And by 'alpha', I meant 'beta'. I actually did mean alpha, but I was wrong. 
Still my old Geiger/Muller tube couldn't detect anything from these nixies, 
so at least I can now detect beta particles. Now I need to find an alpha 
source! Smoke detectors apparently.

On Thursday, November 26, 2020 at 10:27:17 AM UTC-5 Pramanicin wrote:

> Still a bit of juice left!
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Nov 26, 2020, at 07:25, Paul Andrews <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Finally got an alpha detector for my GK-Mini geiger counter. First 
> picture is a regular nixie tube. Second is one doped with Kr85
> <IMG_5681.JPG>
>
>
> <IMG_5683.JPG>
>
>
> On Friday, November 6, 2020 at 9:20:54 AM UTC-5 SWISSNIXIE - Jonathan F. 
> wrote:
>
>> Could also be Ra-226 on the 6140
>>
>> gregebert schrieb am Mittwoch, 4. November 2020 um 16:32:02 UTC+1:
>>
>>> Maybe it's Thorium, used in the filaments.
>>>
>>> On Wednesday, November 4, 2020 at 4:13:16 AM UTC-8 Paolo Cravero wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi.
>>>> Let me add two pictures and a story.
>>>>
>>>> Lately I picked up locally a bunch of small CRTs (2BP1, that also fit 
>>>> in the vintage tuner currently on eBay, plus a Marantz) and the guy had a 
>>>> few NIB tubes too. I was looking for gas-filled ones and that resulted in 
>>>> a 
>>>> W.E. 6167 dekatron, some 0B2WA and some W.E. 6140/423A. Of particular 
>>>> interest was the 6140 shown in the picture whose box mentions Kr85, but no 
>>>> symbol on the glass.
>>>> When I came home I checked with a Geiger counter and SBM-20 probe (hard 
>>>> beta and gamma particles) these tubes and the 6140 from 11/61 shows no 
>>>> action. Same goes for other 6140 except for one, much older from 12/52 
>>>> marked 423A. Neither the box nor the glass carry any warning sign, but 
>>>> this 
>>>> tube hits >600 CPM vs 40 CPM background when put close to the SBM-20 probe 
>>>> (it's not the right way to measure radiation, but it's cool :) ). There is 
>>>> definitely something else than Kr-85 in there! I have blurred pics of it 
>>>> and it has been stored away from home.
>>>>
>>>> As already mentioned, Nixies did contain Kr-85 and I knew I had one 
>>>> clearly marked. It's a Burroughs Self-Scan display that probably needed 
>>>> some "doping" to handle the almost 1 MHz scan rate. BTW, it contains gas 
>>>> and I might never use it, so if someone wants to experiment with self-scan 
>>>> contact me off the list.
>>>>
>>>> One question for the knowledgeable people in here. I have some Mullard 
>>>> Nixies marked "Kr-0A": has it got something to do with Kr-85? I can't 
>>>> check 
>>>> with the Geiger since my probe does not detect Kr-85 leftovers.
>>>>
>>>> So, if you are on the hunt for active tubes, better look for unmarked 
>>>> pre-1960 editions and carry a Geiger counter with you ;)
>>>>
>>>> Paolo
>>>>
>>> -- 
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