Equipment
Contains an MCA and plugs directly on to a photo-multiplier tube (PMT)
It is powered through USB and uses and embedded FPGA plus a 32-bit ARM M0+ processor and SoC for acquiring histograms, computing count rates and alarms, even providing list mode operation and performing pulse shape discrimination. It can even be a complete portal monitor appliance which alarms on radioactive materials passing by in a vehicle.
Brief Specs:
- Ideal for NaI and slower scintillators
- Histogram: Sample and background at 2K×32-bit, or one bank at 4K×32-bit
- Accurate count rate measurements
- Background-subtracted spectra with statistical error analysis
- Portal monitor background tracking and alarming refreshes 10 times per second
- Two-bank listmode with programmable time stamp resolution
- Embedded neural network for pulse shape discrimination in phoswiches and neutron detectors
- Open-source application programmer's interface; Python API
- Windows/Linux wxMCA graphics user interface
- Power: 4.3V to 5.5V, 30mA, 150mW @ 5V
- PMT supply: 1400V/250µA
- USB 1.2 interface compatible with USB 2.0
- On-board software is secure against reverse engineering
- On-board software can be updated at the customer site via USB using encrypted files