MASH Phase II Supplement to MASH

This document details Phase II of the Mass Spectrometer Handler (MASH) system, which significantly expands the data reporting and analysis capabilities beyond the initial data acquisition focus of Phase I. Created on October 18, 1971, this document serves as a supplement to the MASH User's Manual: Version I and supersedes an earlier version.

The key expansions are categorized into three major areas:

1. New Report Generator Features: The system now offers printed mass tables, a chaining facility to examine consecutive files, various normalization options (to sum of intensities or highest sum of intensities), ordered printouts of the ten highest peaks, the ability to examine mass chromatographs, and the generation of hard copy plotter output.
2. Plotter Capability: MASH Phase II supports CALCOMP, Houston, and Electrostatic plotters, providing operators extensive control over the plotted data, including peak deletion, thresholding, and setting X/Y ranges.
3. New File Creations:
   • Mass Chromatographs: The "MCHROM" program generates files showing intensity versus scan number for specified masses, aiding in identifying compounds within Gas Chromatograph (GC) peaks.
   • Total Ion Current (TIC) as a Sum of Intensities vs. Scan Number: For GC-MS systems lacking TIC during scanning, the "TICGEN" program calculates and saves TIC data by summing intensities for each scan.
   • Background Subtraction of Noise from Scan Data: The "BCKSUB" program addresses contamination issues in GC-MS analysis by allowing users to subtract background noise scans from subsequent peak scans, yielding cleaner data.

The document also provides detailed assembly instructions for the six core programs that constitute the MASH Phase II system: Calibration, Acquisition, Report Generation, Mass Chromatograph, TIC As Sum of Intensities, and Background Subtract.