mobile monitoring

[Lester Slaback <Lester.Slaback@NIST.GOV>]

Thermally insulated NaI's do very well. A borrowed system I was testing was
good to less than 1 channel drift up to 140 F.  And with active gain
stabilization, dynamic background subtraction, and on-board algorithms they
can achieve very good sensitivity for very short counts, e.g., < 1 sec.
Systems like this are currently available.  I'll bet the plethora of
hand-held NaI instruments that have come out in the last 1-2 yrs will have
features like this in the near future (if not already - here's a chance for
somebody to brag).
On the other hand we know that some folks will use anything handy for a
hammer, when needed.  :-)

Capt. Bruce Bugg wrote ..........
Not directly related, but we use mobile detection in a patrol car, as
the Illinois State Police do. We chose the Eberline SPA-6 probe, because
it uses a plastic crystal as opposed to Sodium Iodide. We were worried
about the effects of thermal shock on a NaI crystal detector. .... <snip>
Disclaimer:  Only my opinions .....
Lester Slaback, Jr.  C.H.P.  [Lester.Slaback@NIST.GOV] 
NBSR Health Physics 
Center for Neutron Research 
NIST 
100 Bureau Dr.  STOP 3543
Gaithersburg, MD  20899-3543 
301 975-5810 voice
301 921-9847 fax
"A little risk adds a bit of spice to life." 
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