FIT SUMMER WORKSHOP

This year's workshop was centered around fixing and identifying equipment problems. Some paddles do not plateau.  If we had a paddle that did not plateau, we set the rate count to 20-25 Hz by adjusting the voltage on the PDU. Once we constructed the equipment, the system gave error reports. We found that it was very difficult to identify what was working correctly and which item had issues.  After we were able to download the EQUIP software, we were able to identify rate counts and graphs almost during data collection. During our video conference we could not determine why  performance histogram was not working or producing a bad graph.

To identify the problem we had to break down each system into separate units and test each unit individually. We identified each componant as DAQ, PDU, Paddles, cables PAD to DAQ, Cables Paddles to PDU, and power supply. As it turned out the cable from the PDU to the DAQ was bad and the performance study graph was not giving correct readings. The workshop presentations were given by Dr. Noonan, and  Dr Yumiceva. Presentations  were also given by Mr. O'Donnell usng powerpoint from Purdue on particle physics. TED talks about CERN were shown that include Brian Cox. After the presentions, the students decided to document their work  on a blog at quarknetfit2015.wordpress.com

In additon to the blog, the students created posters of their work and posted  them on the quarknet website. The equipment will be stored in Dr Yumiceva's lab for the school year and can be borrowed by teachers and students for future experimentation. Devon Shastri will most likely use the equipment in conjunction with the plasma ball to determine if there is any interference with the counter or the paddles during the muon flux counts. The project would need the use of  a faraday cageo isolate componants being tested.