The 3rd generation Front-End cards of the Pierre Auger surface detectors: Test results and performance in the field

The surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory comprises 1600 water Cherenkov detectors distributed over an area of 3000km2. The Cherenkov light is detected by three 9-in. photo-multiplier tubes from which the signals of the anode and last dynode are digitized by 10 bit 40 MHz FADCs. An Altera Cyclone FPGA is employed to generate different local triggers and to handle the data transfer to a communication board. After briefly discussing the design of the cards we present an autonomous test-bench, which has been set up in order to test the large number of boards prior to installation in the field. The qualification procedure and the results obtained in the laboratory are presented. Up to three years of operation in the field demonstrate a very good performance and reliability of the Front-End cards.