"John Nickum" wrote in message ...
Anybody know if it's still possible to get thorium mantles of the sort
fitted to tilley lamps from any place there days?

It's actually for testing an old Geiger counter that was a Maplin kit.

I'd have guessed that the thorium has been replaced by some other
material these days, but I could be wrong.

Most valves (out of a nold Telly etc) have thoriated tungsten cathodes in
'em, which might be enough of a source? I'd guess that the electron gun in a
tube might be a source, too. IIRC, camping gas lamp mantles are thoriated,
TAAW.

I used to work in a big transmitter cabin which had fibre-optics for the
control gear, and wondered why we had to replace them every few years, only
to be told "Oh, the radiation from the TWT [1] makes them go cloudy..." 0

Dave H.
(The engineer formerly known as Homeless)

[1] Travelling Wave Tube, a big (ie several KW) broadband microwave
transmitting amplifier. With a 5KV, 5A power supply. Dangerous. VERY
Dangerous.