Recent Advances of the Engineering Prototype of the CALICE Analog Hadron Calorimeter

The CALICE collaboration is developing an engineering prototype of an analog hadron calorimeter for a future linear collider detector. The prototype has to prove the feasibility of building a realistic detector with fully integrated front-end electronics. The performance goals are driven by the requirement of high jet energy resolution and the measurement of the details of the shower development. The signals are sampled by small scintillating plastic tiles that are read out by silicon photomultipliers. The ASICs are integrated into the calorimeter layers and are optimized for minimal power consumption. For the photodetector calibration an LED system is integrated into each of the detector channels. In this report the status and performance of the realized module are presented. In particular, results from timing measurements are discussed, as well as tests of the calibration system. The new module has also been used in the DESY test beam environment and first results from the electron beam tests are reported.