ERK-525 | Emergency Response Kit Survey Meter

Yes. bGamma is a full spectroscopic package for NaI, HPGe and other spectroscopy applications. It is the only spectroscopy package that is Mac and Windows compliant. 

The most widely used scintillation material for gamma-ray spectroscopy is Sodium Iodide, NaI(Tl).   It is hygroscopic and is only used in hermetically sealed metal containers to preserve its properties. All water-soluble scintillation materials should be packaged in such a way that they are not attacked by moisture. Some scintillation crystals may easily crack or cleave under mechanical pressure whereas others are plastic and only will deform like CsI(Tl). See our Table of Properties or Table of Applications for material specific comments.

The light output (number of photons per MeV gamma) of most scintillators is a function of temperature. This is caused by the fact that in scintillation crystals, radiative transitions, responsible for the production of scintillation light, compete with nonradiative transitions (no light production). In most scintillation crystals, the light output is quenched (decreased) at higher temperatures. An example to the contrary is the fast component of BaF2 which the emission intensity is essentially temperature independent.

The scintillation process usually involves three stages, production, transport and quenching centers. Competition between these three stages and all three behaving differently with temperature creates a complex temperature dependence for scintillation light output.

Below is a chart with the temperature dependence of common scintillation crystals.

For most applications, the combination of the temperature dependent light output of the scintillator together with the temperature dependent amplification of the light detector should be considered.

The doped scintillators NaI(Tl), CsI(Tl) and CsI(Na) show a distinct maximum in intensity whereas many undoped scintillators such as BGO show an increase in intensity with decreasing temperature. The temperature dependence of the Ce doped scintillators LBC, CeBr3 and YAP:Ce is significantly less than that of other scintillators.

Our main headquarters is in California. Our address is 2955 Kerner Blvd, San Rafael CA 94901. We have sales offices throught the United States and in many European and Asian countries. We also have a nationwide network of approved trainers to handle product training and installation. Contact the factory at 415-453-9955 or info@berkeleynucleonics.com for your closest resource.

An engineer has an amplifier and wants to know whether its noise figure can be improved. The measurement of noise parameters would reveal how far away the amplifier noise figure is from the minimum possible noise figure. Noise parameters can then be used to determine what needs to be done (i.e. what "matching" network is needed) to improve the noise figure.

Our SAM III series of equipment (SAM 950, SAMpack and SAMmobile 150) is compatible with FEMA's RadResponder network at no additional cost to the end user. 

Yes. The Model 577 is customizable using the 'Ordering Chart'. Select how many channels you would like for options such as high power outputs, optical isolation, impedance matching, etc. Channels are paired. 

Digital data from the rear panel External Trig/Gate/FSK/BPSK connector is the modulation source.

Phase noise is the random, short term fluctuations in the phase of a waveform caused by time domain instabilities (jitter). Phase noise looks at the jitter within a single repetition. 

Yes. The Rise and Fall time for the Model 765 is 70ps. The amplitude is +/- 5V and there are 2 and 4 channel versions available. 

The Model 845 is a small footprint benchtop Microwave Signal Generator with very high performance. The space saving packaging eliminates most of the front panel controls in favor of a software GUI that can be developed and enhanced over time. The low power requirements are equally resourceful, even allowing for a battery option. 

The Model 865 is a new product for 2018. The 1 GHz phase noise is extremely low in the standard unit (-87 dBc/Hz @ 10 Hz offset ). For even more demanding applications, we can install a special Low Noise option as in previous models. We believe the performance of the 865 with LN option is the market leading signal source in this class. (-100dBc/Hz @ 10 Hz offset)

No. The nukeALERT 951 recalibrates itself on power up and can be operated for many years simply by changing the battery.

When the nukeALERT is turned on, it calibrates itself to the natural radiation background.  When the nukeALERT notices the background has reduced, it will recalibrate itself to improve the sensitivity.  When you are travelling, your device may detect a lower natural background environment and recalibrates itself to ensure maximum detector sensitivity.  You often see a reduced background count and a recalibration if you take the nukeALERT into a car or truck, for example. 

Yes, a RS-232 port is available for this feature. Put the PB-5 in "remote" using the main menu. If the manual or PC commands are not available, type "help" and all commands will be listed.

No, the clamp simply preserves the amplitude of the pulse when the tail time is long compared to the desired rep rate. This feature is accomplished by clamping the pulse to the baseline before the exponential decay is completed thus allowing the next pulse to start from the baseline rather than some point on the tail. It is recommended that the delay time be set to 3 or 4 us to allow a full recovery to the base line.

Symmetry would require a fast discharge of capacitors used to produce exponential tails. The critical issue in the PB-5 is to preserve exponential decay with a clean return to the baseline. The PB-5 meets the same fall time specification as the PB-4 with a cleaner signal as it decays to the baseline - allowing twice the rep rate (500 kHz) as the PB-4.

The Model SAM 950 has a highly upgraded power source with rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.  These batteries give reliable operation for over 8 hours before requiring recharge.

The smart phone technology lends itself to spectroscopy with a simplified and intuitive operation.  The advantages are many fold:

1.  Smart phone operation is wide spread allowing the user to quickly adapt to touch screen use and utilizing many cell phone features.
2. The device (PDA) is a quality product which gives the SAM III products reliable operation with many first-ever capabilities.  The display has excellent linearity and resolution with color coded spectra and one-finger operation of the cursor.  Many features are automated, for example, auto calibration and stabilization which are clearly displayed.
3. Detaching the PDA (SAM 945, RD120) allows convenient control of the instrument from a distance (bluetooth control).  With the RD120 SAMpack monitoring can be clandestine with or without earphones.  
4. When monitoring waste or highly active material the user can be at a safe distance (20 feet or more) and have complete control of the spectrometer which includes making measurements, taking multiple acquisitions, manipulating the spectrum, etc.  Therefore, the ALARA safety practices are easily accomplished.
5. General cell phone features are incorporated into the operation of the SAM.  For example, taking a picture and adding text or video describing details of the source being measured.  This added information is included with the report and spectrum.

The sigma trigger allows a low threshold for sensing a radioactive source while being unaffected by false triggering due to changes in background (sigma indicates standard deviations over background).  This provision automatically updates the current background which yields higher sensitivity while eliminating false triggers due to changing ambient background.  This feature allows the user to survey a large area without needing to continuously stop and store a new and different background.  A sigma setting of 4 is recommended.

The example given here is for a typical background of 7 urem/hr (70 nSv/hr) which corresponds to about 250 gamma counts per second (cps).    When a Ra-226 source is detected there will be an alarm at background levels but a firm ID will not occur until the cps reaches about twice the background level (500 – 600 cps for this example).  This higher cps level for ID is expected since Ra-226 has many peaks and many are very low in abundance (sometimes referred to as Branching Ratio, Branching intensity or intensity of peaks.) 

In addition Ba-133 has similar peaks with much higher branching intensities (about 20 times higher) which add to the complexity of identifying Ra-226 especially at low cps.  The library is carefully designed to take this into account but moving closer to the source or waiting a little longer for a solid ID is always important (Ba-133 ID may be seen momentarily but will cease as statistics improve).  Identifying two or more isotopes each with low abundant lines (peaks) may also require moving closer to the source and possibly waiting longer to obtain good performance. 

U-238 is another example of a source with low abundant lines and may take up to 30 seconds or more to identify at minimum count rate (<500 cps).  Users must realize that the basic specifications which are given for the Cs-137 standard is the result of a very high branching intensity (>85%) - whereas the branching intensity of U-238 lines are less than 1% of Cs-137.  It is therefore expected that acquisitions on some sources will take a little longer but it is common practice to use acquisitions of at least 1 minute and to move closer to the source if possible.

• Density and atomic number (Z)
• Light output (wavelength + intensity)
• Decay time (duration of the scintillation light pulse)
• Mechanical and optical properties
• Cost

Phase noise is the noise produced by fast, short term fluctuations in a signal. Phase noise diminishes the signal quality and increases error rates in communication links. Although there is no such thing as "no" phase noise, the less you have, the better.

Scintillation light pulses (flashes) are usually characterized by a fast increase of the intensity in time (pulse rise time) followed by an exponential decrease. The decay time of a scintillator is defined by the time after which the intensity of the light pulse has returned to 1/e of its maximum value. Most scintillators are characterized by more than one decay time and usually, the effective average decay time is mentioned. The decay time is of importance for fast counting and/or timing applications.

Because photoelectron statistics (or electron-hole pair statistics) play a key role in the accurate determination of the energy of the radiation, the use of scintillation materials with a high light output is preferred for all spectroscopic applications. The scintillator emission wavelength should be matched to the sensitivity of the light detection device that is used (PM, SiPm or photodiode).

Alpha radiation, beta radiation, gamma radiation, and x radiation. Neutron radiation is also encountered in nuclear power plants and high-altitude flight and emitted from some industrial radioactive sources.

To design a receiver, engineers will need to select transistors for the design. You could obtain a sample of the transistor and perform noise parameter measurements while possibly setting the transistor to different power consumption settings and also varying the temperature. This gives the engineer complete information on how to select "matching" components (inductors and capacitors) that go at the input of the transistor to obtain the lowest noise figure and ultimately allows him to design the best performing receiver.