Performance of a simple multiparameter data acquisition system at balloon altitudes

Abstract The design and operation of a data acquisition system based on an IBM clone is described. The system was designed to allow the automated measurement of X-ray spectra in a balloon environment and is intended to be used in a “stand alone” configuration. The only external modules required for this application are the addition of a 6-bit ADC and a 16-bit direct memory access (DMA) interface unit. The system has been optimized towards low power consumption, small size and fast data processing. The acquisition system was recently flown on a high altitude balloon over Palestine, Texas, USA. The system performed successfully for 31 h in an environment exhibiting temperature and pressure extremes of 80°C and 1 bar, respectively.