Wire scanner news from the CERN-SPS

Since electrons and positrons are accelerated in the SPS (Super Proton Synchrotron) for LEP (Large Electron Positron collider) injection, the detection system of the wire scanner was modified and the instrument was used to measure lepton bunch profiles. For the measurement of beam profiles of the high-intensity proton beam in fixed target physics, a limit was found for the beam intensity which the fiber can support without heat damage. This allows use of the wire scanners to measure the profiles at maximum beam energy and intensity without destroying the fiber. The development of high-precision wire scanners for the SPS is accompanied by the need for a better data acquisition system. The new scanners generate more data (up to 32 K per scan) than the old wire scanners and are driven from electronics residing in a VME system. A prototype data acquisition system housed in a VME crate and connected to the operator consoles via a token ring network is described