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\newcommand{\cc }{$^{12}$C}
\newcommand{\cstar }{$^{12}$C*}
\newcommand{\oo }{$^{16}$O}
\newcommand{\mg }{$^{24}$Mg}
\newcommand{\na }{$^{23}$Na}
\newcommand{\be }{$^{8}$Be}
\newcommand{\si }{$^{28}$Si}
\newcommand{\su }{$^{32}$S}
\newcommand{\neon }{$^{20}$Ne}
\newcommand{\ca }{$^{40}$Ca}
\newcommand{\crr }{$^{48}$Cr}
\newcommand{\he }{$^{4}$He}
\newcommand{\al }{$\alpha $}
\newcommand{\gam }{$\gamma $--ray}
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\begin{document}

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\noindent
\begin{minipage}[t]{10cm}
\fbox{
\parbox[t]{5cm}{
{\large {\bf Minutes}}\\[2mm]
Charissa@GANIL Meeting
}}\\[7mm]
\makebox[3.5cm][l]{Meeting held on:} 1 October 1996\\[2mm]            % Date
\makebox[3.5cm][l]{Meeting held at:} Birmingham \\[2mm]     % Place
\end{minipage}
\hfill \raisebox{-2.5cm}{
\psfig{figure=../../text/charissa/char-encap.ps,height=3cm}}\\[2mm]

\begin{center} \begin{tabular}{l@{~~}l} \hline
~\\								% Present
\makebox[2.5cm][l]{Present:} & \parbox[t]{12cm}{
W.Catford, M.Freer, N. Curtis, S. Chappell}\\
~\\								% Distribution
\makebox[2.5cm][l]{Distribution:} & \parbox[t]{12cm}{
NAO,char-meeting@nnga.dl.ac.uk by e-mail/file-server 
}\\
~\\ \hline
\end{tabular} \end{center}
~\\[0.5cm]
%\addtolength{\headheight}{2.5cm}
{\large {\bf Minutes}} \\[0.5cm]

\begin{enumerate}

\item	 {\bf Items to be added to agenda/Summary of experiments:} 

NMC was unfortunately, at the last minute, unable to attend. There were no
items to add to the Agenda. 

WNC summarised the recent and forthcoming
experiments. These are: (a) Easter-time 1996 $^{17}$B/$^{19}$C run on SPEG,
(b) recent LISE run for gamma-rays was not part
of programme but gave LISE experience, 
(c) study of inverse (p,d) reaction on $^{11/12}$Be in collaboration with
LPC and Orsay, to use 2-D PSD's plus SPEG, rescheduled 
after SISSI breakdown from September hopefully to April 1997,
(d) breakup of $^{12}$Be to $^6$He + $^6$He using 2-D PSD's with CsI plus
LISE, planned for June 1997, (e) hopefully neutron breakup of
$^{14}$Be and other haloes using DEMON, June/July/Aug 1997.

\item	 {\bf British Council application for travel:} 

An application to fund a small number of visits between Birmingham/Surrey
and LPC Caen had been submitted on time at Easter. Announcement was due in
August. Neither UK nor Caen had heard result.

\item	 {\bf Status of the mounts and preamps for running in SPEG:} 

The aim is to have these available to test during the GANIL shutdown
period, in the SPEG chamber, with alphas, in Feb 97. \action{WNC}

The preamps, mounted in 19-inch rack boxes of 40 per box, are essentially
complete (say, early November). They are powered through a D-pin amphenol
socket that can be connected to a Birmingham NIM unit. The back panel will
shortly be modified to use lemo sockets for the inputs. The outputs are BNC's
on the front panel. The bias resistors are 12 M$\Omega $, matched to the leakage
compensation circuitry of the Charissa bias supplies that are now in
Birmingham. \\ \mbox{} \action{NMC}

A prototype of the detector mount PCB exists. The INDRA type connectors are
in Birmingham and will be incorporated in the  mounting 
boards.  \action{MF}

The cables have been ordered by J. Winfield and will be made in GANIL. \action{WNC}

It should be clarified whether the INDRA type connectors --- now used also
on LISE, ORION and for the SPEG beam tracking detectors --- are in fact
the same design as the connectors from Strasbourg, for which Steve Lawson
(York) has drawings. \action{SPGC}

\item	 {\bf  Status of the 64 channel DA system:} 

The aim is to have amplifiers available for the tests in Feb 97 (previous item),
and the entire operational system in GANIL before June 97 for the
planned breakup experiment. A pre-assembly of the DA in Birmingham is planned.

The amplifiers will result from the next batch of chip insertion and testing
at Birmingham; they are presently there but without chips. This will be
2--4 weeks' work and it is planned to be completed after the new DA system
is working, but before Christmas. The crates will be included. \action{MF}

The amplifiers are presently controlled using a PC and some software
development would be welcomed. 

At one stage a 64-channel system physically existed in Birmingham and at
present the components are distributed between Birmingham and the ANU.
A summary is given in table 1. The exabyte drive situation was uncertain.
Apart from this,
sufficient numbers of all items were
identified between the two sites, but VME items 
and the workstation require clarification.

An inventory needs to be obtained from
people presently at ANU for CAMAC, VME and similar items. \action{MF}

\begin{table}
\caption{Items for 64-channel DA system for GANIL. The current tests of the
new MEGHA data acquisition system (which works completely differently) are
referred to as ``new DA tests''.}
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|l|p{8cm}|} \hline
Item & Likely location at present \\ \hline
~ & ~ \\
ADC's		& 4 in Bham, 4 in ANU \\
TDC's		& 1 in Bham and 1 spare in ANU \\
CAMAC crates	& 2 presently in Bham for new DA tests should become free \\
CAMAC modules	& RSM, FETCH etc all in ANU as spares but can be called back\\
VME crate	& 1 in Bham for new DA tests. Need to clarify if needed for
		  new system when goes to ANU.\\ 
~ & \mbox{} \action{MF} \\
VME modules	& Full set of modules presently in Bham. Clarification
		  needed as per previous item. \action{MF} \\
Workstation	& One presently in Bham for new DA tests. Clarification
		  needed as above. \action{MF} \\
Tape drives	& To be determined. Two drives needed. \\ 
~ & \mbox{}  \action{MF,WNC}\\
Trigger panels	& One 64-channel panel at Bham. Need to retrieve spare
                 from ANU if need TDC patching beyond 64 channels.\\
Trigger electronics & Gate and stretcher modules needed from ANU. 
               Maybe others also. Traditional logic boxes will be used.\\ 
~ & ~ \\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\end{table}

\item	 {\bf Experiments for next year with DEMON, and MF experiment:} 

It was noted that Nigel Orr  presented a letter of intent to the
PAC stating the intention to propose a series of experiments with the
neutron array DEMON during its time at GANIL in 1997. A series of experiments
to study the breakup of $^6$He, $^{14}$Be and other neutron rich nuclei
was proposed, and would hopefully be performed in the second half of 1997.
It was also noted that this would involve some rebuilding of the target
room D6 to move the back wall further from the target, thus allowing DEMON
detectors to be better stacked around zero degrees.

It is planned that the breakup experiment proposed by MF, for a $^{12}$Be
beam, would be performed in the DEMON chamber previously used for the
$^{19}$C experiment. There will be a proton target. The breakup particles
will be detected in 10 2-D PSD's backed by CsI detectors, giving a total
of 60 channels. The expected low event rates are likely to mean that TDC's
are not required. However, there are also beam tracking detectors (two x-y 
PPAC's near the target), a timing beam counter (possibly plastic, to be
developed at Birmingham), and other possible signals from LISE (MCP and PPAC,
HF timing) to be considered. \\ \mbox{}  \action{MF}

There was a little discussion about the possibility of performing the
breakup experiment either sandwiched between DEMON runs, or else simultaneously
(e.g. a $^{12}$Be beam will be needed during the $^{14}$Be
experiment). The rate of $10^5$ pps for the $^{12}$Be beam makes it
difficult to operate a detector at zero degrees, but maybe not impossible.

With reference to the above, it should be established whether there are
moveable arms inside the DEMON chamber. \action{WNC}

Also, with regard to combining signals from the charged particle detectors
and the DEMON detectors (for either type of experiment), it should be
determined whether the DEMON system uses Silena ADC's or similar with
FERA readout. \\ \mbox{} \action{WNC}

\item	 {\bf Extended stays at LPC and GANIL:} 

MF is planning to be at LPC for July and August, approximately, and also
October (3 months in total). NMC has study leave July to December inclusive,
but partly this will likely involve time in Strasbourg, FSU and ANU also.

MF reported that he had arranged for a student of Karsten Riisager's to
spend three weeks at Birmingham from 7 October.

\item	 {\bf Nigel Orr's visit after 9 November:} 

It is planned to invite Nigel for seminars in Birmingham and Surrey,
during which time the matters relating to the forthcoming experiments
and future proposals can be discussed further. \action{JTM,WNC}

\item	 {\bf Status of the new grant announcement:} 

Although no official announcement had been received, it was understood
that the Charissa equipment request had been reduced by about 1/3 in the
grant allocations. It was still not decided exactly how this would be
applied between the different parts of the request; funds were requested
for capital costs at GANIL (\pounds 264K) and ANU 
(\pounds 72K) and replacement/operating costs at GANIL (\pounds 128K),
the ANU (\pounds 250K) and Strasbourg (\pounds 48K). The replacement and
running costs were for 4 years (as was the capital) so the component for
actual running costs at GANIL (\pounds 7K) was realistic.

A summary of the request for GANIL is attached in tables 2 and 3.

\begin{table}
\caption{Summary of GANIL grant request (manpower).}
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|l|p{8cm}|} \hline
\underline{NPSG effort} & ~ \\
Man years & Description\\
~ & ~ \\
0.2/yr	& design of new MEGHA module and target chamber\\
0.1/yr	& gas detector support\\
0.1/yr	& computing support\\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\end{table}
\begin{table}
\caption{Summary of complete GANIL grant request (cash).}
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|l|r|p{6cm}|} \hline
\underline{Capital Costs} & $\longrightarrow $ & to add to existing 64-channel system \\
Item & \pounds ~(\,K\,) & ~\\
Preamps (144 off) & 8.0 & \pounds 56 per channel \\
Amplifiers (192) & 33.6 & \pounds 175 per channel \\
CAMAC Crates/controllers (3) &  24.0 & \pounds 8.0K per crate/controller \\
CAMAC Crates/controllers (1) &  0.0 & from ANU system \\
ADC's already owned (12) & 0.0 & from ANU system \\
Extra ADC's to buy (6) & 14.0 & \pounds 2.3K per item \\
Bias supply channels (32) & 0.0 & from ANU system \\
TDC's and CFD's (9)  & 16.4 & \pounds 1.8K or \pounds 0.9K per item\\
Trigger units & 15.0 & ~ \\
Setting up electronics & 12.0 & pulser etc. \\
VME items for DA & 28.3 & ~ \\
Workstation/peripherals & 17.4 & for data acquisition control \\
DLT drives (2) & 12.0 & no exabytes costed in \\
~ & ~ & ~ \\
Interfacing to VXI (MUST/gamma) & 10.0 & development at Daresbury \\
MEGHA module construction & 5.0 & 2 normal + customized design for SPIRAL \\
Chamber construction  & 5.0 & enough for mods and extensions \\
Gas handling system & 5.0 & small system similar to Surrey one \\
~ & ~ & ~ \\
Detectors (4 strip detectors) & 8.0 & ~\\
Detectors (2 MEGHA) & 50.0 & main detector stock; 1 load for each module\\
~ & ~ & ~ \\
Running costs & 28.0 & \pounds 7.0K per year \\
Replacement costs & 80.0 & replace damaged detectors over 4 years\\
Development costs & 20.0 & new development, Si masks, etc.  over 4 years\\
~ & ~ & ~ \\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\end{table}

The customized design of MEGHA is not yet developed, but as a guide there
was an outline associated with the grant request and a copy is attached
in fig.\ 1. The idea was to allow running very close to zero degrees with
a re-accelerated radioactive beam from SPIRAL.

\begin{figure}
\caption{Possible layout for a MEGHA-like module for radioactive beams at SPIRAL,
as suggested at the time of the grant request. The orientation could feasibly
be rotated.}
\begin{center}
~\psfig{figure=modified-megha-portrait.ps,width=0.8\textwidth}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

As can be seen, the costings are realistic or even low, and the reduction
in the allocation by 33\% will bite hard.

\item	 {\bf Proposed collaboration with Strasbourg for gamma studies:} 

WNC reported that he had sent a letter to Phillipe Dessagne and Christiane
Mieh\'e at Strasbourg, proposing a collaboration on a series of future
experiments when SPIRAL comes on-line. The experiments would involve
coincident charged-particle and gamma-ray detection and would require that
the charged particle data were merged into the same event structure as the
gamma-ray data. The gamma-ray acquisition would employ VXI, so the proposal
was for Strasbourg to develop the necessary VXI electronics. This would not
affect the stand-alone system based on the original Charissa DA, which
will be used for charged particle experiments. A request for funds will be
put forward from Strasbourg shortly.

\item	 {\bf LPC budget discussions:} 

Nigel Orr had emailed WNC, MF and NMC to summarize his request for this
year, and had previously consulted with regard to some of the details.
Funds were requested for new beam tracking PPAC's and other items towards
the DEMON experiments and our collaborative experiments. In particular,
a new support structure for DEMON will allow better mounting of the neutron
detectors for the breakup work in June/July 1997.

\item	 {\bf Amplifiers and discriminators for new 256 channel array:} 

The question of which amplifiers should be used -- the Charissa design
or the CAEN units used in the recent LISE run -- was briefly discussed.
On an initial inspection it appeared that the Charissa amplifiers
would cost \pounds 200 per channel including crates. For the CAEN
system using n568 16-channel amplifers plus appropriate discriminators,
the cost appeared to be closer to \pounds 300--400. Thus it appears that
it will be difficult to find sufficient money for the amplifiers, which
were costed at \pounds 175, bearing in mind the 33\% cut. Certainly, the
choices are likely to be limited.

The CAEN amplifiers, for example, may be required for some channels
in order to allow the use of CFD's to obtain timing signals suitable
for particle identification (sub-nanosecond). This will also require
preamplifier modifications.

\item	 {\bf Date and agenda for technical meeting:} 

It was decided that more information was needed before planning a meeting
to discuss details of providing several data acquisition systems.
In principle there are three DA systems and three sites at which it would
be desirable to provide them. The new MEGHA system is due to take over
at ANU in early 1997. The 64-channel system from Birmingham is now widely
dispersed but will be reassembled before June 1997 (ideally Feb 1997)
in GANIL to match our committment in the grant document.
Finally, the complete original system presently at the ANU will become
available. From the latter two, a 64-channel system or similar for Strasbourg
could be assembled, whilst the GANIL system is expanded to 256 channels as planned.


\end{enumerate}

\vfill

\noindent
W.N. Catford \hfill
October 3, 1996 

\end{document}