What's the oldest electronic or mechanical device you own that's still in operation? I bought a Panasonic VCR in 1982 that still works. The "remote control" is tethered to the device by a cable, and it only supported 13 manually tuned channel buttons, but many other VCRs have come and gone in the past four decades and that one can still be counted on when a later-model player gives up the ghost.
Rigaku has been selling analytical X-ray instruments for over 75 years, and many of our diffractometers and spectrometers have remained in service for a long time. In 2002, we were pleased to award the Generator Longevity Award to Dr. Elspeth Garman at the University of Oxford. Her RU-200 rotating anode X-ray generator (affectionately dubbed Myrtle) had rolled over its hours-of-operation meter (99,999.9 hours) and was still generating X-rays.
This year, Rigaku is celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the introduction of the world's first benchtop X-ray diffractometer, the MiniFlex, which originally recorded X-ray intensity on a chart recorder. Since then, the MiniFlex has undergone generations of improvements. If you would like to send us a picture of you with your MiniFlex or a short video where you discuss your research results with MiniFlex, please visit the MiniFlex Anniversary page. |