particledetector : Message: Re: [particledetector] Re: Cosmic Ray Detector using fluorescent tubes

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Re: Cosmic Ray Detector using fluorescent tubes - alpha particle sou

Message #680 of 689 |

Re: [particledetector] Re: Cosmic Ray Detector using fluorescent tubes - alpha particle sources

G'day Robert,

robertatairstream wrote:
> 5) Holding the alpha particle source close increases these pulses and turning
it away decreases.

this sounds a little strange to me, since alphas won't go
thru the glass of the tube. Most likely your source also
produces a good amount of gammas and that is what you see.

Cheers,
Hannes.
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Thu Mar 5, 2009 9:05 am

"Ing. Hannes Mayer" <captain@...>

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Message #680 of 689 |

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You may want to "sacrifice" a regular cheap home-use smoke detector. Many smoke detectors use a small ion chamber as the smoke detecting element. Inside the...	Noel Verbiest nverbies	Feb 27, 2009 3:49 am
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I went out on the weekend and bought a smoke detector for only $7AU which has a nice little alloy disk with americium 241 (according the package). It seems to...	robertatairstream robertatairs...	Mar 5, 2009 6:50 am
G'day Robert, ... this sounds a little strange to me, since alphas won't go thru the glass of the tube. Most likely your source also produces a good amount of...	Ing. Hannes Mayer al_birdie_2000	Mar 5, 2009 9:05 am
That is excellent feedback Hannes, as I was very disappointed that I didn't get the same level reaction in the tube detector as I did with a Geiger counter. As...	robertatairstream robertatairs...	Mar 5, 2009 11:10 am
Take your geiger counter to flea markets, yard sales or thrift stores, look for an older alarm clock with a radium dial. My dad's old alarm clock provides a...	n8fgv	Feb 27, 2009 8:38 pm
Robert, Americanium 241 is a strong alpha emitter and a weak gamma emitter. The glass in your tubes will block the alphas.� Most Geiger counters have tube...	Ronald Fleshman ronfleshman	Mar 5, 2009 1:40 pm