This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation of the parameters effecting the quality of theH−beam extracted from a small source employing multicusp confinement and the magnetic filter to enhance theH−production. The source was designed to operate the d.c. mode, to have a long filament lifetime and to provide an intenseH−beam with low emittance. TheH−beam is initially transported about 2 m at 25 keV with a measured 95% space charge neutralization. The experimental results indicate that the small cusp source is ∼4 times brighter than the large one1for arc current less than 25 A. A 7 mAH−beam with a normalized emittance of 0.34 &pgr;mm.mrad at an arc current of 27 A and the voltage of 127 V is obtained.