A prototype of a 2D detector based on specially designed straw tubes with cathode data readout has been developed and tested. This detector exhibits comparable accuracies in measuring radial and longitudinal coordinates. Its rate capability is similar to the capabilities of traditional detectors whose tubes are smaller by half in diameter.

Precise measurement of straw axial coordinate (along the anode wire) with accuracy compatible with straw radial coordinate determination by drift time measurement and increase of straw detector rate capability by using straw cathode readout instead of anode readout are presented.

Detector rate capability is one of the main parameters for designing a new detector for high energy physics due to the permanent rise of the beam luminosity of modern accelerators. One of the widely used detectors for particle track reconstruction is a straw-detector based on drift tubes. The rate capability of such detectors is limited by the parameters of readout electronics. The traditional method of increasing detector rate capability consists in increasing their granularity (the number of “elementary” detectors = readout channels) by reducing the straw diameter and/or by dividing the straw anode wire into two parts (for decreasing the rate per readout channel). A new method of designing straw detectors with a high rate capability is presented and tested. The method is based on dividing the straw cathode into parts and the independent readout of each part.

The coordinate detectors based on straw tubes provide a high accuracy of the radial coordinate measurement using the drift time and a small amount of matter in the way of the measured particles. However, the measurement of the coordinate along the wire constitutes a problem. This paper proposes a method for measuring the hit coordinate along the wire with an accuracy better than 1 mm in a straw tube detector using the signals from the cathodes of the detector.

A detector with a profile-based cathode and a two-coordinate cathode readout system has been experimentally investigated. Cathode pads located in each profile along the anode wire are diagonally interconnected, thus forming strips that cross the detector at some angle with respect to the anode wire. Owing to the availability of the two cathode coordinates and the coordinate associated with the anode wire, it is possible to solve the problem of identifying high-multiplicity events in a single detector.

The new measuring possibilities of 6-crystal gamma-rays spectrometers of “Pripyat” type are reported. Distinctive features of these spectrometers are the 4π registration geometry and large sensitive volume (up to 5 l). Principle of operation of the new registration system and the processing methods of spectra using the corresponding software are described. The minimal volume activities measured by using modernized spectrometers of “Pripyat” type are presented (137Cs, 226Ra, 232Th < 1 Bq/l, 40К < 10 Bq/l).

A magnetic spectrometer intended for a wide range of investigations of rare particle and nuclear processes is described. The spectrometer consists of cylindrical proportional chambers (∼ 15000 signal wires) with gas supply and gas leakage systems, cylindrical scintillation hodoscopes, a magnet, electronics with power supplies, and a data acquisition system. Basic characteristics of the spectrometer are discussed and results of first physics experiments are presented.

This paper describes the operation and circuit of a tensometer based on a new method of determining the frequency of natural oscillations of multiwire chambers filaments by means of shock excitation of oscillations that provide sufficient accuracy under the indicated measurement conditions. The device is suitable for measuring the filament tension of chambers of various designs, is simple to operate, and provides high productivity. The range of tension measurement of 0.5-70 g for gold-plated tungsten filaments 20 microm in diameter and 60 cm long is established with the device.

A description of a cylindrical magnetic spectrometer intended for a wide program of investigations on the meson beam of the JINR phasotron at Dubna is given. The spectrometer includes cylindrical proportional chambers, cylindrical scintillation hodoscopes, electronics, a fast processor for data discrimination and a system of feeding data into a computer and the electrical supply. The first investigations will include measurements of rare decays of muons and pions.