Multi-channel scaling with an IBM PC

Multi-Channel Sealers allow Scientists to perform many types of experiments including, Mossbauer spectroscopy, and resonance fluorescence measurements. However, all but the most expensive and complex Multi-Channel Sealers do not meet the desired performance requirements for many of these experiments. Since IBM Personal Computers have become standard equipment in most Universities and laboratories, a plug-in card was designed to transform a normal IBM personal computer into a full-featured Multi-Channel Sealer, while minimizing the expense for the user. The PC-MCS card was designed to permit real-time data display on the computer monitor, as well as a variety of control options to make the instrument useful in a wide range of applications. By using a pair of input counters, connected in parallel, nearly all dead time between channels was eliminated. Furthermore, a new approach of using a state machine to control additions to memory was implemented on this card, allowing a minimum dwell time of 2 microseconds. This minimum dwell time is a factor of 40 shorter than the minimum dwell time in previous microprocessor-based designs.