MCA-8000D Portable battery operating MCA

The MCA8000D is replacing the MCA8000A. The MCA-8000D is a full featured, digital multichannel analyzer for use with a wide variety of detector systems. The easy to use 'Pocket MCA' can fit in a shirt pocket.

Amptek’s MCA8000D is a state-of-the-art, compact, high performance, digital MultiChannel Analyzer (MCA). It replaces the MCA8000A, providing the same functionality with reduced dead time, modern communications interfaces (USB, RS-232, and Ethernet), and much higher data transfer rates. Because it does not implement digital pulse shaping, it is compatible with analog pulse shaping systems.

Superior performance is obtained from a high speed ADC (a 100 MHz 16 bit ADC) and sophisticated digital logic. The MCA8000D digitizes the input signal (the output of an analog shaping amplifier) to measure the pulse height and obtain the pulse height spectrum. The high speed ADC, with a 10 ns conversion time, reduces dead time thus increasing throughput. The digital circuitry yields high accuracy and stability.

The MCA8000D includes three interfaces, USB (USB 2.0 full speed), RS-232 (up to 115 kB), and Ethernet (10base-T). It uses the same DPPMCA software package as Amptek’s digital signal processors, including the DP5, PX5, and X-123. The MCA8000D can be powered over USB or with an external AC/DC power supply.

  • Compatible with traditional analog pulse shaping
  • High speed ADC (100 MHz, 16 bit) with digital pulse height measurement
  • 8k data channels
  • Minimum pulse peaking time 500 ns (200 ns shaping)
  • Conversion time 10 ns
  • Sliding-scale linearization.
  • Differential nonlinearity <±0.6%.
  • Integral nonlinearity <±0.02%.
  • Two peak detection modes
    • first peak after the threshold (nuclear spectroscopy)
    • absolute peak after the threshold (particle counter calibration in clean rooms)
  • Two TTL compatible gates for coincidence and anticoincidence.
  • USB, RS-232, and Ethernet communication interfaces.
  • Dimensions: 5 x 2.8 x 0.8 in / 125 x 71 x 20 mm.
  • Weight: <165 g.
  • Free PC software supports ROI, energy calibration, peak information, MCA configuration, and file management.
  • Optional PA Package for airborne and suspended particle detection applications.

Compromising nothing in performance, the MCA8000D is a low power, light weight instrument which is exceptionally versatile and easy to use.

The Option PA package has been developed to facilitate the use of the MCA8000D 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 MCA8000D 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.