Re: consumer products that make nice sources
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- At 10:34 PM 11/3/95, Timothy C. May wrote:
At 5:46 PM 11/3/95, Brad Dolan wrote:
The tag on my Montana Sunshine Radon Mine radon pillow is a little blurred
I think the following is the right phone number.
Sunshine Mine is an amusing concept. People pay money to go breathe radon there, while others are spending much money avoiding radon.
Anyway, the pillows make nice sources and good conversation pieces.
I'd say they make poor sources. Far too large. A smaller source has better access to the detector without adding much to the overall background the user is exposed to. (I'm not saying low-level uranium or thorium sources are much of a hazard, but the fluence presented at the detector is very low for such an extended source.)
If it's a cheap source of higher-than-background radiation, try a smoke detector. They are getting darn cheap these days, and my First Alert Model 83R says it contains 1.0 Microcurie of Americium 241. This should raise the count rate significantly over background. And if one isn't enough, you could always get several, remove the module with the radioactive materials in it (it's a sort of black cylinder in mine) from several, and put them all in a box with the radiation detector. As I remember, I bought 2 or three of these detectors in a single package for about $15 3 years ago. They should be quite cheap by now. Although, I don't think it has the same sort of humor value as the pillow. (What's that hooked to your computer Mike? It's a pillow Bob. Don't ask.) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMJvmh4P3Pba7OSlRAQEDlwP8Cm4vryVejfJZoSd/amwFLxJZWYnPHNxS 3KCmw8jSKjFk4iF+wTvWAHbFIjjkKFGBLt6+BMbDt2eUM6R87mNay1nMASsCoweL syDr4D39XDUGF6sw7TDulLTW62u7JKaCIGoBQU5+uU4Qxs3YA4QVVR+sLi885ngt o0GEIeVgLw8= =hNXr -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ---- Michael Kohne mhkohne@discordia.org or mhkohne@moberg.com "Quantum mechanics is your friend" Key fingerprint = EE 22 9D 9B 32 5E F1 37 D2 B3 DC 78 19 24 D1 E8
On Sat, 4 Nov 1995, Michael Kohne wrote:
Although, I don't think it has the same sort of humor value as the pillow. (What's that hooked to your computer Mike? It's a pillow Bob. Don't ask.)
I've always wanted to make a RNG by sticking a Brownian motion detector into a really hot cup of tea... Simon // Share and Enjoy(tm)
Lots of people are discussing all sorts of weird souces of radioactive material to use in a detector for an RNG. None of this is necessary. Scientific supply houses will happily sell you small calibrated sources for use in your lab, classroom, or in our case, machine room (:-). There is no need to find objects to dismantle or silly dangerous radioactive sources. You can get a source that produces exactly as much activity as you need very cheaply. Perry
participants (3)
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mhkohneï¼ discordia.org -
Perry E. Metzger -
Simon Spero