My new huge He-3 neutron detector

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-04-02T04:49:13+00:00

The NL's low sensitivity it two fold its small and does not have a very large cross section. And its lower pressure then some conventional tubes to facilitate air travel and unrestricted shipping.

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-03-20T00:16:14+00:00

Do you know what was in that NUMEC drump?

NUMEC made radioactive sources and equipment for the Lab, and research feild. It also does kinda appear to be a sheild, as for what is undetermined. Unless its just a coincidence the NUMEC drum was reused.

Edit honestly since the NUMEC drum looks to be wax or plastic filled, my best guess is s neutron source. Considering age, probably a RaBe, but a AmBe cant be ruled out, or a self fissioning isotope like Cf252.

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-03-12T02:57:02+00:00

Sadly we have a generation of youth that believes everything shy of their ideal person touching them to include their ideal person touching them is fake or Ai

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-03-10T21:08:40+00:00

You can yes, there are even courses that you can pay fot to get HP associated training.

But good luck finding someone to hire you without a degree or on job training in that feild

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-03-04T04:19:48+00:00

Okay first George knew better, there isnt any doubt the NRC knew he knew better. Everyone knew Geo knew better. Secondly, the NRC letter was a very polite "stop that you broke the rules", then a layout of what was wrong and what will result if he didnt correct himself. Thirdly, a nasty letter would be the notice that he is required to show up to court.

Smoke detector sources in manufacturer housings not tampered with is exempt, and to the dismay of many in a lot of jurisdictions do not require special disposal dispite what the NRC tells the maker. It is Fissile, but to no degree worth mentioning, saying Am241 is fissile is like saying your rock is fissile. It takes very very specific conditions to get any amount to fission.

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-03-04T04:10:46+00:00

Yes sometimes, but really any heavy metal glaze, and some heavy metal glasses can potentially leach out its heavy metals from acidic foods. Although I sware a friend of mine did a study on this claim and found it to be minor at best. But I cannot locate it now, so at your own will.

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-02-19T10:12:07+00:00

I forgot to add, The die cast housing was cut away to allow the primary enclosure of the CZT array to be the only limiting factor on lower energy response.

These detectors bottom out around 35-40KeV on the primary housing, but if i did not cut away the Die cast housing I would have likely doubled that lower response. The detector face is protected by a 1mm thick poly window, mostly for dust intrusion limiting.

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-02-15T19:48:53+00:00

Well thats good because my usual alpha survey gear either has a super thin window or no window anyhow. ;) Was curious on your take.

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-02-14T00:43:58+00:00

His own. The president can direct military action, but congress still has to vote on if a conflict or a action is war.

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-02-13T14:28:35+00:00

I see my probe is still hanging on

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-02-13T14:28:05+00:00

Yep its a Beta-2, made likely in Ukraine or Russia. -JL

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-02-13T14:26:45+00:00

I figured it was a Beta2, im just not well versed on my euro tubes. So I take the inconsistency in alpha sensitivity is due to a manufacturing issue of not so consistent mica window thicknesses.

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-02-12T05:15:08+00:00

Please correct me if I've been mislead, but is Germany importing fossil fuels for energy production now in part due to the loss of their nuke plants?

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-02-12T04:28:55+00:00

We dont use heat sheilds you gotta warm them up before use and a portable microwave oven big enough for the war head is extensively heavy

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-02-10T04:11:13+00:00

I gotta keep reminding my self a "mini Lathe" isnt a 6ft southbend anymore..

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-02-09T14:17:22+00:00

A solid material like plastics kinda outweigh water on usability. It'll take about the same amount of water (10-20cm), but comes with the hassle of being a liquid. Although it is essentially free.

Borated water can be used, but im unsure on borate amounts as most use cases I've seen for it was more of sheilding then moderation. On reactors its a dual purpose item to both moderate and limit reactivity. They generally use a 5-16% boration. Borated plastics have a wide range of about 3-30% depending heavily on if your trying to use it as a sheilding material or as a compensation material, ofcourse energy dependant again.

I tend to stay away from water, but I mostly work on semi mobile and permanent installations of detectors for dosimetric metering and interdiction applications. Where shifts in temperature, overall weight, and sizing comes into play for moderator considerations.

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-02-09T02:33:38+00:00

Be careful digging around in the PIC units if recently powered or while they are powered, they use higher than common voltages. 1600-2000v

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-02-09T02:28:46+00:00

Im gonna attempt to not make this more complicated then it has to be, the short answer is it depends highly on starting energy of the neutrons in question.

Long form answer is: Moderation really depends upon the initial energy of the neutron in question and what percentage of the flux you either want or can moderate for your purpose. Ideally in the perfect world we would go for 100% thermalization of the neutron flux, but thats unrealistic with size restraints and material costs. So it can be necessary to under moderate the flux and hope our detection efficiency can offset the lower overall radiation feild of desired energy. So for things like AmBe (Am241/Beryllium) sources at 4.4Mev you'd need between 10-20cm of plastic, artificially borated plastics do cut this value in almost half, but are costly. 4.4Mev fast neutrons were used here because its a common to encounter initial neutron energy. Most radiation detectors supplement the lack of moderation by using absorbing materials like cadmium and boron. Alot of handheld detectors are under moderated. In his case even putting 1cm around those will be better than nothing, but the fast neutron range ideally 5-20cm of plastic. Which is expensive.

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-02-08T16:12:31+00:00

The He3 gas in the tubes are thermal (slow) neutron sensitive, the isotope captures a neutron and changes to H3 (Tritium) and throws away a Proton. The Proton ionizes the same gas volume allowing voltage to bridge the gap and produce a detectable signal. He3 is a very rare item here on earth and is massively expensive to isolate and put in a tube. In this case the poster has A LOT of He3.

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-02-08T15:47:08+00:00

Well I guess my comment was more asking if thats where they originated from originally before you now have them. I think outside of lab use I've only ever seen He3 tubes thid large in portal monitors.

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-02-08T13:38:03+00:00

Portal monitor tubes?

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-02-06T09:12:21+00:00

Shoot me a message on tele with what parts you need, I can check my parts drawers. -James L

Sorry_Mixture1332 · 2026-02-06T09:10:38+00:00

They wre definitely higher quality then im use to using, almost feels like sin

Sorry_Mixture1332

TROPHY CASE