Re: [time-nuts] Variation in Radioactive Decay Rate with Solar Activity

2011-08-03 Thread J. Forster
I think you'd want to detect as large a fraction of the events as possible. IMO, putting the source between two disks of plastic scintillator material in a shallow well and coupled together w/ clear silicone grease might be a good way to go. An alternate might be with the source in a hole in a blo

Re: [time-nuts] Variation in Radioactive Decay Rate with Solar Activity

2011-08-03 Thread John Miles
> Hi John: > > Very interesting. I wonder if it's something that can be observed in a > home system? > I've got some radioactive samples and various counters that detect their > particles as well a precision time equipment. > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_decay#Changing_decay_rates >

Re: [time-nuts] Variation in Radioactive Decay Rate with Solar Activity

2011-08-03 Thread Tristan Steele
Hi All, I know that I'm not a regular around here - but just a few things to consider in this discussion. Whilst measuring the rate of decay in a single detector signal is representative of the decay rate of an isotope, the errors associated with doing so are non trivial. In addition to this, ca

[time-nuts] Variation in Radioactive Decay Rate with Solar Activity

2011-08-03 Thread ed breya
That was a very interesting article. I'd vote for the neutrinos - they must be good for something. Hey, what if neutrinos are actually what makes radioactive decay possible, and the randomness of the decays is just the randomness of arrival of the right kind of neutrino or combinations of them

Re: [time-nuts] Variation in Radioactive Decay Rate with Solar Activity

2011-08-03 Thread J. Forster
Jim, That's why I suggested a scintillator, PMT, and SCA. The intensity of the detected light pulses varies w/ the energy of the decay. The SCA has upper and lower levels (a window) so only the decays of the wanted isotope, lying in the window, are detected. Decay product events will be screened o

Re: [time-nuts] Variation in Radioactive Decay Rate with Solar Activity

2011-08-03 Thread Jim Lux
On 8/3/11 2:20 PM, Brooke Clarke wrote: Hi Jim: The problem I'm having is that just counting the clicks from a source is a way to get random numbers. If you average the clicks over a large amount of time and plot that average, it will decrease over time. So to see the change in decay rate the so

Re: [time-nuts] Variation in Radioactive Decay Rate with Solar Activity

2011-08-03 Thread Bob Camp
Hi Since the same setup is also a fairly good random number generator, you *will* find correlations. Proving that they are significant is the hard part. Bob On Aug 3, 2011, at 5:39 PM, J. Forster wrote: > You measure the number of counts in a constant time interval. That gives > you a rate, wh

Re: [time-nuts] Variation in Radioactive Decay Rate with Solar Activity

2011-08-03 Thread Poul-Henning Kamp
In message <4e39c16d.9020...@pacific.net>, Brooke Clarke writes: >Yes. I think using the isotope with the shortest half-life will make >for the most sensitive measurement, nest pas? Not so fast, or rather: not too fast. You need to be able to detect as high a percentage of all events as possib

Re: [time-nuts] Variation in Radioactive Decay Rate with Solar Activity

2011-08-03 Thread Brooke Clarke
Hi John: Yes. I think using the isotope with the shortest half-life will make for the most sensitive measurement, nest pas? Have Fun, Brooke Clarke http://www.PRC68.com http://www.End2PartyGovernment.com/ J. Forster wrote: You measure the number of counts in a constant time interval. That

Re: [time-nuts] Variation in Radioactive Decay Rate with Solar Activity

2011-08-03 Thread J. Forster
You measure the number of counts in a constant time interval. That gives you a rate, which is predictable from the known half-life of the source. What you are looking for ius deviations from the rate that correlate wqith the sun's rotation (or something else). The best way might be to measure the

Re: [time-nuts] Variation in Radioactive Decay Rate with Solar Activity

2011-08-03 Thread Brooke Clarke
Hi Jim: The problem I'm having is that just counting the clicks from a source is a way to get random numbers. If you average the clicks over a large amount of time and plot that average, it will decrease over time. So to see the change in decay rate the source needs to have a short half-life

Re: [time-nuts] Variation in Radioactive Decay Rate with Solar Activity

2011-08-03 Thread J. Forster
Well... 1 Ci = 3.7×10E+10 decays per second, so 10 uCi = 3.7x10E+5 So, if the counting interval was 1 second, one can expect 370,000 +/- 6000 counts. The count rate seems reasonable for easily available equipment. Longer count times are, of course, needed to get the 6000/370,000 number down. If

Re: [time-nuts] Variation in Radioactive Decay Rate with Solar Activity

2011-08-03 Thread Jim Lux
On 8/3/11 12:14 PM, J. Forster wrote: Hi Brooke, Maybe. The photon counting gear is pretty trivial. You'd need: A scintillator A PMT (Photo Multiplier Tube) and HV stable HV PS. A preamp A SCA (Single Channel Analyzer). These can be built. A counter, stable time base, and data recorder The mai

Re: [time-nuts] Variation in Radioactive Decay Rate with Solar Activity

2011-08-03 Thread Jose Camara
tories.org/radscout.html -Original Message- From: time-nuts-boun...@febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-boun...@febo.com] On Behalf Of J. Forster Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2011 12:14 PM To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Variation in Radioactive Decay Rate with S

Re: [time-nuts] Variation in Radioactive Decay Rate with Solar Activity

2011-08-03 Thread Poul-Henning Kamp
In message <2067.12.6.201.209.1312398859.squir...@popaccts.quikus.com>, "J. For ster" writes: >The main difficulty, IMO, would be getting a sufficient sized lump of the >material. Chunks of Cs don't grow on trees, at least not where I live. For that you should try a couple of hundred miles north

Re: [time-nuts] Variation in Radioactive Decay Rate with Solar Activity

2011-08-03 Thread J. Forster
Hi Brooke, Maybe. The photon counting gear is pretty trivial. You'd need: A scintillator A PMT (Photo Multiplier Tube) and HV stable HV PS. A preamp A SCA (Single Channel Analyzer). These can be built. A counter, stable time base, and data recorder The main difficulty, IMO, would be getting a su

Re: [time-nuts] Variation in Radioactive Decay Rate with Solar Activity

2011-08-03 Thread Brooke Clarke
Hi John: Very interesting. I wonder if it's something that can be observed in a home system? I've got some radioactive samples and various counters that detect their particles as well a precision time equipment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_decay#Changing_decay_rates Have Fun, B