Eberline Instruments E-520 Geiger counter

Goth · 12th April 2007, 7:04 PM

Anyone know where i might find a PDF copy of the manual for the aforementioned fairly old but still perfectly usable instrument?

I owe a cookie to the first person who can find one.

Cheers.

King of Cool · 12th April 2007, 9:37 PM

I've used Eberline geiger counters and probably the E-520 with work.
Are you after the manual on how to actually use it or more for repair/maintenance? I can guide you through it's use as they are pretty straight forward. Are you familiar with radioactive sources/detectors/units/maximum dose rates etc?

I'm going to take a stab and assume you will be measuring something that is radioactive. Do you need an appropriate radiation use license? What about personal dosimeters for peace of mind?

KoC

King of Cool · 12th April 2007, 10:23 PM

Eberline Instruments became Thermo Scientific:
http://www.thermo.com/

I've also managed to find a E-500 manual:
http://www.dvq.com/geiger/e-500b.pdf

KoC

Goth · 12th April 2007, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by King of Cool

Are you after the manual on how to actually use it or more for repair/maintenance?

More for repair/maintainance/calibration.

Quote:

I can guide you through it's use as they are pretty straight forward. Are you familiar with radioactive sources/detectors/units/maximum dose rates etc?
I'm going to take a stab and assume you will be measuring something that is radioactive. Do you need an appropriate radiation use license? What about personal dosimeters for peace of mind?

You don't need to worry too much about this stuff.

I'll use it to measure X-ray emissions from high voltage diode rectifiers, and eventually, when i get around to building it, to detect X-ray emission and recoil protons from a Hirsch-Meeks Fusor.

In order to confirm correct operation of the counter, i'll employ a 1uCi 241Am source i have access to, which *should* give a measurable level of gamma emission to test it, and allow me to roughly calibrate it. That's a pretty small source, and isn't a significant radiological hazard. I might go and find a quantity of Potassium Chloride or something to test beta detection, too.

Bennys4mg · 13th April 2007, 12:45 AM

Quote:

i'll employ a 1uCi 241Am source i have access to

smoke alarm? but you make it sound like you're using your smartcard, fingerprint, retina scan and voice ID access to a top secret vault of radioactive sources.. heh.

getting the KCl from a health food shop?

where'd you get the ticker from? ebay?

Goth · 13th April 2007, 1:41 AM

Yeah, Ebay

The 241Am source i have handy, they're actually perfect sources for demonstrating Rutherford scattering and stuff like that.

I took the beta shield off the GM tube, so it should easily detect beta from K-40, so the KCl mixture from the supermarket, or any other K salt in quantity, should be workable as a test source.

If the above don't work, which they should, once i replace the battery holders in the counter, i might need to track down some Thorium. Or a bloody great Uranium glass bowl or something.

King of Cool · 13th April 2007, 10:03 PM

Oh, your source is Am241, not Am241Be. Yeah you wont have to worry about neutrons then. I get to irradiate myself frequently with:
~3-6 Ci or 100-200 GBq Am241Be neutron / gamma source
~1-2 Ci or 27-110 GBq Cs137 gamma source

Natural background gamma readings will be ~ 20 - 60 API. In hot spots it can reach up to 200 API. Interesting fact is that after rain, you will get an elevated reading. Usually in the order of 10 - 25 API.

Also due to the nature of radiation emission, you will not get repeatable measurements, you will notice statistical variance. With a sufficient sampling time, we use one minute, you should be able to repeat to within ~10%.

Also here is a good introduction to working with radiation and radioactives.
It is authored by the University of California and work use to use this as a primer:
http://ehs.ucsc.edu/lab_research_saf...ram/Rsfw58.pdf

If you are in Victoria, I could check you Geiger/source with one of our meters.

KoC

Goth · 13th April 2007, 10:18 PM

Yeah, the background radiation is pretty easy to quantify.

You might be interested to know that the API (American Petroleum Institute, iirc) Gamma ray response units aren't really useful measurements for anything, other than geophysical backscatter measurements, well/borehole logging, density/moisture guaging and stuff like that, which i'm sure you know all about.

King of Cool · 13th April 2007, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goth

well/borehole logging

Yeah what I do. You're right, API is somewhat ambiguous.

KoC

12th April 2007, 7:04 PM	#1
Goth Grumpy Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: /dev/null Posts: 9,303	Eberline Instruments E-520 Geiger counter Anyone know where i might find a PDF copy of the manual for the aforementioned fairly old but still perfectly usable instrument? I owe a cookie to the first person who can find one. Cheers. __________________ "How is anyone supposed to know that this isn't just a bunch of crap?" - Richard Feynman.

12th April 2007, 9:37 PM	#2
King of Cool Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: A Rig Site Posts: 1,168	I've used Eberline geiger counters and probably the E-520 with work. Are you after the manual on how to actually use it or more for repair/maintenance? I can guide you through it's use as they are pretty straight forward. Are you familiar with radioactive sources/detectors/units/maximum dose rates etc? I'm going to take a stab and assume you will be measuring something that is radioactive. Do you need an appropriate radiation use license? What about personal dosimeters for peace of mind? KoC __________________ Neccesitamos mas pan para la revolution!

12th April 2007, 10:23 PM	#3
King of Cool Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: A Rig Site Posts: 1,168	Eberline Instruments became Thermo Scientific: http://www.thermo.com/ I've also managed to find a E-500 manual: http://www.dvq.com/geiger/e-500b.pdf KoC __________________ Neccesitamos mas pan para la revolution!

13th April 2007, 1:41 AM	#6
Goth Grumpy Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: /dev/null Posts: 9,303	Yeah, Ebay The 241Am source i have handy, they're actually perfect sources for demonstrating Rutherford scattering and stuff like that. I took the beta shield off the GM tube, so it should easily detect beta from K-40, so the KCl mixture from the supermarket, or any other K salt in quantity, should be workable as a test source. If the above don't work, which they should, once i replace the battery holders in the counter, i might need to track down some Thorium. Or a bloody great Uranium glass bowl or something. __________________ "How is anyone supposed to know that this isn't just a bunch of crap?" - Richard Feynman.

13th April 2007, 10:03 PM	#7
King of Cool Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: A Rig Site Posts: 1,168	Oh, your source is Am241, not Am241Be. Yeah you wont have to worry about neutrons then. I get to irradiate myself frequently with: ~3-6 Ci or 100-200 GBq Am241Be neutron / gamma source ~1-2 Ci or 27-110 GBq Cs137 gamma source Natural background gamma readings will be ~ 20 - 60 API. In hot spots it can reach up to 200 API. Interesting fact is that after rain, you will get an elevated reading. Usually in the order of 10 - 25 API. Also due to the nature of radiation emission, you will not get repeatable measurements, you will notice statistical variance. With a sufficient sampling time, we use one minute, you should be able to repeat to within ~10%. Also here is a good introduction to working with radiation and radioactives. It is authored by the University of California and work use to use this as a primer: http://ehs.ucsc.edu/lab_research_saf...ram/Rsfw58.pdf If you are in Victoria, I could check you Geiger/source with one of our meters. KoC __________________ Neccesitamos mas pan para la revolution! Last edited by King of Cool; 13th April 2007 at 10:31 PM.

13th April 2007, 10:18 PM	#8
Goth Grumpy Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: /dev/null Posts: 9,303	Yeah, the background radiation is pretty easy to quantify. You might be interested to know that the API (American Petroleum Institute, iirc) Gamma ray response units aren't really useful measurements for anything, other than geophysical backscatter measurements, well/borehole logging, density/moisture guaging and stuff like that, which i'm sure you know all about. __________________ "How is anyone supposed to know that this isn't just a bunch of crap?" - Richard Feynman.