sophiemiddleton/rem_500_mca

Python interface with REM 500 Neutron Survey Meter MCA through RS-232 serial port

REM_500_MCA

Python interface with REM 500 Neutron Survey Meter MCA through RS-232 serial port

Requirements

• Retrieves data from the REM 500 Neutron Survey Meter in MCA mode through a RS-232 serial connection.

• The REM 500 needs to be in MCA mode before launching the script read_MCA.py.

Step by step use

1. Put the REM 500 Neutron Survey Meter in MCA mode:

• Push the ON/OFF button
• Push the MODE button
• Push the RESET button twice (which correspond to NEXT in this menu)
• Push the ALT button to access the MCA mode

2. Change the runtime or the commands you want to send to the REM 500 directly in the file read_MCA.py

3. Run the read_MCA.py script (as administrator on linux to access the ttyUSB0 interface):

sudo python3 read_MCA.py

4. Two output files are generated:

• count_data.txt contains timestamps and the number of counts in hex format
• channel_data.txt contains the number of counts in each of the 256 channels

Run the data_extraction.py script:

python3 data_extraction.py

It creates a CSV file from the count_data.txt file containing the timestamps converted in seconds and the number of counts converted from hex format. It also generates a plot of the number of counts as a function of time from the count_data.txt file, and it plots the number of counts in each channel from the channel_data.txt file