Our TOF research and development efforts will continue over the next six months, during which time we will focus primarily on the development and testing of an on-line (laser) calibration system and a novel PMT base. The PMT base design envisioned is one similar to that developed for the ZEUS experiment at DESY, which incorporates a compact, remotely adjustable Cockcroft-Walton high voltage supply [64]. We also plan to explore the idea of incorporating part of the read out electronics (e.g. pulse discrimination) in the PMT base itself. This arrangement is expected to improve timing resolution by eliminating pulse dispersion in the cable between the PMT and discriminator. The additional benefits of such a design in a large detector system like E864 are many, including lower mass, fewer cables, easy control, and cost effectiveness.
In addition to the ongoing TOF research and development efforts, we will continue to design the mechanical support structure required for each hodoscope station.
As the TOF hodoscopes are required for all aspects of the E864 physics program,
we would like to proceed on a development and construction schedule which will
ensure all three stations are completed and installed on the experimental
floor by 1993. Our present and future efforts to maintain such a schedule are
outlined in Fig. 
. If this scenario is realized,
Figure: Schedule of present and future efforts in the development and
construction of the TOF hodoscope system.
it is anticipated that some use could be made of the 1993 AGS proton and/or Au beam running periods for detector shakedown and/or to pursue some of the lower sensitivity E864 physics objectives. The funding allocation needed for the TOF hodoscope system to progress on such a schedule requires a large fraction of the total budget for this project to be disbursed in FY92, with the remainder in FY93. The budgetary breakdown is provided in the section on staging and funding plans.