Well in my travels I have had the opportunity to install and calibrate 
many times a Leeds and Northrup magnetic wind particle detector, used it 
to measure O2 in N2 would measure in the molecular level.   We used test 
gasses and a mass spectrometer to calibrate the unit.    .5, 1.5, 2, 4,% 
O2 in N2 for the cal gasses.

When I was stationed aboard the USS Jack SSN605 in 1980-81 my Engineer 
who had a PhD in Quantum Mechanics did his research on measuring the 
contents of a cubic Inch of air at varying altitudes using reflected 
laser light, something to do with Ozone and Smog monitoring.   I think 
he went to Colorado State, he was ROTC and USNavy is how he paid for it. 
Lt.CDR Will Frichman I think was his name.   His wife had a doctors of 
Mathematics and taught at the Coast Guard Acadamy.

Pat

On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 11:21 AM, Stadem, Richard D. wrote:

> Find out how particle counters are calibrated. There must be a 
> procedure somewhere. Then figure out a way to make it cheaper and 
> easier to use.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Wayne Thayer
> Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2013 12:09 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [TN] Blowing Smoke
>
> Hi Phil-
>
> No problem with organics.
>
> This is a good direction to consider:  An electronic cigarette.  They 
> contain the micro-heater to vaporize the propylene glycol.  I can 
> probably make that controlled by the Arduino I'm using, and pulse 
> width modulate it to adjust how much comes out.  I may need an 
> additional blower of some kind in the system, but that sounds pretty 
> easy.
>
> I'll let you know what I find out.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Wayne
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2013 11:25 AM
> To: TechNet E-Mail Forum; Wayne Thayer
> Subject: RE: [TN] Blowing Smoke
>
> Heat up propylene glycol, oh wait, you need inorganic particulates, 
> right?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Wayne Thayer
> Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2013 8:07 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [TN] Blowing Smoke
>
> OK, here's another problem I've been playing with (although it has 
> little to do with IPC mission, it might be related).
>
> I am trying to build a system for measuring airborne particulates for 
> humanitarian organizations looking for inexpensive ways to 
> measure/monitor indoor air quality.  There are cheap sensors available 
> which might do the job, but they would need periodic re-calibration.
>
> So I need a controlled, extremely small amount of smoke.  At first, I 
> thought this would be trivial:  Find a cheap part at DigiKey and put 
> too many watts through it.  Way too much smoke and too little control. 
> Then I tried burning thin wires.  Too irregular because sometimes they 
> incinerate completely and other times they find a tiny defect and just 
> burn that until the wire stops conducting.  Then I tried just heating 
> the wire enough to burn off the insulation.  Still too irregular!  I 
> did just a few experiments and got 30% variation.
>
> Now I'm starting to think maybe a tiny piece of paper on an automotive 
> cigarette lighter.  That's a lot of power to get that glowing, and it 
> is not convenient to attach to.  Any other ideas?
>
> Wayne
>
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