  The CALICE collaboration is presently constructing a test hadron calorimeter
(HCAL) with 7620 scintillator tiles read out by novel photo-detectors - Silicon
Photomultipliers (SiPMs). This prototype is the first device which uses SiPMs
on a large scale. We present the design of the HCAL and report on measured
properties of more than 10 thousand SiPMs. We discuss the SiPM efficiency,
gain, cross-talk, and noise rate dependence on bias voltage and temperature,
including the spread in these parameters. We analyze the reasons for SiPM
rejection and present the results of the long term stability studies. The first
measurements of the SiPM radiation hardness are presented. We compare
properties of SiPM with the properties of similar devices, MRS APD and MPPC. A
possibility to make the tiles thinner and to read them out without WLS fibers
has been studied.
