Compact high voltage and optocoupled electronics for gas proportional scintillation counters

Compact (less than 2 dm/sup 3/), low weight (less than 1 kg) and low power (less than 5 W) electronic circuits for large window area (20 cm/sup 2/) Gas Proportional Scintillation Counters (GPSCs) with ellipsoidal grid have been developed for the detection of solar X-rays in balloon borne experiments. The electronics consist of amplification stages and modular power supplies. It includes a 6 kV detector supply, that for the sake of compactness and power saving has a relatively high ripple (/spl plusmn/2 V) that does not affect the performance of system, since the pulses are optically coupled to ground. Details of the circuits are given together with the control and data acquisition interface electronics. X-ray spectra demonstrating the performance of the GPSC and associated electronics are presented.