A tune measurement system for low current and energy ramping operation of a booster synchrotron

A betatron tune measurement system is one of the most important diagnostic tools for any circular accelerator. For the commissioning of a booster synchrotron newly developed for top-off injection into the Duke storage ring, a versatile tune measurement system employing a network analyzer, a short stripline kicker, a space filter and a photomultiplier tube has been developed to allow tune measurements over a wide range of beam energies from 0.24 to 1.2 GeV, and for low current measurements at a few micro-amperes. The signal from the highly sensitive optical detection system is also used for fast tune measurements with a realtime oscilloscope. This technique is being developed for live tune monitoring during booster energy ramping.