Year
1999
Abstract
Constellation Technology Corp. has developed a self-contained, low-power MCA system for nuclear safeguards and material control applications. This system is designed for rugged, portable field use with minimal support. The system includes a high voltage detector bias supply, a preamplifier power supply, a shaping amplifier with multiple shaping times and automatic pole-zero compensa- tion, a 16K-channel ADC capable of 100K conversions per second, and nonvolatile storage of 64 16K-channel spectra. Communication with a PC computer is accomplished via a high-speed paral- lel link, a standard RS-232 serial link or an optional high-speed wireless link. All system parameters, such as gains, offsets and detector bias voltage, can be controlled from the PC. The system can be operated in the field without a computer using a single-button data-acquisition mode. The entire system is contained in a 9 cm ×15 cm ×20 cm enclosure (including batteries) and uses approxi- mately 1.2 watts of input power. Design considerations and system test results will be discussed.