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December
2016 |
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| Real Time Continuous Contact Angle Reporting | |
| If you are a current user of our
DROPimage software, you will know that the standard operating
procedure for measuring contact angle involves setting the baseline
and then clicking measure. It's really very simple. In an effort to
further improve the functionality of our software, we have recently
added a real time continuous readout of the contact angle which
appears near the three phase line on the left and right sides of the
drop as shown below. This powerful new feature reports the contact
angles based on the state of the current sessile drop and the
location of the baseline. The readout for each contact angle (as
shown in the image below) updates in real time. This all happens
without even clicking "Measure".
One benefit of continuous readout is that it allows the user to properly position the baseline and detect any potential erroneous readings prior to actually taking a measurement. Additionally, the user can quickly determine symmetry as well as detect absorption, wetting, evaporation and other behaviors that result in a contact angle that decreases over time. By observing the contact angle behavior from the continuous readout, the user is better positioned to develop the appropriate time-dependent study for precise analysis.
The continuous readout feature is enabled by default in both DROPimage Advanced and DROPimage Standard versions 2.10.01 or higher. This feature can be turned off in the Options menu. When disabled, DROPimage will work like prior versions. The real time
continuous contact angle readout is just another small and
incremental step we've taken to further improve and polish our
already powerful and user-friendly DROPimage software. |
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| Eight Things to Ask When Buying a Goniometer | |
| Whether you are looking to buy a
new contact angle goniometer or replace or upgrade an aging or
obsolete tool, you'll want to ask these questions: 1. Am I buying more than I need? For many applications, only contact angle is needed. We don't believe you should be required to buy a tool with advanced features that you don't need and won't use. For this reason, we offer nine different models starting with our most basic offering, our Model 190. The beauty of buying only what you need now is that you save money up front. If your needs change down the road, all of our models are upgradeable. A Model 190, for example, can easily be upgraded to a Model 250 or even a Model 290 - without the need to ship it back for modification. 2. Am I paying more than I should? We believe that by offering a wide spectrum of choices, we can help you find a suitable instrument for just about every requirement and budget. By providing only the tools needed for your application, we can offer you the most cost-effective setup that meets your needs and fits your budget. 3. How long will my instrument last? We have many of our original Model A100s that are still in daily use. They were made in the 1960s. Today's models are equally durable and designed for many years of daily use. Our experience in the past 20 years with camera-based systems indicates that the camera may become obsolete in about 10 years. However, we currently offer imaging upgrade kits for every model we've ever built. For a fraction of the cost of a new tool, you can upgrade your existing tool with a new camera and software upgrade when needed thus preserving your initial instrument investment. 4. Will I need to use the warranty? All of our instruments include an iron-clad parts and labor warranty. The good news is that fewer than 1% of our instruments will ever require service under warranty. If J.D. Power rated goniometers, we would receive five stars on quality. Part of our extremely high customer satisfaction rating is a result of meticulous testing and inspection of each product prior to shipment. We take quality seriously. 5. How hard is it to learn to use a ramé-hart goniometer? All of our instruments are very user-friendly. All editions of our DROPimage software share a similar interface making it easy to upgrade from one edition to another without a lot of relearning. For new users, we offer dozens of instructional tutorial videos which walk through every common - and some less common - tasks for all editions of our DROPimage software. You can access the library of videos here: https://www.youtube.com/user/ramehart/videos. 6. How many people use ramé-hart instruments? Over the years we have sold over 3000 instruments. Assuming 80% of them are still in use and assuming that the average instrument is used by five different people (some more, some less), that's over 12,000 users - many are daily users. And many of our long-time users have been so for multiple decades. 7. I'm pretty sure your tool will work for my application, but I'm not sure. How can I obtain some reassurance that I'm making the right choice? Simple. Send us a few samples. We would be more than happy to take a few courtesy measurements on your samples and email you the results and some screen shots in order to help you determine suitability of our tool for your application. Better yet, schedule a time to visit us. We'd love to show you all of our tools and provide a demonstration. You can even bring some samples with you to test while you're here. 8. How do I know which model is
best for our application? You can start by reviewing our products
side-by-side on our product matrix located here:
http://www.ramehart.com/goniometer.htm. Then,
contact us to discuss your requirements and application. We can
quickly help you identify the best tool for your needs. |
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| Happy Holidays | |
| As the year draws to a close, we'd
like to extend our most sincere gratitude to each of our loyal
customers who have kept us in business for the past 55 years. Happy
Holidays. Everything we do is to serve you better. We look forward
to 2017 which will give us yet another opportunity to develop,
innovate, and improve solutions for measuring contact angle, surface
tension, and other interfacial characteristics. |
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Regards,
Carl Clegg |
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