Dissapointing beta light

[Tengu]

Took mine into Physics class.

We were leaning about radioactivity and last week were shown a GM tube...but nothing radioactive...

So I said Id find something.

But the beta light was hardly above the background radiation.

However it is 15 years old.

still glows well though

 

[MrEd]

Took mine into Physics class.

We were leaning about radioactivity and last week were shown a GM tube...but nothing radioactive...

So I said Id find something.

But the beta light was hardly above the background radiation.

However it is 15 years old.

still glows well though

get your self an old ww2 compass (like a TG and co) or airplane dial from the second world as these are surprisingly radioactive, i have a TG WW2 compass that kicks out about 2m/rad an hour - enough to make the dial on a CDV-700 move up to the halfway mark!

 

[forestwalker]

The Beta light is not supposed to give you any radiation. The thick glass capsule stops beta radiation fairly well..

 

[rik_uk3]

get your self an old ww2 compass (like a TG and co) or airplane dial from the second world as these are surprisingly radioactive, i have a TG WW2 compass that kicks out about 2m/rad an hour - enough to make the dial on a CDV-700 move up to the halfway mark!

I've got a PII aircraft compass that some companies would not touch (to refill the alcohol) because of the radioactive paint used on it !

 

[johnboy]

I've got a PII aircraft compass that some companies would not touch (to refill the alcohol) because of the radioactive paint used on it !

I'd be running away from that also.. Radium based.. Not nice at all

 

[MrEd]

I've got a PII aircraft compass that some companies would not touch (to refill the alcohol) because of the radioactive paint used on it !

Yeah likewise lol so it just got to put up with having a bubble in lol

I'd be running away from that also.. Radium based.. Not nice at all

the compass gives off a bit of radiation but only if you put the pancake probe actually within about 1cm of it it drops off very sharply after that so im guessing gamma radiation, for that reason when i carry it i put it in my bag rather than in my pocket near my meat and 2 veg lol.......

on a side note the radiation is barely detectable when in the pouch, and as i have no intention of drinking the compass fluid or sleeping with it on my forehead or down my pants then i should be fine!

tengu you can get a source of radiation from a common or garden smoke alarm, its americum and very low level but just about produces a response on my cdv-700 on the most sensitive setting with the tiny piece of metal in the probe

 

[demographic]

Beta particles penetrate further than alpha particles but nothing like as far as Gamma rays or X rays and the glass pretty much stops them.

If the glass didn't stop them, people wouldn't be allowed to buy them for lighting tents and maps up.

 

[rik_uk3]

I'd be running away from that also.. Radium based.. Not nice at all

Crikey, if it was not the nazi's it was the blooming compass killing the RAF pilots :yikes:

They still make PII clones but use safer paint.

A few years ago it was discovered the the plot of land that once housed a factory where Disney Mickey Mouse clocks were made was radioactive from the paint used on the clocks (might have been Westclocks?). Further research showed that a disproportionately large amount of ex workers had died from cancer.

 

[Robbi]

get a lump of granite, that will give a reading

 

[johnboy]

Crikey, if it was not the nazi's it was the blooming compass killing the RAF pilots :yikes:

They still make PII clones but use safer paint.

A few years ago it was discovered the the plot of land that once housed a factory where Disney Mickey Mouse clocks were made was radioactive from the paint used on the clocks (might have been Westclocks?). Further research showed that a disproportionately large amount of ex workers had died from cancer.

Yep the effects of radium on the workers painting the dials of clocks and instruments were well know about as far back as the 1920's.

Getting a radium clock or compass with a radium dial / needle serviced in todays H+S weary world would be pretty expensive...

 

[Shewie]

I was just reading this earlier, kind of related ....

http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Secrets/DalgetyBay

 

[MrEd]

I was just reading this earlier, kind of related ....

http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Secrets/DalgetyBay

interesting, i might go prospecting with my geiger counter (NOT!)

 

[torc]

Radiation should be of concern to bushcrafters who use pressure and gas lanterns.
Radioactive thorium (90,Th) is used as a coating for the mantles. This is not a problem but when the mantle is lit and turns to dust, inhalation or ingestion can occur leading to worries about safety.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_mantle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv45jVJEkqs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=095uCbLssKY
Happy trails...torc.