Got a nice MCA?

[Gregory L. Hansen]

At work we have access to a pair of very nice MCAs that are about thirty
years old. It's a single box with built-in CRT, separate memory areas to
collect and display data, built-in pre-amp and window and other
electronics. It will sum, average, and do other things. And it has a
handle on top. And RS-232 port and various analog outputs.

There's been some noise about buying another MCA, but it seems nobody
sells them like this any more. They sell cards that plug into a computer,
which is fine except that then you need a computer and monitor and all
that. We don't want a card in a computer, we really like the all-in-one
box with a handle on the top. Minimal setup, minimal footprint, often
used in inconvenient positions, and it never stays in one place for very
long.

Does anyone still make something like that?


--
"When the fool walks through the street, in his lack of understanding he
calls everything foolish." -- Ecclesiastes 10:3, New American Bible

 

[John Larkin]

On Thu, 27 May 2004 02:23:26 +0000 (UTC),
glhansen@steel.ucs.indiana.edu (Gregory L. Hansen) wrote:

At work we have access to a pair of very nice MCAs that are about thirty
years old. It's a single box with built-in CRT, separate memory areas to
collect and display data, built-in pre-amp and window and other
electronics. It will sum, average, and do other things. And it has a
handle on top. And RS-232 port and various analog outputs.

There's been some noise about buying another MCA, but it seems nobody
sells them like this any more. They sell cards that plug into a computer,
which is fine except that then you need a computer and monitor and all
that. We don't want a card in a computer, we really like the all-in-one
box with a handle on the top. Minimal setup, minimal footprint, often
used in inconvenient positions, and it never stays in one place for very
long.

Does anyone still make something like that?

Somebody makes a handheld MCA... looks like a graphical calculator.
I'll look at my mags and see if I can get the name.

John

 

[starfire]

Amptek (www.amptek.com) makes a handheld MCA that interfaces through a
serial port to an external PC.

unfortunately, I don't think the unit is real inexpensive. The software can
be downloaded from their website, though, to take a look.

If you find a good source for an inexpensive MCA, please let me know.

Thanks and good luck.

Dave


"John Larkin" <jjlarkin@highlandSNIPtechTHISnologyPLEASE.com> wrote in
message news:f8mab0lpolt0f4qm0fsgb9t7d8m3vli27j@4ax.com...

On Thu, 27 May 2004 02:23:26 +0000 (UTC),
glhansen@steel.ucs.indiana.edu (Gregory L. Hansen) wrote:


At work we have access to a pair of very nice MCAs that are about thirty
years old. It's a single box with built-in CRT, separate memory areas to
collect and display data, built-in pre-amp and window and other
electronics. It will sum, average, and do other things. And it has a
handle on top. And RS-232 port and various analog outputs.

There's been some noise about buying another MCA, but it seems nobody
sells them like this any more. They sell cards that plug into a
computer,
which is fine except that then you need a computer and monitor and all
that. We don't want a card in a computer, we really like the all-in-one
box with a handle on the top. Minimal setup, minimal footprint, often
used in inconvenient positions, and it never stays in one place for very
long.

Does anyone still make something like that?

Somebody makes a handheld MCA... looks like a graphical calculator.
I'll look at my mags and see if I can get the name.

John

 

[Tim Wescott]

Gregory L. Hansen wrote:

At work we have access to a pair of very nice MCAs that are about thirty
years old. It's a single box with built-in CRT, separate memory areas to
collect and display data, built-in pre-amp and window and other
electronics. It will sum, average, and do other things. And it has a
handle on top. And RS-232 port and various analog outputs.

There's been some noise about buying another MCA, but it seems nobody
sells them like this any more. They sell cards that plug into a computer,
which is fine except that then you need a computer and monitor and all
that. We don't want a card in a computer, we really like the all-in-one
box with a handle on the top. Minimal setup, minimal footprint, often
used in inconvenient positions, and it never stays in one place for very
long.

Does anyone still make something like that?

I only just now found out what an MCA is, but Dolch still makes portable
computers with a handle on top, and they're too ugly for anyone to want
to use as their own machine -- stick a card in it and you have your "MCA
with a Handle on Top".

The Dolch is a _nice_ machine, if you need something with full-size PCI
slots that you can throw off a tall building and use immediately.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

 

In article <c93jeu$19p$2@hood.uits.indiana.edu>, glhansen@steel.ucs.indiana.edu (Gregory L. Hansen) writes:

At work we have access to a pair of very nice MCAs that are about thirty
years old. It's a single box with built-in CRT, separate memory areas to
collect and display data, built-in pre-amp and window and other
electronics. It will sum, average, and do other things. And it has a
handle on top. And RS-232 port and various analog outputs.

There's been some noise about buying another MCA, but it seems nobody
sells them like this any more. They sell cards that plug into a computer,
which is fine except that then you need a computer and monitor and all
that. We don't want a card in a computer, we really like the all-in-one
box with a handle on the top. Minimal setup, minimal footprint, often
used in inconvenient positions, and it never stays in one place for very
long.

Does anyone still make something like that?

Frankly, I doubt it.

Mati Meron | "When you argue with a fool,
meron@cars.uchicago.edu | chances are he is doing just the same"

 

[Edward Green]

Tim Wescott <tim@wescottnospamdesign.com> wrote in message news:<10batne5bv5dnbb@corp.supernews.com>...

Gregory L. Hansen wrote:

At work we have access to a pair of very nice MCAs that are about thirty
years old. It's a single box with built-in CRT, separate memory areas to
collect and display data, built-in pre-amp and window and other
electronics. It will sum, average, and do other things. And it has a
handle on top. And RS-232 port and various analog outputs.

There's been some noise about buying another MCA, but it seems nobody
sells them like this any more. They sell cards that plug into a computer,
which is fine except that then you need a computer and monitor and all
that. We don't want a card in a computer, we really like the all-in-one
box with a handle on the top. Minimal setup, minimal footprint, often
used in inconvenient positions, and it never stays in one place for very
long.

Does anyone still make something like that?



I only just now found out what an MCA is,

What's an MCA?

but Dolch still makes portable
computers with a handle on top, and they're too ugly for anyone to want
to use as their own machine -- stick a card in it and you have your "MCA
with a Handle on Top".

The Dolch is a _nice_ machine, if you need something with full-size PCI
slots that you can throw off a tall building and use immediately.

Damn. I saw something which looked very much like a portable computer
with a handle on top in the trash recently, and now you make me regret
not investigating it.

 

[Gregory L. Hansen]

In article <10batne5bv5dnbb@corp.supernews.com>,
Tim Wescott <tim@wescottnospamdesign.com> wrote:

Gregory L. Hansen wrote:

At work we have access to a pair of very nice MCAs that are about thirty
years old. It's a single box with built-in CRT, separate memory areas to
collect and display data, built-in pre-amp and window and other
electronics. It will sum, average, and do other things. And it has a
handle on top. And RS-232 port and various analog outputs.

There's been some noise about buying another MCA, but it seems nobody
sells them like this any more. They sell cards that plug into a computer,
which is fine except that then you need a computer and monitor and all
that. We don't want a card in a computer, we really like the all-in-one
box with a handle on the top. Minimal setup, minimal footprint, often
used in inconvenient positions, and it never stays in one place for very
long.

Does anyone still make something like that?



I only just now found out what an MCA is, but Dolch still makes portable
computers with a handle on top, and they're too ugly for anyone to want
to use as their own machine -- stick a card in it and you have your "MCA
with a Handle on Top".

The Dolch is a _nice_ machine, if you need something with full-size PCI
slots that you can throw off a tall building and use immediately.

I suppose the computer doesn't have to have a handle on the top, as long
as it's a portable and has an MCA card in it. But I think those Tracor
Northerns would be hard to beat.

--
"The preferred method of entering a building is to use a tank main gun
round, direct fire artillery round, or TOW, Dragon, or Hellfire missile to
clear the first room." -- THE RANGER HANDBOOK U.S. Army, 1992

 

[Gregory L. Hansen]

In article <eca320d0.0405290617.6dab2d88@posting.google.com>,
Edward Green <spamspamspam3@netzero.com> wrote:

Tim Wescott <tim@wescottnospamdesign.com> wrote in message
news:<10batne5bv5dnbb@corp.supernews.com>...
Gregory L. Hansen wrote:

At work we have access to a pair of very nice MCAs that are about thirty
years old. It's a single box with built-in CRT, separate memory areas to
collect and display data, built-in pre-amp and window and other
electronics. It will sum, average, and do other things. And it has a
handle on top. And RS-232 port and various analog outputs.

There's been some noise about buying another MCA, but it seems nobody
sells them like this any more. They sell cards that plug into a computer,
which is fine except that then you need a computer and monitor and all
that. We don't want a card in a computer, we really like the all-in-one
box with a handle on the top. Minimal setup, minimal footprint, often
used in inconvenient positions, and it never stays in one place for very
long.

Does anyone still make something like that?



I only just now found out what an MCA is,

What's an MCA?

Multi-Channel Analyzer.

A Single-Channel analyzer, an SCA, produces an output pulse when the
signal goes above a lower threshhold, but not higher than an upper
threshhold. Also usually with outputs for a signal going above the lower,
and above the upper. And an MCA has multiple windows, so it will tell you
how many events were in this voltage range, how many were in that voltage
range, and you can get a nice spectrum. Usually we use SCAs defining one
or a few channels for routine data taking. But we need an MCA to set them
up right, because that shows things like the minimum between noise and
signal.

but Dolch still makes portable
computers with a handle on top, and they're too ugly for anyone to want
to use as their own machine -- stick a card in it and you have your "MCA
with a Handle on Top".

The Dolch is a _nice_ machine, if you need something with full-size PCI
slots that you can throw off a tall building and use immediately.

Damn. I saw something which looked very much like a portable computer
with a handle on top in the trash recently, and now you make me regret
not investigating it.

--
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is
poetry, imagination." -- Max Planck