Local Station: the data read-out basic unit for the ARGO-YBJ experiment

ARGO-YBJ is a full coverage layer of Resistive Plate Counters (RPCs) covering an area of about 5.800 m2 to be installed at the YangBaJing Laboratory (Tibet, China) at 4.300 m a.s.l. The DAQ system is based on a Central Station which receives the detector information from distributed readout electronics. Data from each RPC are acquired from a Receiver Card which reads out and digitizes the space and time information from 10 pick-up pads and gives out the pad multiplicity for trigger purposes. The Receiver Cards are hosted in Local Stations which Group 12 RPCs. On trigger occurrence, each Local Station sends the collected data to the Central Station. Both the detector and the electronics allow 1 ns accuracy in time measurements. In this work a detailed description of the Local Station and the Trigger System are presented.