I’ve taken the above link twice so far this morning, It works for me and I’m not aware of RadViews having gone down.
Best I place a copy here –should others in Eastern Europe be having a problem.
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Here’s a question I sent to the RadWatch group at:
> http://radwatch.berkeley.edu/FAQ
12/13/2014
Dear RadWatchers,
Some while ago I used your utility on the FAQ page to submit a question. Although the “Captcha” indicated that I got the code right and that my question got submitted, there was no automatic email acknowledgement. Perhaps my question didn’t actually get through to you.
So here it is again via email –or what I remember of it.
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* Question: Is monitoring background “gamma” useful?
(Or: the way I do it, as posted to:
> http://radviews.com/map/
–and click through that icon on the Oregon coast to see:
> http://radviews.com/upload/14183636801565475242.gif )
* Details (underlying my question):
~ Some say that even at sea level (MSL), about half of my count is muons. (Others say that muons hardly register on a standard Geiger counter.) With a high energy capable scintillator, the density runs about 1/cm^2/minute –which pencils out close to MSL background, given the profile of common G-M tubes.
~ G-M tube manufacturers’ specifications commonly cite –what I’d call a “noise level”, but what they call “own”, inherent, “self”, or “shielded” background levels that approach or exceed commonly logged MSL background radiation –per:
> http://www.lndinc.com/products/17/
(“Maximum background shielded 50mm Pb + 3mm Al (cpm) = 30 )
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-High-Sensitivity-M4011-Geiger-Counter-Tube-/260835055100?hash=item3cbafb15fc&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0#ht_928wt_862
(“Own Background: 0,2 Pulses/s” = 12cpm )
> http://www.gstube.com/data/2398/
(“Inherent counter background (cps) = 1″ = 60cpm)
~ I weighted a sealed, Army type ammunition box with an SBM-20 G-M tube equipped Geiger counter inside and dropped it to a depth of 2 meters off the end of a dock. That cut the normal (40 inches off the ground) background level of 15cpm to about 7cpm (averaged over 20 minutes). That exercise suggests to me that, whatever it is I’m counting:
> Half or more is coming from the sky.
> Half or more is not muons, since 2m of water wouldn’t stop them. (Right?)
** So I’ll rephrase my question: Does my gamma monitoring (going on for 45 months now) have much to do with the “NORM” plus any on-the-ground radionuclides fallout –that I originally expected to be counting?
Craig
Craig Daniels
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