HP8453 Spectrometer

Hewlett Packard HP8453 is a relatively simple and robust photodiode array spectrophotometer. Hewlett Packard has since spun off its scientific instrumentation division as Agilent Technologies.

HPSpec is a fixed geometry, single-beam photodiode array-type spectrometer. This means that it can acquire entire spectrum at once giving an instantaneous snapshot of the sample. The spectral region HPSpec can measure is from 190 nm to 1100 nm in 1 nm per pixel increments. These parameters are fixed in the hardware and cannot be modified, similar to Ocean Optics spectrometers and unlike Jobin Yvon TRIAX spectrometers.

HP8453 is an open bench spectrophotometer. Sample compartment is open thus allowing easu access to the sample during measurements. This is very convenient for experiments requiring addition of liquid or gaseous reagents during measurements, or when custom sampes are used (i.e. electrochemical cell or tonometers).

While HP8453 is easy to use, make sure to read general notes before any measuremets and review them periodically for trouble-free use.

HP8453 is operated by Chemstation software. Chemstation can operate in several modes and has somewhat unusual internal folder structure.  New users should review those, familiarize themselves with startup/shutdown procedure, and then follow through simple measurements.  

User interface and processing capabilities of Chemstation are not quite on par with HP8453 spectrophotometer hardware. While Chemstation does its measuring job, it is recommended to save and then export data to more suitable environment for processing and analysis.