Summary of SWAMP Exchange 2002

The new system

The following three SWAMP crates were exchanged: rack 2, crate 2, rack 5, crate 3 and 4. In each crate every second slot holds a SWAMP motherboard giving a total of four SWAMP motherboards in each crate. The empty slots are covered with plates. Each SWAMP motherboard holds 20 channels, and all channels contain SWAMP cards. The delay chips were removed from the old SWAMP cards and put on the new cards. In the back each SWAMP motherboard is connected to a pick-up box. Each pick-up box holds two layers of pick-up cards. The upper layer contains 10 pick-up cards corresponding to the ten even channels, and the bottom layer contains 10 pick-up cards corresponding to the odd channels. We also changed the quad connectors for strings 5-13.

The quads have been labeled with string number, quad number and OMs in string, for example '07Q08-21/22' which means OMs 21 and 22 in quad 8 for string 7. The connectors have been labeled with string and quad, for example '07Q08'. In strings 11-13 the quads have only been labeled with string and quad number.

We brought two empty SWAMP motherboards as spares and these are mounted in rack 9, crate 2. There are 33 spare SWAMP cards, of which 30 have delay chips and 3 do not. They have been put on the metal shelf in MAPO. There are also two spare pick-up boxes on the shelf, and one pick-up box with only 16 pick-up cards that should be be used to take spare pick-up cards from. In a cardboard box on the metal shelf there is also a spare power supply (without casing), some spare fans, extra screws and spare pick-up cards. In another box marked 'Connector kits' there are spare connectors and finally there's also a cardboard box marked 'SWAMP tools' that contain different tools for removing quads, changing connectors, setting gain etc. All old crates, SWAMP cards and connectors have been sent back to Stockholm.

To summarize, the system we installed this year consists of:

3 crates
12 SWAMP motherboards
12 pick-up boxes
12 slot covers
240 SWAMP cards
240 pick-up cards
110 new connectors in strings 5-10
61 convertors in strings 11-13 were removed and the connectors were reused and mounted directly on the quad cables

Major changes

In the hardware data base the first quad in string 9 was marked down as 'missing' but we found it. It is too short to reach down to the crates and someone has therefore extended it with a thinner quad denoted 22. On the end a connector labeled '20Q22' was attached with a note saying 'polarity unresolved'. We resolved the polarity, attached a connector with correct labeling and reconnected the quad. However, we were unable to raise the high voltage of OMs 265 and 266, and the problem seems to be a damaged quad.

In string 10, 5 quads (quads 2, 7, 10, 14 and 15) that were connected according to the hardware data base turned out to be disconnected in reality. However, these OMs were all working in run 5920 from October 2002. The OMs have high voltage and seem to be working fine and have hence been reconnected.

In string 8 there are three test OMs, 195, 197 and 199 (OMs 1,3 and 5 in string 8) that are dead since before, and now they have been removed physically by cutting the cables in the connector. Hence the connectors for quads 08Q18, 08Q17 and 08Q16 only hold one OM each (and these are working fine). The removed test OMs have low to high voltage convertors in the actual OMs, and the reason for removal was either that the conversion has failed or that the LV supply on the surface is to noisy.

OMs 81-86 in string 4 used to have HV=0 V and they have been non-functional for a long time. The old SWAMPs were not optimized for these OMs but since the upgrade they are working fine. We have given all six of them high voltage (see the list of revived OMs below) and they are given nice pulses and good ADC and TDC spectra.

In string 13 some of the OMs were connected in a strange way. In rack 1, crate 1, slot 07 the string 13 quads were connected in falling order, starting with quad 21 down to quad 16. Then the second OM in quad 15 was connected whereas the first OM in the string was not (these were old connectors were the quad was split into one connector for each OM). Instead the second OM in quad 15 was followed by both OMs in quad one and then the first OM in string 14 and finally both OMs in quad 2. We connected all quads.

We had some problems with last years pick-up cards. One card was giving noise (high ADC) in OM 430 (OM 2 in string 14) in rack 9, crate 9, slot 01, channel 02. The pick-up card was removed and replaced by a new card taken from one of this years spares (marked 'Spare No 1 of 1'). This solved the problem with the high noise rate.

Another card was giving a lot of noise (high ADC) in OM 331 (string 11) in rack 1, crate 1, slot 02, channel 05. The entire pick-up box (marked 'B13 03/06') was replaced by a spare. The faulty box has been repaired but has not been put back. Once again, changing the pick-up card solved the problem with high noise rate.

Right now there's one perfectly fine spare (marked 'B10 07/14'), one spare that is used to take cards from ('Spare No 1 of 1') and finally the spare in rack 1, crate 1, slot 02, that should be replaced by the repaired box 'B13 03/06'.

OM 558 (OM 4 in string 17), located in rack 9, crate 9, slot 07, channel 19 was noisy in both ADC and TDC. When opening it turned out that the SWAMP card was connected between channel 19 in the front and channel 20 in the back, that is the card was bent. We put in a new SWAMP card in channel 20 which solved the problem. The previously bent card was put into an empty channel in the same slot (channel 13) and seems to be working in it's unbent state. A new SWAMP card was also put into channel 19.

We encountered big problems with the M1 1440 LeCroy power supply. Sometimes communication failed and sometimes the actual voltage value for a channel differed from the demand and back-up values. This caused the ADC peak to shift.

During a run one channel suddenly lost high voltage and the value could not be reset. Next it was impossible to raise the voltage of any channel in the same card in the power unit. When removing the card from the power unit and replacing it with a spare, we discovered that one channel in the card had burnt and that the entire card was marked 'do not use'. Changing cards solved the problem. All high voltage cables were put back in their correct positions.

Revived OMs

All OMs below were dead before the upgrade but are now working.

OM 81 we set HV=1680 V, saved in back-up, working fine
OM 82 we set HV=1600 V, saved in back-up, working fine
OM 83 we set HV=1700 V, saved in back-up, working fine
OM 84 we set HV=1650 V, saved in back-up, working fine
OM 85 we set HV=1620 V, saved in back-up, working fine
OM 86 we set HV=1700 V, saved in back-up, working fine
OM 117 was marked bad in '99 but is working now and is reconnected, the high voltage has been increased from 1650 V to 1750 V to get a better ADC peak
OM 185 was previously disconnected due to 50 Hz noise, but since we don't see this noise anymore we have reconnected it, however it's longtime performance should be monitored

OMs that could maybe be revived

Most of the OMs below have HV=0 V for some unknown reason and it should be investigated wether they can be revived or if they are permanently dead. The remaining OMs have broken optical read-out, but functional unused electrical read-out.

OM 96 has HV=0 V, and is marked 'do not connect due to high TDC noise', we never confirmed this so maybe it can be revived with the new setup?
OM 172 has HV=0 V, the TDC cable is marked 'SWAMP ok, module dead', this has not been confirmed, maybe it can be revived?
OM 215 has HV=0 V due to 7 kHz noise, we have not confirmed this, maybe it can be revived?
OM 235 has HV=0 V, but why? We never tried ramping up the high voltage, maybe it can be revived?
OM 267 has HV=0 V and disconnected, but why? We never tried ramping up the high voltage, maybe it can be revived?
OM 354 has HV=0 V and disconnected, but why? We never tried ramping up the high voltage, maybe it can be revived?
OM 387 has HV=0 V, but why? We never tried ramping up the high voltage, maybe it can be revived?
OM 406 has HV=0 V, but why? We never tried ramping up the high voltage, maybe it can be revived?
OM 413 is read-out optically, but the optical read-out is dead, whereas the electrical is ok, we recommend that the electrical read-out is used instead
OM 416 has HV=0 V, but why? We never tried ramping up the high voltage, maybe it can be revived?
OM 418 has HV=0 V, but why? We never tried ramping up the high voltage, maybe it can be revived?
OM 419 is read-out optically, but the optical read-out is dead, whereas the electrical is ok, we recommend that the electrical read-out is used instead
OM 428 HV=0 V, and HV cable labeled 'OM suspected dead', this has not been confirmed and we have not tried ramping up the high voltage, maybe it can be revived?

Previously unconnected OMs that are now working

Some OMs were disconnected for no appearent reason. Many of these were actually working in runs in October 2002, but were disconnected in November 2002. We decided to reconnect these.

OM 93 was not read-out before, but it is working and the electrical read-out was reconnected
OM 273 was running in October but was disconnected when we arrived, it's working and has high voltage and has been reconnected
OM 274 was running in October but was disconnected when we arrived, it's working and has high voltage and has been reconnected
OM 275 was running in October but was disconnected when we arrived, it's working and has high voltage and has been reconnected
OM 276 was running in October but was disconnected when we arrived, it's working and has high voltage and has been reconnected
OM 283 was running in October but was disconnected when we arrived, it's working and has high voltage and has been reconnected
OM 284 was running in October but was disconnected when we arrived, it's working and has high voltage and has been reconnected
OM 289 was running in October but was disconnected when we arrived, it's working and has high voltage and has been reconnected
OM 290 was running in October but was disconnected when we arrived, it's working and has high voltage and has been reconnected
OM 299 was running in October but was disconnected when we arrived, it's working and has high voltage and has been reconnected
OM 300 was running in October but was disconnected when we arrived, it's working and has high voltage and has been reconnected

Abnormal OMs

These OMs have problems that we have been unable to solve, or are odd in some way.

OM 111 still has periodic noise with mean amplitude 50 mV
OM 186 is a special OM that used to have two high voltage cables, first cable 61 with HV=0 V, but also cable G32 connected to the actual OM connector, now there's only the 61 cable still with HV=0 V, we have not tried ramping up the high voltage, maybe it can be revived?
OM 231 DESY DOM do not connect
OM 232 DESY DOM do not connect
OM 263 has a lowpass filter on the prompt, but it's still noisy
OM 265 quad damaged, we have set HV=0 V
OM 266 quad damaged, we have set HV=0 V
OM 308 has high TDC, which is an old problem that we've been unable to eliminate
OM 352 has HV=0 V but gives noise in the ADC, we recommend it should be disconnected (this is an old problem)

Dead OMs

This is not a complete list over dead OMs, but only the three test OMs in string 8 that are dead and have now been removed physically inside the connector.

OM 195 is dead and has been removed permanently
OM 197 is dead and has been removed permanently
OM 199 is dead and has been removed permanently

OMs with changed high voltage

For some OMs we changed the high voltage in order to get a better ADC spectrum. There is also a text file with all high voltage changes summarized.

OM 94 we increased the high voltage from 1500 V to 1560 V to get a better ADC peak, the new value is saved in the back-up
OM 99 we increased the high voltage from 1700 V to 1720 V to get a better ADC peak, the new value is saved in the back-up
OM 133 we decreased the high voltage from 1440 V to 1420 V to get a better ADC peak, the new value is saved in the back-up
OM 143 we increased the high voltage from 1450 V to 1600 V to get a better ADC peak, the new value is saved in the back-up
OM 196 we decreased the high voltage from 1700 V to 1670 V to get a better ADC peak, the new value is saved in the back-up
OM 198 we decreased the high voltage from 1660 V to 1620 V to get a better ADC peak, the new value is saved in the back-up
OM 218 we decreased the high voltage from 1600 V to 1560 V to get a better ADC peak, the new value is saved in the back-up

General comments

A brief survey has revealed mainly three noise frequencies. Some 16 seconds after turning on either of the 1458 LeCroys a 8 MHz noise appears. How this noise is picked up and how it depends on distance etc has not been determined. It also turns out that some (bad) SWAMP cards give rise to, or are very good at picking up, 1.2 MHz and 100 kHz noise.

All changes have been entered in the data base.

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