[HH] X-ray machines & mobile electronics

[Jack Coats]

It would be tempting to try to find some inexpensive dosimeters an attach them
to your checked luggage.  Once they pass through, put them in shielded envelopes
and have them read.

Even better, a small DIY recording geiger-mueller counter you could
use and re-use,
if it was small enough to put through in your luggage/bags too.  Recording so it
can be read later!


On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 5:27 AM, Bill Bogstad <bogstad at pobox.com> wrote:
> This is slightly off-topic, but might be relevant to those of us who
> like to travel with
> our gadgets.
>
> I just got back from a trip to Spain with my family and had some very
> bad luck with consumer electronics.   I had two cellphones and an HP
> Touchpad tablet stop
> working during my trip.   The cellphones were new/cheap unlocked GSM phones
> that I had specifically purchased to use with pre-paid SIMs in Spain.
>  I bought the Touchpad new when HP had their fire sale back in 2011.
> The only event that I can think of that would explain the sudden
> failures is that they all went through security (X-ray) scanning
> machines between when they were last working and when I noticed they
> had failed (a couple of hours at most).   One of the cell phones & the
> Touchpad went through a scanner at a museum. The other (identical
> model) cell phone went through a scanner at a train station.  All of
> the devices claim to be charging when I connect them to their chargers
> (including on-screen displays/animations) but never work.   The cell
> phones eventually claim to be fully charged, but won't turn on.   The
> Touchpad stays on the "emergency charge" screen and never boots.
>
> Has anybody else had similar experiences?   Any ideas on why the
> devices claim to charge, but won't boot/turn on?   I'm pretty much
> resigned to the fact that they
> are all now headed for recycling but would like to understand better
> the failure mode.
>
> Thanks,
> Bill Bogstad
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-- 
><> ... Jack

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