X-Ray Emitter Made From Barbecue Lighter – Fires 10 keV X-Rays! | #bbq #xray #xrays
Quite possibly the first time I’ve ever considered the words “bbq” and “x-ray” in the same sentence!
This is a small device I made that fires a pulse of ~10 keV XRays when the trigger is pulled. It uses no external power source (all energy comes from pulling the trigger). The amount of radiation produced is tiny but detectable, making this is a good tool for testing radiation detectors with essentially no risk to the operator.
I’ve built (invented?) a small, lightweight device that emits an XRay pulse when you pull a trigger. No battery is necessary – all energy produced via XRay emission comes directly from the energy put into pulling the trigger. As far I know I’m the first person to do this with a lighter/piezoelectric, so that’s cool!
The XRay pulses produced are short and relatively weak, but register on geiger counters. This makes the device probably the safest way possible to test a radiation detector, since radiation is only emitted on a trigger pull and the radiation pulse itself is not very strong. I’m not one to be paranoid about radioactive sources (the ones you can find are totally safe if not consumed), but this device is so safe that any radiation risk can effectively be ignored.
Portable device that emits XRays when the trigger is pulled. No battery necessary. Can be used to safely test radiation detectors.
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