...
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.
...
Open the 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’.
...
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.
...
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. 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).
...
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 (Fig. XX):
- 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. 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 XX. Settings display screen.
Select ‘Ok’ when finished adjusting or 'Cancel' to return to the previous screen.
Making a Measurement
Edit Sample Information
...
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
To export the results, connect the device to the computer if not already connected.
...
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 .csv ‘Results’ file. When you export, all data files should be downloaded all or just selected .pdz files, but the . tsv and .csv files will have all measurements that have been taken since the most recent internal memory clean-up. 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 to. Download all data files (.tsv, .csv, and .pdz) to C:/Data/In. The .tsv and .csv files will have all measurements that have been taken since the most recent internal memory clean-up, which will typically be done after each site or more frequently depending on the number of measurements executed.
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.
...