XF940,

The costs issue for me is that I don’t see myself spending a great deal of time handling these things hence not wanting to make a massive investment. Part of the plan is that I’m going to measure the various gauges in as much detail as possible with a view to producing CAD drawings so that making passable replicas in GRP and plastic to get around any issues down the line. I’d rather put a good replica instrument in a static cockpit than have a bunch of holes in the panel.

So I’m looking at it from the point of view of taking a reading off of each one so I know how “hot” it is and trying to make a sensible decision about how much time I should spend handling it. I’m trying to take a “sensible risk” and apply some common sense really.

Interesting you said “solid state” – I’ve been looking at the Pocket Geiger Type 3 which is such a thing and uses your smartphone as the display and comes in at around £60. I also saw a small pocket one fitted with a SBM-20 Geiger tube manufactured in 2013 but having read what you wrote, I’m starting to wonder how old the tubes actually are…