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NIM is an acronym for Nuclear Instrumentation Methods. In the logging industry, we usually talk about "NIMS bins", as opposed to the nuclear industry's "NIM crate". The NIM standard (DOE/ER-0457) was established in 1964 for the nuclear and high energy physics communities. The goal of NIM was to promote the interchangeability of instrumentation modules. The well logging industry began adopting its peculiar version of NIM in the seventies. NIM has lost some popularity in other industries with the development of the CAMAC system. To see the incredible variety of NIM and CAMAC modules that have become surplus to the national labs, visit our friend Don Orie at OE Technologies.
Standard NIM modules are 8.75 inches tall and have a width which is a multiple of 1.35 inches. A 1.35 inch wide module is referred to as a "single width" module, a 2.7 inch wide module is referred to as a "double width" module, and so on. The NIM standard also includes the power connectors, other connector pinouts, logic levels, etc. The following pinout table covers historical logging industry NIMS bins:
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