The Direct Electron control panel appears when a Direct Electron camera is included in the list of available cameras. Most of the controls here apply only to the direct detector cameras, not the LC1100 lens-coupled camera. In order for a direct detector camera to be accessed, the Direct Electron Camera Server must be running before SerialEM is started.
Name
The name of the currently selected Direct Electron camera. The possibilities include the DE12 or DE20, the survey sensor for the DE12 or DE20, and the LC1100. This field will update when you select different Direct Electron cameras.
Detector (C)
The current temperature of the camera. Normally for the camera to be properly cooled it must be in the -30 to -60 degree Celcius range.
Setpoint (C)
The temperature to which the camera will be cooled when cooling is turned on.
Water line (C)
The temperature of the water being used to cool the camera.
Cool camera
This box will be checked if the camera is being cooled. Check it to turn cooling on, or uncheck it to warm the camera.
Camera inserted
This box will be checked if the camera is inserted or is not retractable. It can be used to insert or retract the camera, but SerialEM does manage insertion and retraction when needed.
Auto save directory
This line shows the directory on the Direct Electron server computer where in frames will be saved when autosaving is selected.
File format
Use this box to select the file format in which autosaved frames will be stored; the choices are TIFF and HDF. This is a personal setting saved between sessions.
Frames/sec
This text box shows the rate at which frames will be read out from the camera and allows you to set the rate to a level up to the maximum, shown to the right of the box. Frame rates are kept track of separately for the direct detector and the survey sensor. They are settings that are saved between sessions.
Protection cover delay
The text box shows the delay after opening the protection cover, which is initially set to a value that will keep vibrations from affecting images. You can change this delay, but it will not be saved as a SerialEM setting between sessions. If there is an entry for the delay in the SerialEM properties file, that value will reappear when the program is restarted; otherwise, the delay value will persist in the Direct Electron Server between SerialEM sessions.
Protection cover mode
The combo box provides two choices for the protection cover: open between all exposures, or opened and closed for each exposure that is not part of a task or tilt series. For extensive exploratory imaging, you may want to choose to leave the cover open. Leaving the cover open all the time is not safe if a Gatan camera needs to be inserted to have the beam blanked properly. If you change the choice here, it is not saved between sessions of SerialEM.