Fusion Message Board

In this space, visitors are invited to post any comments, questions, or skeptical observations about Philo T. Farnsworth's contributions to the field of Nuclear Fusion research.

Subject: Re: Neutron Counter interface
Date: Oct 28, 1:12 am
Poster: Carl Willis

On Oct 28, 1:12 am, Carl Willis wrote:



>Adjusting the discriminator can be daunting with >no real neutron source of certainty. It sounds >like you are pretty much OK as is. If you >locate a discrimator pot you might tweek it to >up your count rate to 1 count every 3-5 >minutes. This will prep it for detecting all of >the neutrons from a fusor. Before tweeking, >mark its current position so you can return to >your base line later if need be. This improved >sensitivity will up the background and allow a >more easily obtained statistical analysis of the >dirunal nature of earth bound neutrons. You can >always subtract the background from your fusor >run data figures.

Unfortunately there are no discriminator adjustments available. But I did turn up the gain and the high voltage a tiny bit to get about 1 count per 3 minutes. I don't know whether it's right or wrong to do this. In addition, I plan to go on a trip to TUNL or another local facility where these counters are used, to have it checked out by someone there since it is surplus. As far as I can tell, there's no real point for our purposes if the mrem reading is properly set (there are also pots that adust this).