• Dwell times selectable from 100 ns to 1,300 s per channel
• Up to 65,536 channels
• Exclusive SCA Sweep mode for recording pulse-height spectra
• Complete with operating, display and analysis software
• Plug and Play USB 2.0 connectivity to your PC
The ideal solution for:
• Time-resolved single-photon counting
• Phosphorescence lifetime spectrometry
• Atmospheric and satellite LIDAR
• Laser-induced chemical reactions
• Scanning mass spectrometers
• Time-of-flight spectrometry
• Scanning X-ray diffractometers
• Mössbauer experiments
Hardware
• Dwell time selectable from 100 ns to 1,300 seconds per channel
• Number of channels per scan selectable from 4 to 65,536
• Accepts counting rates up to 150 MHz at the fast analog input
• 1-MHz single-channel analyzer input with computer controlled upper- and lower-level
discriminators independently adjustable from 0 to +10 V
• Computer adjustable discriminator thresholds on the fast analog input and the
external channel advance input
• Zero dead time between channels: absolutely no lost counts and no double
counting at channel boundaries
• No end-of-pass dead time
• Sum mode for signal averaging; Replace mode for single-scan data; Replace then Sum mode circumvents reset dead time between acquisitions
• Up to 1,073,741,823 counts per channel in single or multiple passes
• Automatic termination of data acquisition after a preset number of passes
(up to 4 billion)
• The start of the scan can trigger the experiment, or the experiment can trigger
the start of the scan
• Includes a ramp output with computer-adjustable sawtooth and
triangular waveforms
Software
• Complete with operating, display and analysis software
• All functions are computer-controlled
• SCA Sweep mode for recording pulse-height spectra and selecting accurate SCA windows
• Spectra and instrument settings can be saved on disk and recalled for further processing
• Software features include smooth, sum, strip, compare, and normalize spectra;
peak-search, report, and user-defined job streams
• Horizontal scale calibration by least squares fitting to user-defined units
• A11-B32 Programmer’s Toolkit available for ActiveX™ programming under
LabVIEW®, Visual Basic, or Visual C++
The EASY-MCS is a compact instrument with accompanying software, which when connected to your personal computer via USB 2.0 interface transforms it into a powerful and flexible Multi-Channel Scaler (MCS) or a multiple-stop time spectrometer. Powerful software operating under Windows‚ allows all controls and spectral manipulations to be implemented via on-screen displays. Resident memory provides access to the spectral data for display purposes, without interrupting data acquisition by the EASY-MCS. With dwell times from 100 ns to 1300 s, a memory length of 65,536 channels, and input counting rates up to 150 MHz, the EASY-MCS has the flexibility to handle a wide variety of counting and timing applications.
Specifications
Performance
Maximum Counting Rate 150 MHz at the IN connector;1 MHz at the SCA IN connector.
Discriminator Thresholds (IN and CHN ADV IN) Software controlled and variable from –1.6 V to +3 V in 1.5-mV steps.
Triggering selectable for either positive or negative slopes on the fast analog signal IN connector. The external channel advance input triggers only on a positive slope.
SCA IN Thresholds Upper and lower thresholds independently selectable via the computer from 0 to +10 V with 12-bit resolution.
Dwell Time
Internal Clock Dwell time per channel is computer selectable from:
100 ns to 1.3 ms in 20-ns steps,
1.3 ms to 1.3 s in 20-μs steps,
1.3 s to 1300 s in 20-ms steps.
Accuracy: within ±100 ppm over the operating temperature range.
External Clock Input The external channel advance input (CHN ADV IN) determines the dwell time. The minimum external dwell time is 100 ns per channel.
Channel-Width Uniformity Systematic dwell-time variations over the entire pass length are <0.1% for the worst case of 100 ns dwell time.
Pass Length The number of time bins (channels) in a single pass is computer selectable from 4 to 32,768 with the ramp turned on, or up to 65,536 with the ramp turned off.
Pass Preset The instrument can be programmed to stop data acquisition after a preset number of scans. The Pass Preset can be selected from 1 to 4,294,967,295 or turned OFF.
Memory Capacity 1,073,741,823 counts per channel (30 bits).
Acquisition Modes
Sum The data set from each pass is added to the sum of the data sets from the previous passes.
Replace The data set from the current pass replaces the
data set from the previous pass.
Replace/Sum Data acquisition operates in the Replace mode on the first pass, and then switches to the Sum mode for subsequent passes. This eliminates the need to clear memory between acquisitions, and reduces the end-ofacquisition dead time when alternating data acquisition between two units of the EASY-MCS.
Maximum Counts/Channel in a Single Pass 1,073,741,823
Dead Time Between Channels There is no dead time between channels, i.e., no counts are lost at the time of channel advance. The event is always counted in exactly one of the two adjacent channels.
Electrical and Mechanical
Power Requirements
The EASY-MCS is mains powered via an included power supply.
Voltage Current Power
+12 V, 250 mA, 2.5 W.
Operating Environment
Temperature: 0 to 50 °C.
Humidity: 0 to 80% non-condensing.
Dimensions
Width: 134 mm (5.25 in.)
Depth: 205 mm (8.1 in.). Includes 28.6 mm (1.13 in.) BC
connectors.
Height: 34.9 mm (1.38 in.)
Weight
Net 0.6 kg (1.3 lb.).
Shipping 2.3 kg (5 lb.).
Computer Prerequisites
IBM-compatible PC with:
One available USB port
At least 64 MB of memory
Hard drive
CD-ROM drive (software is supplied on CD)
Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7 (32-bit)
Optional and Related Equipment
MCS-PCI-OPT2 Fan-Out Cable This cable converts the 25-pin D connector on the EASY-MCS into a separate BNC cable
connection for each input and output signal. This option is strongly recommended.
A11-B32 CONNECTIONS Programmer’s Toolkit with ActiveX™ Controls Write your own special software to control the
EASY-MCS from LabVIEW®, Visual C++, or Visual Basic.
Ordering Information
To order, specify:
Model Number Description
EASY-MCS EASY-MCS™ with software and documentation
MCS-PCI-OPT2 Fan-Out Cable
