Studies of proportional mode operation of Iarocci chambers are continuing at Tufts. Fermilab safety people have now told us that PVC may be acceptable for the chamber extrusions because of its small quantity and its inaccessible location in the detector. Work is beginning on a scheme for obtaining fast timing information from the image intensifier readout system. Concern was expressed about the low data acquisition rate capability of the image intensifier readout in the near detector. Alternative readout schemes do not have this limitation but are more expensive.
Current effort is focused on the microchannel plate photomultiplier readout scheme.
The liquid scintillator technology now looks promising enough that we should try to obtain a more reliable cost estimate, based on a detailed engineering design, in the near future. Electronics needed to read out out large numbers of RPC channels is being prepared at Livermore. Data from the GeNIUS test beam calorimeter exposure has been reanalyzed at Caltech, and shows better charge response than expected from the original analysis. Electronics work continues to focus mainly on planning issues. So far, only electronics for the reference detector is being planned.