Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Scintillation Mode for Multi-Channel Analyzer kit


SCINTILLATION mode for searching with NaI(Tl) / CsI probe.

In firmware 1.03a we have added scintillation mode for the MCA module. The mode allows you
to use your NaI(Tl) probe for searching of low contaminated areas. First time you activate the
scintillation mode the software will run 5 minutes calibration to calculate average and standard
deviation for your probe.

Menu Functions related to Scintillation mode:

SCINT MODE – activate scintillation mode, restart applied by auto.
BEEP FREQ.HZ – set for sounder clicker frequency.
DEALAY N-pulses – the module will click on every N particle detected.
CONFIDENCE SIGMA – set 2 for fast searching or 3 for more accurate search but slower
response of alert.
CALIBRATE SD – will trigger 5 minute scintillation re-calibration on the next restart.
AVERAGING SEC – 2 or 3 seconds to average CPS results. Use 2 for faster search.

Take note, some MCA menu settings for acquisition spectrum is not active in scintillation mode!
Switch back to spectrum mode by setting SCINT MODE to OFF.


Thursday, August 23, 2018

PCB of gamma spectroscopy driver with USB

The board has adjustable high voltage converter with positive polarity output for 2-wire configuration of a photomultiplier probe. It has pulse amplifier with potentiometers to adjust pulse rise/decay time and amplification factor. Signal is coupled to USB audio chip that detected by standard Windows drivers as an general audio-device.
This gamma spectroscopy driver is directly compatible with popular software like Theremino, PRA and BecqMoni2011.  

Saturday, June 30, 2018

MCA module firmware update 1.03

I did firmware 1.03 update for the MCA module, if you want to update please contact me by email. If you have any suggestions before I make the final compile please let me know too:)




Software 1.03 update summary:
1. Set LCD ZOOM RANGE in menu. Added LCD zoom. You can set number of channels to display on LCD from 128 to 1024.

2. Set LCD FIRST CH. Related to LCD zoom, you can set the first channel for LCD zoom range. 

LCD zoom settings has no influence on SD data file. As before, the log. file will contain all 1024 channels.

3. SET MIN CH and SET MAX CH functions where updated. Previously it was used only to filter out noise channels on top/end of a spectra. Now it also allows to select a specific region and ignore all peaks beyond. On SD file, all filtered channels will be saved with zero value.
Be careful not to overlap minimum and maximum channels, otherwise the MCA will not capture any spectra. 


4. REMOVE NOISE CPS when enabled, allows to show on LCD only relevant CPS counts in range of minimum / maximum channels. When disabled, all CPS events are counted for LCD. This function can be useful when you debug the noise level of your system or want to estimate full spectra CPS vs. activity for selected region. 


5. Added sound/melody notifications on RA6 port of the processor. For PCB version 1.00 you can wire an external components to drive a little magnetic buzzer.


6. SET MAX TIME increased up to 7200 seconds to capture longer spectrum.


7. Fixed initial zero spectra bug that occurred without incoming signal in firmware 1.00








Saturday, June 9, 2018

ATMOSCAN

https://www.instructables.com/id/AtmoScan/
Beautiful project made by Marc Finns! Thank you for sharing it:) One of the module he used in his construction was our High Voltage Module for Geiger Tube with digitized output: UPC Number: 635292807428




Sunday, April 22, 2018

Building DIY Portable Handheld Multi-Channel Analyzer for Gamma Spectroscopy "GammaViewer-1.00"

The project has two parts: first is the NaI(Tl) detector with photomultiplier tube and internally installed driver, second part is the MCA that can count pulses and analyze energy range of the incoming signal. Here I'll show the photos of my build process for the project and if you'll have questions or will need components for yours projects then you are welcome to contact me.



Read the full article under the cut:

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Gamma Spectroscopy with iPad Geiger Bot MCA

The detector has built in NaI(Tl) crystal, photomultiplier tube, high voltage and pulse amplifier. It connected to iPad Geiger Bot MCA


Eu-152 log.scale spectra:

Cs-137 spectra:
 

Co-60 + Cs-137 weak source (background mixed):