Radiation Detectors - Advice solicited

[Chiteng]

There is an abundance of different types of detectors. I was hoping some of you may be more familiar than I am with what a good type would be.
This would be to measure contamination.

It is obvious that one hundred minds know more than simply one.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

What kinds of radiation are you looking to detect? Gamma, alpha or beta? Are you using this to detect radon leaking from the ground into your home or are you looking to measure the output from a coal or nuclear power station?

(Burning coal emits more radiation than that which escapes a nuclear power station by quite a large margin)

 

[Chiteng]

What kinds of radiation are you looking to detect? Gamma, alpha or beta? Are you using this to detect radon leaking from the ground into your home or are you looking to measure the output from a coal or nuclear power station?

(Burning coal emits more radiation than that which escapes a nuclear power station by quite a large margin)

Fallout. Doesnt matter how it is created. All types

 

[hobbsyoyo]

This website mentions apps that turn your smartphone camera into a geiger counter. I don't know how well they work.

Otherwise, go to ebay or amazon. Make sure the models you look at can detect Alpha, Beta and Gamma radiation.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Chiteng is a Prepper ?
Well that explains a lot

 

[Kennigit]

Geiger counters are pretty much used for any field work; that phone app only would do x-ray/gamma and doesn't have beta detection, so you wouldn't get the Sr-90 beta decay (Cs-137 and Sr-90 is what you'd look in fallout for; c-14 too but that's atmospheric spike back in the 1960s. Humans have pumped enough CO2 to make the c-14 spike a little less nowadays). Pancake geiger counters will detect alpha/beta/gamma.

 

[Chiteng]

Not sure what a 'prepper' is. However I know that if I wait until I need a detector,
then when I need it, I wont be able to get it. Not unlike a weapon.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

You should also look for a detector that will differentiate for you between the different types. If you arr facing alpha or beta radiation in the air, you will be alright with just a decent covering of clothing and a face mask/air supply. If alpha or beta is in your water supply though, you're screwed.

And your pretty much always screwed with gamma around you.

 

[Gigaz]

And your pretty much always screwed with gamma around you.

It is not easy to receive a lethal dose of gamma radiation. After the nuclear gamma is your least concern. Make sure you don't take in too much beta- and alpha-decaying isotopes and you'll be fine.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

My point is that gamma is the one you can't really easily shield yourself from. Not ingesting alpha and beta particles pretty much stops any real danger from those sources.

 

[Borachio]

A prepper, I suppose, is someone preparing for some Armageddon-like event.

Isn't it a little bit paranoid?

I often fantasize what I'd do in the event of some such catastrophe of civilization destroying proportions. But that's as far as I go usually. Though I have been known to buy some dried pulsars - beans and stuff - and an extra packet of pasta. You can't be too safe sometimes, I say.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Perhaps he lives close to Chernobyl, a nuclear weapons plant, or a nuclear power reactor.

 

[Chiteng]

Perhaps he lives close to Chernobyl, a nuclear weapons plant, or a nuclear power reactor.

I live ten miles from a nuke plant actually. But that is not what I am worried about.
Besides. If I wish to waste my money on a non-lethal pastime, why would you care?

Should I ask where I can get some discount .22L instead?

The biggest dangers are the ones that you cannot prepare for. It is impossible.

Like, a deliberate release of a tailored virus. No one could prepare for something like that.

I already told all of you why I want one. Because if I wait until I NEED one, it would then be too late to get one.

Ever watch the TV show 'Jericho'? It became kinda important, very quickly.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Now that's funny. You actually do have a perfectly valid reason to own one, but that's not why you want it.

I watch all sorts of TV shows and movies while still not caving into the urge to buy a Geiger counter to be properly prepared. But I do have an emergency professional-grade spotlight that many firemen carry that even comes on automatically when the power goes off, which it does every year or so. It also comes in quite handy during the occasional hurricane.

Knock yourself out. At least you aren't shopping for an assault weapon. Or do you already have one?

 

[Borachio]

Hey! I've got one of those spotlight things - with like a billion candles in it. But wait, no, mine was substantially cheaper so it's probably not smoke piercing.

I use mine to confuse burglars. When I can remember where I put the thing.

 

[FriendlyFire]

I live ten miles from a nuke plant actually. But that is not what I am worried about. Besides. If I wish to waste my money on a non-lethal pastime, why would you care?

Should I ask where I can get some discount .22L instead?

The biggest dangers are the ones that you cannot prepare for. It is impossible.

Like, a deliberate release of a tailored virus. No one could prepare for something like that.

I already told all of you why I want one. Because if I wait until I NEED one, it would then be too late to get one.

Ever watch the TV show 'Jericho'? It became kinda important, very quickly.

Following FEMA guidelines for emergencies don't make you paranoid, a few basic stockpiles is a good thing. But people with low income are stockpiling 20 years of food, tens of thousands of rnds of ammunition and hundred of guns and spending all there time is a bit paranoid. Why not use your time and money to help and stabilize society instead ?

A WMD viral attack on the USA? Well maybe if you are rich enough you could purchase space in one of those specially made underground private bunkers, I believe they are called vaults.

 

[emzie]

You're probably best off with something simple like a nukalert key chain, which will let you know if you're in an area with higher-than-normal radiation and will let you know about how long you should stay there (downside: you look paranoid to everyone who notices it) and some RAD stickers (will let you know in more precise terms how much radiation you've been exposed to).

Buy some iodine tablets.

That should do you well for a terrorist attack. For an all-out nuclear war, honestly, knowing how much radiation you're being exposed to isn't going to help much.

 

[History_Buff]

Now that's funny. You actually do have a perfectly valid reason to own one, but that's not why you want it.

That is so not a valid reason to own one.

 

[Formaldehyde]

You might want to try explaining that to the people who lived downwind from Hanford for decades, Three Mile Island 30 years ago, Chernobyl 25 years ago, and Fukushima almost 2 years ago.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I guess it has to be said that out of the hundreds of nuclear power plants in the world, only a select few raise to the level of catastrophe or danger to life. The rest just work the way their supposed to and pose no significant threat to anyone. Also, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima were freak accidents. Everyone's at risk for accidents 24/7 and if you live near a nuclear plant, a radiation detector really won't be of much help in a disaster of that magnitutde.

You don't need to have a detector to hear/read the radiation warnings and the orders to GTFO and vacate the area.

(Three Mile Island didn't release much, if any radiation, IIRC)

On the other hand, you could live next to a coal plant which is guaranteed to output more radiation than a nuclear plant ever will plus smog and other pollutants. You might find use for a radiation detector under such circumstances or if you live in an area prone to radon emissions.