Novel lead pig solution for the radiacode 1XX
Using lead pigs , one inverted over the other, for a brick house for the great little Radiacodes is nothing new. But if you have tried this, you probably had issues with AOS ( acquisition of signal ) and bt receiving range. With very thick lead walls, transmission range is severely impacted. Most can receive a weak but usable bt signal with their device laid directly against the pigs, or very nearby but if you want to use your device during lengthy spectrograms, this can be a real issue. This is a VERY inexpensive and simple solution , easily done with minimal effort.
First, the lead pigs : selection of lead pig criteria…. You need two lead pigs one inverted on top of the other. The pigs have to be 1.5” ID , or better, and about 3” inside depth each. Half inch ( .4 “ ) wall thickness or better. More thickness is always better. These are common lead pig dimensions found on eBay and Amazon. I chose the lead pig , as above, on Amazon because it is painted with grey epoxy paint to limit your contact with the raw lead. Both painted ones and ( most common ) unpainted pigs are found on eBay as well. With pigs with 3” depth and the Radiacode being 4.88 in length, you have over 1” X 1.5” in extra room for a sample under the Radiacode. Smaller samples are simply inserted next to the end of the radiacode opposite the charging port. I use a rubber band or hair tie to hold my smaller samples and 1” source disks on the “ side sweet spot “ for maximum counts / shorter acquisition times if wanted.
In open air , at my house, my radiacode 103 measures about 480 - 520cps in background count, inside the lead pig as above I get about 35-40 cps background , about 10% of ambient. Excellent for very weak samples and regular samples with some weaker lines of activity.
This is the easy and novel part : Using a large flat blade screwdriver, chisel etc , I make a dent in my lower pig to route a wire through. No bigger no smaller to keep the integrity of the pig shields. Then I use small diameter , maybe 22ga or thereabouts insulated solid copper wire ( found everywhere, Amazon, eBay, local electronics house etc ) and wind a long coil on a round pencil then pull out a turn or so in the middle. Half the coil goes inside the pig in the extra space next to the 103 and I stick the other straight out the side to minimize interaction between the lead and signal from the coil. The coil picks up the bt signal inside the lead pigs and retransmits the signal outside the lead in sufficient strengths to allow a much stronger radiacode signal over much longer distances. 15’ - 20’ or more. This gives you much stronger signals for the bt and allows you to use your device for other things during long term ( hours ) spectrograms. Great anytime you use your pig brick house.
The pictures show the whole pig brick house with the antenna sticking out the side, views of the coil and open pig views, plus a spectrogram of , typically weak / ambient radiation or less Lutetium Lu- 176 . ( available on eBay very inexpensively ) . If you’ve made spectrograms of Lutetium you know how ambient noise can it touchy.