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Author: Subject: Cheap radioisotope sources
yobbo II
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[*] posted on 14-2-2022 at 16:13



Old mantels that are used on gas lamps, petrol lamps etc. They contain Thorium
Look in flea markets.


Uranium Glass


Yob

[Edited on 15-2-2022 by yobbo II]
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violet sin
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[*] posted on 15-2-2022 at 11:35


https://www.bonanza.com/booths/Rockhound_Steve

I keep buying from this guy. And he now has 2.5oz packs for like 9$ but also 9$ S&H so basically 20$.

Last one I got two 6 pound sets from him and since he's enacted a 1 per 3 month limit on those. None for me untill July. Unlimited buy on individual hot rocks and I don't think there's a limit on the small 2.5oz bags.

I've not been disappointed with his 6lb set yet! Especially @ 30$ + 15$ s&h :) in the world of hot rocks, it's a freaking steal.
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neptunium
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[*] posted on 15-2-2022 at 18:56


Yes Bonanza...Nice guy for sure. I did get some ore from him too, measured it, analyzed it .. very poor grade (low concentration) ore. not worth much, but for a hobbyist it `s interesting for sure.
A rich ore (10 to 15% U ) can yield all the decay daughters, Protactinium can probably be extracted in large enough quantity to be visible from a medium size sample (few Kg), the other can easily be detected but isolating a few micro grams requires tons of material to start with. They also have plenty of lanthanides and some have high concentration of Vanadium, Niobium, Tungsten etc..
Needless to say that a few micrograms of a "short" lived isotope like Actinium and Protactinium is enough to get you in serious shit with the NRC if you share your results online.
Manipulating any isotope like those in an amateur setting SAFELY is far from cheap, but I digress.
if you can spare a few bucks, get the Radiacode 101 from scan-electronics.com there is a (small) MCA that allows you to ID some radioisotopes. good stuff
https://radiascan.com/products/detector-of-ionising-radiatio...




[Edited on 16-2-2022 by neptunium]
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violet sin
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[*] posted on 15-2-2022 at 22:35


Glad to hear you got to sample his ore. What kind did you check? I've seen sandstone, tildito limestone, some feldspar pegmatite looking pockets. I'm not a great study of rocks yet, hate to sound too knowledgeable.

I can say the rocks I've gotten have been oftentimes beautiful, some times just bla. Numerous bits with blue accessory minerals in the form of tiny needles. Plenty of banding, pockets of black, mixed secondary colors infilling cracks. So from my viewpoint, very attractive.

Also, it didn't sound like united nuclear had a better deal. 150$ for 5 pounds generally between 1,500-7,000 CPM, by hotdog probe would equal 7-10x by pancake(details from site), so 15k CPM - 70k CPM. Yeah, that's hotter than a lot of the rocks in 6lb box not all. A good mix of 20-30k some 64k not too many below 15k, some were 5-6k Soo yeah not so hot for a A 44-9 reading. The price a FAIR bit lower. Not hating, just bought other stuff from them like pyrolytic carbon, good shop.

I was aware that combining two isotopes i.e radiation standards, that were originally separate, or enriching one isotope over another is bound to get trouble, but processing for uranium content was not problematic. Had no idea a byproduct of that would get you trouble. No problem there, never did anything with it besides stare at them and take readings, but good to know. still have the low hanging fruit in Ziploc bags. Meaning powdered mineral gathered from shipping materials, would have been easy to leach I guess.

That device is pretty cool, thanks for the heads up! Not t likely to buy any time soon, but my quick look was impressive.

Here is a rock I got to n the 12lbs, my GQ 320+v4 said 1,200-1,500cpm sitting on top. It's marked midrange in the 9-20k range each by his meter.

16449925011351295999700168006151.jpg - 4.1MB

Here is a decent sized 62k cpm rock, by sellers lable, 5,150 cpm average on GQ 320+

1644993000252219586024119116397.jpg - 3MB 16449931963659140642335547699558.jpg - 3.4MB

[Edited on 16-2-2022 by violet sin]
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neptunium
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[*] posted on 16-2-2022 at 16:48


Pretty good.. The one I bought was the one in the first picture. Limestone I guess ? just a few yellow spots here and there .. pretty but kind of dull you know.
I bought a couple of gorgeous samples from a guy on ebay from Nevada. cannot find anything on ebay lately, but his were black with hint of blueish green and purple very nice looking rock . Well worth mining and quite warm well above 100K.

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pantone159
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[*] posted on 16-2-2022 at 18:37


Quote: Originally posted by neptunium  
if you can spare a few bucks, get the Radiacode 101 from scan-electronics.com there is a (small) MCA that allows you to ID some radioisotopes. good stuff
https://radiascan.com/products/detector-of-ionising-radiatio...
[Edited on 16-2-2022 by neptunium]

That looks really interesting. I did not know that gamma spectrometers were that cheap now. I've wanted one for a while.
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violet sin
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[*] posted on 19-2-2022 at 15:00


Amazon... 24.92$/mo for a year interest free on their card. 327$ after tax and shipping, but spread out... That's really affordable neptunium. I was impressed with the action seen on YouTube, the sensitivity and discretion.

The idea of testing food is worth it alone, 25$/mo yeppers, but I'll be interested to see how well washing your hands does after mineral viewing. So far no noticeable amount of activity left for the 320+ after a good hand washing.

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neptunium
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[*] posted on 19-2-2022 at 22:40


Of course, with a detector so small, you cant expect high resolution and short acquisition time, I think the manufacturer is working on an upgrade, more channels...
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Crazy_Chemist
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[*] posted on 11-3-2022 at 04:33


Made a nice deal today (I think)!

Found this on eBay! 90-100 clock hands!

Maybe not all is radium painted, but in looks like many is. There where no information about the painting, the seller was a watchmaker. Maybe all is with europiumoxide or something like that instead...? But they looks antique, And what the hell - 20€ inclusive shipping!

https://cdn-127.anonfiles.com/vaB0xbNax8/6c38bd65-1647002100...

[Edited on 11-3-2022 by Crazy_Chemist]




Amateur chemist, just for fun!
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neptunium
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[*] posted on 11-3-2022 at 10:33


Quote: Originally posted by Crazy_Chemist  
Made a nice deal today (I think)!

Found this on eBay! 90-100 clock hands!

Maybe not all is radium painted, but in looks like many is. There where no information about the painting, the seller was a watchmaker. Maybe all is with europiumoxide or something like that instead...? But they looks antique, And what the hell - 20€ inclusive shipping!

https://cdn-127.anonfiles.com/vaB0xbNax8/6c38bd65-1647002100...

[Edited on 11-3-2022 by Crazy_Chemist]


nice... try this guy
https://www.ebay.com/itm/234451572365?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&...
he is out of his mind asking so much ...$350 max.
If you don`t know what it is check this dude...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_XqudzemiM
and here is Radium spectrum



Radium gamma.bmp - 2.6MB
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neptunium
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[*] posted on 11-3-2022 at 10:35


oh since we`re on Radium, I just made a video about it so let me take this opportunity to toot my own horn...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB8alcI-4G8
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Crazy_Chemist
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[*] posted on 11-3-2022 at 21:17


Thanks for a good video!

Such a button would be cool to have! But $829.99 is to much. My grandgrandfather (born 1895) had a jar with radium paint, but I don't know where it went when he died. I want to make a glowing solutiuon of the clock hands, so I look for some appropriate solvent to solve the paint in, and mix with new ZnS.

I fount this, maybe of interest (The chemistry of radium): https://www.docdroid.net/lZBFJ9H/chemistry-of-radium-pdf




Amateur chemist, just for fun!
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neptunium
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[*] posted on 12-3-2022 at 11:02


Quote: Originally posted by Crazy_Chemist  
Thanks for a good video!

Such a button would be cool to have! But $829.99 is to much. My grandgrandfather (born 1895) had a jar with radium paint, but I don't know where it went when he died. I want to make a glowing solutiuon of the clock hands, so I look for some appropriate solvent to solve the paint in, and mix with new ZnS.

I fount this, maybe of interest (The chemistry of radium): https://www.docdroid.net/lZBFJ9H/chemistry-of-radium-pdf


There is a radiochemistry of... each of the actinides from Polonium to Americium .. Interesting read indeed!
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[*] posted on 6-4-2022 at 15:45


Yeah, definitely go with Rockhound Steve's rocks. Just bought an assortment for my project and they are absolutely great and the best deal. You will not be disappointed!!
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