Protocol Parameters; Basic Programming Options; Advanced Programming Options; Increment/Decrement Temperature - BIO RAD MyCycler Instruction Manual

4.3 Protocol Parameters
4.3.1 Basic Programming Options
• Set point temperature: Temperatures between 4.0°C and 100.0°C may be
entered.
• Dwell time: Finite dwell times may be as long as 99 minutes and 59 seconds
O (99:59), or may be set as short as 0 seconds (00:00).
~ When the dwell time is set to 00:00, the MyCycler will heat or cool until it
attains the set point temperature and then immediately begin heating or cooling
to the next set point temperature.
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Infinite dwell times may be programmed for any steps belonging to a cycle with
— only one repeat. When an infinite dwell time is reached, the instrument maintains
the specified temperature until you intervene. If the infinite dwell time is pro
grammed for any step other than the last step of the protocol, the instrument goes
^ into Pause mode when it reaches that step, and holds the set point temperature
until you press the Resume Run or End Run soft key. You may specify an infinite
dwell time by pressing the Shift key, followed by the 0 key.
• Repeat number: Any cycle without an infinite dwell time may have 1 to 99
^- repeats.
4.3.2 Advanced Programming Options
4.3.2.1 Increment/Decrement Temperature
Most protocols call for the exact same temperature for each repeat of a cycle,
-^ but in some instances you may wish to program an automatic increase or
decrease in the step temperature after each repeat. To input an automatic
increment or decrement function for a step, the cycle containing the step must
have more than one cycle repeat. The automatic increment and decrement
function updates the set point temperature by a specified amount, after every
repeat, starting after repeat one.
For example, you could create a cycle with 3 repeats, a step at 95°C, and a
second step at 55°C. You could then specify a 0.5°C automatic temperature
increment for the second step. Thus, on the first repeat of the cycle, the instrument
would go to 95°C and then to 55°C. Then on the second repeat of the cycle, the
instrument would go to 95°C and then to 55.5°C. Finally, on the third repeat of the
cycle, the instrument would go to 95°C and then to 56.0°C.
Temperature increments or decrements may be as low as 0.1 °C, and they may
be as large as desired, so long as they do not result in values outside the legal
ranges described in section 4.3.1. If you input an increment or decrement function
that would result in an illegal temperature value, the thermal protocol will run, but
the temperature will cease to increment or decrement once the upper or lower limit
has been reached. Furthermore, for every repeat that would result in an illegal tem
perature value, an error is counted on the End of Run screen and displayed in the
Validation and Run reports.
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