Replies: 2 comments 12 replies
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That is a great build! it looks totally awesome. Easily wins the MacGyver award, hands down! :D From uranium glass, there are not many alphas if at all, usually. But you should still be able to detect quite some electrons and gamma photons with the BPX61 version. The electron detector variant with more diodes would give you 4 times more events. Which troubleshooting steps do not work for you? Does the detector react to light when the case is opened? BTW, later for analysing the randomness of you detector data, you can checkout this nice website: https://www.fourmilab.ch/hotbits/ |
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I installed a new 9.6V battery and replaced my scope leads with a 30 cm BNC cable plugged directly into the detector. This fixed the noise problem. I'm now getting readings on my scope that look like your samples. Unfortunately, my doped marble is only emitting about 3 pulses per minute so I need to find a better source. I know your site dissuades the use of smoke detector 241AM disks but I've done some research and it appears relatively safe as long as you don't try to remove the isotope from the disks. The americium is electroplated onto the metal disks and is protected by a thin, gold-metal layer that is very chemically resistant. There have been 2 documented cases of people swallowing the disks without health issues despite over 2 weeks in the GI tract. Here are my references: Ingestion of 241Am Sources Intended for Domestic Smoke Detectors |
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I built your particle detector (BPX61 version with glass removed). Thanks for taking the time to publish this great project! My goal is to build a quantum random number generator based on radioactive decay as a source of entropy. I’m trying to test the detector using a 25 mm diameter glass marble doped with 3% Uranium 238 that I purchased from United Nuclear. I’m not getting any pulses on my hardware oscilloscope and I don’t hear anything but noise when piped to my computer’s sound card. I followed your troubleshooting guide and I believe the hardware is assembled correctly.
I’m assuming that there is a problem with my testing methodology or that the uranium concentration in the marble is too low to register on the detector. I’d really appreciate any suggestions.
Here are some pics:
![Case01r](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/106355/113444410-b4150f80-93a8-11eb-9fd2-3b5e184557ed.JPG)
![Case02r](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/106355/113444470-d149de00-93a8-11eb-9beb-845ff0ec81a2.JPG)
![Case03r](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/106355/113444491-d870ec00-93a8-11eb-9e1a-c7e70f729723.JPG)
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