[thirdyear]

At my school we use the GOWMAC 400 GC instruments and have just received two new ones.  We ordered the DACS strip chart software and are having lots of problems with it. 

To begin with, it's SO clunky.  To set up a run, collect data and print you've got to launch 3 different software modules, plus a browser to print the run.

The peak picking is also tricky. 

We teach the students that GC is sensitive, rapid and convenient, then we go to lab and fight the darned GCs for hours.  Lab runs long, students are frustrated and they leave with no appreciation of how powerful GC can be.   

I'm looking for suggestions on improving DACS or suggestions of other software products we could use. 

Thanks!

[Arkcon]

It's not uncommon for software to be clunky, and cludged together from different modules.  You can try raising your points with the company, and see if they can help.  Maybe there's some automation that they can provide for some modules, and some settings can be locked in advance, and not touched for student experiments.

Maybe you just need more proficiency with the software.  It seems, on the face of it, a little illogical that a student level lab experiment requires hours of work.