Recently I had a Varian gradient amplifier (originally built by Highland Technology)
fail in one of my spectrometers. I did not have a spare, and was indeed fortunate
to be able to get one from a very helpful colleague. With that crisis dealt with,
I thought about how to prepare for another such failure of a unit originally built
in the last millenium. I was very gratified to learn that Highland Technology not
only still exists, they will still factory repair those OEM units, and deal with you
directly in the absence of the original vendor. However, they told me that they won't
maintain this repair capability forever, and it might be discontinued after 2021. So
if you have a defunct gradient amp sitting on a shelf, but could use a working spare,
this might be a good time to get it fixed. And should you have a unit fail, at least
for now this doesn't mean your instrument is gradient-less for the rest of its working
life--call them up. I found they were prompt, and in my opinion, the service is a good
value for money.
David VanderVelde
Manager, Liquids NMR Facility, Caltech
davidv_at_caltech.edu
Received on Thu Feb 18 2021 - 08:46:45 MST