#162

When I showed you our Atomic Shelter in video #151, I thought, the cold war is over and these shelters are a thing of the past. Just a few days later I had to learn that this is not true anymore.
Is it necessary again that we own our own Geiger counter to alarm us if radioactivity is in the air? If you think yes, it is necessary, you will find how you can build one for about 50 dollars
In tis video we will:
- Build a Geiger Counter with long-term monitoring capabilities using Thingspeak
- Make it send alarms to our Smartphone using IFTTT notifications
- Understand how it works (incl diagram)
Links:
Geiger Counter: bit.ly/2v3LVH8 or s.click.aliexpress.com/e/q37mIMR or amzn.to/3qtksfm
ESP32: bit.ly/2tosirM
Nylon spacers: bit.ly/2fOJe58
Sketch and diagram: github.com/SensorsIot/Geiger-...
Publication about accuracy: www.davidpublisher.org/Public...
What is fall-out: undergroundbombshelter.com/rad...
Counter Board: RadiationD-v1.1 (CAJOE)
This episode is based on this work: github.com/mkheck/ArduinoGeig...
Supporting Material and Blog Page: www.sensorsiot.org
Github: www.github.com/sensorsiot
If you want to support the channel and buy from Banggood use this link to start your shopping: bit.ly/2jAQEf4 (no additional charges for you)
Official Wemos Store: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/jUzBiIq
/ sensorsiot
/ spiessa
www.instructables.com/member/...
Please do not try to Email me or invite me on LinkedIn. These communication channels are reserved for my main job
If you want to buy me a coffee: www.paypal.me/AndreasSpiess

[@jasonmhite]

Hi Andreas. Nuclear engineer here, beta (and alpha) radiation doesn't penetrate walls and they don't really even travel that far in air. What you're measuring is mostly gamma rays due to naturally occurring radioactive material. Also the count rate you measure can vary significantly throughout the day, which can cause false alarms if you just trigger a warning at a fixed threshold like 100 cps. A good rule of thumb (and what is used in most real radiation monitors) is called moving-window k-sigma, which is that you sound an alarm if you record a count rate that is more than 2-5 times the mean count rate averaged over the last 20 minutes or so. My research work involves building a mobile radiation detector network intended for searching and identifying unknown sources in the environment. We're using more complex detectors (scintillators) with mesh networking, but I really want to make some LoRa based Geiger counters.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Your proposal sounds very interesting. It adapts automatically to the conditions... I do not know what I really mesured and I just had to believe the data sheet. I plan to take the counter with me to hte mountains, where there should be places with more radioactivity...

[@jasonmhite]

You can use a banana, the potassium in them makes them noticeably radioactive. A GM tube is sensitive to all ionizing radiation, but very little beta and almost no alpha radiation will make it through the glass housing unless you have a very strong source. Gamma on the other hand travels much farther and makes up the majority of what you detect normally in the environment.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thanks for your explanations!

[@hoggif]

If one wants only good alarms and they are not needed quickly, longer measurement time helps to avoid false alarms. However, if you need quick alarms and still want a good accuracy it gets tricky. I played with this problem a while back quite some time. After trying several statistical methods I finally I ended up with few steps like if short term average is say 5 sigma above threshold, give an alarm. If medium ĺong is above 4 sigma, give alarm. If long term average is 3 sigma above threshold, give an alarm. That gave me alarm within one second with strong source and yet measured background pretty well. I also used several time slots that allow it to recover quicker when short event was over. Unless old counts are ignored, it takes forever for average to drop to normal level if it has been exposed to a heavier source for a while. If you count like 5min average and have 10s of very heavy pulsing, it could take 5 mins for a rolling window average to get below alarm threshold. I used arduino pwm to switch a fet in step-up generating high voltage and few high voltage zeners and resistor divider with adc to measure voltage for stable feedback (mostly to save battery, brute force clamping with zeners works well if that is no issue). I wanted to measure it and not burn the high voltage at max count rate all the time. Geiger tube pulse is easy to limit with clamping and easily counted using an interrupt. That gave a very low component count GM counter for about $20 or so, including a cheap $10 GM tube.

[@marcin.ronndahl]

@@hoggif That sounds pretty interesting! Could you share the schematics and maybe your source code? I'd really like to avoid re-inventing the wheel here... :)

[@philwilkinson7228]

Andreas, many thanks again for a fantastic video! I had never thought of making a geiger counter, but now I feel I have to try!

[@AndreasSpiess]

Good luck!

[@grindel80]

The quality of your Videos goes better and Better! I really like your faster speaking, so we dont have to double the KZbin Playback speed anymore. Great. And i also linke the devision to a common and an expert part. LIKE!

[@zukjeff]

I agree but Andreas's english is getting so good and he is loosing his accent too ! He needs to spend more time with his elder relatives , that will thicken it up a bit ;-)

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thank you for the feedback!

[@zukjeff]

Actually..i don't mind a slower delivery. It is relaxing and i do not need to pause and replay when following along. Please don't get flustered.

[@AndreasSpiess]

+zukjeff Anyway, I am no native speaker and it is impossible for me to speed up. And I know, that many non-native speakers like my slow speed...

[@tawsifbit]

You are my hero...😊 I learn more from your 10 mins video than an entire course in a semester... thank you very much...😊 universities should take a lesson from you...!!!

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thanks!

[@alanmcoll101]

Even when the Maestro is showing something one would never make, the video is always captivating.

[@AndreasSpiess]

I would not make most of the things I currently read in the newspapers or watch on TV ;-)

[@amyshaw893]

Brilliant, ive just bought one. it will be interesting to see how the count changes, as i will be moving to cornwall soon, where there is a lot more radon

[@nbsneakersbln]

Auch in diesem Video danke ich dir für das Teilen deines Wissen! Ich finde du bist ein echter Gott in der Programmierung von Micro Controller. Vielen Dank und Hut ab.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Danke für die schönen Worte!

[@romiolover6852]

many thanks to you Sir for these great tutorials

[@AndreasSpiess]

You are welcome!

[@jiuhjuh3739]

Nice style & info! Thanks!

[@AndreasSpiess]

You are welcome!

[@cajoetech3300]

Thank you Andreas, we are the manufacturer CAJOE Tech.

[@asagk]

I like this one. You can use the varying time between events from the geiger-müller counter for generating random numbers and store them for later use in projects, that rely on random numbers.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Good idea!

[@asagk]

@@AndreasSpiess For the the ones interested in randomness, here some information at randome.org ==> www.random.org/randomness/ as well as www.fourmilab.ch/rpkp/experiments/statistics.html Random numbers are very nice to have for various monte-carlo-simulations, cryptograhpy (unhackable XOR encryption) and the like. Have a nice day!

[@omaryanas435949]

I came, I liked, I watched. Thanks

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thanks for your support!

[@mikenichols4313]

A few things to know about this design: the glass GM tube excludes particulate radiation (alpha and beta) so it responds to gamma rays; it gives count rate but does not give dose rate; at very high count rates the GM tube saturates (tube is not able to restore the voltage gradient that results in an electron cascade). In a typical home measurement it is responding to K-40, gamma emitters in the Uranium decay series ( including Radon progeny) and cosmic rays. All of the preceding are natural. The tube background count rate is from K-40 in the glass. It is an interesting application, however, and worth constructing.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thank you for the additional information!

[@deangreenhough3479]

Morning Andreas😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀 The format of the video seemed different, playful, really upbeat and your references to Nerds made me smile ( yes I did watch the most important part, so by definition must be a Nerd😀) I like the fact you are responding to the world events around us and providing practical solutions so quickly. Thank you for looking out for us all✌️

[@AndreasSpiess]

Yes, I tried it a little different. Tradition is ok. But we nerds seek also the new ;-)

[@tuxbox78]

Hi Andreas. First of all .. thanks a lot for this great video. I rebuilt the device and took your sketch as first template for my current one (using moving averaging algorithm, decreasing counts from own background ratio, introduced locking for access of interrupt counters, converting to microSievertPerHour, reporting to my mqtt server and so on).. and it seems to work quite good/as expected. Further, in Germany there is a network of some thousand official "odl" stations also nearby me which seem to measure a dose per hour quite around the same as mine. Those official vary from between 100 to 140 nS/h. And my device reports about 120 nS/h in our flat (varying between 95 to 130). So, one could think it should really work/measure quite accurate for a self built gadget. But there seems be a quite big BUT.... Either in my local area around house has a "open" nuclear plant or this device is also somehow sensitive to other perhaps uv radiation. If i bring the device on our balcony (and even if there is no direct sunlight) it kind of totally bursts. Speaker and trigger led kind of react like you played in the video in the James bonds films... counter rises to CPMs of thousands giving me dose powers of about 200 000 nS/h. I fear this even burns out the geiger tube on who heavy it gets triggered..... Is this a known effect? Could this really be _real_ radioactive powers? i could not imagine where this should come from. i let the device collect data through out the whole night on the balcony where it showed the normal around 100 nS/h. But minute after sunrise it went up (again it does not lie in direct sun). Reaching values like i would expect in a nuclear incident. Andreas, may i ask did you did measurements outdoors? over longer time? do you still measure? how could i research what is going on? Thanks, Frank P.S.: if of interest i could also give you my used sketch for the geiger device

[@AndreasSpiess]

This is an old project and I do no more remember the details. I am quite sure I did not expose it to sun. So I do not know if it matters. But you should get information on google because this is a well known technology. I also would check if the signals come from the tube or are noise from elsewhere.

[@ats89117]

I learned something very important from this video. I never realized that Ursula Andress was Swiss! :-D

[@AndreasSpiess]

She is quite famous here.

[@demolishedman50]

I got one of these counters a while back and have been wondering what to do with it. You have inspired me (again) Andreas and I have some time this week.☢

[@AndreasSpiess]

I hope it will work when you try it...

[@MkmeOrg]

Great stuff!

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thanks!

[@kajmolin297]

Very informativt and intresting!

[@AndreasSpiess]

Glad you think so!

[@henrikworg350]

I know it's Sunday 6 o clock ... because there is the new interesting Video 😃👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thanks!

[@EwaldBurger]

Thanks for the video Andreas. My suggestion for your next video is to teach us how to build an atomic shelter 🙂

[@AndreasSpiess]

Or an Atomic Bomb. Then, nobody will throw one at you (Quotation: Kim Jong Un) ;-)

[@EwaldBurger]

Andreas Spiess You can't deny the guy has some sense of humor... For those interested in (open source) environmental monitoring networks this link might be of interest: www.uradmonitor.com. That project started some years ago with only atomic radiation monitoring, but it seems that now different types of units are available (also as a kit) to monitor other kinds of environmental pollution as well. I did not enter myself as I remember the cost of a unit was beyond what I was willing to pay for then. Maybe I should reconsider that in this Trump Kim area, but then again only after you have showed us how to build an atomic shelter (or an atomic bomb, whichever is easier) 🙂

[@JakubChalupnik]

This is funny... everytime I have an interesting idea and start doing web research, it turns out you had the same idea few years before me :)

[@AndreasSpiess]

That's awesome!

[@PhG1961]

Great video !

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thanks!

[@brainfornothing]

Thanks for sharing !

[@AndreasSpiess]

:-)

[@avejst]

Thanks for sharing 😀👍. I too never hope to have to use the data for real...

[@AndreasSpiess]

:-)

[@rickharold7884]

Beautiful

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thank you!

[@csongorvarga]

Thanks for the video. I am assuming there is no point calibrating these units, converting the CPM to uS or other SI units. Just monitor the trend and that's all.

[@AndreasSpiess]

+Csongor Varga I read you can calibrate them using radioactive material. Bot it is not simple and I have no such material.

[@tellurian8268]

after I watched your video, I bought one too for my hobby weather station, more like as a novelty than an accurate meter, unfortunately it only worked for about 20 minutes (around 18 cpm as in every video, responded to agitation), however then the clicks started to be more and more apart until it went mute. I checked the diagram on your github along with the sensitivity settings, it seems to be all good, but I can only get like 2.7V (3.4V tops, after that I can hear the oscillations) on the test pin J2, when I measure voltage on R33 I only get 106V, when I remove the tube, I can only measure what's on the other side of that resistor, roughly 14V. I assume the cheap crappy voltmeter might be loading the circuit too much and unfortunately I don't have access to an oscilloscope. Could that be the tube got damaged in transit (the package was pretty smashed, although it visually seems undamaged), or is it possible that one of the 555s or transistors died? great videos, btw! :)

[@birnodin]

Always test any project you made! For this project you have two options: - Order a Geiger-Müller-Tester from Ebay. But, these are expensive and only sold from North Korea, USA or maybe Russia. For an additional fee they even launch it for you. You can also test your atomic shelter with the same device. - If you do not like the above project, then use the high mountains in Switzerland. Would be interesting to get some values from 3000m (or even 4000m).

[@CassioRogerioEskelsen]

😄😄😄😄😄

[@AndreasSpiess]

Lol. Maybe I will take it to the mountains when I go skiing...

[@Alexander-ri1bp]

Seems like this is project is more important now, than before...

[@AndreasSpiess]

It seems so :-(

[@ping170]

Nice build, thank you Andreas ! Il seems muons can also triger GM tubes, making them usable for coincidence detector (with obviously more than one tube). Therefore, it's likely they contribute to the basic count number, even though the level might be lower than the GM tube's own noise floor.

[@AndreasSpiess]

I am no specialist in these tubes. But you seem to know what you do ;-)

[@ping170]

@@AndreasSpiess Neither am I 😅

[@andrejsersen59]

Thanks Andreas for great video and funny idea. I also installed GM counter and I hope it won't be needed, but as we say in our country..."Nothing can surprise us!". When I was looking for GM counters, I was thinking about detecting (measuring) radon which can be dangerous to our health as well - do you know if this GM tube can detect radon? One more question - if you know - how to disable (mute) speaker on board? Is there a pin or anything? I have my board and esp connected to Home Assistant and really don't need a speaker (clicks)... Thanks again and good luck!

[@AndreasSpiess]

They should. I found this article: radon.com/granite/

[@AndreasDelleske]

„Radiocativity“ is nice :)

[@AndreasSpiess]

:-)

[@donaldhoot7741]

Just got a Radiacode 103 gamma ray spectrometer. Way cool.

[@AndreasSpiess]

So no need to DIY ;-)

[@artbecker5618]

Interestingly enough, the current Cold War nuclear threat can be linked to Switzerland. The maniac running North Korea, Kim Jong-un, has been said to have studied at the International School in Gümligen, and later at the Liebefeld Steinhölzli school in Köniz, near Bern. The only thing that lets Switzerland off the hook is that he was reportedly a bad student, with poor grades. Schoolmates said he rarely attended classes, preferring to stay in his room, playing video games.

[@Markus0021]

+Art Becker Kim Jong-un was not a brilliant student? I'm astonished. He seems so clever and knowledgeable today. ;-)

[@artbecker5618]

He did get two degrees after Switzerland. Both of them engineering degrees from universities in the country where his father ruled. I always thought of him as someone who never got over playing computer games.

[@AndreasSpiess]

+Art Becker And if he did not like our school, maybe he wants to destroy it. So, maybe we are in big danger?

[@artbecker5618]

In North Korea he is known as The Guy With The Swiss Accent.

[@AndreasSpiess]

+Art Becker Lol!

[@hornickt]

Hi Andreas, thank you for the nice ideas. Can you tell me, what tool you use to create the diagrams? Where do you get the symbols?

[@AndreasSpiess]

I use Eagle and you find many library files for that program in the net.

[@hornickt]

Danke Andreas

[@Woodyjims-shack]

Hi and thanks for the great instructions. Could this device be useful in the real time monitoring of radon gas do you think?

[@AndreasSpiess]

I am no chemist, so I do not know.

[@AndreasSpiess]

I just saw the answer of Paul Sampson below in the comments. He thinks: Yes

[@Woodyjims-shack]

Thank you this is then a very worthwhile project I think.

[@chuxxsss]

I remember as an apprentice I worked on calibrating them. Good times as with the radioactive signs no one came in the building. Lol By the way finally got my lamps to turn on and of via google home/assistant. But having problems filtering the commands in Node-red so far. Great episode, hopefully we will not need them.

[@AndreasSpiess]

I saw it in your video...

[@chuxxsss]

Andreas Spiess I need to find a filter. At least it works so that is a positive.

[@awesomefacepalm]

I ordered a kit from Ebay a week ago. I'd like to get one that can read alpha radiation too

[@twingall1417]

Thank you so much for this; got this same hardware from AliExpress with no instructions and your video was just what i needed. Not so familiar with Arduino coding, trying to tweak it so it still displays counts on the OLED even when Wifi is out; do you have any pointers? Also, now that it's displaying CPM; i want to turn off clicking: is is safe to just short the little speaker terminals to do this? Many thanks for your excellent instructions!

[@AndreasSpiess]

For the code you have to experiment and learn a little. For the buzzer: Do not shorten it, remove it (or at least one leg).

[@twingall1417]

@@AndreasSpiess Thank you

[@hafizirahim7354]

Hi Andreas, do you have an experience how to integrate with GPS signal for this interesting kit?

[@AndreasSpiess]

No, unfortunately not.

[@Getfuqqedfedboy]

my interest is peaked with all of these projects and with current issues we politically maybe facing. i always been interested in self prepping and preservation but never fully taken the leap until recently. now i have several two way radios, i'm learning about getting my license to operate them legally and learn more about setting them up in disaster situations, i have food on hand that should last a good while and tons of sealed storage containers, i do lack a dedicated survival shelter however i do have plans and placed i been keeping track of that i'm keeping close to my chest not revealing as to limit possible exposure of it being viable place of survival. one of the many things i want to do is these projects, helps you learn and understand how they work. my biggest grip however is using wifi and the internet, here and now that's totally fine, however if the bombs drop or war is started, internet is not a guaranteed thing, not only that but using wifi/internet is also potentially issue with it just going down doing nothing, just a bad day, lines gone down or something.. and having them ruggedized for hard use would be more ideal. what i would like is a system for logging and solar/battery lasts a long time just logging silently... but in event of x value exceeded, it starts firing off data and alarms.. one thing i plan on doing is hiding these boxes in abandoned buildings in and around dif areas in and out of my area so i can map out changes and where they maybe coming from and going to and patterns may come of them.. maybe instead of wifi use gsm system and fires off to said servers the info u requested or texts your phone? maybe oneday also add in a digital 440mhz or 900mhz band radio to have them communicate off the grid to some centralized system u establish privately?

[@AndreasSpiess]

Sounds you have a lot to do. I really hope it will be useless, because even if we are prepared well, war or any other catatrophe is not a desirable option for me...

[@Getfuqqedfedboy]

Andreas Spiess not a desirable option for anyone.. I really hope never comes to it. But even so I really hope to use multiple devices to study changes and patterns and maybe discover something new. Ultimate outcome will be that only use for these doomsday devices and weather devices is to be used for discovered and in ways not intended to be used, at least originally.. for example if I place 100s of these giegercounters around my area can I accurately maybe predict things like change in seasons? Or approaching storms? Maybe have first alert to solar storms? Or even if some small leak of radiation somewhere can I accurately determine paths it takes and maybe augment yeild info? I purchased a few of these on eBay actuallly for even cheaper, and I'm reviewing your other videos on how to program these types of boards, I am excited to at least have some science and experiments. That being said maybe if we should not consider the grim possibilities but instead maybe would be cool to come up with alternative projects for them as well.. you mentioned in Brazil they able to seen changes in radiation levels in different weather patterns and systems, that's kind of cool and sort of my idea.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Maybe you consider to join one of the networks of radioactivity sensors mentioned in other comments here

[@superdau]

Check out the company *Teviso* . It's a swiss company that builds *very small PIN diode radiation sensors* . The sensors aren't any bigger than your ESP32 board, have very low power consumption and are pretty much an epoxy brick (they will be the last thing to break, if you throw your counter around). You could replace your geiger board with one of those without the need of any other change. They have just three pins, VCC, GND and pulse-out (pulse length also between 50-200µs). Apparently they've since moved to a newer model, but I've used the RD2007 and RD2014. I don't remember how much they cost, but I think it was around 100€ to 150€. The sensitivity will also be very similar to the geiger tube. At least I could easily measure an increase in radiation (about 10x) when I put them in front of an old alarm clock with glow-in-the-dark digits. It's also funny to find out that you ripped radioactive ceramic tiles out of an old house's bathroom, because it's Uranium that makes the glaze bright orange ;) . You also might look for greenish glass ware in antique shops or flea markets. That's also Uranium glass as well. Btw. I doubt you will measure any alpha or beta radiation with this tube (pretty much impossible for alpha and very hard for beta to get through the glass). But "luckily" in most disasters you will always have gamma radiation as well.

[@AndreasSpiess]

1. Looks like nice sensors. And unbreakable ;-) 2. I am no specialist and had no radioactive material on hand. Therefore can only depend on the data sheets.

[@r1273m]

BOOOOMMM!! Click, click, click, click..... It works! Bob

[@AndreasSpiess]

+r1273m Many viewers complain I speak too slow ;-)

[@RaadYacu]

Great Video. Can a Geiger counter detect radon gas?

[@LemoUtan]

It decays via alpha emissions, so, yes.

[@ats89117]

I wonder if counting the number of events from this type of Geiger Tube is more or less accurate than integrating the level over time? Integration over time would be easier and the analog voltage level with suitable buffering could be sent directly to the ESP32 for A/D conversion. As far as the circuit is concerned, it seems the input of the preamp from the tube will have a very high source impedance, meaning a JFET would provide a much lower noise floor. And what can you say about using the 555 without feedback to implement the boost converter? :-D

[@AndreasSpiess]

AFAIK these tubes count parts. So the level of the signal is not as important. I have no idea of the influence of the noise floor. It is well possible that the sensitivity is not determined by the circuit but by the tube. Then the noise floor would not matter too much.

[@Dialbist]

This can also be done by Soviet sts-5 geiger tube (СТС-5),I am from Ukraine, with Chernobyl beside me, and this is a relevant development. Thanks

[@AndreasSpiess]

I read about these tubes, but it was easier to get these Chinese models for me...

[@matteopiccioni196]

great,but the does the script you posted on github allow the calibration of the geiger device and the "graphs in the time" at 4:38 ?

[@AndreasSpiess]

I do not have any radioactive material to calibrate the counter.

[@SouthFloridaCars]

Could a Geiger counter be used to charge a capacitor rather than produce sound? If so at what rate could you charge a 1F capacitor?

[@AndreasSpiess]

The sound does not come from the Geiger tube. As mentioned in the video, it comes from a amplified signal because it is very small.

[@DrTeddyMMM]

As a novice writing code, can the ESP32 program be modified to just trigger the onboard display.... Maybe at a later date I'll employ the logging out to the net. Thank you in advance.

[@AndreasSpiess]

If you learned to program the ESP32, you can do whatever you want.

[@jonathanseib7621]

does anyone know how to fix the code, i keep getting ''exit status 1'', ''error compiling for board ESP32 Dev module''. help would be much appreciated!!

[@mrblue2715]

ever get it solved?

[@MIKE_FROM_DETROIT]

Output two to a AND-gate IC microchip (74HC08). Stack them vertically and separate with a sheet of lead. If a muon passes through both tubes it will send both signals simultaneously through the AND chip = muon detected. You can ouptut the AND chip to an LED or an oscilloscope. $2 for the chip. They seem to have kits with two tubes now.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Interesting!

[@mihigyver]

A Nerd Hero like Zuckerberg, just no so rich. xD xD xD dini videos sind echt mega!! :)

[@AndreasSpiess]

+Mihi Gyver Danke!

[@cherrymountains72]

Oh dear, the pre-assembled geiger counter is sold out at Bang Good. Any alternative sources?

[@AndreasSpiess]

+Robert Kersbergen They should get it later this week

[@Tocsin-Bang]

I have a dozen or more Geiger counters and ionisation type radiation meters, mostly ex civil defence, but some built from kits and others of my own design.

[@AndreasSpiess]

So you are a lucky person which does not need to build another one, I assume.

[@Tocsin-Bang]

I may not need to, but once my new workshop/lab is built, and I get a decent Internet connection, I probably will. I did have a geiger counter connected on Radmon. I have moved from the UK to Portugal, in a pretty remote area, but near a former Uranium mine!

[@TheDealSleuth]

Depending on where you live the basement may not be a good place for the device. In some areas radon gas leaks from the ground and can accumulate in your basement so you'd be better off placing it in a well ventilated area.

[@InssiAjaton]

Thomas Kirchner I was going to state the same. Places like Finland with abundant granite in the ground are really prone to this. For some reason granite contains sufficient trace amounts of radium that gradually decays and emits radon. That appears to be more a feature of granite than many other rock types.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thanks for your explanations. Even if we have plenty of granite here in Switzerland, Where I live we do not have any. So, the activity measured in the shelter has to come from a different source.

[@journeytoflight3174]

Hi... Can geiger counter detection for radiation X-ray on medical devices?

[@AndreasSpiess]

I do not think so.

[@dilxtube8874]

greate video

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thank you!

[@team-steinbaer]

Hi, I am from Germany (bad English) and I bought this counter. I use it without a programme, I almost need the signals from the Board. The problem is, the light near the on/off switch doesn’t work on my counter. It worked only a few minutes. Is this a sign that the Geiger counter will get unfunctional? Actually, the counting light works, but is the not working LED near the switch a problem ?

[@AndreasSpiess]

Unfortunately, I do no more remember the details. This is an old video.

[@jimmylerche]

Got my Like :-)

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thanks!

[@szbalogh]

Dear Andreas! Just assembled the same board (plain, without display) but it is not working. No klicks and I am measuring 100-240V across the tube holders if adjusting the potentiometer between the end points. Led lights up, the other led and buzzer beeps during voltage measurement. I understand that one of the 555 ICs is a booster. Do you have any clue where should I look first? Can You please measure the frequency of your working board (pin 3 of the 555). Thank you very much!

[@AndreasSpiess]

Unfortunately I cannot do remote diagnostics. And I do not know where my device is. This is an old video :-(

[@szbalogh]

@@AndreasSpiess No problem. I could check the voltage according to the diagrams You shared and the circuit is working, voltage set to 380. But I am not getting any background signals from the tube. Its 35kHz btw :)

[@dukenukem3568]

Does anyone know what the jumpers are for on the CAJoe RadiationD v1.1? Is there an easy way to disable the piezo?

[@user-mq3hr8dw8n]

Yes, the jumper J1 next to the beeper

[@xevilstar]

what if I want to connect the geiger counter to a raspberry pi and instead of an lcd screen for output I want to use a python interface with a pinter that points to green yellow and red for no risk, warning, critical ?

[@AndreasSpiess]

Then you have to do a new project which works similarly to the one here.

[@jakemeyer8188]

So, sooooo relevant now...

[@AndreasSpiess]

I hope not...

[@ainttakenanyshit]

What is the maximum CPM you have observed with this unit? I have ordered the same unit with display and am wondering what the maximum CPM may/will be displayed.. Thank you for your help....

[@AndreasSpiess]

Fortunately only a few (I think I showed it in the video). I have no radioactive material on hand.

[@DeeegerD]

I would be more interested in putting the module into a case for portability. Nice video though.

[@AndreasSpiess]

I used a standard power bank to create a "mobile" device

[@MrLogin0987]

YES!!!

[@andrefixa]

Hi, i wanna buy the superior model from amazon, but i need to assemble it or it's assembled?

[@AndreasSpiess]

I do not know. It should be written in the description.

[@logiloigloig369]

Hi, does anyone have the schematics in good quality photo?

[@rage42]

Does somebady has any tips to use this Geiger counter with a Raspberry ? There is no information on internet about it. I'm trying with a mcp3008 but not successfully

[@AndreasSpiess]

I do not think you need an A/D converter. Just counting pulses should be enough.

[@rage42]

@@AndreasSpiess You are right. I succeeded after some time. and I used simply a GPIO pin to to count each fall. Thank you very much for your answer.

[@justinbauer6095]

Any luck running this code on a D1 Mini V3 ESP8266? I gave it a shot without any luck. thoughts on how i could get this running?

[@AndreasSpiess]

I assume it has problem with the secure connection to IFTT. Maybe you take this functionality out (all lines wirh errors)

[@dr2okevin]

My set has a J303 tube. At least that is whats printed on it. But the only specs I could find for a J303 says that it is a metal one, but mine is of glass like the one in the video. I would like to get the ghost count rate, and the conversion factor for µSv/h. Some people say that it is a M4011, but if I subtract the ghost counts for that model, I have sometimes a negative radiation. currently I try it with subtracting 7.2 clicks per minute, and use 153.8 (as the M4011 has) as conversion. Now the natural background radiation seems to be the same as my Soeks Defender says. But I have no clue if this is correct in any ways. Is here a tube expert who can help me?

[@AndreasSpiess]

I cannot help here :-(

[@faiztahir6918]

Tried so many time but there's error when compiling the code. Error compiling for board ESP32 Dev Module.

[@AndreasSpiess]

In the comment you see that you have to use the old version of hte JSON library. I added now a few exclamation marks...

[@faiztahir6918]

@@AndreasSpiess oh i see,, thank you very much sir!

[@andrehaberkorn2813]

What is the lifespan of the tube with long-term measuring ?

[@AndreasSpiess]

I do not know.

[@mrumair9279]

Can I know why you use pin 26 on esp32 and not other pin?

[@AndreasSpiess]

Because I can? (it does not matter too much)

[@simwil524]

Ich hätte mal eine Frage ich habe über Aliexpress mehrere Sachen bestellt (alles unter 22€ inkl. Porto) und das ist jetzt nach 55 Tagen immer noch nicht angekommen und somit die Lieferzeit Überschriften. Habt ihr auch schon mal solche Erfahrungen gemacht?

[@AndreasSpiess]

Es kommt sehr selten vor (in der Schweiz, wo der Zoll relativ schnell arbeitet). Normalerweise bekomme ich die Pakete in ca. 20 Tagen. Dass mehrere unabhängige Pakete gleichzeitig verspätet sind ist mir noch nie passiert. Ich tippe hier auf eine administrative Hürde beim Import oder eine falsche Lieferadresse. Du kannst ja in den Tracking Infos sehen, wo die Pakete sind (wenigstens bei einigen)

[@iceberg789]

i hardly think, there will be such events where my geiger counter will buzz crazy. how to measure & log changes in gravitational waves and neutrinos instead ?

[@jasonmhite]

Gravitational waves and neutrinos are MUCH MUCH MUCH harder to detect, it's totally beyond the reach of any individual. It's beyond the means of anybody except laboratories like CERN and other high-profile physics labs, at least with what we know currently. Gravitational waves in particular were only first directly detected less than a couple of years ago. Conceiving a neutrino or gravitational wave detector that a hobbyist could build would be a guaranteed Nobel prize.

[@LemoUtan]

I suspect iceberg789 may have been joking

[@LemoUtan]

Cool! If we could get some neutrino consortium together to market portable mineshafts and possibly also carbon tetrachloride tanks, we could make a go of it. Gravwave Inc might be a little trickier though. Perhaps it would be easier just to tap off a feed from the extant GW-Notification service providers. Obviously we'd be in danger of being middleman and thus sidelined off when the eventual flood of pesky makers turns up, but I daresay we could make a quick killing.

[@iceberg789]

lol.

[@sorin.n]

@Andreas Spiess - Hi, are you detecting something different in light of latest events from Severodvinsk?

[@AndreasSpiess]

No.

[@sorin.n]

@@AndreasSpiess Cool. Good to know. Please let us know if something changes.

[@poweredbysergey]

Cool

[@AndreasSpiess]

:-)

[@faiztahir6918]

hi, what type of display u used in that ESP 32

[@AndreasSpiess]

They are called SSD1306

[@ludditeneaderthal]

Wouldn't significant ionizing radiation require shielded communication, wired or wireless?

[@AndreasSpiess]

I am no expert in this. But I think we talk about quite small levels and inside a hose. If you would measure high levels which kill your device, it would probably also humans :-(

[@ludditeneaderthal]

Andreas Spiess lol, yes, I guess "ionized noise failure" of the link pretty much answers "is it safe to go for a walk?", even without a quantified rate. I was thinking more along process monitors than "sunburn index", which is probably a bit much to ask from consumer grade items. Always a pleasure, sir!

[@schwanzuslongus2538]

Hi, first: Thank you v much for this great tutorial... but i am stuck with the code for the ESP and dont know what to do... always wheni try to uploud the code on the ESP the program says that the file: "" doesnt exist even tho ive downloaded several SSD1306 files out of the libary.. so yeah i dont know where the problem is and would be v glad if you would be able to help me Already thank you v much!

[@AndreasSpiess]

Did you install the SSD1306 library from Thingspulse? The sketch compiles fine here.

[@schwanzuslongus2538]

@@AndreasSpiess "Error compiling for the ESP32 Dev Module board. " does that mean the board isnt working at all or just that i am still doing something wrong? (the SSD1306 from Thingspulse worked now it marks the part)

[@AndreasSpiess]

Just delete the line with the credentials.h and add your credentials manually.

[@HilmarStrickfaden]

Great Video! I have tried to build the device exactly according to your description and I have it is almost working except that the "Radioactivity" is always "105" :-(. I have checked the connections and everything seems to be connected properly. Could it be that the signal strength is below a threshold and I have to change the resistance on the variable resistor R100?. Any suggestions? Thanks and best regards, Hilmar.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Do you hear the right "sound"? If not, the problem is on the Geiger counter side. If you hear it, you probably need an oscilloscope to see what kind of signal arrives at the output pin.

[@HilmarStrickfaden]

Thank you very much for your answer! Sound is like what I would expect and what your counter sounded in the video. I will try to look at the signal with an oscilloscope once I am back home in Canada. Thanks again for the great videos and greetings from Freiburg in Breisgau (not too far from Switzerland), Hilmar.

[@AndreasSpiess]

So have a safe trip back.

[@HilmarStrickfaden]

Und Ihnen ein gesundes, neues Jahr mit vielen, spannenden Videos :-)

[@erikburman530]

In the Arduino sketch you need to delete or comment out line 94 in void loop() which reads cpm=105. Apparently it was put there to test the code and was never removed from the final draft. It results in a fixed count of "105." Get rid of that particular line of code and everything should work as intended.

[@daskasspatzle2396]

Interesting thing. Maybe i will mount such a device in the attic on day, but it would probably be fed into my node-red dashboard in my case. Ich wusste noch gar nicht, daß du ein "spiessa" bist (joke for the german speaking viewers) ;-P Thanks for sharing this :-)

[@AndreasSpiess]

+Das Kässpätzle Du siehst, man hat nie ausgelernt...

[@muhdahnaf7369]

why my esp32 didn't display any value. I have copy the coding you give from the GitHub.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Unfortunately I cannot do remote debugging.

[@billdude1564]

So the way to build a Geiger counter is to buy one?

[@AndreasSpiess]

You decide.I am a Maker ;-)

[@hsmptg]

After a Dishka counter a Geiger counter. :D

[@AndreasSpiess]

:-)

[@deangreenhough3479]

Cool comment

[@hasanozan1067]

I have arduino uno. I try to run this codes with my geiger. But it doesn't work. Could you help me ( arduino uno remote connection and codes)?

[@AndreasSpiess]

Did you check my sketch?

[@antoinecopperman4177]

Hello, I am a student and for a competition with my school, my team is building a satellite that calculates radiation. We have little knowledge on the subject and we bought the same geiger counter. We use an "adafruit feather m0 express". Could these components work together? And if yes, how ? (Sorry for my english)

[@AndreasSpiess]

They for sure can work together. The same as the ESP32.

[@antoinecopperman4177]

@@AndreasSpiess thank you very much !

[@bdot02]

This makes me wonder if anyone has made a croudsourced Geiger counter network that we could link the esp onto. Maybe someone will. I'm sure it'd be useful for science of some sort.

[@bitlischieber]

bdot02 There is a service called www.uradmonitor.com but I don't know if it's possible to connect your "own creation" to the network.

[@AndreasSpiess]

It should be possible. The code is open source. Maybe someone adapts it to the Geiger counter of this video. Shouldn't be impossible...

[@renderuthis]

I never thought the cold war was over.

[@AndreasSpiess]

So you are brighter than me!

[@stephtronix1811]

What does the test J4 bridge connector and the trimmer resistor R100?

[@AndreasSpiess]

I do not know

[@user-mq3hr8dw8n]

It exposes the voltage to point J2 (reduced first over a bunch of resistors). I have 60V DC between GND and J2. Not sure what it should be. R100 is for adjusting it. Hope it is calibrated in the factory

[@avartomczyk975]

Hi where can I buy Tube Geiger for this project?

[@AndreasSpiess]

I left a link in the video description where you should find one

[@Rich-ll8ce]

Are the Gerber files available anywhere for this ? thanks.

[@AndreasSpiess]

I do not think so.

[@carstenklein4531]

you are missing an a in the sketch at displaystring("RadioActivity" ;)

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thanks! Did not see that!

[@AndreasSpiess]

:-)

[@Tocsin-Bang]

Just spotted an error in the circuit, the lower end of R1 should go to ground.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thank you!

[@stevetotaro3219]

When I touch the side of my esp32 it starts getting crazy readings in the millions. Is that normal?

[@AndreasSpiess]

It might be a grounding problem. Maybe shorter wires help.

[@stevetotaro3219]

@@AndreasSpiess Thanks so much. I got it all working now.

[@ainttakenanyshit]

I have ordered the Ver. 1.2 board that comes with a display and will be changing the tube with an LND-7317 that has a Minimum dead time of 40 micro sec. From your statement that this board can reach 2000 CPS/~100,000 CPM, I hope that the displayed counts will be adequate to display to MANY thousands of CPM if not more. I'll let you know the results after I get the LND-7317 connected and adjusting the board to provide the suggested operating voltage of 500 Volts. ALSO, I will be using a Fluke 179 with a 10 Mohm impedance with a 1000Mohm resistor in series. This configuration will not load the power supply significantly with a meter reading of about 1 to 100 - A 5 volt display will equate to about the 500 volts this tube requires.... (Example - 25 Mv = 25 volts, 175 Mv = 17.5 volts, 5 volts = 500 volts, etc.).... FYI: This is the part information with an Allied P/N with which to order.... Resistor, Thick Film, Res 1000 Megohms, Pwr-Rtg 1 W, Tol 1%, Radial, Planar SM102031007FE 70024570

[@AndreasSpiess]

Sometimes people use several smaller resistors in series because most of them are only rated about 200V.

[@ainttakenanyshit]

@@AndreasSpiess You are right. The Ohmite resistor specified has a 1 watt rating and 5KV rating. Their higher wattage resistors have a higher voltage rating as shown below: PART NUMBERS RES RANGE PWR VOLTS CAPACITANCE SLIM-MOX10203 200Ω to 5,000M 1.00W 5.0KV 0.90 SLIM-MOX10303 250Ω to 5,000M 1.25W 7.5KV 0.75 SLIM-MOX10403 500Ω to 5,000M 1.50W 10.0KV 0.70 SLIM-MOX10603 750Ωto 5,000M 2.00W 15.0KV 0.65 SLIM-MOX10803 1K to 5,000M 2.50W 20.0KV 0.60 SO, for a GC power supply of ~4-500 volts the 1 watt 5KV resistor will work fine... This is why I was needing a "one component" solution....

[@AndreasSpiess]

@@ainttakenanyshit Perfect!

[@tsetsefly4538]

Hi, i have the same board as you but it keeps saying error compiling to this board? any advice, please?

[@AndreasSpiess]

Unfortunately, I cannot do remote debugging. Maybe the error messages and google will help you to proceed

[@tsetsefly4538]

@@AndreasSpiess can I ask what board you selected in ide please

[@AndreasSpiess]

@@tsetsefly4538 For the ESP32 I usually use the "ESP32 Dev Module"

[@tsetsefly4538]

@Andreas Spiess Thanks, just seems like my ide doesn't seem to want to compile or upload to this particular board, it's my second one and I've uninstall and reinstalled... ok thanks for help.

[@KieranShort]

You need to be careful about your enclosure because beta radiation is well absorbed by most Perspex, so your reads will be lower in an enclosure made of Perspex. Most counters have a wand with a thin membrane over the end specifically to avoid absorption of the radiation before it hits the detector.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thanks for the information. I just began to deal with the matter!