As part of a senior level course in nuclear laboratory techniques, the lifetime of the 482.0‐keV level of181Ta has been measured by the differential coincidence method in order to illustrate some of the principles involved in a fast timing experiment. An inexpensive source for the experiment was prepared by irradiating natural hafnium metal in a neutron howitzer for a period exceeding 90 days. With simple detectors and electronics, a time resolution width of better than 3.5 nsec was obtained. Within a few lab periods the students were able to align the system and obtain a delayed coincidence time spectrum from which they were able to determine the lifetime of the 482.0‐keV level to within ±15% of the accepted value, 10.8 nsec.