Gray Wedge Pulse-Height Analysis

Abstract

A photographic method of pulse-height analysis equivalent in performance to a 50-channel electronic analyzer is described. The basic principle is that pulses from the spectrometer amplifier are stretched and then displayed upon the screen of an oscilloscope and photographed through a gray wedge. The experimental error in the determination of counting rates is 5 percent and absolute activity calibration is easily made. The instrument is compact, semiportable, inexpensive, and easy to maintain.