Stabilization and calibration of hodoscopic Cerenkov spectrometer

A procedure is described for stabilization and monitoring of the parameter drift of a 70-channel Cerenkov spectrometer by analysis of reference signals generated by a nitrogen laser. All reference signals are locked onto the light flash from an alpha source implemented by a single reference element. A complete cycle of collection of stabilizing parameters together with their high-speed computer processing is performed in ∼ 1 min during an experiment. Drift of the photomultiplier supply by hundreds of volts and variation of laser power by a factor of 2-3 cause a change of ≤ 2% in the calculated energy