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                 Sonicmixmaster 
                     
                 
                
                USA 
                75 Posts  | 
                
                  
                    
                      
                       Posted - 08/23/2018 :  15:20:22
                        
                        
                      
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                       So after working out many quirks with my 600+ model I felt confident to test it out "in the field" at work starting this week on Wednesday. My work week starts Wednesday and ends Sunday so I have been taking the detector with me to work each night and monitoring readings while having the detector in my work pants side pocket. Although I do not want to say where I work at this time I did visit my friends for lunch after work today and was very surprised when my detector went nuts!!! 
  Take a look at the image below. https://www.dropbox.com/s/4p4l0ih4qifzjyx/20180823_151308.jpg?dl=0
  It turns out that the tiles in my friends bathroom are radioactive. I was getting beeps standing in the bathroom by the sink washing my hands before I eat. The bathroom is covered with radioactive tiles on all walls but ceiling and floor did not show any high readings. The detector went off when it was about 2 feet from the ceramic/radioactive tile wall. What do you guys think? | 
                     
                    
                       Edited by - Sonicmixmaster on 10/02/2019  17:53:25
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                | Reply #1
                 ullix 
                      
                 
                
                Germany 
                1223 Posts  | 
                
                  
                    
                      
                       Posted - 08/23/2018 :  22:57:14
                        
                        
                      
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                       1599CPM is quite a nice clip! What name, brand and origin are the tiles, and where can I buy them for my tests? ;-)
  This seems to be a lot and I have a hard time believing that such stuff is sold. I would verify that the counter is giving reasonable values when tested against some more familiar source. I recommend using KCl. Get at least a pound of it, and bring it as close to the Geiger tube as possible. Should give you near 150'CPM. Explained in Potty Training here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/geigerlog/files/GeigerLog-Potty%20Training%20for%20Your%20Geiger%20Counter-v1.0.pdf/download
  Some further tests: Put some beta absorbers between tiles and counter to see if this is mostly beta or mostly gamma radiation. Beta absorbers like e.g. >3mm glass or aluminum, >2mm steel or copper, >100 sheets of copy paper
 
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                | Reply #2
                 Sonicmixmaster 
                     
                 
                
                USA 
                75 Posts  | 
                
                  
                    
                      
                       Posted - 08/24/2018 :  06:55:43
                        
                        
                      
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                      |  The tiles been in the house for 40-50 years as I was told by my friends. Will test the materials you said in the future and post back. Thanks. | 
                     
                    
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                | Reply #3
                 Searinox 
                     
                 
                
                Romania 
                51 Posts  | 
                
                  
                    
                      
                       Posted - 10/03/2019 :  01:00:12
                        
                        
                      
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                      |  That's quite the uranium/thorium content there! | 
                     
                    
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                | Reply #4
                 Damien68 
                      
                 
                
                France 
                780 Posts  | 
                
                  
                    
                      
                       Posted - 10/03/2019 :  22:45:58
                        
                        
                      
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                       now, before going to piss at friends, it's better to be equipping with his dosimeter. :) are your tiles for sale? :-) | 
                     
                    
                        Mastery is acquired by studying, with it everything becomes simple | 
                     
                    
                       Edited by - Damien68 on 10/06/2019  03:00:10 | 
                     
                    
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                | Reply #5
                 PKIDelirium 
                   
                 
                
                USA 
                14 Posts  | 
                
                  
                    
                      
                       Posted - 10/06/2019 :  12:47:33
                        
                        
                      
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                      |  Am I seeing a reddish tint on the tiles, or is that the photo? Might be some uranium oxide in there, like old Fiestaware. | 
                     
                    
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                | Reply #6
                 Sonicmixmaster 
                     
                 
                
                USA 
                75 Posts  | 
                
                  
                    
                      
                       Posted - 10/09/2019 :  16:42:16
                        
                        
                      
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                      |  The color you see is true color. I am not sure if it has the uranium oxide. In the near future I will go to another friend of mine and test their granite counter top and see what I get. | 
                     
                    
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                | Reply #7
                 PKIDelirium 
                   
                 
                
                USA 
                14 Posts  | 
                
                  
                    
                      
                       Posted - 10/10/2019 :  11:06:26
                        
                        
                      
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                      |  I'm betting that the reddish hue is from uranium oxide. Obviously not as high a reading as you'd get from old red pottery and ceramics that used it, but enough register. | 
                     
                    
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