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I'll bet erco doesn't have one of these — Parallax Forums

I'll bet erco doesn't have one of these

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
edited 2012-01-10 20:45 in General Discussion
A highly desirable collectible from the early 50's:

But now I'm sure he wants one! :)

-Phil

Comments

  • ercoerco Posts: 20,261
    edited 2012-01-09 13:57
    True, I never had one. I am a child of the '60s, so this 1950's set celebrating Uranium decay was before my time.

    But I suppose I could retrofit one of my robots to be powered by Plywoodium decay. Sort of a slow ongoing outgassing process, AFAIK...
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2012-01-09 13:59
    Wow! ...how the world has changed!!

    from the 2011 Dangerous toy list:
    "Burst balloons
    Balloons are all fun and games until they burst. Pieces of burst balloons pose a choking risk for children under 8 years of age, and have caused 86 deaths since 1990. For this reason, U.S. PIRG recommends keeping balloons away from young children completely, and was discouraged to find balloons in stores that were being marketed for infants' and toddlers' birthday parties."

    I guess radiation was just safer back then!!
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,261
    edited 2012-01-09 14:00
    As much as I plug Electronic Goldmine for various parts, I can't grasp why they have such a large offering of geiger counters & such. Do they know something I don't?

    http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/products.asp?dept=1468
  • Dr_AculaDr_Acula Posts: 5,484
    edited 2012-01-09 14:23
    I wish I'd had that kit when I was a kid. I did have some uranium ore which was given to me by a geologist while we were on holidays visiting a uranium mine (my parents took us on educational holidays!). But I never owned a geiger counter. Ignorance is bliss?!

    That kit has some interesting parts.
  • ajwardajward Posts: 1,130
    edited 2012-01-09 14:27
    Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »
    A highly desirable collectible from the early 50's:
    But now I'm sure he wants one! :)

    -Phil

    OMG! That is totally awesome! Dunno about erco, but =I= want one!!!

    Amanda
  • ajwardajward Posts: 1,130
    edited 2012-01-09 14:29
    erco wrote: »
    True, I never had one. I am a child of the '60s, so this 1950's set celebrating Uranium decay was before my time.

    But I suppose I could retrofit one of my robots to be powered by Plywoodium decay. Sort of a slow ongoing outgassing process, AFAIK...

    Isn't the Plywoodium decay caused by the interaction of a Termiteium particle? :-)

    @
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2012-01-09 14:43
    For those who are still young at heart:

    http://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2_4

    http://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2_5

    http://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2_12

    sign3.jpg
  • RDL2004RDL2004 Posts: 2,554
    edited 2012-01-09 15:08
    When I was a kid (back in the 60s) I received a Christmas present one year which was some kind of build it yourself model kit of a wild west wagon (the kind horses would pull). It was made from pre-cut pieces of real wood with brass nails and such. The only other thing I can remember about it was that it came with chunks of actual uranium ore to display in it after it was built. I don't recall if I ever actually built it, but I always thought the uranium ore was pretty cool.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-01-09 15:26
    erco wrote:
    As much as I plug Electronic Goldmine for various parts, I can't grasp why they have such a large offering of geiger counters & such. Do they know something I don't?
    I'm actually thinking about getting one. According to a recent newspaper article, flotsam from the Japanese tsunami is already beginning to strand on Washington shores, and some of it might possibly be radioactive. *_*

    -Phil
  • GordonMcCombGordonMcComb Posts: 3,366
    edited 2012-01-09 15:56
    I wonder what would have *floated* that far and would be radioactive? Maybe some of the plastic barrels they use to store the spent U-239 fuel rods!

    About 15 to 20 years ago you could find old Radiac sets for fifty bucks, steal their Geiger tubes, and make a simple geiger counter. People are trying to sell them for $150 to $250 now, untested. Most of these from the 50s will be useless as is (dry out caps, impossible to find batteries), and the GM tube likely degassed and inoperable.

    Heathkit made a nice pocket GM back in the mid 80s. I still have mine, and it still works. So far, no signs of any radioactive flotsam. Or jetsam for that matter.

    -- Gordon
  • David BDavid B Posts: 593
    edited 2012-01-09 16:07
    Tritium-decay-powered light bulbs are pretty common.

    I'd never heard of them until I picked up a weird green glowing tube in a load of surplus equipment, and discovered it was an atomic-powered lightbulb!

    http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/fs-tritium.html

    It's been sitting on my windowsill at home for a few years now, glowing a soft green as the tritium decays.
  • TubularTubular Posts: 4,762
    edited 2012-01-09 16:15
    Wow what a find

    Also here

    I can see why the $50 is a worthwhile investment - reading the fine print it appears the govt was handing out $10,000 bounties if you found a seam of radioactive ore. Wonder how many of those were paid out.
    http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/atomictoys/GilbertU238Lab.htm
    reward.png
    374 x 303 - 122K
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-01-09 17:07
    Most of the U.S.'s uranium supply now comes from Russia, according to a piece on NPR this afternoon. Although there may still be untapped veins in the U.S., the more promising ones lie in environmentally sensitive areas immediately surrounding the Grand Canyon.

    -Phil
  • wasswass Posts: 151
    edited 2012-01-09 18:16
    GordonMcComb wrote: »
    Heathkit made a nice pocket GM back in the mid 80s. I still have mine, and it still works.

    I bought and built one of these too. In fact I ordered it from them just as Three Mile Island was happening and I wasn't the only one. Heathkit told me that they instantly had a several month backup on these. I suppose the same thing happened last year and Goldmine is trying to capitalize on this (but might be a little late to the party).

    -Katie
  • localrogerlocalroger Posts: 3,452
    edited 2012-01-09 18:17
    My father was an actual nuclear physicist, and I grew up in his small lab. For my senior science fair project I borrowed a couple of nuclear sources and used them to test the memory chips in my then nearly state of the art computer. It was quite weird to see perfectly ordinary objects turn radioactive after being exposed to the Californium neutron source. But Geiger counters had nothing on the lithium-drifted silicon gamma detector which could not only identfy photons but also determine their energy (or wavelength). This was all hooked up to a computer tha cost $40,000 in 1974, using a Model 22 teletype machine as user interface and inch-wide punched tape as mass storage. 8K of program was a roll of paper tape about 3 inches in diameter and if you let the middle drop out, you just threw it away rather than trying to rewind it.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-01-09 19:11
    localroger,

    Your father didn't also provide you with a Cutie Pie neutron detector to estimate your exposure? Also, IIRC, the silicon gamma detectors of that era required a supply of liquid nitrogen to keep electrical noise below the signal threshold. (BTW, the Teletype machine was probably a Model 33, right?)

    -Phil
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2012-01-09 19:14
    I wasn't around back in the 50's, but it seems like people were really blase about radioactivity. Fiestaware contained Uranium, Coleman lantern mantles contained Thorium, and shoe stores had X-ray machines.

    While Coleman switched its lantern mantles to nonradioactive yttrium back in the 90's, some other firms still sell Thorium mantles.
  • bill190bill190 Posts: 769
    edited 2012-01-09 19:15
    Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »
    A highly desirable collectible from the early 50's:

    Imagine trying to take one of those through airport security these days! :smile:
  • ajwardajward Posts: 1,130
    edited 2012-01-10 04:02
    GordonMcComb wrote: »
    I wonder what would have *floated* that far and would be radioactive? Maybe some of the plastic barrels they use to store the spent U-239 fuel rods!

    About 15 to 20 years ago you could find old Radiac sets for fifty bucks, steal their Geiger tubes, and make a simple geiger counter. People are trying to sell them for $150 to $250 now, untested. Most of these from the 50s will be useless as is (dry out caps, impossible to find batteries), and the GM tube likely degassed and inoperable.

    Heathkit made a nice pocket GM back in the mid 80s. I still have mine, and it still works. So far, no signs of any radioactive flotsam. Or jetsam for that matter.

    -- Gordon

    A few years ago, I bought a CD radiation survey meter on eBay for about 30 dollars. These days, after the tsunami and Fukushima event, the same meters are being offered for 3 to 5 times that amount.
    At 45+ years old, I doubt it is still in calibration, but it tests properly using the check source on the side and it detects the beta and gamma particles from salt substitute.
    I've taken the set with me a couple of times on my rock hunting ventures and it does get the occasional odd stare. :-)

    I also have a number of the old CD dosimeters and a charging set. I've charged a couple of them, but so far no indication!

    @
  • RiJoRiRiJoRi Posts: 157
    edited 2012-01-10 07:25
    ... Heathkit made a nice pocket GM back in the mid 80s. I still have mine, and it still works. So far, no signs of any radioactive flotsam. Or jetsam for that matter.
    -- Gordon

    Y'all may want to look at www.nukalert.com if you're interested in pocket-sized radiation detectors.

    --Rich
    P.S. -- Note the radiation burn on the right side of the kid's face!!
  • localrogerlocalroger Posts: 3,452
    edited 2012-01-10 16:30
    Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »
    localroger,

    Your father didn't also provide you with a Cutie Pie neutron detector to estimate your exposure? Also, IIRC, the silicon gamma detectors of that era required a supply of liquid nitrogen to keep electrical noise below the signal threshold. (BTW, the Teletype machine was probably a Model 33, right?)

    -Phil

    I didn't actually enter do neutron activation; I used the gamma and X-ray sources which were kept on hand to calibrate the gamma detector. And yes, it did live atop a liquid nitrogen dewar; not only did it need to be kept cool to keep the noise down, it had to always stay cool or the lithium would drift out of the silicon crystal and ruin the resolution. Which eventually happened when the department head neglected to keep the dewar full. IIRC that detector was around $5000 in 1974. And yep, the teletype was a 33, somewhere down the years I slipped an 11.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-01-10 17:01
    I got to use one of those silicon detectors only once, when my physics class visited Oak Ridge. We were blown away by the resolution, since all our department had at the time was a scintillation detector/PM tube combo. I did an independent study modeling the scintillation response in an attempt to subtract individual peaks for inferring their underlying energy -- written in Fortran, of course. The program was only moderately successful. Fun times, though. There were only eight majors in my class, the profs were great, and we all had an absolute blast! One of the profs would hold all his exams at night, outside of class time, so we could take as much time as we wanted. He provided Chips Ahoy cookies and Kool Aid and would chuckle as we all sat around one large table struggling with the questions. Last time I visited my alma mater, he was still doing it, except that he had escalated the snacks to pizza and soft drinks.

    -Phil
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,261
    edited 2012-01-10 17:17
    This topic & thread are quite timely given the new Soviet 100-ton nuclear missile threat: http://defense.aol.com/2011/12/19/russia-accelerates-new-super-nuke-after-talks-breakdown-with-u-s?icid=maing-grid7|compaq-desktop|dl4|sec1_lnk2&pLid=121477
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-01-10 19:08
    Further apropos, "Dr. Strangelove" just started on TCM. :)

    -Phil
  • TtailspinTtailspin Posts: 1,326
    edited 2012-01-10 20:45
    "Hey, you two can't fight in here.. this is the war room! "
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