标签: geiger counter

I'm beginning to feel particularly silly, because yet another DIY electronics hobby project has failed to perform as expected... Last year, I worked on an Atmospherics Monitor project. This is a circuit that can detect electrical activity in the atmosphere from thousands of miles away and present it in audible form as Sliding Whistles , Tweaks , Pings , Chirps , Risers , Chinks , Clicks , and the exotic Dawn Chorus . It took me quite a while to gather all of the parts together. The item that was most difficult to track down was the ferrite rod. Fortunately, one of the guys on the Yahoo "How Things Work" group (of which I am a member) had one in his "box of bits and pieces," and he kindly donated it to the cause. Even when I had all of the bits and pieces in my hands, it still took me ages to get around to pulling the little scamp together ... a bit here and a bit there ... until, finally, a few days ago, it was finished. Hurray! (Happy Face) And then I applied power... and absolutely nothing happened... (Sad Face)   My unpackaged circuit (taped to a piece of cardboard in preparation for shipping) I've checked the obvious things, or at least the things that seem obvious to me. The problem is that I'm a digital man at heart ... I get confused by all of those wibbly-wobbly analog signals (the fact that I was once the Analog Product Marketing Manager at a large EDA company was just some strange twist of fate to which I seem to be susceptible). But turn that frown upside down into a smile. Fortunately I know just what to do, which is the same thing I did when my DIY Geiger Counter failed to perform its sole function in life. I shipped it to my electronics guru friend David Ashton in Australia and he soon brought the little rascal to life. In fact, it's happily clicking away to itself on my desk as I pen these words. I've already contacted David, who says that he's standing by in dread anticipation, so keep your fingers crossed and watch this space...  

A few weeks ago, I bought a Geiger counter kit and built it. Brimming with excitement I powered it up and... nothing happened. Some folks said that they had the same kit and it worked; others said that they had the same kit and it didn't work (and they weren't very happy about it). A lot of folks offered suggestions, but by that time I had shipped my kit off to my friend – electronics expert David Ashton – in Australia. David approached the problem with gusto and abandon, and he just reported that he now has my counter counting furiously. The little scamp (the counter, not David) is now winging its way back to me as I pen these words. As an added bonus, David has kindly documented everything that he did – including a video – in the hopes that it will help others with the same kit. It is published in EE Times. As I say, my Geiger counter is now wending its weary way back to me as we speak. Quite apart from anything else, I can't wait to test the little rascal out with my two radioactive marbles. Now, before you bounce over to read David's Article, I can't help myself from showing you a short video he took. David had the same problem I did (before I received my radioactive marbles), which was that he didn't have a radioactive source. So he took my modified Geiger counter over to a Nuclear Medicine practice in a neighboring town (they do radiotherapy and various diagnostic tests using radioactive substances) and they very kindly let David have access to a radioactive source. Finally, as one last interesting aside, one commenter to my original blog mentioned that the "No-salt Salt" that you can buy (which replaces a lot of the Sodium Chloride with Potassium Chloride) is mildly radioactive. David tried this with my now-working Geiger counter as shown below...   And the result was... well, you can read all about this in David's Article (grin)

A few weeks ago, I purchased a Geiger counter kit and constructed it. Brimming with excitement I powered it up and... nothing happened. Some folks said that they had the same kit and it worked; others said that they had the same kit and it didn't work (and they weren't very happy about it). A lot of folks offered suggestions, but by that time I had shipped my kit off to my friend – electronics expert David Ashton – in Australia. David approached the problem with gusto and abandon, and he just reported that he now has my counter counting furiously. The little scamp (the counter, not David) is now winging its way back to me as I pen these words. As an added bonus, David has kindly documented everything that he did – including a video – in the hopes that it will help others with the same kit. It is published in EE Times. As I say, my Geiger counter is now wending its weary way back to me as we speak. Quite apart from anything else, I can't wait to test the little rascal out with my two radioactive marbles. Now, before you bounce over to read David's Article, I can't help myself from showing you a short video he took. David had the same problem I did (before I received my radioactive marbles), which was that he didn't have a radioactive source. So he took my modified Geiger counter over to a Nuclear Medicine practice in a neighboring town (they do radiotherapy and various diagnostic tests using radioactive substances) and they very kindly let David have access to a radioactive source. Finally, as one last interesting aside, one commenter to my original blog mentioned that the "No-salt Salt" that you can buy (which replaces a lot of the Sodium Chloride with Potassium Chloride) is mildly radioactive. David tried this with my now-working Geiger counter as shown below...   And the result was... well, you can read all about this in David's Article (grin)  

I always wondered what it would be like to be six inches tall. I just saw a site that creates custom figurines. These look really tasty – I think it would be mega-cool to have a mini-me on my desk...   Do you remember that old science fiction file called The Incredible Shrinking Man ? Actually, I just found out that this was made in 1957, which was the year I was born, but we digress...   The idea is that Robert Scott Carey (played by Grant Williams), is a 6ft 1in tall businessman who is on vacation on a boat, off the Californian coast, with his 5ft 8in wife Louise, when he suddenly is contaminated by a radioactive cloud (I hate it when this sort of thing happens).   As an aside, Robert might have been able to save himself from his subsequent problems if he had had his own personal Geiger Counter, which makes me even more keen to get my counter up and running...   Anyway, in the film, Louise was below deck getting refreshments, so she wasn't affected. One morning, six months later, Scott notices that his shirt seems too big. He blames it on the cleaners. Then his wedding ring falls off his finger. Then other things start to happen.   Eventually Scott realizes that he's shrinking. This is dramatically illustrated when he looks his wife, previously six inches shorter than he, in the eye. Gradually Scott gets smaller and smaller – three feet, two feet, one foot, six inches ... and onwards (or downwards, depending on your point of view).   Anyway, as I mentioned, when I was a kid I always wondered what it would be like to be six inches tall. Of course I now hope that this will never happen, but it would be interesting to see a mini-me. Which brings me to a rather cool website I just ran across called Sculpteo.com where they create custom figurines.   It seems that all you have to do is upload two pictures of your head (a front view and a side view) and they can use these to create a 3D model of you. On the one hand I'm tempted toward the bare-chested Rugby Figurine (on the basis he has the 6-pack abs I used to have, so it would be a way of remembering days gone by ). On the other hand they offer a Custom Figurine – I wonder if they can do one in cargo shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, because this would more accurately reflect today's "me".   Maybe they have a special deal if you get the same head on multiple figurines (in which case I might be tempted to both versions). I shall have to make enquiries, so I must away...

I always wondered what it would be like to be six inches tall. I just saw a site that creates custom figurines. These look really tasty – I think it would be mega-cool to have a mini-me on my desk...   Do you remember that old science fiction file called The Incredible Shrinking Man ? Actually, I just found out that this was made in 1957, which was the year I was born, but we digress...   The idea is that Robert Scott Carey (played by Grant Williams), is a 6ft 1in tall businessman who is on vacation on a boat, off the Californian coast, with his 5ft 8in wife Louise, when he suddenly is contaminated by a radioactive cloud (I hate it when this sort of thing happens).   As an aside, Robert might have been able to save himself from his subsequent problems if he had had his own personal Geiger Counter, which makes me even more keen to get my counter up and running...   Anyway, in the film, Louise was below deck getting refreshments, so she wasn't affected. One morning, six months later, Scott notices that his shirt seems too big. He blames it on the cleaners. Then his wedding ring falls off his finger. Then other things start to happen.   Eventually Scott realizes that he's shrinking. This is dramatically illustrated when he looks his wife, previously six inches shorter than he, in the eye. Gradually Scott gets smaller and smaller – three feet, two feet, one foot, six inches ... and onwards (or downwards, depending on your point of view).   Anyway, as I mentioned, when I was a kid I always wondered what it would be like to be six inches tall. Of course I now hope that this will never happen, but it would be interesting to see a mini-me. Which brings me to a rather cool website I just ran across called Sculpteo.com where they create custom figurines.   It seems that all you have to do is upload two pictures of your head (a front view and a side view) and they can use these to create a 3D model of you. On the one hand I'm tempted toward the bare-chested Rugby Figurine (on the basis he has the 6-pack abs I used to have, so it would be a way of remembering days gone by ). On the other hand they offer a Custom Figurine – I wonder if they can do one in cargo shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, because this would more accurately reflect today's "me".   Maybe they have a special deal if you get the same head on multiple figurines (in which case I might be tempted to both versions). I shall have to make enquiries, so I must away...