- I take it something like 100 CPM is considered dangerous to humans?
- I was debating between buying a Scintillator and the Inspector EXP+, I have about 1100 $ I like the fact that the Scintillator is extremely sensitive but I don't like the idea about being blind to a third of the spectrum (alpha). How do I distinguish with the Inspector, between Alpha and Beta release if I'm unsure of the contamination that in in the item I'm testing? Also does the inspector allow for data collection? If, not is there away to do so, or would you recommend something else? Thank you again for making these videos extremely informative
- Where do you get your samples?
- What is that big guy can show the graph? I but a geiger counter but that machine amaze me.
- totally loving it... very comprehensive man.......
- Interesting video, thank you
- I see you're not afraid of cancer.
- HiI had a Horiba Radi pa-1000 radiation Scintillator ( http://www.horiba.com/process-environmental/products/environmental-radiation-monitor/details/pa-1000-environmental-radiation-monitor-radi-3124/ ) delivered to me from Japan. I paid a painful $1000 for it. I am worried about fallout and the health of my kids. Unlike your video results that measure in counts/sec this device has a uSv/h. It shows a reading of 0.024 uSv/h which basically means there is no harmful radioactivity around. Thats good. I held it against a banana and it did nothing. I walked around house, outside (Vancouver Canada) in the rain and pointed to everywhere and nothing changed. :( Anticlimax. So:1- Is it true that there is no fallout on the west coast?2- if this device can not measure alpha and beta particles, then how is it a good choice if there are only those emitters around3- Did I waste my time and money on this?4- Any tips on how to keep safe if there is any radioactive fallout?Thanks.PS you seem to be a guru. Sorry if I am asking a lot of questions.
- David L BurggrafWhat type of radiation is given off in depleted uranium?http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/dod/du_factsheet_4aug98.htm"Unfired depleted uranium munitions are encased in thin metal jackets that seal in alpha and beta particles, and allow only extremely slight gamma emissions which fall well below regulatory health and safety limits."
- So basically: the geiger counter tells you if there's radiation there, and the scintillator tells you in depth of what kind of radiation and where it came from and how much of it over a period of time?
- This is a superb video.Demonstrates the different instruments beautifully.Good on you.I wish you would publish data from Japan samples.And data from west coast seawater.
- very informative thanks, just wish it was,nt necessary for me to have to familiarize myself with this sort of thing but i think it prudent to learn a little about radiation these days! i see some think you talk too much but pay no attention to them..you just keep talking and i,ll keep learning.
- But if the gm counter sees nothing like the cdv-700 probe mabey a count in about 10 seconds and how much it will be with a Scintillator but is it then stil save ? beceas its reads so much more cpms then the geigecounter
- Very nice demonstration, but @ 18:29 Gloved hand to hold detector, ungloved to pickup and move Cs 137 sample, ROFL!
- Super mega dork.
- I don't doubt Fuku stuff can be in rain ( I have detected it before ) but a small puff disperses over a very large area quickly. For example, let's say we take 2 km^3 of air and disperse an activity of 100 MBq in it of Cs137. That is a dose rate at one meter of 7.6 uSv/hr (gamma). Now, if it evenly disperses, it is now 0.1 Bq/m^3 lol and that is only one km^3. You need epic release to detect in the USA.
- hey Tom how is going your rain measures ?
- Sounds like a silly question but what do you think of the little SOEKS device? Cheap but i think it picks up C137.. Also I got 2.5 microseiverts on the plane.
- Correct, for sure. If you DO NOT know the energies you are dealing with, you should use purely counts per period of time (USA: CPM, SI: c/s). If you know the energy: Grays are the amount of absorbed energy. Seiverts are the amount of absorbed energy accounting for the differences in body part and energy time. It can get VERY complicated and typically approximations are used, such as the energy units on a Geiger counter... not correct, but not massively far off... perhaps +/- 20%
- You can make a neutron detector... I cannot recall how to do so... but I believe it consists of a chemical which absorbed the neutron and quickly decays, they decay being captured. I hide from neutrons. Nasty little things!!! Have you asked Bionerd23? She might know more about neutrons. (she's on youtube). I'm all about the gammas =)
- Scintillators are great for gamma, but sometimes the old GM tube is easier to use for detecting something, "by ear" (listening to faster clicks). For example, my pancake probe (like yours) has a background count of about 30CPM, and reads over 40000CPM near the front of a Konica 57mm f/1.2 lens, >1000x background. My Ludlum 44-10 NaI scintillation probe is currently setup to give a background count of about 4500CPM, and reads about 380000CPM near this lens, <100x background. --continued--
- this one too youtube.com/watch?v=uBChBYpm1Cw you can clear see the green stuff burning
- Ok, now i know very little about detectors and such, but i did think of something that may allow a Geiger counter or two Geiger counters to approximate the energy of a particle. For one GM tube:You use Gamma attenuation to based on a source at a fixed distance, looking at count with a shield and without a shield, for Two GM Tubes:You would use two tubes with different sensitivities to various energies to approximate the energy by looking at the variations in Counts between the two. Could it work
- How many counts per minute can people "safely" absorb? p.s thank you for you compliment on the geiger counter/ion tube, i cant reply to comments right now.
- I have not been watching cameras. I really have little time for such stuff. Like I said, I fully agree that stuff from Fuku has/is raining on us at various rates. In fact, before Fuku it rained from old weapons testing fallout, etc. My point is that (to me) this is not a new thing and I just do not find it interesting enough to test. Additionally, most of what falls now is below my detection thresholds (less than 1 Bq/kg of Cs137). Certainly below a Geiger counter.
- Excellent video - sure made your point. Now I'm envious. I see from a previous comment the setup is ~5k. About what I thought. Thanks for sharing.
- --continuation-- The low background of the GM tube is sometimes convenient, since radioactive stuff can stand out more from the background. The high background count of the scintillation probe can sometimes drown out less radioactive items. I suppose this is where lead shielding comes in handy.
- But... when testing a small sample of DU, you mostly see Alpha, beta, x-rays, and some gamma rays.
- Is it just me, or did the 137Cs cause a buzz when you held it close to the camera at 18:51?
- why do you say that smoke detector sources are not good?
- Sorry man, I had to delete some of my posts because I may have gotten a little into detail on something I shouldn't have. Just know your assessment on the number of detectors is a little on the high side... I don't test a lot of the cheaper consumer market detectors, only the ones that are actually going to be used for real search and/or research
- then what is the use of a tube that goes nuts even at normal background radiation?
- What is a reliable Geiger counter which can measure dangerous levels up radiation, thus letting me know I should leave? also, for an extreme example, if I was in the middle of Chernobyl with a Geiger counter that could only measure up to 100 uSv, would it just show 100 uSv measured or would it break, etc. ?
- The Am241 in a smoke alarm can get loose and onto your floor, clothes, hands, etc. Many geiger counters will not readily detect trace Am241, but your body will be displeased if it absorbs any. Also, it is illegal in the USA to dismantal the source.