Development of a portable data processor with mechanical data output for use with a miniature fast analyzer.

The Mark I Data Processor is a system for acquiring, processing, and printing, without the aid of a computer, the results of analyses carried out in Fast Analyzers. Because it is inexpensive and portable, this system is particularly applicable for use with the newly developed miniature Fast Analyzer. It uses digital logic to correlate the signals originating at the photodetector of the analyzer with the proper cuvet position and corresponding recorder channel. The transmission pulses are converted electronically to absorbance values, which are recorded as printed dots on a data card. Vertical height on the card is proportional to absorbance, with the maximum absorbance and the absorbance span to be covered being set by calibrated potentiometers. The Mark I Data Processor has been evaluated in parallel with an on-line computer, and data obtained from it have been found to correlate with the computer-derived data.