A quick update: Geiger Counter and HV Rescue Shield kits are back in stock, just in time for the holidays!
New Flickr Group for your Electronics Workbench
Ahh, the electronics workbench – shrine to the electron, the diode, the transistor, the soldering pencil and flux pen.
You can learn a lot about someone by looking at their workspace. Note the way that they store components (in pullout drawers or plastic organizers?), hang test leads (on hooks or wire racks, or on a nail?), and keep spools of wire at the ready for repairs and new projects.
A look at someone’s electronics workbench gives you a small glimpse into what is usually a fairly personal space – a space where visions become reality and electronics projects are brought to life.
While there are quite a few electronics workbenches on flickr, I determined after a quick search that there had been no attempt to bring all of these glimpses into a hobbyist or engineer’s soul together into one place.
And thus was born the Electronics Workbench flickr group:
Have a photo of your bench? Add it to the group!
No? Then go downstairs into your basement, out into your garage, or up into the attic and take one!
And don’t spend too much time cleaning it up first – noone will believe you that your workbench is that clean when we’re not looking.
Also, a shoutout: This group was inspired in part by the Workbench of the Week (WOTW) page over at The Amp Hour. I don’t think WOTW has been a feature on the show for several months. Maybe we can get Chris and Dave to bring it back??
Happy soldering!
– Jeff
www.flickr.com
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Spotted on Facebook…
Comic by Mandor. Thanks to Bryan Currey for bringing this one to my attention.
Geiger Counter Kits are back in stock
Geiger Counter kits are back in stock and shipping again.
My apologies to everyone who has been waiting to place an order, it took a little bit longer than I expected to get all of the parts for this batch. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep up with the demand around the holidays, so if you’re thinking about giving a kit to someone (or yourself) as gift, it might be a good idea to order now.
To learn more about the kit or to place an order, head on over to the Geiger Counter kit page.
Flying with the Geiger Counter Kit
Shortly after my Geiger counter workshop at the Chaos Communications Camp in Germany, @tatzelbrumm sent me this video of his kit chirping madly on his flight home to the United States.
If you squint at the laptop in the video, you can see that his geiger counter is reading over 400 CPM!
Exposure to cosmic radiation is a well-known side effect of commercial airline flights, and is even documented in the xkcd radiation dose chart (click for a large version):
Christoph sent me his data logs, which clearly show the effect of altitude on radiation exposure:
The red trace is the background level on the ground in SFO and hovers around 20 CPM. The blue trace is the measured radiation over Greenland on his transatlantic flight. The peak readings are 25 times the background radiation at sea-level!
Caution: Unless you like being hassled by the TSA, I don’t recommend flying with the Geiger kit in your carry-on luggage, much less actually using it on the plane! On his DIY Geiger Counter site, Brohogan posted some good advice about traveling with a Geiger counter.
Look! Geiger Counter Kits! And shiny new cases!
Have you done something cool with your Geiger Counter kit? If so, post about it in the forums!