Radiation Meter
notes: label: Description
content: Portable, battery-powered meter that detected gamma and beta radiation. A tag reads “Counter / El-Tronics Model SM-3 / Serial No. 3151 / PHILADELPHIA, PENNA. / GJ00 2772 / . . .”
label: Description
content: John Earl Wagenseller, Jr. (1908-1977) established El-Tronics in 1933, to produce equipment for ham radio operators. The firm began making apparatus for uranium prospecting and civil defense shortly after World War II. The SM-3 was introduced in 1948 and advertised as “The Last Word in Geiger Muller Portable Survey Instruments.” It was small, compact, weighed but 8.75 lbs., and was housed in a waterproof and fungus proof aluminum case. New, it cost $225.
label: Description
content: Ref: John E. Wagenseller, “Radiation Meter,” U.S. Design Patent 175,284 (Aug. 2, 1955).
label: Description
content: “Super Scientific Tuning Fork,” New York Times (March 31, 1941), p. X7. This tuning fork was designed by John E. Wagenseller, an electronic engineer, and used by the Philadelphia symphony.
label: Description
content: John E. Wagenseller, “Tubes At Work,” Electronics (May 1942): 63-68.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Modern Physics
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.N-08264
label: accession number
content: 243274
label: catalog number
content: MHI-N-8264
label: serial number
content: 3151
label: catalog number
content: N-08264
objectType: label: Object Name
content: counter
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 3/4 in x 9 1/4 in x 5 1/4 in; 19.685 cm x 23.495 cm x 13.335 cm