Michael Evans
Revised: 14 March 2002
1. Turn on the plate reader
(switch is on back, top right).
2. Open the Ascent program and select New under the Session menu. You will be
prompted to choose the type of plate you will be using.
3. Once you have selected the type of plate, you can customize your read settings.
On the Parameters tab of the General window (default view) you can input your
name and a brief description of your run.
4. Next, click on the Area Definition tab (bottom of window) and use the mouse
to drag a box around the wells you want read. Also, you can click on individual
wells to turn them on. To turn off wells, click on the Deselect button (top
left) and then click. Wells to be read are colored yellow, wells not to be read
are black.
5. Extra—you can assign names to the wells using the layout tab. This isn’t
necessary for basic measurements.
6. Under the steps menu, choose Measure. A Measure button should appear on the
screen jut below the General button.
7. Click on the Measure button. Here you can define what kind of measurement
(single, dual, kinetic, etc.), time, lag time, and wavelength. For most uses,
just select the correct wavelength under the Filter pull-down. You are now set
to measure.
8. Go back to the General screen and on the top row of buttons, click on the
Plate Out button, if the plate holder is not already outside the instrument.
Place your plate in the holder and click the start button. Everything is automatic
from here.
9. When the instrument has finished reading the plate, click on the Results
tab on the far right. You will see a spreadsheet showing your data array in
the format of your plate.
10. Click on the Sheet menu and select Save As to save your file. Don’t
forget to add .xls to your file name, as the Ascent program is fond of making
your files .vts format.
Remove your plate, click on the Run Plate In button on the top row to store
the plate holder in the instrument and turn it off.