Advantages of using a gasdynamic electron cyclotron ion source in a proton accelerator based compact neutron source DARIA are discussed. It is experimentally demonstrated that the gasdynamic proton source is able to provide ion beams with 100 mA current, duration from 100 microseconds and longer at repetition rate up to 1 kHz. Emittance of the ion beams produced by the gasdynamic ion source was measured using a “pepper-pot” method for two extraction electrodes geometries: “spherical” and flat parallel. It is shown that the normalized 4 rms emittance value for both electrode configurations in the range of extraction voltage from 41 t 48 kV does not exceed 2 mm mrad.