Things that are purchased as "broken/for parts only" on ebay might be broken/for parts only.

Here are five examples:

There's the original detector I bought for a hundred bucks, which a functioning CT machine revealed had a smashed detector. 

There's the replacement one I got from the same seller for just fifty bucks, which CT revealed had busted bond wires. (Theoretically fixable but whaaaaat?) 

Then I got two more from this really nice guy on ebay (thanks conundrum)! These are merely probably broken. They at least connect to USB unlike the other one:

I haven't checked these with CT, but at least one of them is probably broken on account of the uniform static it gives off in the images... 

As opposed to working units which give off this kind of static. 

This is according to https://nucwiki.org/wiki/index.php/Gendex_GXS700 which is a great source for all things that will get you put on a watchlist. 

I have no way to check for sure though, because: 

My source arrived, and is broken too! 

Again, this is a hamamatsu photoionizer, as used by the very smart and also already totally built a CT machine like this Andrew Seltzman:

The video also shows off the code I was trying to use to run my sensors. From Mr. Seltzman himself, I also got the pinout for the photoionizer:

I connect 12 volts to 12v, ground to ground, and got a modest current draw of a few dozen miliamps. I checked the D1 line it and it was in fact at 5v. But when I tried connecting the ILK line to said 5V, no rise in current, no signal on my geiger counter, nothing! 

And I checked ALT and it was always zero too. This was sad. So I follow the instruction on the side.. 

and I opened it up and there was a guy with a big frown and a big yellow busted capacitor. 

So, yeah. Project not going great. If you stumble upon this and it was my last entry, you can make your own conclusions about my stick-toitive-ness. 

Happy Thanksgiving!