Help using Canberra 8701 ADC for MCA and *more* Neutron Issues

[Luke Harrill]

Hello all, I hope you are doing well in these strange times. I will put the most important part of this post first, so I don't accidentally provide you with a cure to insomnia or excessive confusion.

To give you an idea of what I am trying to accomplish, I will first refer you to Carl's video on using an ADC as an MCA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4lGMW1hk4U

I acquired two Canberra 8701 ADC's, a Canberra ND556 Ethernet Acquisition Server, an Addtron Ethernet 10 Base-T Transceiver, and a CentreCOM 210TS Base-T Transceiver. I *thought* I was ready to start setting everything up in accordance to Carl's post (below), but the links are dead! I was a fool and didn't check them first! Frankly, I have no clue where to even start with this and could use some help. My hopes are that someone here has used a similar setup and will be able to provide some input or possibly even suggest newer software. viewtopic.php?f=13&t=5968&hilit=canberra+aim


Now for the long-winded, word-salad of an explanation: So, I first started out by trying to use a NIM bin with a nice 2ft He-3 tube. After everything was said and done, I ended up with two dead preamps and an SCA that didn't work. This was diagnosed by a NIM pulser and O-scope... So instead of buying more components, I decided that I would just change gears and bite the bullet. I got a portable Ludlum 2221 that should be able to run just about anything... But after multiple attempts with different cables, I couldn't get through the noise. This was tested by Richard's fusor at HEAS and a californium source. After that I brought it by the lab, hooked it up to their electronics, and ran a background test (shown in the image below). I enjoyed that, so I then had the idea of getting another preamp and just running it through a mca for main use. (That way I could use my NaI probe on the MCA as well.) Now I'm stuck without software to run these pieces of gear... I've had my fusor for a while now, but apparently throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks doesn't work sometimes. Thank you for any advice.

-Luke Harrill

[Scott Moroch]

Luke,

I am not familiar with the Canberra units, but my friend Jay Howson is. Below is a writeup he did on our website of how he made use of the Canberra modules for spectroscopy:

http://www.nuclearphysicslab.com/npl/np ... ra-system/

Sorry if this does not help too much. Jay is an excellent contact for this though.
Scott

[Luke Harrill]

Scott,

That looks like a fantastic guide! I'm surprised that I haven't seen that yet! Thank you very much for that link. I will update the post as I continue this attempt.

-Luke Harrill

[Jim Kovalchick]

I have been putting together an MCA system using Jay's write up as Scott mentioned. So far, I have a Windows 10 laptop now talking to a 556A AIM. I have a little more work to do before I'm getting spectra through the system, but with Jay's write up, I have come way further than I did first trying to build out of the EPICS MCA packets. All of this is made possible by Mark Rivers at the University of Chicago.

This is not the easiest way to get spectra now that there are sound card based systems, but an EPICS based system is a good way for amateurs to get a professional grade system using ebay available NIM components. If you are a code smart person it is easy. If you are like me, it will be a learning experience. EPICS also allows for control customization for the most complicated counting applications.
Jim K

[Luke Harrill]

Well, there have been a few hiccups so far.

The first was my ribbon cable between the ADC and AIM. The cable I had was rather old and decided to break off in the ADC, so I promptly ordered two new ones- an easy fix.

Once they arrived, I plugged everything up, had the software ready to go, and turned her on. I got a flash from the ADC, but not a single blinking light from the AIM... Well, a quick glance at the connector revealed that it uses the +6VDC pin. That's my second problem. On the bright side, my NIM bin is wired for +/- 6VDC. It was sold with the option to add an additional PSU that would have been attached to the top of the main one.

I spent the majority of yesterday hunting through my part piles, and finally grabbed the largest 12V wall wart I could get my hands on. I cut it open only to find that the secondary wasn't center tapped like I hoped. I don't want to break into any of my older tube driven electronics for a tranny, so I ordered a new one today. Hopefully it will arrive by Saturday. I think I'll make it for around 2A on both positive and negative 6VDC. That should be sufficient.



Jim,

Did you notice any major differences in the software Jay used on Win7 compared to Win10? I am in the same boat as you when it comes to coding.

-Luke Harrill

[Richard Hull]

Luke, I hope you get all of this straightened out. a PHA and MCA is a great thing to have working. It opens up a whole new world of nuclear capabilities.

Richard Hull

[Jim Kovalchick]

Luke, So far there hasn't been much difference with the installation on Windows 10. I am not done yet but my issues are mostly hardware.