Re: Survey inst.

[avest@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Albert Lee Vest)]

>Thought I would elict some comments on features of portable
>survey instruments, likes, dislikes, wishes, etc.

Last year, I happened to see a portable lead testing instrument in use.  It
was about the same size as any of our portable instruments.  Its readout was
paint lead density (micrograms/cubic centimeter, or something like that),
and it displayed a *range* of values.  The operator held it in one position,
pushed a "start" button, and the longer he held it there, the *narrower*
that range got!  It made me wish we had a radiation survey instrument that
would do its own time averaging, instead of making the user try to eyeball it!

When he was done with each wall, he hooked the instrument to a laptop PC and
downloaded a *data log* containing the pertinent data for each point
measured.  A comprehensible printout was not far behind.  [Nifty, but I
personally don't see this feature as a significant improvement over writing
down the data as you acquire it.]

Only wish *now* I could remember the name of the manufacturer of that device.

Albert Lee Vest           The Ohio State University
Health Physicist           Room 101 Research Center
(614)292-1284                     1314 Kinnear Road
vest.1@osu.edu               Columbus OH 43212-1168
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