Upgrade of the LHC Schottky Monitor, Operational Experience and First Results

The LHC Schottky system allows the measurement of beam parameters such as tune and chromaticity in an entirely non-invasive way by extracting information from the statistical fluctuations in the incoherent motion of particles. The system was commissioned in 2011 and provided satisfactory beam-parameter measurements during LHC run 1 for lead-ions. However, for protons its usability was substantially limited due to strong interfering signals originating from the coherent motion of the particle bunch. The system has recently been upgraded with optimized travelling-wave pick-ups and an improved 4.8~GHz microwave signal path, with the front-end and the triple down-mixing chain optimized to reduce coherent signals. Design and operational aspects for the complete system are shown and the results from measurements with LHC beams in Run II are presented and discussed.