Hardware
detector gets warm an the HV must be turned off. The MCA527 is able to interpret this
signal for different detectors if it is routed to pin 5 of the D-SUB9 connector. A BNC
adapter is available from
GBS
- Elektronik GmbH
. For more information see chapter 2.2.8,
Applying High Voltage.
Some NaI-detectors are equipped with a 1-wire temperature sensor. If the sensors is
connected to pin 8 of the D-SUB9 connector, the MCA527 is able to read out the detectors
temperature and displays it in the diagnostics menu. Currently only the DS1822 sensor is
supported by the firmware but in principle every 1-wire device which operates at 3.3V can
be used on the MCA527.
Other NaI-detectors have an integrated thermistor for measuring the crystals temperature.
The resistance of this sensor can be measured with the MCA527 on Pin 5 of the D-SUB9
connector. By turning on the internal current source a constant current of about 500µA is
fed into the thermistor and the resulting voltage is measured with the ADC on pin 5 (see
Figure 6). The application program calculates the corresponding resistance and
temperature with respect to the input impedance and displays it in the diagnostics menu.
Because the current source has a relative large tolerance, its real value is measured
during production and stored inside the MCA. This parameter is used for calculating the
resistance. Resistors up to 8k
W
can be measured.
If the current source is turned off, pin 5 of the D-SUB9 connector can be used as general
purpose analog input like pin 3 too. Both inputs accepts voltages between 0V an 10V and
are sampled nearly every second with a resolution of 11bit. The voltages are displayed in
the diagnostics menu.
19
Figure 6: Block diagram of all components connected to the D-SUB9 connector. Only the
MCA527 supports all functions, the MCA527L is only populated with the ±12V
preamplifier power supply.