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Eberline ASP-1 LED modification - "visual pulse indicator"
Eberline ASP-1 is one my favorite "80s era" Geiger Counters. The electrical design is elegant, downright beautiful. ASP stands for "Analog Smart Portable" but "Analog" refers to the metering system...
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Gamma Spectroscopy - Lead Shielding / Castle v2
I decided to rebuild my Lead Castle / Test chamber for Gamma Spectroscopy. The old vertical design was working great but after awhile it gets annoying to add or remove samples - every time I have to...
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My XRF Setup - Part 1 / How it all works?
 What is XRF? XRF stands for "X-Ray Fluorescence" and it is Non-Destructive method for material analysis, used to determine the Element composition of a material or a chemical compound. It is an...
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My XRF Setup - Part 2 / The Hardware
 Amptek (Amptek) is one of the leading companies for Space instrumentation, experimental and research XRF equipment.They have a fantastic line of products called X-123 - (1) detector element and...
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My XRF Setup - Part 3 - Exciter
(work in progress)The exciter is the second main component of an XRF setup - this is the source of the primary X-Rays.Two type of Exciters are generally used - X-Ray tube or Radioactive Isotope.X-Ray...
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The Sericho Pallasite Meteorite - XRF Analysis
I obtained 2 fragments of the Sericho Pallasite Meteorite, "discovered" in Habaswein, Eastern Kenya in 2016. The meteorite has been known to local populations for many years but it wasn't until 2016...
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Bigger is better or building a larger NaI(Tl)-based scintillating Gamma...
In the world of scintillators, larger crystals means more sensitivity - when you have a bigger volume of scintillating material, it can capture more photon interactions and will produce more pulses....
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Gamma Dog - The Ultimate Radioactive Rock / Mineral Finder!
It was time to put my newly built large scintillator to work. A friend of mine and an avid REE mineral collector Charles Young designed sometime ago an instrument specialized for finding radioactive...
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Low-profile Scintillating detector for Gamma Dog EXP
 For my Gamma Dog EXP (External Probe) I wanted to build small and lightweight detector to be mounted on the "Metal Detector style wand".The weight is important as the detector is basically on the end...
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Gamma Dog EXP - External Probe
The idea behind Gamma Dog EXP is to have a self-contained electronics module which I can connected to external probes. This allows a certain level of flexibility - detector using smaller crystals can...
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Gamma Dog - Performance
 So how does the Gamma Dog perform? The short answer is - fantastic! I am really happy with the performance. Charles and I have been testing our instruments inside and out and they work great -...
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Gamma Dog - finishing touches (Volume Control)
One thing that was really bugging me with the Gamma Dog circuit was the original analog audio volume adjustment. The MCU swings a digital output pin, driving the amplifier input between 0V and 3.3V....
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XRF Exciter source using a Moxtek Miniature X-Ray Tube
 I am working on a new XRF Exciter source, employing a pretty cool miniature, ceramic, 10W X-Ray tube with Tungsten target by Moxtek. This source will deliver a significantly higher X-Ray flux compared...
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X-Ray Source Controller for MOXTEK and AMPTEK Mini X-Ray tubes
 I needed controller for the Magnum series 50kV / 10W MOXTEK X-Ray source. As it turns out the controller once sold by MOXTEK is no long available (discontinued) and the Moxtek salesperson told me -...
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Complete DIY XRF Setup
My DIY XRF setup is finally complete - it is comprised of an Amptek X-123 detector using the proprietary Amptek 25 mm2 / 500 μm Si-PIN X-Ray detector element (model FSJ32MD-G3SP), Amptek Pre-Amplifier...
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Building a Scintillator, using CsI(Na) crystal and Hamamatsu R6231 PMT
 This scintillator build is not much different than the others except for using a CsI(Na) crystal and 2" / 51mm PMT. I understand that people use these posts as a guide when building their own...
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Modifying Scionix-Holland 38B57/1.5M-E1 Scintillating Detector
 Commercial scintillating detectors are very expensive - hundreds and often thousands of dollars. They are not always affordable for amateurs even on the secondhand market but for many applications...
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Gamma Dog hardware - PCB v4.0
 Finished the design of PCB v4.0 for the Gamma Dog.The improvements are not huge but this version incorporates the progress in the development which continued after PCB v3.0.Gamma Dog Main PCB...
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Pulse Height Analyzer (PHA) option for Eberline ASP-1
 When it comes to those big, beige, analog metering system, heavy metal and clunky radiation detectors from the 80s... I am a huge fan of ... not Ludlum Model 3 but the Eberline ASP-1. I have 3 such...
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Gamma Dog - Assisted Squelch Auto-Set (ASAS) / "Smart Squelch" System
One of the main features of the Gamma Dog project is the unique Squelch System controlling the audio output.The Gamma Dog's Squelch System works by detecting a differential between the Natural...
View Article13 Years later ...
 Today, 13 years after this post, FCC issued my son's first callsign - KC1TVB. Congratulations to Vichren for passing the exam and joining the lines of the Amateur Radio Operators!
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Lightwave portable magnetic stand for Elecraft KX3 and PX3
Elecraft KX3 is a fantastic portable transceiver but one thing I thought could be improved is using a better stand to the stock, foldable legs. The built-in foldable feet are a bit annoying as they...
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Moxtek X-Ray Tube Controller - Part 3 - Enclosure
 Finally, I got around to make an enclosure for the Moxtek X-Ray Tube Controller, reducing the "salad" of boards and wires to a single box.The complete Controller enclosure. This enclosure might be...
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Efficient Common-Mode Current Choke for EFRW and other portable antennas (1:1...
I was putting together SOTA/POTA portable antenna kit for my son, utilizing EFHW and EFRW antennas and I needed a Common-Mode Current Choke - something not very large and efficient that he can...
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Gamma Dog - Rate-to-Tone conversion and Audio Frequency Modifier
One of Gamma Dog's unique features is the continuously variable tone representing the detected count rate by changing its frequency.The approach is fairly straight forward - the detected count rate in...
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