Performance measurements of the Lucid data acquisition system

The Lucid data acquisition and analysis system, developed by the experimental subatomic physics group at the University of Saskatchewan, has undergone several recent upgrades. Currently, Lucid is used in conjunction with the blowfish neutron detector at the high intensity gamma source facility at Duke University, North Carolina. Changes to the acquisition system were partially motivated by upgrades to blowfish and to the Duke facility itself, which will result in an increase of available gamma ray flux. This increased flux translates directly to an increase in the event rate as seen by the acquisition system. The scope of the system upgrades include changes to the type of digitization modules, acquisition control computer, and real time operating system. The new system's dead time and the underlying processes comprising the dead time were measured and are presented here