The Amptek MCA8000A ‘POCKET MCA’ is a state-of-the-art, compact, low power Multichannel Analyzer (MCA) with the high performance typically found only in much larger systems. Building on 20 years of experience in producing scientific spacecraft instrumentation, Amptek has developed specialized, high density circuitry that gives
the MCA8000A a significant advantage in size and power over other MCAs. All that is needed to operate the MCA8000A is a computer with a standard RS-232 serial interface.
Superior performance results from a sophisticated low-power peak hold circuit (Amptek PH300) followed by a 16 bit analog to digital converter with sliding scale linearization. Spectra are accumulated in nonvolatile memory and read out by a microcontroller. Advanced power management techniques maximize battery life.
The POCKET MCA gives the performance necessary for semiconductor detectors such as HPGe, Si and CZT. At the same time, it provides the portability needed in the field. The user friendly software included with the MCA8000A
allows the acquisition, display, calibration and manipulation of spectra in both DOS and Windows environments.
Compromising nothing in performance, the MCA8000A is a low power, light weight instrument which is exceptionally versatile and easy to use. Ideal for laboratory work, OEM applications, and portable instrumentation.

• 16k data channels.
• Stores up to 128 spectra.
• Conversion time <5 μs (>200,000 cps).
• Two stage input analog pipeline.
• Differential nonlinearity <±0.6%. Integral nonlinearity <±0.02%. Sliding-scale linearization.
• Two peak detection modes: first peak after the threshold (nuclear spectroscopy) or absolute peak after the threshold (particle counter calibration in clean rooms).
• Two TTL compatible gates for coincidence and anticoincidence.
• Stand-alone data acquisition.
• Date-time stamp.
• Stored spectra protection via software security and serial ID number.
• High speed 115.2 kbps serial interface.
• Battery life: 24 hours of continuous data acquisition from two 1.5V AA batteries.
• Dimensions: 6.5 x 2.8 x 0.8 in / 165 x 71 x 20 mm.
• Weight (including batteries): <300 g.
• Free PC software supports ROI, energy calibration, peak information, MCA configuration, and file management.

The Option PA package has been developed to facilitate the use of the MCA8000A for particle counting in airborne (Size Calibration) and liquid suspended1 (Number Calibration) particle applications. The unit is calibrated and certified traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

The Option PA package is capable of detecting pulses of less than 5 mV to 10 V. The MCA8000A is typically connected to the output of a particle sensor. It detects and displays a spectrum of pulse heights allowing the user to determine if a given particle size is producing the correct voltage.

The software included with the MCA provides information on the peak center (centroid and mean calculation) making it easy to determine if the peak is in the correct position. The supplied calibration curves convert the MCA channel scale to a mV scale. The calibration curves can be set to load automatically when the software opens.