PDC - A WIRE CHAMBER CATHODE READ-OUT ON 6-BIT FAST ADC

A read-out for MWPC multi-wire proportional chamber and drift chamber is presented in which the coordinate along the sense wires is obtained by measuring the center of gravity (CoG) of the charge induced on cathode strips or pads. The peak value of the signals coming from subsets of 8-pad cathodes are recorded by a parallel sample and hold, strobed by their own OR, and then serially digitized by one 6-bit fast ADC (FADC). The basic module of the system is a peak detector and converter (PDC) built in CAMAC cards, which could be an interesting approach to the analog signal acquisition of large particle detectors. The system has been designed to equip the central detector in an experiment at the CERN LEAR facility. A prototype of a card will be described and the results of some tests will be presented.