open/cheap software for (w2695/996) in DIY/startup lab

[romanian]

I am looking for cheap or open source alternatives to control Waters HPLC's (specifically a 2695 pump with 996 PDA).

I have heard of ChroMulan, but I was wondering if anyone has tried using it with Waters equipment. From the descriptions it does not seem like it would work.

What are good solutions for folks that have acquired cheap/free equipment to get it functional from a software perspective?
By functional I mean controlling instrument, logging performed actions and acquiring the data onto a PC and doing some basic analysis (integration, elution times, etc.)

Links to other posts or ideas are much appreciated!

[romanian]

I see a lot of users looked, but no replies.

I'm wondering if it is of limited interest or there just are no good alternatives?

Please post your ideas, don't be shy!

[Alex Buske]

Hi,

I am not aware of any Open Source or free chromatography software. 15 years ago I had contact with someone who wanted to write a data acquisition software for Linux based on the Xsane API (then the linux scanning software).
We lost contact and i never saw a productive version.
I don’t think it is worth the effort to write something new from the scratch, as there are commercial packages around that (more or less) satisfy the users.
On the other hand communication protocols to the chromatography hardware are usually proprietary for some reason.
However, I would like to see an alternative to our used package.

Alex

[Csaba]

Hi,
It is LOT of work to write a complete good chromatographic application that includes full control of a PDA and evaluation of 3-D chromatograms. This is ONE of the reasons why there are so few good commercial chromatographic applications around.

I suggest that you negotiate hard for a commercial license. Some vendor might be prepared to give you a large rebate for some of your good reasons, for instance for being a reference and/or training installation. This is vendor and country dependent. Good luck!
// Csaba

[benW]

Hi Romanian,
Have you tried Breeze 2 from Waters. This has reduced functionality than Empower 2 so is much cheaper. Possible problem - I am not sure whether you can control PDA with this software - but it may be worth a quick look...
Cheers,
Ben

[dcree]

Clarity offers an extensive list of instrument controls (though not for the Waters 2695 pump or 996 PDA). It is quite cost-effective and even comes in a Lite version (for single instrument data collection/no control). See www.galleryscience.com in USA and www.dataapex.com elsewhere. The list of controlled instruments is at http://tinyurl.com/ClarityCtrl.