Radioactive Rock colecting.

[Antharak]

Ah that's not bad at all then.

Just watch your exposure when venting the radon buildup. It isn't the measurable dose but the volume of contaminated air you inhale that will get you. Radon is heavy so pour it out in a still air environment - I see lots of folks blow the radon out with their breath, a real bad idea.

Pouring is just what I do, I check the wind then put the box on the ground turn it on it's side and open it.
Good to talk with someone that knows what they are talking about.
Radon is so insidious, enters your lugs as a gas, then decays into Polonium 218, a metal and sits in your lung as the decay chain continues, all metals.
Here is the decay chain for u-238, from the website of United Nuclear.

Remember folks uranium in not the only isotope found in ore samples.

 

[weirdmeister]

wow..nice thorium sample @dr.laser !!!

wondering that even here is a tread like this

they are behind 4mm acrylic plastic, in 1m distance there is normal radiation
(0,13µsv/h)

also i have this isotope generator,filled with 60g thorites-producing radon gas

 

[ped]

^^ Some of the projects on your web page are astonishing.

 

[COMMANDR]

Here are few HOT ones from my collection. The Trinitite is kinda rare and hard to find, technically not a mineral but interesting none the less.

 

[Sigurthr]

That is an awesome collection, weirdmeister!

 

[Seoul_lasers]

Hi all
Does anyone else here collect Uranium, Thorium, secondary Uranyl and trans Uranyl ore specimens? Just wanted to see if there were any more here.
Ed
:beer:

Yes, I sure do!
I have quite the collection of HOT rocks back in Canada.
Generally my specimens are large/mid size and usually have a surface activity of +25-30mR/hr of Gamma.
My king specimen is a sample of Carnotite K2(UO2)2(VO4)2-3H2O + Meta-Tyutumanite with some inclusions of high grade Uraninite. The surface activity is +40mR/hr gamma and nearly off scale with Beta/Gamma 350,000CPM or ~97.2mR/hr with a 3600CPM:1mR/hr pancake surface probe.

A Scintillation (spinthariscope) screen glows quite nicely when next to this sample.

My wish list includes a sample of Uraninite with Gummite from Ontario
which I've heard produces some insanely high quality, beautiful but hot specimens.


BTW, you've got quite the excellent collection of Primary/Secondary Uranium minerals there!! :eg:

A little caution about Autunite, Autunite is a VERY unstable mineral when left in the open air it will dehydrate in minutes and become meta-autunite which is prone to disintegrate and become fine particles or even powder. You really don't want this to occur!!
Autunite therefore needs to be sealed in a sample box to prevent dehydration from occurring.
"Large" specimens absolutely require a decent radiation shield (lead glass) and humidity control as well as a vent for Radon Gas.

 

[jeffreythe00]

Hi guys I'm new to this radioactive rock collecting. I've always been interested in going hunting for samples. How would one such as myself start to get into this hobby? I'd really just like the experience of going around and searching for small samples vs buying minerals.

Any info would be great since I know very little.

Love this thread! Nice collections guys

 

[weirdmeister]

Hi guys I'm new to this radioactive rock collecting. I've always been interested in going hunting for samples. How would one such as myself start to get into this hobby? I'd really just like the experience of going around and searching for small samples vs buying minerals.

Any info would be great since I know very little.

Love this thread! Nice collections guys

going around and hunt for this little buggers is as relaxing as fishing and exciting as geocaching at the same time you need a geiger counter at first,there are comercial ones like gamma scout and circuit boards like rh-mygeiger wich are cheap ...build a comfy holding contraption like this:

..needs a external search probe,i found out that the cheap sbm-20 is better for searching than small a pancake because can search a bigger area below it ,and a digging device..some japanese gardening tools are very handy..then need to know where to go
also: disposable gloves and a bunch of bags..when you found some you dont want to walk around with a full bag radiating against you knee

 

[jeffreythe00]

Very cool! Thank you for the info! Ive had a love for rocks and minerals since I was very young. I used to beg my parents and grandparents to buy me minerals and fossels when we visited the market. They used to try and avoid that area. I also live on top of an "old" coal mining town and near a bunch of rock quarries which I imagine might have some radioactive minerals nearby/inside. I also love the outdoors so it seems this hobby might work well.

Now, I don't believe my knowledge of electronics is good enough to make my own Geiger counter so I'm probably left with the gamma scout. Which besides the price doesn't seem to bad. I was not sure if I could use a scout since pancake probes were always recommended to me. I'm probably just going to walk around blindly like I'm on a nature hike and monitor the background radiation to see if there are any spikes which may indicate an ore vein.

Thank you again weirdmeister. I think you may have just coaxed me into spending 600$ on a detector.

Edit: Oh and as for bags, yeah I was thinking about how I would cart home any materials I found. I was thinking of making a lead lined box and carrying it in my backpack. Gloves and respirator included.

 

[weirdmeister]

you cant detect veins by driving around,radiation cannot travel far away more than a few meters,uranium is almost involved in alpha decay (beta also) so you must hold probes near the ground..and in a coal area there can be petrified wood wich is radioactive..but mostly not-you need to know where to search ..tailings..you have some nice placec in utah and colorado over there...
you dont need lead...it makes the radiation even worse because bremsstrahlung can occur when you store it directly instead slow down the energy with eg. acrylic walls in front of lead walls..

some diy geiger kits are almost ready to use..you only need to solder on battery wires

 

[Seoul_lasers]

Very cool Geiger counter!! :drool:

Do you think you could post some more pics of it and the display.

What probe are you using? HV is Low ripple inverter supply?....
More pics please.

:beer:

 

[Sigurthr]

If you're looking to buy a radiation detector be very careful with anything that reports in other than counts per minute. After the Fukushima disaster the market has been flooded with way overpriced poor quality Geiger counters and fakes. A reading in Rem/Rads/Sieverts is meaningless unless the device has been calibrated in a professional field source. Also, dose rates are for gamma only (neutron detectors aside) so readings of doses on a meter with an A/B/Y probe are meaningless as well.

Ludlum, Polimaster, Gammascout, Inspector are all trusted brands, don't spend >$90 on anything else.


I have an old pancake detector, power supply, and pulse formation module I really need to put to use. It was intended for background count monitoring via datalogging on a pc via serial port. It takes 12Vdc power and spits out 12V pulses on each count. It's just been sitting on my shelf for a few years now. I should really throw together a sounder for it at the very least if I don't make a scaler and logger for it lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Seoul_lasers]

If you're looking to buy a radiation detector be very careful with anything that reports in other than counts per minute. After the Fukushima disaster the market has been flooded with way overpriced poor quality Geiger counters and fakes. A reading in Rem/Rads/Sieverts is meaningless unless the device has been calibrated in a professional field source. Also, dose rates are for gamma only (neutron detectors aside) so readings of doses on a meter with an A/B/Y probe are meaningless as well.

Ludlum, Polimaster, Gammascout, Inspector are all trusted brands, don't spend >$90 on anything else.


I have an old pancake detector, power supply, and pulse formation module I really need to put to use. It was intended for background count monitoring via datalogging on a pc via serial port. It takes 12Vdc power and spits out 12V pulses on each count. It's just been sitting on my shelf for a few years now. I should really throw together a sounder for it at the very least if I don't make a scaler and logger for it lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Actually good point! I have seen quite a few CDV715, 717, 710, and 720 Ion chamber detectors being sold erroneously or on purpose as Geiger counters. If you ever were to see the needle move on one of these you'd be a world of hurt.
These CDV715-720 Ion chambers detectors are ment for large radiation fields that one would find typically in fallout from an "accidental" nuclear detonation or a massively epic nuclear meltdown. :wave:
Basically these units are EXTREMELY useless in mineral collecting and detecting
surface contamination. :can:


Ion chamber survey meters are used in the following
a) high Radiation fields environment (Radiology (flouroscopy)/ Gamma ray sterilization) / Metallurgical (Co60) sources ..etc
b) Radiological contamination over long time spans, specifically detecting Radon Gas and Radon Daughters (modern high sensitivity varieties)
c) 1950's Civil defence specifically for Nuclear Fallout.

Ludlum, Polimaster, Gammascout, Inspector are all trusted brands.

Yes!! I'll also add a rare rebuild GEOS-LENI-700 to that list as well.

 

[weirdmeister]

Very cool Geiger counter!! :drool:

Do you think you could post some more pics of it and the display.

What probe are you using? HV is Low ripple inverter supply?....
More pics please.

:beer:

.@ seaol_lasers..you´ve got pm

i would not buy a analog counter like the cdv 7xx..take digital
probe (internal) is 2x sts-5 /sbm-20 ..its the same
the external probe ive mounted is si-15bg ..a mica window probe..but!:
this probe is very focused..alpha capable but has a narrow "search field"

the power ic´s on the gm-04 ( the counter on the crouch) ..i don´t know...
can usb powered,can lipo powered and 5v wide range input or so with step up ic ....
but HV..????

 

[Seoul_lasers]

.@ seaol_lasers..you´ve got pm

i would not buy a analog counter like the cdv 7xx..take digital
probe (internal) is 2x sts-5 /sbm-20 ..its the same
the external probe ive mounted is si-15bg ..a mica window probe..but!:
this probe is very focused..alpha capable but has a narrow "search field"

the power ic´s on the gm-04 ( the counter on the crouch) ..i don´t know...
can usb powered,can lipo powered and 5v wide range input or so with step up ic ....
but HV..????

Ah.. thanks for the PM and the link to the pictures... Now I see what you were talking about.
Interesting tube tester!
There is a similar device for sale I've been looking for using an Arduino and a adj HV made by a
member of the GCE yahoo groups.
Voltage is adjustable from ~450-2.5Kv and is low ripple.

anyways... thank again.

 

[BShanahan14rulz]

All these -ites! I've got a tub full of sodium bentonite gravel. It may not be radioactive, but it sure is a biohazard! :crackup:

Nah, I actually switched to silica recently. Just saw all the -ites, had to make a smartass comment. Ok, back to the real smart folks.