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Exploranium GR-135 System Manual

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GR-135
THE IDENTIFIER
SYSTEM MANUAL
Part #87317-1 Rev.3.4
July 2004

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Summary of Contents for Exploranium GR-135

  • Page 1 GR-135 THE IDENTIFIER SYSTEM MANUAL Part #87317-1 Rev.3.4 July 2004...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 2 GR-135 THE IDENTIFIER SYSTEM MANUAL Table of Contents 1.0 GENERAL SYSTEM DESCRIPTION:..................6 GR-135 HARDWARE VERSIONS ..................6 GR-135 OPERATIONAL MODES ..................6 SOFTWARE RELEASES ....................6 2.0 SYSTEM DESCRIPTION & FEATURES.................7 OPERATIONAL FUNCTIONS ..................7 SYSTEM FEATURES......................7 3.0 JOYSTICK OPERATION ....................
  • Page 3 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 3 7.7.1 NUCLIDE DETAILS.................... 25 7.7.2 NEUTRONS ..................... 26 7.7.3 OTHER DISPLAY LABELS ................. 26 8.0 STABILIZE........................27 STABILIZATION - GENERAL..................27 AUTO-STABILIZATION IN THE DOCKING STATION – AUTOMATIC MODE ..... 27 MANUAL-STABILIZATION IN THE DOCKING STATION ..........27 AUTOMATIC CORRECTION WHEN IN USE ..............

  • Page 4: Saic Exploranium – Gr-135 System Manual Page

    SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 4 APPENDIX J – SENSOR LOCATIONS..................76 APPENDIX X – WARRANTY..................... 77 APPENDIX Z - DOCKING-STATION TEST SOURCE SPECS ............79...
  • Page 5 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 5 GR-135 – THE IDENTIFIER...

  • Page 6: General System Description

    Classification of radioactive material for a wide variety of users GR-135 HARDWARE VERSIONS GR-135 – the basic GR-135 model is a 2-detector system – utilizing a Sodium-Iodide detector for high sensitivity and a G-M detector for extended Dose Rate range. This model replaces the older GR-130 model GR-135N –...

  • Page 7: System Description & Features

    Dose Search of an area can also be carried out in this mode IDENTIFY mode – (Nuclide Identification) In this mode, the GR-135 accumulates spectral data from a sample and analyses the spectrum in terms of emitted energy level and net count contribution. The nuclides responsible for producing the spectrum are identified by comparison to a nuclide library and presented in tabular form.
  • Page 8 DISPLAY - An LCD is used for the GR-135 to permit a full range of alphanumeric and graphic display capabilities. This LCD gives excellent contrast in high light conditions but is not easily visible in low light conditions.
  • Page 9 It is recommended to turn the backlight off if the unit is not expected to be used within 4 hours. Alternately, it is advisable to lift the GR-135 from the docking station and put it back at least once a day. This restores the charging cycle during the prolonged period of inactivity.
  • Page 10 On site, most users carry the GR-135 in the vinyl carry-case leaving the storage case back at the office. However, if the unit is to be transported under conditions where it could be bumped or dropped, the shipping case is recommended and would prevent other luggage from damaging the instrument.

  • Page 11: Joystick Operation

    SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 11 3.0 JOYSTICK OPERATION The unit is supplied with a single-button control device called THE JOYSTICK. RIGHT (away from you) LEFT DOWN (towards you) JOYSTICK ACTIONS...

  • Page 12: Quick Start - Manual Mode

    CONNECT DOCKING STATION – connect the DS to an AC source using the cable supplied REMOVE THE GR-135 BOOT – remove the attached Yellow protection boot LOAD BATTERIES - remove rear door and insert 2 batteries – check polarity as marked - ONLY use the supplied rechargeable batteries.

  • Page 13: Detailed Operation Guide

    POWER BATTERIES The GR-135 has an integrated Battery-Charging capability and operates with the supplied two D-cell rechargeable NiCd batteries for Docking-Station usage. The internal battery charger permits the battery charging system to be fully under software control. With the increased availability of specialty batteries, this feature means that a wide variety of battery types can be used in the instrument –...
  • Page 14 BACKLITE ON A BACKLITE option is built into the GR-135 such that the display may be viewed in low light conditions. BACKLITE can be enabled in the system setup for frequent use or activated manually for intermittent use. To enable the BACKLITE, be sure that the unit is OFF, then CLICK DOWN (towards the user) and HOLD the JOYSTICK in this position.

  • Page 15: Switching From Automatic Mode To Manual Mode

    Exploranium recommends that it is a sensible precaution to carry a spare set of ALKALINE batteries in the system pouch if extensive field operations are required, to act as a backup (but NOT for DS operation!).

  • Page 16: Display Contrast

    Joystick LEFT. Contact Exploranium if the display is still blank. MAIN MENU After the initial start-up screen, the GR-135 Main Menu appears. MAIN MENU The user may scroll through the menu items by a short click UP or click DOWN.

  • Page 17: Stabilization

    17 STABILIZATION The GR-135 is designed to automatically carry out system stabilization in the AUTOMATIC mode in the DOCKING STATION. Once this has been done correctly then internal temperature correction is used to maintain this level even if the unit has not been stabilized for many hours.

  • Page 18: Search+Dose

    Dose Rate level to an acceptable level. To make things simple, the GR-135 advises the users automatically if the Dose Rate level goes above the preset limit.

  • Page 19: Neutron Alarm

    12.5 hours of SEARCH+DOSE data. Once the GR-135 memory is full the message MF (memory full) will be displayed at the top of the screen and the user gets a 3-beep audio warning and the SEARCH>MEM label is removed.
  • Page 20 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 20 The user should be aware that at the beginning of each new SEARCH mode activation, a header is stored in memory. This header uses memory space equivalent to 6 SEARCH samples. Therefore, if a large number of separate SEARCH samples are stored in memory, slightly less memory is available for samples than if the SEARCH was taken in one complete set.

  • Page 21: Identify

    Highlight IDENTIFY in the Main Menu and press ENTER to select. The GR-135 immediately begins to acquire a spectrum with the display appearing as shown in Figure 10. Note the system DEAD-TIME – for best results this should be between 10-...

  • Page 22: Analysis Menu

    13 – in this case showing that this spectrum has been stored as MAIN MENU Spectrum #12. Fig. 13 Note that the GR-135 can store up to 187 complete 1024 channel spectra in memory. START MEAS This option allows the user to take another spectrum sample IDENTIFY...

  • Page 23: Data Overflow

    30 S 30 S Fig. 15 7.5.1 SEE SPECTRUM IDENTIFY The display is only 128 pixels (dots) wide and the GR-135 utilizes a sp 1 MEAS VS 2K range 0 - 3000keV 1024 channel spectrometer. Thus if the full spectrum is displayed, NEXT each pixel shows the average of 8 actual data channels.

  • Page 24: Peak Analysis

    SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 24 X4 - this selection sets the display to show 1 pixel = 2 channels. This means that the full display now covers 128 channels = 768keV X2 - this selection sets the display to show 1 pixel = 4 channels. This means that the full display now covers 128 channels = 1536keV Fig.

  • Page 25: Nuclide Ident

    SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 25 “-more-“ - The word “-more-“ is displayed at the bottom of the screen when more peaks have been identified than can be displayed on one screen. A short CLICK DOWN will show the next screen with a continued display of computed peaks.

  • Page 26: Neutrons

    SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 26 7.7.2 NEUTRONS If the integrated NEUTRON sensor detects the presence of Neutrons, this data is displayed as pseudo Dose data (calibrated for Cf-252) as shown in Fig. 21 and 22 (or as COUNTS depending on...

  • Page 27: Stabilize

    AUTO-STABILIZATION IN THE DOCKING STATION – AUTOMATIC MODE If the GR-135 unit is set in the AUTOMATIC mode and placed in the DS, the system starts automatically stabilizing on the very small (0.25uCi) Cesium source embedded in the DS. The display shows system activity and advises the user when stabilization is complete.

  • Page 28: Automatic Correction When In Use

    System stabilization is now complete so the unit may be removed from the Docking-Station and used. However if the user is not ready then the GR-135 may be left in the DS to keep the batteries charged. This process also keeps the unit “warmed-up” as well as continuously charging the batteries so when not in use it is recommended that the unit remains in the DS.

  • Page 29: Data Memory

    (i.e. more than one header) the number of samples required to fill the data memory will be less than that calculated by the GR-135 due to the memory requirement for the extra headers. Therefore, the available memory display data should be used only as a guide.

  • Page 30: Dump

    Selecting DUMP allows the user to transfer stored Survey, Dose and Spectral data to an external PC via the data transfer cable from the DS unit. It is critical that the GR-135 be turned OFF before connecting the unit to the data transfer cable. If the unit remains ON, any shock or power surge arising from the connection may corrupt data in memory.
  • Page 31 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 31 Once a spectrum is selected then ENTER activates this feature REANALYSIS and the selected spectrum is selected and the MEM SCAN menu is shown. The user may select PEAK ANALYSIS etc. as required...

  • Page 32: Setup

    - this is the default operating mode. ALARM LEVEL SCAN WINDOW TOT. MEM - the SEARCH data is to be stored in the GR-135 internal AVERAGING memory Fig. 30 SAMPLE TIME – this indicates the interval at which SEARCH samples are taken.
  • Page 33 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 33 The AUTO mode automatically changes the vertical scaling to optimize the “chart recorder” screen display. For example, if the current chart scale is 500 counts and the radiation level is exceeded by 60% of the current scale, the vertical scale changes to the next highest value (in this case to 1K or 1000 counts).

  • Page 34: Stabilize

    Selections are CZT FINE GAIN and RE-STAB MODE 10.2.1 CZT FINE GAIN Set by Exploranium, see system CALIBRATION SHEET for the correct setting. The calibrated value for this parameter is stored in system memory. When defaults are loaded the calibrated value is automatically loaded 10.2.2 RE-STAB MODE...

  • Page 35: Identify

    SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 35 In this case users are advised to stabilize the system in the DS and then repeating the measurement. If the same “UNIDENTIFIED ISOTOPE” message is received again then this truly is an isotope whose characteristics are not in the system library.

  • Page 36: Nai

    Dead-Time by using the actual system LIVE-TIME, where : LT (Live-Time) = ST (Sample-Time) - DT (Dead-Time) The system LIVE-TIME is automatically accumulated by the GR-135 and stored as a data variable that is output on the data stream to permit data correction on external processing systems. The...
  • Page 37 (As an example the Exploranium IdentiView program described in Appendix B provides the option to output the spectra to a spreadsheet. In the process the data is automatically Live- Time corrected and normalized to counts/minute.) The CLOCK mode is used primarily when...

  • Page 38: Czt

    SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 38 1024 ADC – denotes the number of channels in the spectrum – system is currently hard wired at channels = 3keV/channel AUDIO – selections are , OFF This sets a mode so that at the end of the data sample the audio will beep to remind users that the sample is complete.

  • Page 39: Dose

    SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 39 SAMPLE TIME – sets the SEARCH analysis sample time – selections are , 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 20, 50, 100 secs - this parameter only applies to SEARCH mode data analysis. In the SEARCH mode it is usually essential to operate at a 1sec rate or it is too easy to miss a source as the user moves the instrument past the container/vehicle of interest.

  • Page 40: Date/Time

    SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 40 ALARM LEVEL - This sets the DOSE Alarm Level in micro units. Once set, if the Dose exceeds this level the audio will alarm to warn the user. Note that this setting changes depending on the units selected, as follows :...
  • Page 41 These new libraries are then loaded into the USER location using the Exploranium supplied PC support program IdentiView (see Appendix B for more details). A new release of PC support software currently scheduled for Jan 2003 will provide a “LIBRARY BUILD” program so users can construct their own libraries.

  • Page 42: Maintenance

    11.4 REMOTE MAINTENANCE This sets the RS232 port to the active state to permit data transfer using the Exploranium IdentiView software described in Appendix B. LIBRARY MESSAGE This setting works as a latch – the first activation sets the port CHARGING ACTIVE and the next activation sets it INACTIVE.

  • Page 43: Defaults

    SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 43 11.5 DEFAULTS MAINTENANCE This selection permits the user to LOAD DEFAULT PARAMETERS. This is sometimes useful when the instrument has not been used for a long period or when “strange” system performance occurs.

  • Page 44: Specifications

    SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 44 12.0 SPECIFICATIONS DETECTORS SODIUM-IODIDE Detector: Sodium Iodide (Thallium) [NaI(Tl)] 4.0 cu ins ( 65 cm ) volume detector 1.5" diam * 2.2” long (38 mm dia x 57mm long) with an integral bi-alkali PMT.
  • Page 45 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 45 ± Precision (NaI) : 10% in range 100 keV - 3.0 MeV ± 20% in range 60 keV - 100 keV Output: Memory or PC. MISCELLANEOUS CLOCK - CALENDAR Type: Built in 24-hour clock, 4-year calendar (including leap year).
  • Page 46 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 46 POWER SUPPLY OPTIONS Internal Rechargeable Battery Type: 2 "D" cells, 1.25 V NiCd. Operation time: Typically 8 hours of operation at 25 C, no backlight, 4 AH NiCd. Charging: External, constant current float charger, overnight charging, full charge indication by LED.
  • Page 47 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 47 ACCESSORIES Standard: - GR-135 Unit. - 110VAC Charger Adapter for battery charging. - Vinyl carrying case. - CD-ROM with IdentiView Windows software. - RS-232 cable for PC connection. - Reference Source Cesium 137 (0.25 µCi).

  • Page 48: Appendix A - Automatic Mode Operation

    AUTOMATIC operating mode. Operating functions are described below. JOYSTICK The GR-135 is equipped with a rubber-covered JOYSTICK on the instrument handle, referred to in RIGHT this manual as the JOYSTICK and this is the ONLY...
  • Page 49 Docking Station the unit. Note the 4 “pins” on the base of the DS. DS 115V AC Place the GR-135 unit in the DS so wall plug the pads match the pins (the rim around the DS ensures that correct positioning of the unit in the DS is very easy).
  • Page 50 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 50 WARMING UP After the Startup screen is seen a new display appears as shown. WARMING UP As specified in the display, the system is warming up so WAIT. During this time the system is automatically adjusting its internal...
  • Page 51 SYSTEM USE The GR-135 in the AUTOMATIC mode only operates in 2 modes – SEARCH and IDENTIFY The SEARCH mode is used to search and locate radioactive material in vehicles, packages or on people etc. The user can easily scan the suspect item and look for a significant increase in radiation using the tools described in the SEARCH section below.
  • Page 52 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 52 D.RATE – the bar display and the numeric data show the Dose Rate data. The numeric data shown above (1234cps in the figure) is an essential tool to locate radioactive material but the DOSE data gives the user an idea of the potential hazard level of such material.
  • Page 53 – pressing ENTER moves the user to the SEARCH mode again UNKNOWN ISOTOPE The GR-135 has a wide selection of radioactive isotopes in its internal library. However it is possible that a very rare isotope can be encountered. In this case the system cannot identify the isotope so the message UNKNOWN ISOTOPE is displayed.
  • Page 54 Dose Rate level to an acceptable level. To make things simple, the GR-135 advises the users automatically if the Dose Rate level goes above the preset limit.
  • Page 55 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 55 A.13 AUTOMATIC CZT DETECTOR ACTIVATION The system has a special high sensitivity detector located inside. Special analysis determines the special case where using such a detector will improve system analysis. If this occurs the actual...
  • Page 56 JOYSTICK will cancel the power OFF. A.15 BACKLITE A BACKLITE option is built into the GR-135 such that the display may be viewed in low light conditions. BACKLITE can be enabled in the system setup for frequent use or as shown below for intermittent use.

  • Page 57: Appendix B - Identiview Software

    ALWAYS in the AUTOMATIC MODE and only spectra will be downloaded. For MANUAL mode operation, the procedure for downloading data from the GR-135 is identical except that the GR-135 must first be set to the REMOTE data access mode. Installing the Software 1.
  • Page 58 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 58 The icon in the top right-hand corner of the display indicates when the GR135 IS NOT in the DS, or if it is not communicating with the PC. If the unit IS in the DS then this graphic is replaced with an icon depicting the unit in the DS as shown below: Fig.
  • Page 59 Data record — occurs when opening a data file or while viewing a data record after downloading it. A data checksum error can occur if the data inside the GR-135 memory already has this error. This rarely happens and it would usually be isolated to one record. In this case, the data is not recoverable.
  • Page 60 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 60 NOTE: When viewing dose/scan data from earlier versions of IdentiView, a checksum error will be displayed due to a problem with calculating checksum values inside the GR-135 version 1.24 or earlier. Data Memory You can download data directly from the GR135 anytime by selecting Download from the Data Memory menu on the main IdentiView screen.
  • Page 61 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 61 SETTING IDENTIVIEW OPTIONS IdentiView lets you do the following tasks through the Options menu on the main IdentiView screen: • Set the signal to noise thresholds • Retrieve data from a previous IdentiView version •...
  • Page 62 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 62 Selecting the time and date format IdentiView gives you several time and date formats from which to choose. From the Options menu, select Time and Date, and choose one of the following: •...
  • Page 63 Using isotope libraries and CZT data The isotope library file that is used to upload to the GR-135 is the same as the one that can be loaded for analysis. The data will be re-analyzed with the new isotope library. The registry will remember the last library selected and will always use that library.
  • Page 64 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 64 3. Click the Search icon. The Graph Pallette appears. 4. Select one of the options to let you block off a certain vertical, horizontal, or square portion of the graph. Drag the cursor across the area of the graph that you want to examine. That area now becomes the focus.
  • Page 65 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 65 Peak info closest to the cursor Resolution Active Indicator Size Signal to noise ratio Cursor energy Compton edge A negative signal to noise ratio indicates that a peak has been found but is likely the result of backscatter or a Compton edge.
  • Page 66 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 66 You can use the Average and Points controls to reduce statistical noise in order to see a more accurate view of counts and neutron data. By default, search data is not stored; you have to choose to save search data as part of the setup.
  • Page 67 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 67 This process is carried out as follows: Press the “Export” button and a new display appears: As the display above shows, the mouse is used to select a single spectrum or SHIFT-click to select multiple spectra.
  • Page 68 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 68...

  • Page 69: Appendix C - Operation Without The Docking-Station

    BATTERY CHARGING The battery charger is integrated into the GR-135 electronics so the external “battery charging” is really supplying 12VDC to the unit to charge the two “D” cell NiCd batteries in the GR-135 without removing them from the instrument.
  • Page 70 APPLYING EXTERNAL POWER TO THE GR135 OPERATES THE UNIT BUT ALSO CHARGES THE BATTERIES. THE BATTERY CHARGERS PROVIDED WITH THE GR-135 IS FOR USE WITH NICD “D” CELL BATTERIES ONLY. OPERATING THE CHARGER WHILE ALKALINE BATTERIES ARE IN THE UNIT MAY CAUSE BATTERY LEAKAGE AND MAY SERIOUSLY DAMAGE THE GR-135.

  • Page 71: Appendix D - Nuclide Libraries

    SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 71 APPENDIX D - NUCLIDE LIBRARIES There are 2 levels of nuclide library data in the GR-135 – SNM nuclides and other nuclides. SNM NUCLIDES Label - Since SNM materials are an Name...

  • Page 72: Appendix F - Docking Station Details

    SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 72 APPENDIX F - DOCKING STATION DETAILS GENERAL The Docking Station (DS) is specially designed for ease-of-use. The DS features are : 4 spring-loaded electrical contacts for connection to the base of the GR135 Integrated 0.25uCi Cesium-137 source –...

  • Page 73: Appendix G - Recommended Parameters

    SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 73 APPENDIX G – RECOMMENDED PARAMETERS SETUP MENU PARAMETER DEFAULT Selection SEARCH OUTPUT TO OFF, MEM, PC SAMPLE TIME 1-10, 20-60 secs CHART RANGE AUTO AUTO, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1K, 2K, 4K, 8K, 16K, 32K,...

  • Page 74: Appendix H - Wipe Test (Optional)

    SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 74 APPENDIX H – WIPE TEST (OPTIONAL) If requested by the user, before the GR135 is shipped, a IDENTIFY special capability is enabled that permits a WIPE TEST function. This function permits the GR135 to provide an semi-automatic...
  • Page 75 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 75 User can now press ENTER and return to the normal SEARCH mode If CONTAMINATION is detected - at the end of sample the display will show “WIPE TEST CONTAMINATION ABOVE ALARM LEVEL – LEVEL = 55”.
  • Page 76 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 76 APPENDIX J – SENSOR LOCATIONS...
  • Page 77 APPENDIX X – WARRANTY EXPLORANIUM WARRANTY Exploranium warrants the GR-135 Identifier to be free of defects in material and workmanship for a period of one year from the date of purchase. The warranty does not cover consumables or damage caused by improper use or unauthorized repairs.
  • Page 78 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 78 APPENDIX Y – MANUAL CHANGES Updated for Identiview software version 7.6 – Feb 2004...
  • Page 79 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 79 APPENDIX Z - DOCKING-STATION TEST SOURCE SPECS 49 CFR Ch.1 (10-1-01 Edition) (extraction) §173.422 Additional requirements for excepted packages containing Class 7 (radioactive) materials. (a) Except for materials subject to the shipping paper requirements of subpart C of part 172 of this subchapter, excepted packages prepared for shipment under the provisions of §173.421, §173.424,...
  • Page 80 SAIC Exploranium – GR-135 System Manual page: 80 SAFE HANDLING FOR CHECK SOURCES Docking station: • Licensing Requirements: Radioactive material contained in this device is exempt from USNRC or US Agreement State licensing requirements. • Safe Handling: Although quantities of radioactive material contained in these products are extremely small, the basic radiation protection principles of time, distance and shielding should be practiced as effective methods for minimizing exposure.

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