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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.

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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’.

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Figure 4. The main display screen (. Left, X-ray is not armed. Right, X-ray is armed and ready to measure).

Application and Settings

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Some application settings, such as beam scan duration, can be adjusted by selecting on the main display screen. Three settings can be adjusted in this screen (Fig. XX5): 

• 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. 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.
  • 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 XX5. 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
  • Sample – a powdered sample in a sample cup
• Expedition: The current expedition
  • Example: 397
• Site & Hole: The site and hole the sample was taken from
  • 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. 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 piece from a section half, this is the distance in cm from the top of the core section, example: 34 or 101.5 (Do not put a range!).
  • For powdered 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.

Downloading the Data

To export 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 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 found on the desktop. Go 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. NN9). Select the folder ‘Bruker’ and double click to open it. Then select the ‘Data’ folder and double click to open. 

Figure NN9. File tree for the Tracer 5 in Bruker Instrument Tools.

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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. LOL10, Arrow). The .tsv and .csv files will have all measurements that have been taken since the 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.

Figure LOL10. Downloading data with Bruker Instrument Tools. The box indicates the download button. The arrow indicates the location to save the data to.

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Once you find the folder, select All Files from the drop down menu at the bottom right (Fig. 8, Box). Then select the GeoExploration.tsv file and click Import. (Fig. 811).

Figure 811. Importing 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 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.

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