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neptunium
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Radioisotope Identification
I recently acquired a gamma/x ray spectrometer and I was curious to find out if anyone would pay to get samples analyzed for radio isotopes ?
the charge would be minimal (like 15 bucks) and you would have to ship the sample to be measured .
no high activity samples and no short isotopes...
let me know maybe I`ll start a business and quie this stupid job....
<!-- bfesser_edit_tag -->[<a href="u2u.php?action=send&username=bfesser">bfesser</a>: changed
subject by request]
[Edited on 17.12.13 by bfesser]
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bfesser
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If you're located in the contiguous United States, I'd be interested.
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neptunium
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Detroit MI
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neptunium
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alright let me calibrate it , try it all and explore all the features and I will post pictures and results
Thanks Bfesser
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neptunium
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I have been messing with my spectrometer and this is my first spectrum for Am 241, its pretty amazing how it picks up all the x rays at low energy!
I still need to play with it and figure out why it wont capture higher energy (sensitivity issue I think)
but this is just a first test!
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neptunium
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I changed the detector and plugged in a scintillation probe
and tried Co60 ...
this is what I obtained
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neptunium
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made some improvement with the optical coupling between the photomultiplier and received a much bigger NaI(Tl) crystal
here is 10 minutes of acquisition with 2 pound of potassium hydroxide overlay with 10 minutes of blank background
if you look carefully there is a peak as expected in the 1460 Mev area ...
that's natural radioactivity !
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neptunium
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here isa a much better photopeak at 1170 Mev with Cobalt 60...
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bfesser
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I only have a very basic understanding on how to interpret these spectra, but I think they're really cool, nonetheless! I find the <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium-40" target="_blank"><sup>40</sup>K</a> <img src="../scipics/_wiki.png" />
spectrum to be particularly interesting. Thank you for sharing these, and please don't hesitate to post more. [edit] Is there any chance you could
upload full-resolution spectra somewhere? Does the software support exporting to PDF or the like? Also, I'd like to know a little bit more about the
instrument itself, perhaps even see a few photos.
[Edited on 6.10.13 by bfesser]
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neptunium
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sure . the detectors are a cadmium telluride semi conductor for the x rays from Amptek
http://www.amptek.com/xr100cdt.html
it may support pdf format I don't know I`ll check it out.
and an older model (though still very functional !) ADMCA multi channel analyzer 8000 channel
http://www.amptek.com/mcasoft.html
and a NaI(Tl) scintillation crystal from a Bicron 1.5M2.25/1.5L couple with a Hamamatsu photomultiplier running at 1500 Volts.
with a power supply Keithley 247 high voltage supply .
I am probably going to up grade to a 3inches crystal detector soon and maybe a cryogenic germanium detector later....
entire set up
semi conductor x rays detector
[Edited on 7-10-2013 by neptunium]
[Edited on 7-10-2013 by neptunium]
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neptunium
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here is Ba133 .... pretty powerful stuff! and increadibly accurate!!
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neptunium
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i set it up for x ray spectroscopy/diffraction...
I first did a naked spectrum of the x ray tube at 40 kV ...
its too bad I cant see the K shell electron typical peaks I was expected! but I only have a 40 000 Volt generator!
judging by the amount of x rays coming out of this thing I don't think I am going to do these analysis very often!
also , not too many people interested although I thought this was a great analytical way for unknown elements and even isotopes!
I`ll continue to post every so often we ll see...
[Edited on 16-10-2013 by neptunium]
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bfesser
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I'm still very interested, and am enjoying these updates. I have some mineral specimens that I'd very much like analysed, but I'm too poor at the
moment.
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neptunium
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i am still tweaking with everything but I enjoy it a great deal! I wouldn't charge anyone for some analysis!
U2U me for more details ..
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bfesser
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Regardless,
I'm too poor for even the shipping, at the moment. When I find a job, I'll send a few specimens. I'm especially curious to see if my <a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinitite" target="_blank">Trinitite</a> <img src="../scipics/_wiki.png" /> generates an interesting
gamma spectrum (if any). It's only weakly radioactive (by <a href="viewthread.php?tid=25882">my Geiger counter</a> , so I'd suspect it would require a rather long sampling time and a decent amount of
shielding from background. I'm a little surprised that nobody else has shown interest.
[Edited on 20.10.13 by bfesser]
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neptunium
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yes a lot of young guys.....gotta start somewhere!
I am sure your trinitite will give a nice spectrum ! I don't have any trinitite so its exciting to see what it holds!
anyway , hope you get a job soon ! I know how it sucks !let me know
because of its origin (plutonium bomb) and its age (1945) it contains mostly Cs137 and some heavy elements which means that you own a few unreacted
atoms of plutonium and some fission elements isotope born in a nuclear runaway chain reaction ....I don't think it gets any cooler than that!!
[Edited on 17-10-2013 by neptunium]
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neptunium
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that's a cool little Geiger counter you got! radiation detection equipment used to be so much cheaper before the Fukushima plant disaster in 2011..
ebay still has a few opportunities if you are lucky enough...
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vulture
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http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/10/video-the-scotc/
What's the "range" of this thing? Could you detect x-rays from lightning?
One shouldn't accept or resort to the mutilation of science to appease the mentally impaired.
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watson.fawkes
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The video shows using old-style
dental X-ray film as a detector to show that their little machine is indeed generating X-rays. As an X-ray detector, emulsion film is ordinarily
limited to photograms, a kind of shadow photography. These are camera-less images, which is good for X-rays, because X-ray imaging optics are, let us say,
not inexpensive. If you want to get X-ray images of remote objects, such as lightning, you'll need an optical train.
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vulture
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| Quote: |
If you want to get X-ray images of remote objects, such as lightning, you'll need an optical train.
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I don't want images, it just would be cool to be able to detect those x-rays. The link with the scotch tape was another fun thing to try with his
detector.
One shouldn't accept or resort to the mutilation of science to appease the mentally impaired.
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watson.fawkes
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Film has good spatial
resolution, but very poor temporal resolution and not-so-great dynamic range. If you want to detect x-rays with film, mask off half of it with lead
bricks, and put it near the launch pad of a lightning rocket under a thunderstorm; it's about the only way you'll possibly get enough exposure. Dental
X-ray film never came with storage instructions to keep it in a lead cabinet in case of thunderstorm, for example.
Scintillation detectors, though, have both lower detection limits and good temporal resolution. That's a much more fruitful route for an amateur to be
able to detect some signal of any type.
Also, see this: Lightning Captured by X-Ray Camera—A First. The camera has 30 pixels and weighs 3/4 ton.
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neptunium
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x rays from lightning sounds interesting but incredibly difficult to set up!
here is what I do with 40Kv !
  
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neptunium
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can this be moved to a poll ? or no?
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neptunium
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radioactivity testing
would anyone be interested in some radio isotopes identification ?
no high activity (>10uCi) and no short half lives isotopes.
I didn't use the poll option the last time but you can check out
a few spectrum in the market study poll segment
also I am about to receive and work on a high purity germanium detector and its supply of LN2...
[Edited on 16-12-2013 by neptunium]
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phlogiston
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Probably, neutron activation analysis would be tremendously useful to many experimenters here, since, as amateurs, we tend to improvise when sourcing
materials and thus often have to resort to poorly characterised chemicals (which has been the source of countless problems and unexpected results).
Is that something you can do as well? And if so, what neutron sources do you have at your disposal/sensitivity can you reach?
[Edited on 16-12-2013 by phlogiston]
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"If a rocket goes up, who cares where it comes down, that's not my concern said Wernher von Braun" - Tom Lehrer |
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