MCA8000 Multichannel Analyzer

MCA8000

Premium Performance at a Price You Can Afford

The MCA8000 is a general purpose multichannel analyzer.  It is engineered to give outstanding performance and value at an economical price. Packaged as a standalone unit, it features total computer control, excellent performance, and flexibility.  Connecting the MCA8000 to the PC is as simple as plugging in the cable to the on-board Ethernet interface or RS232 interface.

The MCA8000 is available in configurations from 1000 channels of conversion gain to 16,000.  Each unit comes with QuantumMCA software for Microsoft Windows, and it is compatible with our fully quantitative gamma analysis software package QuantumGold. The MCA8000 features an 8.12 microsecond successive approximation ADC. With hardware add-one to memory and an on-board 20 MHz processor. Differential non-linearity is less than ±1% over the top 99% of the range, and integral non-linearity is less than 0.05% over the same range.  Digital stabilizers are provided for both the gain and offset.  Data is stored as 31 bits per channel with an additional 8 bits for ROI information.  Flexible live time correction is provided with a choice of simple busy, Lowes, Gedcke-Hale, or external dead time methods.

The MCA8000 is fully computer controlled.  There are no pots to adjust.  Upper level (ULD) and lower level (LLD) discriminators and the ADC zero offset are all computer controlled.  Conversion gain can be set from 250 channels to the maximum for the particular model (16,000 channels for the MCA8016).  Group size can also be adjusted from 250 channels to the maximum.  A wide range of presets is available, including live time, real time, selectable ROI integral, peak height, external event, and statistical uncertainty.

The MCA8000 has all of the I/O connections for configuring any measurement application.  External rear panel BNC connections are provided for GATE, REJECT, BUSY IN and COUNT RATE IN.  The polarity of REJECT and BUSY IN can be programmed from the MCA software.  MCA outputs include SCA OUT, PEAK DETECT, and ADC BUSY.  The polarity of the PEAK DETECT and ADC BUSY signals can also be programmed from the software.  A 15-pin DSUB connector is provided for digital control signals.  This connector has three output and two input lines as well as an interrupt line, power and ground.  Several preprogrammed scenarios are available as well as direct control from the software.

The MCA8000 includes QuantumMCA software for qualitative analysis at no additional charge. In addition, QuantumMCA will control the MCA8000 hardware. For gamma applications that require quantitative analysis of spectra, see QuantumGold.

Available Configurations:

  • MCA8008:   8000 channels
  • MCA8016:  16,000 channels

Click for Specifications. View and Print with Adobe Acrobat MCA8000 Data Sheet