Nuts and Volts GM article
Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2017 10:26 pm
I received my latest Nuts and Volts magazine. (August 2017) In this issue they tell how to make a geiger counter. They have had many articles in the last 20 years on this topic, but this one is pretty nice. It uses a CTC-5 Russian, beta-gamma, GM tube. I have 10 of them here.
The article is cool in that the author made the counter to read his radioactive cat, "Maxwell", who had a hyper-thyroid condition that demanded that all or part of his thyroid be destroyed. This is very common in people with hyper-thyroidism. Kill the offending organ from within. (no surgery) Apparently they are using it on pets, too! This calls for a super high dose of highly radioactive Iodine 131. Since his kitty was going to have the injection, he readied himself by constructing a GM counter, on the cheap.
The article is very complete and many details and sidebar sources are included. As the iodine concentrates in the thyroid, it also is excreted in the urine and skat. The author notes how hot the kitty litter was as well as Maxwell, himself, in data collected charts and graphs. The half life of iodine 131 is just a few weeks and Maxwell responded well. A great and informative article.
I used to order Iodine 131 from Oak Ridge back in the 60's and 70's when it was sent in license-free quantities to experimenters for just a few bucks. along with cobalt 60, cesium 137, carbond 14 and about 30 other cool, yet very hot, radio nuclides in raw soluable chemical form...(not sealed sources!). All of these are still available, but now in securely sealed sources. Instead of 5 bucks each, they are now about $70.00 each.
Many humans, today, receive a plethora of nuclear injections as part of stress tests, etc.. Mostly Technicium99. I know a lady that had her thyroid radio nuclear destroyed and she could not be in the presence of her husband or kids for a protracted period for about a month! (humans take a far more mighty dose of iodine 131 than a kitty) She would make a GM counter sing like crazy at 12 feet! Her husband slept on the couch two rooms away. Some folks are so hyper and radiation fearful that they go to a motel for a week or two.
If you get a chance or are interested, snag a copy of the August Nuts and Volts at a full featured book seller or newstand.
Richard Hull
The article is cool in that the author made the counter to read his radioactive cat, "Maxwell", who had a hyper-thyroid condition that demanded that all or part of his thyroid be destroyed. This is very common in people with hyper-thyroidism. Kill the offending organ from within. (no surgery) Apparently they are using it on pets, too! This calls for a super high dose of highly radioactive Iodine 131. Since his kitty was going to have the injection, he readied himself by constructing a GM counter, on the cheap.
The article is very complete and many details and sidebar sources are included. As the iodine concentrates in the thyroid, it also is excreted in the urine and skat. The author notes how hot the kitty litter was as well as Maxwell, himself, in data collected charts and graphs. The half life of iodine 131 is just a few weeks and Maxwell responded well. A great and informative article.
I used to order Iodine 131 from Oak Ridge back in the 60's and 70's when it was sent in license-free quantities to experimenters for just a few bucks. along with cobalt 60, cesium 137, carbond 14 and about 30 other cool, yet very hot, radio nuclides in raw soluable chemical form...(not sealed sources!). All of these are still available, but now in securely sealed sources. Instead of 5 bucks each, they are now about $70.00 each.
Many humans, today, receive a plethora of nuclear injections as part of stress tests, etc.. Mostly Technicium99. I know a lady that had her thyroid radio nuclear destroyed and she could not be in the presence of her husband or kids for a protracted period for about a month! (humans take a far more mighty dose of iodine 131 than a kitty) She would make a GM counter sing like crazy at 12 feet! Her husband slept on the couch two rooms away. Some folks are so hyper and radiation fearful that they go to a motel for a week or two.
If you get a chance or are interested, snag a copy of the August Nuts and Volts at a full featured book seller or newstand.
Richard Hull