Along with the Sonalerts, I bought an assembled kit for a Geiger counter from Goldmine for $70.00. I didn’t know that it was a kit, but I would’ve bought it even if I did know. It comes ready to connect to a 9 volt battery, which I did as soon as I read the directions.
This GC doesn’t seem very sensitive. My assumption was that the background count would be about 10 per minute. As it is, this GC only puts out a few clicks a minute – 2, 3, or 4 at most. Sometimes it seems less than 2. The Geiger tube is very small; only about the size of two NE-2 neon lamps end-to-end, which looks like about half the length of a typical Geiger tube. If the size of a Geiger tube is small, it would seem to me that fewer radiation particles would hit it, and this might be the reason for its lower sensitivity. A tube half as long, half as wide and half as high would have 1/2 cubed, or 1/8 as much volume, and hence 1/8 as many particles would hit it.
I have to do a few tests on it. I have to find a source of radiation. I tried some lenses from old cameras, but got no increase in radiation. I have a few more old cameras I have to try – some lenses have radioactive thoriated glass. Then I’ll see if I can get a smoke alarm to increase the click rate.
Once I get a higher click rate, I will measure the battery current, which I assume is greater at high click rates. If the current is reasonable, I may put one of my DC-DC converters on it. 9 volt batteries are too expensive to use up constantly (however I found that monoprice.com offers a pack of two 9 volt alkalines for under $2.00 – less than half the price in stores). Even better, I can run the converter with Ni-MH rechargeable AA cells for a whole lot cheaper.
I also got the book, Contesting The Future Of Nuclear Power by Sovacool. I have yet to read it. First off, I’m not against nuclear power. What I have read online is that in the United States, the future of nuclear power looks very dim because of the high cost of building nuclear power plants, the high cost of maintaining them, and the high cost of nuclear fuel, just to name a few reasons. This also includes the apathy toward the acceptance of new nuclear power plants due to the major accidents around the world. More on this later.
Yes. Small detectors detect less than large ones! Also gas filled Geiger counters interact less with radiation than solids. Smoke alarms are predominantly intended to have an Alpha emitter in which is intended to stay inside BUT I have found the ability to detect the gamma rays is variable from device to device in a way that I have not fully understood.
Uranium glass tubes are good for a nudge up in count rate if you can find some of these. In UK our gas mantles are Thorium (US ones do not seem to be) and so a great radioactive source for low cost.
Paul