[kwlug-disc] To WIFI or not to WIFI

[Andrew Kohlsmith (mailing lists account)]

> On Oct 8, 2022, at 9:52 PM, Jason Eckert <jason.eckert at gmail.com> wrote:
> Not really - the one I purchased doesn't seem to be available anymore on Amazon (it was Russian, but made in China, so maybe that's why? I don't know).
> I have a cheap one and a really nice one from AECL and they both do the same job with a crude experiment like this one. So, the $30 ones I'm seeing right now on Amazon probably do just as good a job as the $400 ones. For party trick value alone, I'd recommend the coolest looking one though...

I have a couple of Geiger-Muller tube based ones (and some “raw” Ukranian GM tubes that I’d like to build into my own detector, but -ENOTIME).

Most will not detect alpha particles because they’re so weak that the plastic enclosure of the dosimeter will block them. The one I “trust” the most specifically says it is only sensitive to beta and gamma rays.

The inexpensive semiconductor based ones are IMO more susceptible to false detection since the threshold for an event on a tiny MOSFET SiO2 junction is so much smaller than that of a breakdown event in a GM tube. Still, I took my unit (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003721636457.html) and performed your experiment; I see between 0.13 and 0.15uSv/hr with no change relating to the amount of wifi or cell traffic I generated. Even when sitting on top of my fairly powerful AP, I saw nothing above 0.16uSv/hr.

Where I do see some noticeable change is if I bring it near my gas stove or fireplace, or when I am near a larger diesel engine exhaust. These all make sense though; combustion does generate ionizing radiation. The most I could get out of the fireplace was 0.20uSv/hr, for example.

I was thoroughly disappointed when I learned that neither my marble countertops nor the bananas I buy emit any noticeable ionizing radiation. I completely forgot to take it with me on my last flight; I would have expected to see an increase in that due to the window seat and significantly reduced atmosphere between me and outer space.

-A.

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