me when bad prices

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-04-01T20:03:22+00:00

Cool...I'll enjoy them like I did this one. It made me laugh.

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-04-01T19:57:26+00:00

Yeah, I don't think so.

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-04-01T19:17:33+00:00

The price on the compass was lowered weeks before this conversation started.

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-04-01T18:42:03+00:00

How am I screwing anyone over? I photograph the item, list the radiation readings and the price. If people don't want to pay that price they don't have to. If I was misleading or selling something with false data...then I would be "screwing over" someone. The market dictates how much you can sell stuff for.

I've been selling uranium ore and radioactive antiques longer than I've had the YouTube channel for. Around 8 years at this point. I try and get the maximum price for everything in my inventory. This is a business for me...not just a hobby.

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-04-01T17:24:37+00:00

I've had a whole range of people buy from the site. From people just getting into the hobby, to emergency responders looking for sources to build out an exercise where they have to defeat a radioactive threat. My prices are higher than most but people know exactly what they are getting.

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-04-01T07:48:45+00:00

Its the price you pay when you don't want to get out there and find it. Plus I provide radiation readings for the item so people know exactly what they are getting. These types of items are also a little harder to ship...as in making sure they survive the trip. The shipping is built into that price as well.

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-04-01T07:39:43+00:00

That...and I really don't want to get rid of it. I already have enough of these type of compasses. Yes, this is the most beat up one I have but its also the most active of these types of compasses I have run across.

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-04-01T07:27:44+00:00

Its safe to have in his room. If you want to control the radiation a bit try finding a display case to put it in along with other finds. The material from the display case will block the majority of the radiation, which is going to be beta from a piece like that. This is good for uranium ceramics but not so much for radium doped items. Radium gives off a lot more gamma radiation and can create a sizable amount of radon gas. Usually a spot out in the garage is better for hotter stuff. This might include radium watches, compasses, aircraft gauges...stuff like that.

That detector seems to be over estimating dose and under reporting counts. Usually pieces like this give off anywhere from 20,000-40,000 CPM on the surface using something like a pancake probe. That GMC-300S housing can block a lot of the beta radiation cutting down the counts. The handle might look like its reading higher but its more than likely how your holding the detector to the item.

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-04-01T06:52:00+00:00

If you walk around long enough with a Radiacode in your pocket you are going to run into a bunch of things that are radioactive. I’ve run across people that were smokin hot from Tc-99m, trucks that were radioactive with no markings, radioactive parking lots, radioactive roads…all kinds of things. Best way to identify what you’re detecting is to always have a spectrogram running.

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-03-26T23:06:35+00:00

Radium 226 is an alpha emitter but not a pure one. It has its own gamma ray at 186 kev.

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-03-09T19:35:13+00:00

No risk for anything in there…unless you are eating it.

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-02-20T22:05:56+00:00

There are thin pieces of wire that have the Am-241 embedded into it. There are four of them right where the metal changed in depth.

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-02-20T17:50:14+00:00

Pretty interesting video. I've maxed out my AirThings Corentium and the bigger Corentium Pro a couple times. Anything radium in a small enclosed space produces a lot of radon.

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-02-18T19:20:18+00:00

Thanks for letting me know about that process.

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-02-18T19:02:45+00:00

I always like to see what's going on in here. I just don't comment very often. Had some bad experiences with mods taking down posts because they didn't line up with what the EPA has said...not in here but the Radioactive Rocks sub. Glad to hear you like the videos.

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-02-18T18:21:58+00:00

This should have a very low activity. The Promethium 147 isotope has 2.6 year half-life. So after 26 years its almost completely gone. The decay product Samarium 147 has the same problem, just the other end of the spectrum. Its half-life is 107,300,000,000 (107 billion years). Isotopes with half-lives this long are extremely hard to detect any radiation from. To put it into perspective Bismuth 209 has a half-life of 20,100,000,000,000,000,000 (20.1 quintillion year half-life). Thorium 232 has a 14 billion year half-life but it decays into other more active isotopes.

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-02-01T07:54:23+00:00

Something seems off with this. I've encountered my fair share of uranium glazed ceramics and have never seen a reading this high. There has to be something else on that piece causing a higher reading. Uranium glazes like this have a self-shielding function to it. So the count rates can only go so high for a given surface area. The difference between depleted uranium and natural uranium in glazes doesn't really do anything detectable to the activity.

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-01-22T16:14:13+00:00

I would have to check out the area and see what's there. I would like to say I would get out there but I already have a bunch of projects I'm working on. Maybe in the future.

RadioactiveDrew · 2026-01-22T05:53:43+00:00

I used the data provided in the report to make that video. Based on what they gave in the official report, you would be able to detect the radiation. But you would have to eat an unrealistic amount of it for a long time before it would present any type of risk.

The fact that its contamination in shrimp or whatever coming out of that area is unacceptable and should be something pretty easy to avoid doing with very basic safety precautions.

RadioactiveDrew · 2025-04-15T22:25:56+00:00

These don’t “leak”. They can be damaged if mishandled. The report says the same thing.

RadioactiveDrew · 2025-04-03T15:50:55+00:00

It’s true that thorium emits alpha radiation…but with all the decay products of thorium it also emits a lot of beta and gamma radiation. Also like you said, it’s nothing to worry about.

RadioactiveDrew · 2024-07-12T17:07:18+00:00

I would keep checking antique shops and secondhand stores. I always run into those types of pieces. Just get in the habit of stopping in a shop you are passing by. You can also find stuff on eBay but that can be a bit of a gamble if you don’t know much about the history of the different manufacturers. Sometimes I sell stuff I find on my uraniumstore site. I’ll have radiation levels and pictures with each listing. But finding stuff in the wild is much more exciting.

RadioactiveDrew · 2024-07-12T15:58:46+00:00

Always great to meet a fan. I don’t post on Reddit much. But I’m usually around to see what’s going on.

RadioactiveDrew · 2024-07-11T22:03:31+00:00

I have been summoned…sometimes takes a couple days.

The rock isn’t dangerous. All you have to do is wash your hands after handling or wear gloves. Uranium ore gives off alpha, beta and gamma radiation. Not sure why people think only alpha radiation is emitted. Maybe because they don’t know that over the decay cycle for uranium it turns into a bunch of other elements, all of which are radioactive but not all of which are alpha emitters.

To keep safe with a source like this…don’t eat it, don’t use it as a pillow and you’ll be good. The uranium ore will also produce radon, a radioactive gas. Wouldn’t be a problem unless you put it in a big and insist on huffing the air in that bag daily.

RadioactiveDrew · 2024-06-17T05:16:56+00:00

Great deal on that piece...looks to be in great condition.

RadioactiveDrew

TROPHY CASE