™ SAM 935 Surveillance and Measurement System Instruction Manual Berkeley Nucleonics Corporations 3060 Kerner Boulevard #2 San Rafael, CA 94901 USA 800-234-7858 415-453-9955 fax: 415-453-9956 http:/www.berkeleynucleonics.
Firmware Release 02.05.19 U. S. Patent No. 5608222 © 1995-1999 All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A. - 03/30/00 WARRANTY Berkeley Nucleonics Corporation warrants all instruments, including component parts, to be free from defects in material and workmanship, under normal use and service for a period of one year. If repairs are required during the warranty period, contact the factory for component replacement or shipping instructions. Include the serial number of the instrument.
Table of Contents 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.1 1.2 2 3.3 3.4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3 3 3 5 Connecting Power . . . . . . . . . . . . Connecting to a Printer . . . . . . . . . . Connecting to a Remote Computer . . . Connecting an Optional External Detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.6 6 Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 7 Area Monitor Setup . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1.1 Set the Sample Time . . . . . 6.1.2 Select Triggers . . . . . . . . 6.1.3 Set the Default Trigger Levels 6.1.4 Preventing False Alarms . . . 6.1.5 Calibrate Dose Rate. . . . . . 6.1.6 Configure Alarm Hardware . . Clear Stored Alarms . . . . . . . . . . Edit Isotopes . . . . . . . . . . .
1. Introduction Welcome to the SAM 935™, a portable surveillance and measurement system for detecting and identifying multiple nuclides.The SAM 935 identifies mixed isotopes, providing quantified results and time-slice analysis. The SAM 935 has a large feature set that addresses almost any gamma radiological task. It can be used in a very simple mode that does not require any radiological experience. The purpose of the Quick Reference in Section 1.
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1.2 Quick Reference Operating the SAM 935 is a simple 3-step process: 1. Power on the SAM 935. 2. If prompted to do so, take a quick calibration and background reading. 3. Take samples and review any alarms. 1.2.1 Power On the SAM 935 When you power on the SAM 935, it will first run a self-test as shown below: Note the battery condition here. Note the type of detector(s) installed here.
1. Press the ADJUST (F3) button. 2. You will be prompted to place the Cs137 standard in front of the detector. Position the standard as closely as possible to the right front corner of the SAM 935, where the internal detector resides: 3. After the SAM 935 has finished its coarse calibration, it will beep two times and give you the opportunity to take a background spectrum.
1.2.3 Take Samples and Review Alarms The monitoring display of the SAM 935 will look different depending on the operating mode of the instrument. The default operating mode for the SAM 935 is Surveillance mode, also called dose rate monitoring. In Surveillance mode, the SAM 935 continuously takes readings and analyzes isotopes in dose rate units, saving and reporting any alarm conditions (when the dose rate exceeds the dose rate trigger).
2. Connecting Hardware This chapter describes how to connect optional, peripheral devices to the SAM 935. The SAM 935 consists of the spectrometer electronics, internal detector(s), and optionally, an external detector. Simply follow the instructions below for connecting a printer or personal computer, and if purchased, the optional external detector. There are two tubes on each end of the SAM 935; the left tube (if you are holding the SAM 935 in normal operating mode) holds the battery pack.
Most printers compatible with the Epson command set (9-pin, 24-pin, and ink jet printers) are supported. If your printer does not have an option for a serial port connection, you may need to purchase an RS-232 serial to Centronics parallel adapter (available as an option from BNC). Otherwise, the printer may be attached to the SAM 935 in exactly the same fashion as you would attach it to the serial port of any computer.
3. Configuring the SAM 935 This chapter describes in detail how to set up the SAM 935 for daily operation. Most of the setup takes place in the Utilities menu. Summary of Steps to Take: 1. Connect the hardware as described in the previous section. 2. Power on the SAM 935 and let it self-test and start up. 3. Perform a recalibration of the SAM 935: (a) a coarse adjustment, (b) a background spectrum, and if using a new detector, (c) a fine energy calibration.
Example of a self-test with a low battery condition. The Battery Low message will replace the clock. The SAM 935 will proceed with the auto-start, but you should recharge as soon as possible. A self-test example where the batteries need to be recharged. The SAM 935 will completely shut down within approximately 15 seconds of the Battery Dead message appearing. Example of a self-test where the battery backup for non-volatile information (including spectra and alarms) has failed.
The dose rate analysis measures and records isotopes in dose rate units (rather than the confidence levels used by the Monitor mode). The different modes of operation are explained in Section 5. An example of the main dose rate monitoring screen is shown below: } The dose rate units are recorded in metric abbreviations of Sievert (Sv) or REMs (R).
2. Select Calibrate Area Monitor from the menu: The 3 steps needed to perform a recalibration are listed in the order they should be done: Before beginning the recalibration process, make sure the proper detector is selected using the Select/Edit Detector function under the UTIL key. 3.2.1 Automatic Coarse Calibration This process requires only a Cs137 source. It may take up to several minutes depending on the activity of the source. 1. Press the UTIL key. 2. Select Calibrate Area Monitor from the list.
The spectrum being measured will be displayed as it develops, and if everything is connected correctly, you should be able to watch the spectrum resolve. After each adjustment attempt, a tone will sound to indicate that the SAM 935 is still adjusting itself. For details about the coarse adjustment, refer to Section 5.6.1. 6.
4. The Preset Live Time screen will appear as shown below. Select a live time for background collection and press ENTER: For most SAM 935 operations, a collection period of 180 or 300 seconds is generally adequate. Acquiring a background spectrum takes only a few minutes, depending on the live time preset selected.
3.2.3 Fine Energy Calibration Always perform a fine energy calibration if the external detector is changed. If the SAM 935 has not been previously fine energy calibrated with a multi-line standard such as Eu152, you will see the message shown below. If no Eu152 source is available, enter the three coefficient numbers as described in Section 3.2.4. 1. Press F2. 2. Select Fine Energy Calibration from the Calibration menu, or just press F3. 3.
If you are using another standard that does not match one in this list, you will have to define it in the Calibration Standards library. See Section 6.6 for instructions on how to define calibration standards. 5. Now select a preset live time: If your Eu152 source is between 0.5 and 2 µCi, select a time of 180 seconds. If higher or lower activity, make an appropriate adjustment in count time. 6. Place the standard in front of the detector and press START (F2). 7.
8. The calibration report will appear on the display after you accept the calibration; scroll through it using the arrow keys to see all of it. The SAM 935 should find seven peaks and the energy errors (4th column) should be in the range ±5 keV. Use the arrow keys to see the details of the report or print short or long versions using the P-FULL and P-SHORT keys. Press F4 to save the fine energy calibration, if desired. This allows the fine calibration to be uploaded to a PC if needed.
3.2.4 Calibration with Three Coefficients To enter the energy calibration factors manually, the factors from a previous live energy calibration for this unit and matching detector must be available. These numbers can be found on the printout normally done at the end of a live energy calibration. Alternatively, the numbers can be those recorded earlier from a previous manual calibration with the three coefficients. 1. Press the UTIL key to bring up the Utilities menu.
2. Select Area Monitor Setup. The Setup menu takes up several screens; the arrow keys will scroll through the setup screens: Select Dose Rate Units to choose the units of measurement. 3. Use the arrow keys to highlight Select Dose Rate Units and press ENTER. 4. Select the units of measurement you want to use when monitoring: F2 for REMs per hour (R/hr) or F3 for Sievert per hour (Sv/hr). The message line above the function key labels tells you the currently selected units. 5.
The value shown on this screen is the alarm trigger; an alarm will be generated and saved whenever any monitored target exceeds this value: Allowable range is 0.001 to 999.999 in units of mR/hr or mSv/hr. 6. Use the arrow keys to move from digit to digit, and to increase or decrease the highlighted value. Press ENTER to save the change. 7. Press RETURN (F1) until you are out of the Utilities menu and back to the Surveillance monitoring screen.
4. Operating the SAM 935 If the proper procedures are followed, the SAM 935 will give an outstanding performance in monitoring your radiation environment. The key to optimum performance is establishing a routine for measurement that guarantees the system is operating correctly and is properly calibrated. To get consistent results, it is important that the system be stable thermally. In the field, this can present a real problem if the temperature is varying rapidly.
2. If you do not have an internal NaI detector, the SAM 935 will prompt you to check the cabling to the detector after it completes the self-test. Check that any cables are properly connected and then press OK (F2) to start monitoring. Check the cabling to the detector and press OK (F2) if it is acceptable. If it is not, you can press Wait (F3) to delay the auto-start another 5 minutes. After the self-test has run, the SAM 935 will wait 5 minutes and then start up, ready for operation.
4.2.1 Quick Calibration Adjustment After the self-test, the SAM 935 may prompt you to run a quick calibration adjustment before going to the dose rate monitoring screen: Calibration required means this is the first time the SAM 935 has been powered up, or some important setting changed that requires calibration. Note that your two choices are to perform the calibration adjustment (F3) or to enter the Utilities menu to adjust the instrument settings (F2).
If the SAM 935 detects that the background reading is unusable or non-existent, it will present this screen, which requires you to take a background reading: Remove the Cs137 standard and press F2 to immediately begin the background reading. 4. To take the background reading, first remove the Cs137 standard from the vicinity of the detector. Then press BKG (F2) to begin acquiring the background spectrum. 5.
4.4 Taking Readings in Surveillance Mode The monitoring display of the SAM 935 will look different depending on the operating mode of the instrument. The default operating mode for the SAM 935 is Surveillance mode, also called dose rate monitoring. In Surveillance mode, the SAM 935 continuously takes readings and analyzes isotopes in dose rate units, saving and reporting any alarm conditions (when the dose rate exceeds the dose rate trigger). 1.
4.5 Reviewing Alarms The SAM 935 can store over 250 alarm events. Each stored alarm consists of a spectrum and all of the information necessary to analyze the spectrum. Stored alarms can be viewed by using the ← and → arrow keys: Review stored alarms by pressing the ← or → arrow keys from the main Surveillance monitoring screen: • From the main display, press the ← (left) arrow key to display the previous (most recent) alarm.
4.6 The SAM 935 Interface This section explains the SAM 935 interface controls. 4.6.1 The Front Panel The front panel of the SAM 935 has an LCD screen where instructions and data are displayed. At the top of each screen is a mode name (e.g., “Utilities” or “SAM-935” in the example below). In some screens, a description of the current step appears below the screen mode name (e.g., “Edit Isotopes” or “Auto Adjust”).
4.6.2 Function Keys The labels just above the function keys show what function each key will perform. Some function keys perform a single defined function, such as RETURN, which always appears over F1 when available. RETURN is used to exit from the current screen when done. CANCEL is used to abort from a step, typically without saving any of the changes that might have been made.
Editing Text An example of text editing is shown in this Edit Standard Name screen. The current value of the text is shown in highlight on the screen. 1. Each character must be entered by highlighting it in the grid (the letter “A” is highlighted here) using the arrow keys, and then pressing SELECT (F2). The selected character(s) will appear in the highlighted field. 2. To edit the text in the highlighted field: press DELETE (F3) to delete a character; press SPACE (F4) to enter a blank space. 3.
4.6.5 The Utilities Screen Press the UTIL key from the main screen to bring up the Utilities menu, which has more items than will fit on one screen: Use the ↑ and ↓ keys to scroll through the list, and the ← and → keys to move to the next page. You can also get to the end of the list quickly by pressing the ↑ key at the top of the list. You can directly access three of the choices, or exit, using the function keys: RETURN F1 Returns to the main menu.
5. SAM 935 Modes of Operation The SAM 935 default operation is the Surveillance mode, also called dose rate monitoring. Dose rate monitoring is the focus of this manual. In addition, options in the Utilities menu allow you to operate the SAM 935 in Monitor, Detail, or Manual modes. You toggle the modes of operation from the Utilities menu: Area Monitor Setup: Select Display Modes: The default setup for the SAM 935: only the Surveillance operating mode is enabled.
The Surveillance screen when alarms have been triggered looks something like this: The function keys on the Surveillance monitoring display are: • CALIB (F2) performs the quick, one-button calibration adjustment that is described in Section 4.2.1 and in the Quick Reference. • CAPTURE (F3) saves the currently displayed reading. The current alarm will be terminated when you press CAPTURE. If the condition continues to alarm, a new alarm will be created and you will again have the choice to capture it or not.
• CAPTURE (F3) saves the currently displayed reading. The current alarm will be terminated when you press CAPTURE. If the condition continues to alarm, a new alarm will be created and you will again have the choice to capture it or not. • SILENCE (F4) turns off the audible alarm. If there are no alarms currently going on, then the F4 function key becomes ALM TEST.
The Manual mode screen will appear: Note this message: Pressing the Util key in Manual mode toggles a different set of function keys; see Section 5.4.3. 2. Begin taking readings. When a spectrum is displayed, the message line will normally display the cursor readout. Displayed are the cursor channel (CH), the energy (EN, if calibrated), and the counts in the cursor channel (CNTS). 3. If everything is correct, press ACCEPT. The spectrum will be analyzed and the results displayed on the screen.
5.4.1 MCA Presets When PRE ADJ (F4) is selected, the presets are displayed in the data area. When the presets are displayed, the F4 function key changes to read HW ADJ (or HW INFO when not in Manual mode). The SAM 935 has the following types of preset controls: ON/OFF When the preset enable is set to OFF presets will have no effect. It is the same as setting all presets to zero. LT Pre Preset live time. RT Pre Preset real time. Pk Pre Preset peak count. Int Pre Preset integral.
5.4.2 Manual Hardware Adjustments HW Adj/HW Info This key switches the information displayed in the data window to the hardware parameters. When HW ADJ/HW INFO is selected from the Presets screen, a set of hardware parameters is listed in the data window. The F4 function key becomes a DATA key that returns the system to the data mode. HV Supp Displays the state of the bias voltage supply – on or off. BIAS Current bias voltage setting. This voltage ranges from 200 to 1000 volts.
5.4.3 Manual Mode Utilities When you are in the Manual mode display, the UTIL key has a special function: it switches to alternate sets of function keys. When the UTIL button is pressed while the initial Manual screen is displayed, the following set of function keys are displayed: Wide This key changes the spectrum display so that the spectrum occupies the full width of the display. Strip This key displays the spectrum with the ambient background subtracted. When pressed, the label changes to NORMAL.
The peak labeling function allows you to display the gamma lines associated with particular nuclides superimposed on the current spectrum. This feature is available both during and at the end of data acquisition. The ISO - (F2) and ISO + (F3) keys cycle through the list of all enabled nuclides in the nuclide database. For each, the enabled lines are shown with a height proportional to the log of their intensity.
If you are operating with a 5-second sample time (the default), a background of 180 seconds or longer is desirable. Once the background spectrum is taken, you are given the opportunity to review the report generated or to print it in long or short form. Check the gross CPM displayed on the report screen carefully. Under normal conditions, you should expect this number to be between 3000 CPM and 4000 CPM.
After each adjustment attempt, a tone will sound to indicate that the SAM 935 is still adjusting itself. The SAM 935 begins with the bias voltage at a minimum level and then increases it to achieve coarse agreement with the desired peak location. Once coarse agreement is achieved (or the maximum bias voltage is reached), the coarse gain and fine gain controls are used to achieve an energy match to within 0.8 percent. A final step will adjust the zero offset.
6. Utilities The Utilities menu provides access to a variety of setup and database editing functions, most of which are described in this section. These utilities are discussed elsewhere in this manual as noted: • Calibrate Area Monitor, see Section 3.2. • Manual mode of operation, see Section 5.4. Functions can be selected by moving the highlight up and down with the ↑↓ keys and then pressing ENTER. The most frequently utilized functions can be found on the function keys at the bottom of the screen.
6.1 Area Monitor Setup The Area Monitor Setup menu contains several options for configuring the SAM 935 in Monitor Mode. You can select which isotopes to monitor, how long to take samples of these isotopes, and the conditions under which alarms will be triggered. The Area Monitor Setup menu takes up several screens; the arrow keys will scroll through the setup screens: Note the password configuration option here. You can prevent unauthorized access to the Utilities menu by setting up password-protection.
To change the sample time: 1. Select Set Sample Time on the Area Monitor Setup menu: 2. Use the ↑ and ↓ arrow keys to increase or decrease the amount of time in seconds that each sample is acquired. 3. Press ENTER when finished. CANCEL will exit without changing the original value. 6.1.2 Select Triggers The SAM 935 can be configured to monitor up to 22 triggers at one time. You can configure three types of triggers: Isotope Any isotope from the isotope library.
Cursor Points To F2 F3 F4 ISOTOPE – Allows you to select an isotope Any Isotope EDIT - Allows one isotope to DELETE the FULL trigger be replaced by another from the list DELETE – Removes the FULL FULL trigger from the list DELETE – Removes the PEAK PEAK trigger from the list TRIG LVL– Allows you to change the trigger level TRIG LVL – Allows you to change the trigger level TRIG LVL – Allows you to change the trigger level F2, Edit an Isotope: Scroll down the list of isotopes to the
6.1.4 Preventing False Alarms The Hysteresis items in the Monitor Setup menu allow you to mask out unnecessary alarms. One of the most common “false alarm” scenarios occurs when a burst of radiation from a cosmic ray causes a very short-term pulse of counts. To prevent this type of event from triggering an alarm, the SAM 935 has the ability to require that consecutive sample intervals all exceed a trigger level.
To change the Off Hysteresis: 1. Select Set Off Hysteresis on the Monitor Setup menu: 2. Use the ↑ and ↓ arrow keys to increase or decrease the value. This value is the number of consecutive sample intervals that do NOT exceed the trigger which will determine when an alarm condition is triggered OFF. 3. Press ENTER when finished. CANCEL will exit without changing the original value. 6.1.
2. If you know what the value should be, press F3 to manually edit the value: When finished, press ENTER to save the new value. Contact your supplier if needed to get the value to be entered manually here. - OR 3. To perform the dose rate calibration, press F2. The SAM 935 will tell you that you need a Cs137 source of known activity and date to do this: 4. Press ENTER. 5. Enter the activity of the calibration standard at the next screen and press ENTER: 6.
8. It will take approximately 1-3 minutes to finish, at which time the display will show you the new dose rate calibration value. Record this number for future reference. 6.1.6 Configure Alarm Hardware This utility allows you to enable and disable the keyboard beep, the internal alarm’s audio beep, and the flashing visual alarm. Press F2 to enable or disable the currently highlighted item. 6.2 Clear Stored Alarms This utility will clear the memory of all stored alarms and their associated spectra.
6.3.1 Adding a New Isotope To add a new isotope, press ADD (F2). A new entry will be added at the bottom of the list. Then use the EDIT and ENABLE functions as described next to give the isotope the name and parameters desired. 6.3.2 Enable/Disable Isotopes Only those isotopes that are “enabled” are considered in searches and quantitative analysis. To enable an isotope, select it in the list with the arrow keys and press ENABLE (F3).
3. Edit the units for the half-life. The available half-life units are selected from a list as shown below: 6.4 Edit Isotope Radiations The radiations database initially contains over 280 lines. Lines may be added to existing isotopes or new isotopes may be added with their lines. When Edit Radiations is selected, the Select Isotope screen is displayed. Use the ↑↓ keys to select the isotope whose lines are to be edited. Press ENTER. The Edit Radiations for “Isotope” screen is now displayed. 1.
4. When you have selected all the isotopes you want to print, press ENTER to send it to the printer. To print the entire database, press F3. An example of a Nuclide Database Printout can be found on page 62. 6.6 Edit Calibration Standards Calibration standard definitions are stored in a database in the SAM 935’s non-volatile RAM. For each standard, the SAM 935 stores a name (up to 19 characters), a standard calibration date and time, and up to three isotopes.
4. For each isotope to be added, select an entry and press EDIT (F4). 5. The Select Isotope screen will appear as shown below. Use the ↑↓ keys to highlight the desired isotope. Press ENTER to select it and return to the previous screen. 6.7 Select / Edit Detector SAM 935s ship with an internal or optional external detector that is already set up at the factory. If you want to review information about the detector, you do so with this utility: 1.
Each detector has the following parameters associated with it: Name: The name for this detector. Diameter: Diameter of the actual NaI crystal in cm. Thickness: Thickness of the detector in cm. Samp Dist: Distance from the sample to the detector surface. For well-type detectors, enter zero. Window 1: First detector window. For most NaI detectors, this will be aluminum. The thickness is in cm. Window 2: Second detector window thickness in cm. Window 3: Third detector window thickness in cm.
• The maximum uncertainty value (default 1.0) will require that a peak's counts be at least N times higher than the counting uncertainty before that peak will be used in matching. This is useful for discarding low-count rate peaks from noisy spectra. A value of 0 means that all peaks will be accepted. The factory-set default value is 1.000. • The energy match window parameters A and B define a tolerance of +/-(A+Bx) in terms of the energy of the measured peak.
6.11 Set Serial Speed Select the speed that matches your printer or computer, and press ENTER. This utility allows you to select from a number of possible RS232 transmission speeds for your SAM 935 unit. Be sure that the setting you select is compatible with the printer or computer you have connected to the serial port, and that you have selected the same setting for that device. 6.12 Set Report Title String Each report printed by the system has a 36-character title printed at the top.
6. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to change the system time. 7. Press ENTER at the time set screen to save your changes and return to the Utilities menu. The SAM 935 checks the day of the month against the month to prevent improper values from being entered. 6.14 Set Backlight Delay Time This function sets a delay time for the display backlight. The backlight will turn off if there has been no activity for the amount of time specified here. To turn the backlight on, press any key.
6.17 Switch to Remote The SAM 935 can be connected to a remote computer through a standard RS-232 COM port. Several analytical software packages are available from your sales representative, in addition to the AutoLoad software described in Appendix A. To allow the remote computer to control the system, it must be placed in remote mode with this option. The SAM 935 will remain in remote mode until the EXIT (F1) key is pressed on the unit’s keyboard.
7. Reports Examples of each report available in the SAM 935 are included here with an explanation of their contents. 7.1 Area Monitor Report of Alarms The area monitor report lists information about alarms. You get this report by pressing F3 while in review mode on the monitoring display (if F3 is labelled PRN SEL). Only the stored alarm that is currently displayed will be printed. Area Monitor Report Alarm # 1 at 14-Jul-1999 21:14:44 for 21 sec Nuclide(s) Peak Conf Total Conf Cs137 20978.87 28429.
7.3 Energy Calibration Report The energy calibration report is generated when a multi-line standard is measured to generate a quadratic energy calibration for the system.
7.4 Manual MCA Report The MCA report is available only in Manual mode of operation, which is described in Section 5.4. MCA REPORT DATE: EN CAL DATE: 15-Jul-1999 13:28 15-Jul-1999 10:29 BKG DATE: GROSS CPM: NET CPM: GROSS INTEGRAL: NET INTEGRAL: 15-Jul-1999 10:29 306479 305978 747963 746740 FULL SCALE: PEAKS FOUND CHN ENERGY (keV) 14 31.4 30 77.7 56 205.4 88 434.4 111 656.6 130 871.3 141 1005.6 160 1270.7 BIAS: COARSE GAIN: FINE GAIN: LOW DISC: HIGH DISC: ELAPSED LT: ELAPSED RT: DEAD TIME: 768 1 1.
7.5 Database Reports From the UTIL menu, it is possible to print a Database Report describing the status of one or all of the nuclides and their radiation lines. A sample database report is shown here: Nuclide Database Printout Nuclide Halflife Enabled Trig Lvl Enabled Eu152 13.542 Y Ena 200U/2k R 344.3 26.60 0.00 1.320 Energy Intensity Effic SumCorr 41.0 82.0 121.8 162.8 244.7 73.80 0.00 28.40 0.00 7.49 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 4.660 1.000 4.600 1.000 1.000 411.1 444.0 778.9 867.4 964.1 1101.
8. Specifications Preamplifier Type: Input: Gain: Charge Sensitive Negative Current (anode) -5 mV/pC Amplifier Type: Shaping: Coarse Gain: Fine Gain: Int. Non-Linearity: Gain Instability: Initial Offset: Offset Instability: Pseudo-Gaussian Bipolar, 3 µsec peaking time 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x 1.000 to 2.550 in steps of approximately 0.0006 < ± 0.1 % < ± 0.
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Appendix A: AutoLoad With any of the PGT Quantum™ products comes a copy of the AutoLoad spectrum retrieval program. This program allows you to upload and store spectra from the SAM 935. Installing AutoLoad The AutoLoad program may be installed in either of two ways. If you have already installed your Quantum MCA software, you may have already installed the AutoLoad program as well.
First, you must select the device whose spectra you wish to retrieve. Do this by picking the name from the drop-down list under "Select Device." If you have multiple similar devices, it may be helpful to note that the names match the ones you see in the Hardware Search program and in the primary spectrum ID box in the MCA application. Also, serial devices have an identifying number such as ":002" that specifies that the device is connected to the COM2 port.
Device-Specific Notes for the SAM 935 Each spectrum that is uploaded from the SAM 935 has a Spectrum ID, which is displayed in the window above the spectrum as it is being uploaded. This spectrum ID gives information about the spectrum type (MCA, BKG, etc.), the acquisition date, and the serial number of the SAM 935 unit which collected the data. The SAM 935 replays the data in temporal order.
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