Re: health physics calculator

[Neon John <johngd@bellsouth.net>]

"Minnema, Douglas" wrote:
> 
> RADSAFErs,
> 
> I've been toying with a simple idea for a side project, so here's a couple
> questions for you all:
> 
> 1.      Would there be interest in a "health physics calculator" program
> that would essentially be a scientific calculator (something like the one
> available in Windows95), but with built-in functions for routine health
> physics-type calculations.  Possibly to include databases of radionuclide
> info, simple shielding attenuation factors, etc., such that one could
> quickly calculate the various values we often need.

Probably be very useful.  However, there are other solutions already
out there.  A huge library of nuclear solutions exists for the old
HP-41 and HP-95 calculators.  I wrote many more programs specific to
what I was doing.  Though the these calculators are no longer made
(Sob!!!), the software is still useful.  There are a number of DOS,
Unix and windoze based HP-41 calculator emulators out there.  The
one I use is practically indistinguishable from the original, other
than having to use a mouse and PC keyboard.  Sorry, don't have a URL
for an archive of this stuff but it should be easy enough to find
with a search engine.  You might want to take a look at these
emulators before starting over from scratch.
> 
> 2.      If so, what functions would you like to see included?  For example,
> a starting point could be the rules-of-thumb and useful equations listed in
> the Rad Health Handbook.

This is from dusty memory:

rad decay
multi-atom decay chain
counting statistics
chi-squared
S^2/b
root-sum-squared error propagation
calibration data logging
current loop to engineering units conversion (Example: If I see 12
ma on a 4-20 ma loop measuring steam flow, what flow does that
represent?)
voltage to engineering units conversions

I used the normal nuclear sources (rad health handbook, Cember,
Knowls, etc) plus "Experimental Statistics" by Nostrilla, an NBS
circular publication.  The latter is an EXCELLENT handbook of
applied statistics.

If you want to do something really whippy, why don't you write
something for the Palm Pilot?  That would provide a very useful tool
for the field and the lab without subjecting one to such slothful
devices as the HP-48 (arghhhh!)  Nice thing about the Palm Pilot is
that since it is completely touch-screen driven, it can be bagged
and completely protected from contamination while remaining fully
functional.  If you chose to port an HP-41 emulator to the Pilot, it
would be love at first sight for me :-)

John

-- 
John De Armond
johngdSPAMNOT@bellsouth.net
http://neonjohn.4mg.com
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