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+[[!meta  title="Grr Multimodes"]]
+[[!meta  date="2008-07-07 18:54:09"]]
+There was some trouble with tapping-mode imaging this morning, and with Prof.
+Yang's help things seem to be straightened out now.  I tried both Nanoscopes
+with both Multimodes (we have two *nominally* identical systems), but had not
+bothered to swap heads.  As it turned out, we had been using the infrared head
+(we have three heads), which wasn't working.  Not that that was the only
+problem.  As it turned out, tapping seems to be working with the combination
+<pre>
+  Nanoscope 2 -- Multimode 1 -- Head 1 or 2
+</pre>
+
+As far as I can tell, the problem is generating the voltage for the piezo that
+vibrates the cantilever, which seems to take place
+[on the Multimode main board](http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~wking/rsrch/multimode/internals.shtml).  Unless
+something is seriously wrong with the Nanoscope, it shouldn't matter which
+Nanoscope we use.  I suppose I should trace the Nanoscope-Multimode
+communication in both cases and look for something different.
+
+I've no idea how generating a tunable sine wave can be so complicated.  The
+simple solution is to stick to *modular* equipment with open-standard,
+easily-accessible communication between them, but I don't have time to develop
+a system like that.  Some day I will give up on Nanoscope troubleshooting and
+build a [GXSM system](http://gxsm.sourceforge.net/).
+
+[[!tag  hardware]]