--- On Wed, 10/7/09, Patrick Finnegan <pat at computer-refuge.org> wrote:
Does anyone know anything about a
Tullamore/Victoreen SCIPP 1600?? I
have found one of these, and it appears to be some sort of
computer-
based "analyzer" from the 70s,
This is almost certainly a pulse height analyzer.
Pulses from a particle detector are sorted by amplitude
and counted. The resulting spectra can be used to
identify the composition of an irradiated sample, etc.
Someone who knows something about nuclear physics could
probably tell you more. Google for "pulse height analyzer"
or "pulse height analysis". There were several companies
making dedicated non-computer PHAs, such as Nuclear Data.
DEC sold a number of machines configured to serve as a PHA,
including the PDP-7, PDP-8, and PDP-12. I have a brochure
somewhere on one of these. The PDP-7 at U. of Oregon in
Eugene was used for this purpose.
--Bill