Portable shift register

摘要

An electronics package for a small, battery-operated, self-contained, neutron coincidence counter based on a portable shift-register (PSR) has been developed. The counter was developed for applications not adequately addressed by commercial packages, including in-plant measurements to demonstrate compliance with regulations (domestic and international), in-plant process control, and in-field measurements (environmental monitoring or safeguards). Our package's features, which address these applications, include the following: Small size for portability and ease of installation;battery or mains operation; a built-in battery to power the unit and a typical detector such as a small sample counter, for over 6 h if power lines are bad or noisy, if there is a temporary absence of power, or if portability is desired; complete support, including bias, for standard neutron detectors; a powerful communications package to easily facilitate robust external control over a serial port; and a C-library to simplify creating external control programs in computers or other controllers. Whereas the PSR specifically addresses the applications mentioned above, it also performs all the measurements made by previous electronics packages for neutron coincidence counters developed at Los Alamos and commercialized. The PSR electronics package, exclusive of carrying handle, is 8 by 10 by 20 cm; it contains the circuit boards, battery, and bias supply and weighs less than 2 kg. This instrument package is the second in an emerging family of portable measurement instruments being developed; the first was the Miniature and Modular Multichannel Analyzer (M(sup 3)CA). The PSR makes extensive use of hardware and software developed for the M(sup 3)CA; like the M(sup 3)CA, it is intended primarily for use with an external controller interfaced over a serial channel.