Obradors-Campos, D. Ahedo, M.B. Barcala, J.M. Calero, J. Calvo, P. Domínguez, M.A. Estévez, E.F. Figarola, J.M. García-Tabarés, L. Gavela, D. Guirao, A. Gutiérrez, J.L. Gómez, P. Iturbe, R. Lagares, J.I. López, B. López, D. Martínez, L.M. Munilla, J. Oliver, C. Podadera, I. Pérez Morales, J.M. Rodríguez García, E. Toral, F. Varela, R. Vázquez, C. JACoW Geneva, Switzerland 978-3-95450-182-3 10.18429/JACoW-IPAC2017-TUPIK030 English 1740-1742 TUPIK030 ion ion-source cathode electron cyclotron Contribution to a conference proceedings 2017 2017-05 http://dx.doi.org/10.18429/JACoW-IPAC2017-TUPIK030 http://jacow.org/ipac2017/papers/tupik030.pdf With the main aim of a compact machine for 18F and 11C radioisotope production, AMIT cyclotron relies on a superconducting 4T magnet with an internal cold cathode PIG ion source for H⁻ production. Given the limited access to the ion source in the cyclotron as well the reduced number of beam diagnostics, an experimental facility was proposed for the commissioning of such ion source. The versatility of this test bench, which includes a movable puller, gives us the opportunity to validate and characterize the ion source behavior as well as to optimize the H⁻ production. In a first stage, the discharge characteristics of the ion source has been studied in the CIEMAT IST facilities.