DIY Particle Detector

[chrismjurd]

yeah i was totally into it did A levels in electronics maths and physics, but was 15 or so years ago now.. and i didnt get a job in anything to do with them unfortunately so ive lost my touch.. last project i had was to design a reverse car parking sensor, not too dissimilar to this circuit here, i do still have my notes and research on a zip drive somewhere.. so im kinda fumbling about like i tend to, then the warm solder smell. then the trip to maplins again.. typically how things went.

defos keep updating, the only thing we had for the radioactive testing was the school built metering unit, looked like the delorean in bttf3

 

[Remmy]

Argh if only my school had an electronics A level, I'd have been all over that Did GCSE and it was just amazing, to the point where I was just making PCB masks at home, and taking them in to school to get boards etched, and my teacher didn't mind, he was just happy that I was so enthusiastic haha

Unfortunately, there's only one more lab session left on the project, so I doubt there'll be anything much to update. The lecturers working with us have said they're going to continue it on as a project for people the following year to pick up, and they said if we can get it working semi-reliably they're going to use it for demonstrations when they have open days and things

I'm thinking of getting together the materials to just etch my own PCBs at home soon. Maybe make a light exposure unit, and get the photo developer and ferric chloride etc. I know I could just use stripboard or other similar solutions, but I think it just looks a bit crappy and messy to be honest.

 

[chrismjurd]

aye for sure, there isnt many days past where i havnt though to myself i could fix that or sweet i could make this to do that, so i would go for it and yeah stripboard is pants

best of luck with it though.

 

[remember300]

You can get the etchant and exposer from maplins but for a UV source id probs raid ebay.

 

[Remmy]

You can get the etchant and exposer from maplins but for a UV source id probs raid ebay.

I've seen that proper UV light boxes are insanely expensive, but I've seen people just make their own far cheaper, so if I can't get one on the cheap I'd just make one. Making stuff is fun in itself too

 

[remember300]

yeah you just need a uv tube or 2 depending on the size. a kind of rubber seal to hold it in, a power source and a small black box.
when it comes to etching and stabilising just use cat litter trays with the fluid.

 

[Greenback]

The Higgs Boson Particle?
And im not a physicist just like to read stuff lol

Couldn't agree more I did o-level physics and chemistry 25 odd years ago but still like to keep up with what's going on