Blinky's Lab

August 2019

Archive page for August 2019 by Blinky's Lab
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    Common Radioactive Check Sources Available on Ebay
    Archived from radmon.org - originally posted 27/08/2019 This is a list of the common radioactive sources available on ebay (at the time of writing - 31/08/2019) They vary a lot in radioactivity and I own all of these so I will try and give you my opinion of how active they are using an SBM-20 tube, in a rough, roundabout way. They will be marked 1 to 5 (5 being most active) based on the samples I own and based against each other. Where I have included the emission type (a, b & y (alpha, beta & gamma)) this is the overall emission. A lot of the different radiation types are caused from
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    Archived from radmon.org - originally posted 25/08/2019 I thought I would try and collate a good list of old and new disaster and post apocalyptic films. Below are the films I have/have watched (Some I haven't watched as yet). Nuclear disaster: The Day After (1983) Threads (1984) Chernobyl HBO miniseries (2019) The War Game (1965) Dr Strangelove (1964) Broken Arrow (1996) Chernobyl Diaries (2012) Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) The China Syndrome (1979) Biological disaster: 28 Days Later (2002) 28 Weeks Later (2007) Contagion (2011) I Am Legend (2007) World War Z (2013) Zombieland (2009) Other
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    Archived from radmon.org - originally posted 25/08/2019 On a radmon.org forum thread we sort of got to discussing the thickness of Aluminium for shielding beta but I didn't want to divert that thread too much so started a new thread on this subject here. I had quoted, roughly in all honesty, that 5mm aluminium would do well for beta shielding and was met with this reply by user FSM19: For a beta shield you need 3mm of aluminium, foil isn't thick enough, UK Civil Defence geiger counters and ionisation instruments, such as the Meter Doserate Portable No 1 Trainer, Meter Doserate Portable No 1
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    A Source for Caesium-137 Cs137 - Raytheon CK1097-15 spark gap
    Archived from radmon.org - originally posted 20/08/2019 I have found a relatively inexpensive source for a Cs137 check source. It is in the form of a 'new old stock' Raytheon CK1097-15 spark gap from ebay.co.uk. (No longer listed - You may find one by searching.) It isn't very active though. I bought it to use as a calibration source for my gamma spectrometer project I'm on with. I tested using a LND712 tube and got about 55 CPM tops (background was ~17 CPM) and had to place the spark gap right up to the end window of the LND712. Whilst not very active it should work well for calibration
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    Best enclosure for mounting geiger tube outdoors
    Archived from radmon.org - originally posted 12/08/2019 In reply to a nzoomed's question on radmon.org: Im wanting to build an outdoor monitoring station with an SBM20 and not sure if its good to use a PVC pipe to place the tube inside? Obviously im wanting something as thin as possible to let as many particles through as possible. Are there some materials I should avoid? Are beta particles typically encountered much in the environment? Should I only be worried about cosmic rays? Im not sure how much background radiation is from other sources, but im expecting there is a great deal from alpha