Could Americium-241 be used from an old smoke detector since it emits both Alpha and low level Gamma?
Kent Stevens > On Feb 10, 2014, at 6:45 AM, NeonJohn <j...@neon-john.com> wrote: > > Those UV LEDs generate a LOT of UV. I use one as a color tester for my > neon shop (most colors of neon tubing look white when off). Glad you > didn't hurt your eyes. Problem is, the glass is opaque to UV. > > If you don't mind spending the money you can reactivate the tubes. One > can buy a microcurie of Cs-137 without a license. It can be had epoxied > to the head of a pin. 1uCi is more than enough to strike a couple of > tubes. Position the source in an inconspicuous place between two tubes > and it'll work for both of them. Cs-137 emits a good healthy 661keV > gamma ray that will easily penetrate the glass and cause bunches of > secondary electrons. > > I just tried this using a 30 year old source (down to half a uCi) on a > flickering neon bulb on some old test equipment. I just held the source > against the plastic lens and the lamp glow went steady. > > The only downside is that a pin source will run you about $60. If > anyone is interested in this route, I'll dig up some names of some > suppliers. > > John > > >> On 02/10/2014 05:10 AM, Nick wrote: >> Some time ago I was playing with XC18s (bought a large number many years >> ago when they were very cheap) - they have a similar problem so I >> experimented with uranium marbles and UV LEDs... >> >> I wasn't very "quantitative", but from a qualitative standpoint, the >> marbles made no difference and at that time so-called "UV" LEDs didn't seem >> to have much UV content - more just purple... >> >> Maybe things have improved since then and UV LEDs are a possible answer. >> All you need is a good source of high energy photons to initiate >> ionisation... >> >> Nick > > -- > John DeArmond > Tellico Plains, Occupied TN > http://www.fluxeon.com <-- THE source for induction heaters > http://www.neon-john.com <-- email from here > http://www.johndearmond.com <-- Best damned Blog on the net > PGP key: wwwkeys.pgp.net: BCB68D77 > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "neonixie-l" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to neonixie-l+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send an email to neonixie-l@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/52F8BBE7.8040805%40neon-john.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send an email to neonixie-l@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/B6B6FB53-71B6-442C-8062-C728B92B7C76%40cox.net. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
