Mil-Spec Radium Dial Meters
Added 2019-11-12 22:47:39 +0000 UTCTime to get out the Geiger Counter and explore some glowy things I found in storage!
An interesting article on the hazards of those early labs - https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/magazine/my-great-great-aunt-discovered-francium-and-it-killed-her.html
Comments
The surface of the CRT is phosphor, and some of the old ones with long persistence will glow for quite a long time after being exposed to light. They are NOT radioactive though.
Per 'Zapro' Jensen
2019-12-07 01:25:46 +0000 UTCI think you're right about the alpha-beta tube.
Fran Blanche
2019-11-15 15:19:40 +0000 UTCHi, your meter is possibly a scintillation type with a photomultiplier tube as opposed to a geiger counter, possibly with a geiger stuck on the side. A scintillation probe works by converting the radiation to light by use of crystals in the end of the tube (different types/energies of radiation work better with certain crystals), then by multiplying the photons using a number of plates excited to EHT levels placed along the length of the probe. These are a lot better at detecting alpha or beta radiation.
Paul Ferguson
2019-11-13 23:53:27 +0000 UTCDear Fran! Thank you so much for your video. Have a nice evening! Arnold
2019-11-13 18:05:25 +0000 UTCWe are all Star Stuff!
Fran Blanche
2019-11-13 15:52:24 +0000 UTCI might.
Fran Blanche
2019-11-13 15:49:37 +0000 UTCI assume DC Volts but honestly I did not check them....
Fran Blanche
2019-11-13 15:49:18 +0000 UTCYes that was a very good series! The counters can be had for not too much, they were all Govt. surplus from the 80's and come on Ebay and whatnot.
Fran Blanche
2019-11-13 15:48:16 +0000 UTCNot sure when radium dials were abandoned, but probably before 1960.
2019-11-13 08:56:24 +0000 UTCThanks again Fran for providing us with interesting information. Now i also want that toy (geiger counter). 😃 Check out the HBO miniserie Chernobyl. Very good.
2019-11-13 05:12:14 +0000 UTCWhat's awesome to realize, assuming natural Radium, is that those clicks represent a direct connection to the energy from the death of a star.
BobC
2019-11-13 03:58:39 +0000 UTCI purchased a UltraRadiac MRAD113 and wanted to test it for ages but I can't find anything radioactive. Never thought of the old clock hands... even some old watches from the 60s I bet too.
Michelle Stoetzel
2019-11-13 01:22:57 +0000 UTCYou've got the best collection of toys. I bet you could do a whole series just on the variety of meters! Thanks for sharing!
2019-11-13 01:18:56 +0000 UTCLike these short videos, but very informative - and Fran looks very relaxed in them :)
2019-11-13 00:16:41 +0000 UTCDo the meters work? What do they measure?
2019-11-12 23:33:35 +0000 UTCI have a CRT that shine in the dark , and react to the light source just like if it is made of phosphor. Probably it is a source of radiation... but i don't have a geiger counter.
MVVblog
2019-11-12 23:13:18 +0000 UTC
