LUDLUM MEASUREME NTS, INC.
501 OAK ST., PO BOX 810
SWEETWATER, TX 79556
915/235-5494 FAX: 915/235-4672
LUDLUM MODEL 4500
RADIATION PORTAL MONITOR
OPERATOR’S MANUAL
Version 2.00
April 2003
Model 4500 Operator’s Manual
April 2003
page
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. GENERAL
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2. BLOCK DIAGRAM
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3. GETTING STARTED
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3.1 Power
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3.2 On/Off Switch
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3.3 Fuses
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4. MAINTENANCE
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5. TROUBLESHOOTING
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5.1 Infrared (IR) Sensors
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5.2 Instrument Failure
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5.3 Testing Battery, Line Power and Fuse
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6. SELF-DIAGNOSTICS
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7. REMOTE STATUS DISPLAY
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8. SOFTWARE OVERVIEW
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9. CONFIGURING LANES
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9.1 Assigning Model 4500s to a Lane
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10. SETTING PARAMETERS
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11. CHANGING THE PASSWORD
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12. ALARM WINDOW
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13. DATA ARCHIVING
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DRAWINGS OR DIAGRAMS - Block Diagram
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following page 2
Model 4500 Operator’s Manual
April 2003
page
2
1. GENERAL
The Model 4500 Radiation Portal
Monitor has very sensitive gamma and
neutron sensors to detect small amounts of
radiation. These passive detectors are
arranged to detect very low levels of
radiation coming from personnel or vehicles
that pass through the detectors.
It is important to note that the levels of
radiation detected by this instrument are
quite small. A radiation alarm does not
automatically indicate dangerous levels of
radiation. Everyday products and materials,
because of small amounts of naturally
occurring radio active materials, will activate
many radiation alarms. Medical patients
having undergone tests involving radioactive
materials may also activate the alarms for
weeks after the test or treatment.
2. BLOCK DIAGRAM
The block diagram on the following page
illustrates the major components of the
radiation portal system.
Detector: passive gamma and neutron
sensitive detectors.
Infrared (IR) Sensor: infrared sensor
detects vehicle presence.
Remote Status Display: provides visual
display of status, audible warning of alarm
and reset capability.
Control Box: Main Electronics functions as
the “brain”, receiving input from Detectors
and Object Sensors, powering the Remote
Status Display, and sending information
through the Ethernet to the computer.
Optional Video: network camera can be
used to supply a picture of each vehicle
passing through the portal system.
Computer: running NetSupervisor software,
is used display multiple lanes of video and
radiation data, to log data on every ve hicl e,
to pop up alarm windows with vehicle
profiles, and to remotely cha nge parameters
within each control box.
3. GETTING STARTED
When power is applied for the first time,
the Model 4500 has a warm-up time of
approximately 1 minute. During this time,
the control box initializes, and a 30-second
background radiation measurement is taken.
3.1 Power
Power input to the control box is
normally a hard-wired 120VAC mains
connection. Backup power is supplied by
way of an internal trickle-charged gell-cell
battery ins ide the control box. The backup
battery will supply power for several hours if
the mains power is out. Because of the
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April 2003
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3
internal backup battery, switching off the
mains power (by switch or breaker) will
NOT turn the system off. If remote
ON/OFF operation is required, the battery
fuse should be removed.
7
NOTE: Disconnect or remove power
to instrument before checking or replacin g
fuses. If necessary, have an electrician (or
otherwise qualified person) perform this
task.
3.2 On/Off Switch
The ON/OFF switch is a black rocker
switch located in the center of the control
box. Switching it to the down or OFF
position disconnects both the mains power
and the battery power.
3.3 Fuses
The fuses for both the mains power and the
battery are located i n the control box next to
the ON/OFF switch. The fuses are a 1-amp
AGC-1 (main AC fuse) and a 5-amp ABC-5
(battery fuse).
4. MAINTENANCE
The Ludlum Model 4500 portal system
is built to last for many years. The only
regular maintenance that is required is to
ensure that the vehicle sensors are clean. If
the front lenses of the sensors are dirty or
blocked by ice or snow, the system might
think a vehicle is inside the portal. As a
result, the CHECKING indicator of the
Remote Status Display might remain on all
the time. The instrument does monitor the
infrared sensors and will activate a FAIL
alarm if the sensors remained blocked for
several minutes.
5. TROUBLESHOOTING
5.1 Infrared (IR) Sensors
SENSOR EMITTER
The emitters are the sensors that are
located on the opposite side of the lane from
the electronics box. These have a small
pinhole for the IR beam to be emitted
through.
There is a red power LED that is located
on the side of the emitter that can be seen
when the unit is powered up. This red LED
can be seen by looking th rough the hole on
the side or by looking underneath the
shroud. It may be difficult to see the red
LED under bright light conditions. Shading
the unit may help in seeing the LED.
NOTE: The LED will always be
illuminated, as long as the emitter has
power.
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April 2003
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Emitter Front Emitter Side
SENSOR RECEIVER
The receivers are the sensors that are
located on the same side of the lane as the
electronics box. They receive and
acknowledge the beam from the emitter.
The receiver also has an LED on the
side. It will only be illuminated when the
unit is powered up
and
the beam is present.
This red LED can be seen by looking
through the hole on the side or through the
front of the shroud. (Take care to not block
the beam during inspection.)
Receiver Front Receiver Side
SENSOR SETUP AND ALIGNMENT
1. Mount the sensors on the side of the
units.
2. The sensor set that vehicles reach
first (front) should be mounted facing each
other on opposite sides of the lanes. Both
emitter and receiver should be 19 inches
above the road surface.
3. The second set of sensors (back) will
be mounted at an angle. The emitter should
be 19 inches above the road, and the receiver
should be 72 inches above the road surface.
4. Aim the receiver toward the emitter.
Do this by sighting along the top of the
receiver and adjusting it up and down until it
is pointing directly at the pinhole on the
emitter. A laser pointer or string may be
useful as an alignment aid.
5. Aim the emitter at the receiver.
Adjust the emitter until the LED light on the
receiver is illuminated.
6. Move the emitter up until the light
turns off.
7. Note the angle.
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April 2003
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8. Move the emitter down until the light
turns off.
9. Note the angle.
10. Move the emitter to the middle of the
two angle readings.
11. Tighten the emitter and receiver
hold-down bolts.
12. Re-inspect for receiver LED.
5.2 Instrument Failure
The FAIL status, which activates
warnings at both the remote status display
and at the computer, can be caused by th ree
conditions:
1) Sensor Blockage-when the sensors
are blocked by di rt , ice, or snow for
several minutes or when a vehicle
remains in the portal too long.
2) Hi Background - A radiation sensor
indicates radiation levels above the
normal limits.
3) Lo Background - A radiation sensor
indicates radiation levels below the
normal limits.
The most common failure mode is the
sensor blockage, so checking the sensors for
blockage should be the first response.
(Refer to more details later in this section.)
Once the blockage is corrected, the reset
button should be pressed and held for three
seconds to reboot the system and establish a
new background.
The Hi or Lo Background conditions
usually indicate detector failure, although
the Hi Background condition could be
associated with some external radiation
source, such as an X-ray tru ck. If this is the
case, remove the radiation source, and
reboot the system. If it is determined that no
external radiation source is causing the Hi
Background, then the detector should be
disabled (see section 10. “Setting
Parameters”), and technical support should
be called. Disabling the detector allows the
system to run with the other working
detectors.
SENSOR BLOCKAGE
1. Check emitter for proper operation.
(Refer to section 5.1 to identify the sensor
emitter.) Its LED should be on and stay on.
If not, it has a problem and technical support
should be called.
2. Check that there is not a vehicle or
other object in the lane. If there is, remove
it.
3. Check the pinhole on the emitter.
Clean and/or remove any blockage.
4. Check lenses on emitter and receiver.
If lenses are dirty, clean them with a clean
damp cloth. If they are iced over, use a
commercial de-icer and then clean them.
5. Check alignment of sensors. (Refer
to SENSOR SETUP AND ALIGNMENT,
Section 5.1).
6. Check receiver for proper operation.
(Refer to text in section 5.1 to identify the
sensor receiver.). Its LED should be on and
stay on until an object passes through the
lane. If steps 1 through 5 have been
completed and there is still a problem,
technical support should be called.
BACKGROUND TOO HIGH
1. Check that VACIS source is not too
close to portal.
2. Use a portable radiation instrument
to determine if a foreign source of radiation
is present. (A person who has recently
undergone a medical procedure using
radiopharmaceuticals can be an unknowing
radiation source.)
3. Reinitialize instrument. (When portal
is clear, hold reset button 3 seconds.)
4. If failure persists, contact Supervisor.
BACKGROUND TOO LOW
1. Reinitialize instrument. (When
portal is clear, hold reset button 3 seconds.)
2. If failure persists, contact Supervisor.
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5.3 Testing Battery, Line Power and
Fuse
Battery Test:
1. Turn the power off to the unit.
2. Remove the Line (1A) fuse.
3. Power the unit ON ( 0= off, 1= on).
NOTE: When the fuse is removed, the unit
is running on BATTERY only. If the unit
fails to operate, the battery power is not
functioning properly.
4. Replace fuse when testing is
completed.
Line Test:
1. Turn the power off to the unit.
2. Remove the Battery (5A) fuse.
3. Power the unit ON ( 0= off, 1= on).
NOTE: When the fuse is removed, the unit
is running on LINE only. If the unit fails to
operate, the line power is not functioning
properly.
4. Measure LINE voltage. It must
measure between 90-240VAC (50-60 Hz).
5. Replace fuse when testing is
completed.
Fuse Test:
1. Remove the fuse from the unit.
2. Using a volt meter on Ohms (6),
measure across both ends of the fuse, and
determine if the fuse is good, as follows:
reading: 0-5 = good
reading: open or OL = bad
6. SELF-DIAGNOSTICS
The Ludlum Model 4500 portal system
has many built-in self-diagnostics. The
control box constantly checks the readings
from the radiation detectors to ensure that
they are within normal limits. The control
box also ensures that the vehicle sensors
have not been blocked for more than several
minutes. If the control box determines that
any detector is outside of normal limits, or
that the vehicle sensors might be dirty or
blocked by ice or snow, then a FAIL
condition will be activated.
When a FAIL condition is activated, audio
and visual warning will be given at the
Remote Status Display and also at the
NetSupervisor computer display. Section
5.2 “Instrument Failure”, earlier in this
manual, covers what to do when a FAIL
condition occurs.
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April 2003
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7. REMOTE STATUS DISPLAY
The Model 4500 Remote Status Display
is the primary indicator of status to the
operator. The following is a description of
each indicator:
Power OK - a green LED indicates that
the system is ON.
Checking - a green LED momentarily
turns ON as each vehicle passes through the
detectors.
Gamma Alarm - a red LED indicates
that radiation detectors have detected an
increase in the gamma radiation levels as the
vehicle has passed through the detectors.
Neutron Alarm - a red LED indicates
that radiation detectors have detected an
increase in the neutron radiation levels as the
vehicle has passed through the detectors.
Instrument Fail - an orange LED
indicates a failure of the instrument.
Reset-a pushbutton with two functions:
1) If an alarm is present, it can be used
to reset the system for the next vehicle,
or 2) If pressed for 3 seconds, a reboot
or restart of the system occurs. The reboot
function may be necessary to correct the
background radiation readings if the
readings have been artificially altered
because of the nearby operation of an x-ray
system. NOTE: Reboot cannot take place
if a vehicle is within the portal.
Volume Control – a recessed screw
adjustment located on the bottom of the
remote display whic h controls the volume of
the voice annunciator.
Voice Annunciator – an audible signal
that indicates an ALARM condition with the
spoken word “alert” or a FAIL condition
with the spoken words “system alert”.
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8. SOFTWARE OVERVIEW
The Display Window is a tabbed
window that can display 12 lanes. An
indicator next to the Car Counter turns red
when the infrared beams are broken. Each
lane has a counter for the number of Gamma
Low, Gamma High, and Neutron Alarms.
If camera for the lane is enabled, live
video will be displayed in the image
window. If both front and back cameras are
enabled, clicking on the image will toggle
between the front and back cameras.
A status message is displayed next to the
lane number. “Connected” indicates that the
software is connected to the lane.
“Timeout” indicates that no data was
received from the lane for 20 seconds.
“Retrying” indicates that the software is
attempting to reconnect to the lane.
“Missing” indicates that the retry failed.
The software will keep retrying every 20
seconds to connect to the lane.
If there is a background failure, the
Average fields will turn red, indicating there
is a problem with the detectors. A fail
window will pop up indicating which
channel and what type of background alarm
occurred. Low background alarms are
displayed in purple, and high background
alarms are displayed in red.
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The Prefs menu has five passwordprotected options. They are Search
Network, Assign Instruments, Set
Parameters, Options, and Set Password.
The Monitor software operates just like
the Supervisor software without the ability
to change any par amet ers. The only option
available to the Monitor Software is that of
setting an Image Store Drive Letter. This is
the drive letter mapped to the network
location of the camera images.
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9. CONFIGURING LANES
Use the Prefs/Search Network menu to
search for all Model 4500 monitors on the
network. After searching the network, use
the “Get ID Numbers” button to return the
Unique ID numbers for each Model 4500.
Click on the “Save” button to save the list of
Model 4500s found.
9.1 Assigning Model 4500s to a Lane
To assign an unassigned Model 4500 to
a lane, select the lane and click on the
“Unassigned” button. Then select the Model
4500 and click on the “OK” button.
Disable: Disable the currently selected lane
Enable All: Enable all lanes.
Disable All: Disable all lanes
Unassigned: Displays a list of all
unassigned Model 4500s. The Search
Network option must be used first before
any Model 4500s display here.
Move Up: Move the currently selected
Model 4500 to the next lower lane number
Move Down: Move the currently selected
Model 4500 to the next higher lane number.
Save: The current settings will be saved and
the Display window will be updated with the
new settings.
Cancel: The current settings will not be
saved.
10. SETTING PARAMETERS
The Set Parameters window allows the
parameters to be set for all lanes or just a
single lane. Refer to the Model 4500
Electronics Instruction Manual for a more
detailed explanation of the parameters.
Select Lane: Determines which lane for
which the parameters are changed. If set to
All, the parameters are changed for all lanes.
Unit ID: An ID number that can be
assigned to each Model 4500. Valid values
are from 0 to 255.
4500 Date/Time: The current date and
time when the parameters were downloaded.
The computer’s current date and time is used
when this parameter is set.
Alarm Setpoints: Sets the v alu e used i n
the alarm calculation in terms of Sigma and
also an absolute value above background.
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Background Alarms: Sets the high and
low background values. If the background
goes outside these limits, the Model 4500
will go into a fail condition.
Sum Alarms Active: If checked,
Gamma Low Sum, Gamma High Sum, and
Neutron Sums Alarms are active.
Individual Alarms: If checked, the
individual channels are checked for an
alarm.
Neutron Channels: If checked
detectors are grouped as a Gamma Low,
Gamma High, and Neutron channel. If
unchecked all channels are Gamma
channels.
Use Sigma for Alarm Calc: If checked,
the alarms are based on sigma; otherwise,
they are based on the absolute value.
Samples: Sets the number of samples
for each vehicle and the number of pre- and
post-samples that are checked.
Background Update: Determines how
fast the background is updated.
Time Values: Sets the Count Time,
Alarm Hold Time, and the Incomplete Time.
If the Alarm Hold Time is zero, the Model
4500 will alarm until the reset button is
pressed. The Sensor Fail sets the amount of
time in minutes that a continuous blocking
of the sensors will cause a failure.
Enable/Disable Detectors: Detectors
that are checked are active, detectors that are
not checked are not active.
Reset: Reset the Model 4500
Refresh: Re-download the parameters
from the Model 4500
Set: Saves the individual parameters to
the Model 4500.
Set All: Saves all the parameters to the
Model 4500.
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11. CHANGING THE PASSWORD
Note: The default password is “4500”.
After running the program for the first time,
be sure to change the password to something
else.
To change the password, you must enter
the old password, type in a new password,
and then confirm the new password. The
password must be at least four (4) characters
in length.
12. ALARM WINDOW
The Alarm window is automatically
displayed, and an alarm report is printed
when an alarm occurs. The alarm window
displays the front and back camera images
(if enabled), the background and maximum
reading for each detector, and a profile graph
of the vehicle. The values in the grid are
displayed in red if an alarm occurs on that
channel. The “Print” button will print
another copy of the alarm report. The
“Acknowledge” button will close this
window.
The profile graph displays the sum of the
Gamma Low, Gamma High, and Neutron
channels in tenths of second intervals. The
scale on the left is for the gamma channels
and the scale on the right is for the neutron
channels. The profile can be used to locate
the point along the vehicle that has the
highest radiation reading. For example, if
the peak is located at sample 15, and there
are 30 samples, then the peak is in the
middle of the vehicle.
The values in the grid are based on the
number of samples set in the Parameters
screen. The grid is based on the Parameters
Screen. If the number of samples were set to
10, these values would be in counts per
second. If the number of samples were 5,
then the values would be in counts per
half-second.
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13. DATA ARCHIVING
There are three databases used in the
Supervisor program. The alarms.mdb stores
the data for the vehicles that alarmed. The
noalarms.mdb stores the data for vehicles
that did not alarm. The background.mdb
stores the background readings every
minute.
The database and any image files should
be backed up regularly to prevent data loss.
The Supervisor program contains an option
under the “Prefs” menu called “Archive
Databases”. This option moves the current
databases to the archive folder and renames
them with the current date and time and
creates new blank databases to hold new
data. The files are renamed using the
following format:
YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS_name.mdb
where “name” is either alarms, noalarms, or
background.
The image files are not stored in the
database. Only the path and filename are
stored in the database. The images are
stored as standard JPEG files. These files
should be backed up and deleted from the
computer to free storage space as needed.
The images are stored in the following
directory structure:
Images_b\lane_xx\YYYYMMDD\
Images_f\lane_xx\YYYYMMDD\
The data can then be copied from the
archive folder to a Direct-CD formatted cd
for backup.
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