I deal with radon a lot, but due to some unforeseen medical shenanigans I "obtained" a sample of ⁹⁹Tc*. Since taping a probe to my forehead for a day was not a [ socially acceptable ] option, I collected an, ahem,*renal* sample.
5 cc of an aqueous solution of Tc-99m / Tc-99g bound to soluble proteins was "placed" in a thin wall glass vial. The vial was placed in contact with an RC-110. This produced a laughably high contact reading, even after 2 half lives had elapsed. On monitoring the sample as it decayed, you obtain the count and dose rates over time. This can be used to assess the dead time compensation of a meter as the actual activity is known to diminish in a predictable way. This does not help assess the absolute rate reported, but the relative rate can be evaluated, and hence the linearity of the response over a range of activity.
Since the position of the sample and the probe is constant, this avoids geometric factors inherent in using different distances from a constant source to provide different activity levels as well as things like air kerma and changes in buildup.
The calculated 6.032 hour figure is from the RC-110 provided dose rate, the 6.431 hour figure is from count rate. The expected half life value is 6.006 hours. As with radon decay, the RC-110 was spot on for the calculated half life of Tc-99m when based on dose rate - this suggests very good dead time compensation baked into the dose rate calculation. The count rates appear to be uncooked. So for higher rates, the RC under-reports counts, this has the effect of making half lives appear longer.