Re: Ion Chambers

[Quang Le <quangle@SLAC.Stanford.EDU>]

Michael,

Not all Victoreen 450Bs are unreliable. I, too, was lucky to have a very
reliable 450B for use at my previous job.  Unfortunately, that was the only
one
out of the three 450B we had that worked. The other two are either on the
"to-be-repaired" shelf or are constantly on their way to or from Victoreen for
service.
The one that worked great (and I mean GREAT when these 450B work) was an older
instrument. I am not sure why but the newer 450B are not as reliable. Anyone
from Victoreen monitoring this list cares to comment?

<<It's strange how different one's experiences with equipment can be. I had 
nothing but woe from a pair of Keithley 36150's and years of trouble free 
use from a Victoreen 450B. Mind you, I keep the Vict in a desicator when 
not in use... tried it with the Keithleys but they still went bad after an 
hour or so in 70% humidity conditions (as I write it's about 80%!).
I have however had some bad experiences with older Victoreens like the 
470A, the 471RF and even the 450P (it doesn't seem to like elevated 
temperatures (35C+)).
In a humid climate, it's best not to have to depend on an ion chamber 
instrument. I prefer to use them as air-conditioned lab instruments rather 
than field survey meters.
Mike>>




____________________________________________________________________________
__ 
Quang Le 
SLAC/OHP 
(650) 926-2610 
(650) 849-9559 - pager 
<quangle@slac.stanford.edu>
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