Radioactivity in my bedroom

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GAHorn
Posts: 20967
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2002 8:45 pm

Radioactivity in my bedroom

Post by GAHorn »

Wendell Wyborny made a Geiger counter for me. I wanted to test some instruments and some other things laying about the house. Everything of which I was suspicious turned out to be fine.
But when I put the device away for storage up in my top dresser drawer...it LIT UP BIG TIME!

I searched thru all the clothes and knick knacks and finally cornered the radioactivity in a coin dish. Pulling out the small objects therein .... I finally located the offender... My Dad's WW-II Escape Kit compass... with high grade radium on the needle! But you can't believe how such a small object could be so radioactive.....it's like a small button in size. The amount of radiation it emits.... It'd probably be illegal these days.

(I suspect it was so small to be ...er... "hidden" ...where no one would look for it. I guess colon cancer wouldn't be the concern in that event, however....)
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'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
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DaveF
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Re: Radioactivity in my bedroom

Post by DaveF »

Interesting! I wonder what's in my top drawer.

Tell us more about the Geiger counter.
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GAHorn
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Re: Radioactivity in my bedroom

Post by GAHorn »

Well....here's the instructions on how to complete the thing: http://www.electroschematics.com/12225/ ... r-counter/

In ordinary use, it emits a flashing red LED and a "click" at each flash. It has pins to connect to meters, readouts, serial-port, etc., if you want more sophistication.
I just wanted to detect radiation in aircraft instruments and oil field pipe from which I'm building a BBQ, as well as to test an old Civil Defense Geiger counter I've had for several years. (I was particularly suspicious of the Civil Defense unit, that it might actually be contaminated,... it was acquired thru an online auction purchase.... but it turns out to be OK.)
Wendell tells me that the GM tube (detector tube) he used is actually surplus Russian.

Here's a link to where to get your own kit for assembly: http://mightyohm.com/blog/products/geiger-counter/

Why would we be interested? You think only older aircraft instruments are radioactive due to their glow-in-the-dark dials?
Try reading this (while you munch on a banana or snack on brazil nuts or low-salt crackers): http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/cons ... agthor.htm

( While eating a banana at breakfast isn't going to kill you.... the radioactivity from a truckload of bananas is capable of causing a false alarm when passed through a Radiation Portal Monitor used to detect possible smuggling of nuclear material at U.S. ports. A nuclear terrorist might use a shipload of bananas as cover. Gives a whole new meaning to "Banana Republic", heh?)

Other food rich in potassium include potatoes, kidney beans, sunflower seeds, and nuts. Brazil nuts in particular are not only rich in 40K but may also contain significant amounts of radium. Some types of table salt can contain trace amounts of radium; while tobacco contains traces of thorium, polonium and uranium. Gee...I wonder why tobacco use can lead to cancer...?
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
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bsdunek
Posts: 425
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2004 6:42 pm

Re: Radioactivity in my bedroom

Post by bsdunek »

Yep, lots of things radioactive that we don't think of. It's our everyday stuff, so, I don't worry about it. We're made to tolerate a certain amount.
Bruce
1950 170A N5559C
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ghostflyer
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Re: Radioactivity in my bedroom

Post by ghostflyer »

Some time ago we had a AD surface here in OZ warning us about radio active instruments . Basically it said the instruments were ok but we were not to put anything in our mouths or suck on any part of the instruments. Interesting I thought !! I never thought of giving my AH a lick during flight .
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GAHorn
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Re: Radioactivity in my bedroom

Post by GAHorn »

Somewhere in all my junk I've got a report from the Atomic Energy Commission ( I think it was) which cautioned aircraft instrument repair shops about radium. That report actually had shops count the number of instruments held in storage, calculate the square-footage of the store-room, and then summarized the daily exposure to workers who visited that room. A limit was placed upon the amount of time spent in the room and/or working on such instruments.
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
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