Radiological Instruments and You

Hi, I thought I would write a guide for the person interested in radiation measurements. The first instrument you should buy is a CDV-700 which was made during the cold war early years. The CDV-700 is able to detect High Energy Beta and Gamma radiation. It uses a 6993 detector tube which has a thick wall steel enclosure, and because of this cannot detect Low Energy Beta or Alpha radiation.You will then want to purchase a Thin Window Pancake Geiger Muller detector like a Ludlum 44-9 wand.This detector can detect Alpha, Beta and Gamma and is the principal detector of choice for both civilian and government workers who are interested in contamination by radiological contaminants.A Scintillation detector is very important next. This detector is typically a NaI(Tl) Sodium Iodide doped with Thallium - Scintillation Crystal which produces visible spectrum photons when exposed to Gamma Radiation and the photons are detected with a Photo Multiplier Tube and converted to a radiance measurement.If you have questions about these types of equipment, please email me at richwestfall@gecast.net and I will try to answer your questions.Thanks - Rich Westfall 303-433-1978