Beam and installation improvements of the NIO1 ion source

The NIO1 (Negative Ion Optimization phase 1) source can provide continuous beam operation, which is convenient for systematic parameter and equipment studies. Even in the pure volume production regime, the source yield was found to depend on conditioning procedures. Magnetic configuration tests continued adding magnets to the existing setup; the filter field component Bx has been progressively extended to span the-12 to 5 mT range, and as a trend, source performances improved with |Bx|. The progress of camera beam diagnostics and of the quality of the volume-produced H-beam is also shown. The status, off-line results, and reliability of a first NIO1 cesium oven are discussed;other upgrades in preparation (cavity ring down spectrometer, the end calorimeter, and conceptual tests of the energy recovery system) are also listed.