Worldwide radiation monitoring

[U201492]

Not exactly sure how this can affect our lifestyle but it might be- or might not be- handy data to have.

http://www.uradmonitor.com/

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[AMProducts]

Most of those are fairly low, I didn't check the specs on their GM tube setup too much, but it looks like it's built into a metal box, which means it's alpha shielded. Probably gives better data that way unless you have radon in your house, IIRC my count is usually about 13-20 CPM average for a GM tube. The scintillator I have is about 100 fold more sensitive than the GM instruments.

 

[U201492]

Most of those are fairly low, I didn't check the specs on their GM tube setup too much, but it looks like it's built into a metal box, which means it's alpha shielded. Probably gives better data that way unless you have radon in your house, IIRC my count is usually about 13-20 CPM average for a GM tube. The scintillator I have is about 100 fold more sensitive than the GM instruments.

*Laughs* I've got a pancake thats waiting it's cables. I've got a BNC/tap&drill bit on the way. I've taken my CDV-700 apart and was going to replace the electrolytic capacitors only to discover,,,there isn't any! (That's cool) so just waiting on parts to rebuild this puppy. Kicking around the idea of putting a few more "mods" on it like a speaker, and an actual count per time unit/recording (I forget whats that called) and I can get a few nifty devices that lets it "talk" directly to the computer with software to back it up for 24/7 monitoring (If I put in a 6VDC power supply). Right now I'm at the "Wife is b***ing at me" part.

 

[AMProducts]

the CDV700 actually runs on 3V, if you look at the way the batteries are laid out, you can get away with just putting two in, with modern alkaline, it does pretty well (just remember, these things were designed originally to work with carbon/zinc batteries). I havn't done most of the mods people talk about to the CDV-700, the only one I've done is I soldered a piezo sounder to the "headphone probe" port, which gives you much louder "clicks" than a speaker.

 

[U201492]

the CDV700 actually runs on 3V, if you look at the way the batteries are laid out, you can get away with just putting two in, with modern alkaline, it does pretty well (just remember, these things were designed originally to work with carbon/zinc batteries). I havn't done most of the mods people talk about to the CDV-700, the only one I've done is I soldered a piezo sounder to the "headphone probe" port, which gives you much louder "clicks" than a speaker.

Depends which model, Boss Man. You're right- some have worked as low as 3VDC. My Victoreen 6B needs 6VDC (4 "D" cells) to operate. Q: does it mater which piezo sounder you soldered in? Can any of them work? I thought that'd be a cool mod- especially after I saw the price for an original external speaker unit (Some ungoshly price of like $200 when you can find them- some guy on Ebay has made an aftermarket one for about $35- I just found this: http://www.onlineauction.com/auction/1651444/Speaker-Civil-Defense-Geiger-Counter-CDV-705-1966-NIB ) I've got the headphones- actually, 2 headphone sets but one is missing the piece that fits over the head. But to make an actual speaker that would fit on a 700 requires a 1:400 audio speaker transformer- while they used to be fairly common from the 1920's to the 1970's, they've fallen out of vogue in the past 30 years.

When I get my "hoopty" up and running I'll make a dedicated post on it

 

[AMProducts]

The original speaker unit used a conventional speaker, which required an amp and a battery. which is why that box is so large/heavy/bulky/expensive/rare. I don't remember exactly which model I have, I think it's a lionel or victoreen, I'll have to dig it out and look. The piezo I used was a surface mount sounder... it has a circuit in it that when voltage is applied it normally makes an alarm sound, the short duration of the "clicks" is enough to energize the circuit and it makes a rather pleasant "chirp" of about 1/10th second. I dug mine out of my junk box, I think it came from a propane alarm, and had two lead wires coming out of it that I soldered on under the cap-plug that normally keeps junk/corrosion off the connector. Mine is similar to this one:

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail...6W1-B0/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMvBcbRQpVp/sJI%2bDqCrxu81