I advise against using smoke detectors. To detect heir alpha radiation, you would have to disassemble the source until you get to the radioactive isotope plated strip - or button - element. This is sort of not allowed, and also can be very dangerous if you scratch off radioactive material. >From outside the detector you can only detect the Gammas from the Am-241 Also Quantities are sort of really high in these devices, depending on make and model (1-100 uCi Am-241). If you really want to have alpha radiation, i would purchase a Po-210 source from here: https://www.spectrumtechniques.com/products/sources/disk-sources-and-source-sets/
They are like 60$, safe and legal to handle. Only disadvantage is short half life of 138 days. You also can find high power Po-210 sources here: https://www.imagesco.com/geiger/radioactive-sources.html Paul Andrews schrieb am Donnerstag, 26. November 2020 um 17:00:06 UTC+1: > 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 >>>>> >>>> -- >> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "neonixie-l" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> >> To view this discussion on the web, visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/3f26a1e5-5836-4ff5-b1ea-f95fab53151cn%40googlegroups.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/3f26a1e5-5836-4ff5-b1ea-f95fab53151cn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> <IMG_5683.JPG> >> <IMG_5681.JPG> >> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/d65b18e5-dbaf-4d6c-8d86-fc88fbf2f7bdn%40googlegroups.com.
