hunting for radioactive radium watches

...i was 'hunting' for radioactive material in some antique shops today... and i scored something truely AMAZING! o_O

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• radium
• watch
• clock
• radioactive
• decay
• ionizing
• radiation
• radon
• uhr
• radioactivity
• radioaktiv
• radioaktivität
• geigerzähler
• gammascout
• dosimeter
• dosisleistungsmessgerät
• uran
• uranium
• ionisierende
• strahlung
• antique
• shop
• working
• vintage
• green
• glow
• glowing

[Doppelbuckel]

Ive got that watch in the left lower corner, that metallic one. Bought it yesterday for testing my DRSB-01. And Ive got a question. What radiation are you measuring in the video, alpha, beta, or gamma? Or all three? I guess theres only beta and gamma coming through.

[bionerd23]

@Doppelbuckel

yep, deffo just beta + gamma; the hourglass will shield alpha radiation to 100%.

[DarilVanHorn]

Where can I get one of those meters? I about 2 dozens of those vintage watches, and most of them have glowing dots.

[bionerd23]

@DarilVanHorn

it's a gamma scout, google for that. however, i think a simple (and much cheaper) geiger counter would suffice for you, just look "geiger counter" up on ebay, there are always some around.

[mashersmasher]

does radium give off beta or gamma rays? my meter is a CD V-700 and doesn't measure alpha rays.

[bionerd23]

@mashersmasher

radium from this paint - due to the presence of the many daughter nuclides - is an alpha, beta, and gamma emitter. radium itself is an alpha emitter, though.

[jarocho151]

doesnt this kill you?

[ThePigfloyd]

in 1987 I remember watching that HBO special about the women who painted the dials in radium and the geiger counter went off big time as they were waving it across the womens graves. some of the women painted their faces in radium paint...

[MrInsects]

how much do u think i can get a radiation scanner for? because i collect radioactive substances.

[vk92007]

@bionerd23 The company Bicron makes radiac meters but they are expensive to buy. They run a couple of hundred dollars. The Ludlum company makes them as well. You will find those in general use everywhere in the nuclear industry

[vk92007]

@Doppelbuckel You're right, alpha is very tricky to detect. I don't know what sort of radiac meter she is using but I don't know if there is one that can detect all three. I would like a little more information on that meter. Radium is primarily an alpha emitter I thought

[BWIENS789]

People, remeber that these measurements are in micro-sieverts. Thes are shown as uSv. Milisieverts are shown as mSv and sieverts are shown as Sv. You should only worry about radiation levels in the mSv's and Sv's as they can be harmful to health if exposed to them for relatively long periods.1 uSv=1 millionth of sievert. 1mSv=1 thousandth of a sievert. Plus these are uSv per hour. Anyway, great find Bionerd! I have many of these at home. I even have one that measures up to 100uSv!

[Vot63]

Why are you pissing about with radium dial watches? If you pop the glass the airborne radiatiation is quite easy to inhale. Strange! Interesting vid though. I'm not sure why!

Regards!

[Doppelbuckel]

You can actually take of the glass of the watch in the left lower corner quite easily. Maybe you could try measuring that watch without the glass, so you can also detect alpha radiation? Would be cool :-)

[wiseroldfart]

Scary! I had a watch that glowed in the dark in the early 60's when I was a preteen. I also had some strips from the plastic factory down the street that glowed in the dark. I used to put these things close to my eyes in the dark after exposing them to light to make them glow. I wore the watch daily for at least a year. So far, no sign of radiation damage.

[zederish]

@TheDragonblade999 یعنی چی؟