefore, the internal memory may need needs to be cleaned up several times an expedition to prevent locking up the device’s onboard computer. Additionally, it is important to keep the number of files in the Data folder of data on the USB low as well. The X-ray technician will take care of this, but keep this in mind if you are performing a lot of measurements!
Credits: J. Riekenberg and B. Cervera