Very well done! I’m a old Uranium miner and have worked in or operated over 17 Uranium mines in Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. I have enjoyed your mine explorations as I have operated a few of them. Keep up the good work!
I read a worrying piece recently about effects on groundwater (etc) contamination from old U mine tailings ponds in USA. Seems a lot of sites become "nobody's baby". Do most mining companies take decommissioning responsibilities sufficiently seriously?
Take chaga mushroom and cannabis tinctures high cbd and low thc cannabis tinctures and research cbd patent aswell, you'll be fine and fuck the pharmaceutical companies they know about many cures, organic or inorganic cures but they won't allow them to be public because those corrupt people will have 0 income.
I would have LOVED my own Geiger counter when I was a kid. I was fascinated by radiation from a young age from the first time my grandpa showed me his old Geiger counter and explained what radiation was.
I'll answer some of your questions and make some remarks: 5:44 Cesium-137 is the only gamma emitting radionuclide that remains after a decade of a nuclear accident or nuclear bomb detonation. In the early days of such event Cesium-137 only contributes to 5% or less of your external radiation dose. However, because it has a gamma energy right in the middle of all the fission product's gamma spectrum, we use it to calibrate our detectors with great results. 8:07 The sticker on the smoke detector reads 20 microcuries not 40. 10:25 I think you meant "High range" tube instead of high limit. 13:41 Don't confuse "low level" gammas with "low energy" gammas. I think you meant low energy and low level usually means a small amount. Americium-241 emits high amounts of low energy gamma radiation. That kind of low energy gammas are easier to detect because in comparison, high energy gammas go right through your detector without any interaction. 14:39 If you hold the rock to your chest, you are not receiving 100 microsieverts per hour whole body dose. Only the outter inch of your chest. A chest X-ray gives your chest a dose of 1000 micrograys which are equivalent to 100 microsieverts whole body dose. The rock would give you at least 100 times less dose. 18:30 Both are probably correct. The radiacode-101 allows you to get the source closer to the center of its detector, that's all. And I think you should test someday if the B20 filter blocks beta radiation. 31:16 Energy compensation, by definition, means it responds to the rated gamma energy range just as good as the gamma energy that was used to calibrate it. In this and most cases Cesium-137. So yes "it is compensating for all the different sources of radiation" you can't just compensate for Cesium-137. That is not compensating, that is a non energy compensated detector *calibrated* against/for cesium-137. Hope that makes sense. THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK! SEE YOU NEXT TIME, BYE.
Could you possibly clear up a concern I have regarding the collecting of Uranium glass pieces & their contribution to RADON & its daughters within the home living space? As you know, some people particularly in the US, collect large amounts of these pieces. Can you point to any studies done specifically into RADON & its progeny contamination within the home living space? Thanks in advance...
Some of the "sneakiest" sources of radiation you might actually have in your home and not know about are not only vintage glazed dishes and pottery (trust me, it's NOT just Fiestaware) but military watches and instruments for vehicles and aircraft that don't glow any more, because the phosphor has worn out but the radium is *still there* and also, cloisonne' jewelry, pins, and military pins - those are often "hot". So having a rad detector is a good idea if you're into things like this.
Well, an upside is, for the dining ware, if the glaze remains intact, it's still safe to eat off of. As for military sources, there was a changeover to tritium for self-illuminated devices. It shares the failure of phosphor with the old radium types though, the phosphor will fail before the tritium has decayed away. Had to replace one compass that I served with for my entire career for that reason. In theory, I could've had it serviced, but given some internal improvements in the current model and minimal cost difference, I just replaced it. Had a laugh and gave a lesson in a different forum, where people were freaking out over Florida authorizing phosphogypsum usage in highway construction. It was used in construction and roofing tiles for decades, but "it's radioactive" freak-outs got it restricted. It's around as radioactive as an average granite kitchen counter - for much the same reason. So apparently, phosphogypsum is evil, but granite is cool or something. Complete with a promise of driving down a Florida highway and contracting acute radiation syndrome, talk about overreaction and failed risk analysis. I guess they should've stayed on the battlestar, as earth's way too hostile for them. Actually examining the risk would be to look for dust liberated for potential exposure for sensitive individuals, form the isotope is in chemically, as in bioavailability or ability to become lodged in tissues such as lungs, etc. Nope, anything radioactive is evil, so excuse me while I go turn off the sun and all of the stars and put all the black holes into shoeboxes.
I have a WW2 wristwatch that no longer glows. My Radiacode 102 says 16.9 cps 320nSv/h. But when illuminated with a LED UV torch marked 395nm, the phosphor fluoresces. So maybe, a UV torch might be a useful additional piece of kit.
Nice work buddy. One thing Ive learned from Wyatt (my five year old son interested in radiation) is that kids have an almost infinite spongelike ability to learn seemingly complex ideas as long as they have the right tools and methods to teach them (like your videos). Thank you and keep up the great work!
I'm impressed with the apparent accuracy of the Radiacode-101. I got one in January and unexpectedly found a small particle of radium in a tunnel system from the elevated count some distance away. It was fairly spicy as the dose rate topped out at 212μSv/h. It can scare you a little if you're standing around and the high alarm suddenly goes off as happened to me one day. It dropped back down after a second so my best guess it that the crystal was hit by a single cosmic ray which made the dose rate go through the roof briefly. It didn't help my nerves that this happened on the weekend after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
@cho tam Some features are not available without companion software on a computer or mobile device and some of that requires an internet connection. Without the app you still get basic dosimeter functions but cannot do mapping or get detailed information about the spectrum. You need an internet connection to view details about the decay events indicated from the spectrum.
Good question. No it isn’t dependent on the app to work. Certain features won’t happen without using the app. The Radiacode 101 needs to be connected to a phone to log radiation activity on a map. But the phone I use only has Wi-Fi data. So it only connects when I’m home and works fine with no internet out and about.
@@MagicGhost47 The RadiaCode app does not require internet access. I was even able to do a map log without it. It logged the proper GPS coordinates etc. in the exported log file.
@Magic_Ghost Radio Code-101 is produced in Russia, not the EU or China. Scan Electronics LLC IQ Park Business Park 109089, Russia, Moscow, Ugreshskaya str., 2, p.36, office 41, they have sub-brands abroad, for example in Cyprus, but these are just distributors. This is just one of their products. I bought mine on pre-order directly for about $ 150, after it cost about 200. Now it is about twice as expensive, about 300 at retail, due to increased overhead costs of the manufacturer. In my opinion, the device is very overloaded with functionality and is more suitable for developers than for household use. Although, its functionality redeems any of its shortcomings. Yes, the basic functionality of the device works without connecting to a smartphone. As far as I know, the iPhone, unlike Android, does not give the necessary access and permissions for the application to work, so the application for iOS exists only in a test form. There are some problems with false positives from microwave interference or loss of connection, for example in a crowd where there are a lot of Bluetooth devices, but it depends more on your smartphone. There are also some connection stability bugs when working with Samsung smartphones and some Chinese brands.
It was cool to see your comparison of several geiger counters! I currently have a radiacode 101, and have been actually quite surprised at how many features beyond what a standard geiger counter has and general polish. The app is actually quite good, and I think deserves a video exploring all of the settings and logging things you can do with it. I have brought it in the car on road trips and overlayed the maps created by the radiacode with rock type maps from USGS, and they generally line up which I think is a cool experiment to do. The battery life and local logging abilities are good enough that I leave mine on 24/7 and charge it maybe once per few days to week. This means I can open up the app every few days and see if I previously was near any interesting sources (it auto connects over bluetooth and downloads the most recent data). Extra note: I actually have two of them due to a shipping glitch, and they both always agree within the specified tolerance shown on the display next to the measurement, and came with a calibration certificate. That has made me feel more confident in their repeatability and made this comparison to other geiger counters interesting to see how accurate they actually are.
Regarding the GQ GMC 320 (and 300e+): They unfortunately only used 16 bit or 2 byte to show the current CPM value. That means it rolls over to 0 after reaching 65535, and you have to remember to add that to the shown value. Furthermore, this obviously invalidates the µS/h reading. I once made it roll over to 0 three times, that was fun. (185kCPM or so) You could try updating the firmware via USB. I think I remember that they fixed the 16 bit overflow bug a long time ago. (Not for the 300e+ though) Apart from that, the device has a 3.5mm audio-jack. It's outputting the clicks as audio there. With a aux cable you can connect it to your smartphone and use the app "Radmeter" to get a more accurate, much faster measurement of high doses. The 320 is also highly modifiable. I added a SBT11a pancake tube to mine and now it can detect alpha radiation, for example.
@@DEtchells I presume you can add a sbt11a to any GMC that has the same default voltage range as the tube used in the GQ 300/320. Fortunately, the default tube of the 300/320 has almost the same voltage requirements as the SBT11A. But you need to change the conversions factor of CPM to µSv/h (there are some available online via google.) you can find that either in the GQ GMC forum somewhere, or google :P
You can set the sample period on the GMC 320 to 10 seconds, through the User Options. I'm not sure if the 16 bit overflow would be reduced by 6x, but I supsect it would.
you can get a cheap piece of junk from china for about $20. It's not very sensitive, won't pick up bananas but will notice your smoke detectorrs rad source.
I got at PRM-7000 for measuring radiation at different altitudes on weather balloons, which it did well. It's more expensive than the GMC-320, but it has logging and doesn't seem to have the measurement latencies that other cheaper counters have. I think it's a much better option for those that want a counter that does logging.
Great video. I got the RadioCode 101 and BetterGeiger units and m learning a lot in the process of figuring them out and comparing readings. Great to see Better Geiger’s creator commenting on this video. It’s a complicated subject with a large number of factors to consider.
I'd trust Better Geiger to focus on accurate dosage readings, since that's basically the only purpose of the unit. I went with the RadiaCode for its extensive features and size. Might get the Better Geiger in the future, except it doesn't seem they have firmware updates. That's a bummer.
@@RadioactiveDrew especially with different types of detector. Just with G-M tubes, one gets into quenching, dead time on saturation, fold-back during recovery after saturation and each other type of detector has its own complications. I've had quite a few enjoyable conversations with our base health physicist. :) Not sure all that he had to monitor, as it's not my circus, not my monkey. I already had enough classified crap to keep me occupied without trying to cross the street to find trouble.
G-M tubes can burn out like vacuum tubes or tungsten light bulbs. Scintillator sensors have the chance to be more durable and longer-lasting.@@spvillano
@@jackieow there's nothing in a G-M tube to burn out. A tungsten light bulb can have enough filament evaporate to fail, which is its normal failure mode. Vacuum tubes can have cathode to heater leakage or heater failure, but typically die from cathode poisoning from residual oxygen or even envelope leak of air poisoning the cathode. The G-M tube failure would likely be similar, although more from leakage of air than poisoning, as they're not a hard vacuum. Upside of G-M, they're cheap and plentiful. Downside, a bit less sensitive than scintillators and less long lived. Like everything in engineering, it's all a tradeoff on price, function and capabilities. Specifically, what one can afford and the purpose one is putting the device to.
I had no clue uranium glazed tiles would be that active. Great video. No one should be afraid of learning about the world around us. I bought and built a counter from a kit years ago. Was much cheaper that way.
20:23 - Drew, speaking about correct dose rate measurement, the source should be placed not in touch with the detector to drop down bremsstrahlung effects in the filter and to reduce the effects of gamma flux changes from point to point. Try your detectors at a distance of 10 cm or more from the source to compare
Nice video, cool to see them all side by side! Your radeye is calibrated to Cs-137 (662 keV), so when you are measuring LOWER gamma energies like the source you compared, it is giving TOO HIGH of a dose number! This is a well-known problem with ordinary Geiger counters. You get a lot of features with the radeye that the others don't have, and a lot of expensive product certifications, that's why it's more expensive and the government uses it, not because it's more accurate across a wide range of energies. The fact that the radiacode-101 is matching the radeye is 100% proof that IT is giving the WRONG overestimated number also! That's one of the reasons I created the Better Geiger ;) ... it is much more accurate. The Better Geiger can also, importantly, handle about 20x HIGHER does rate than the cheap amazon Geiger counters on amazon (GMC-320), important for an emergency scenario! The downside is that, as you showed, it is not as reactive to betas. That makes it worse for searching for antiques which are mainly beta emitters (uranium glass, fiestaware) but it makes it better for every other application. You can also consider it an advantage, because Geiger counters will dramatically OVER respond to beta emitters giving wrong numbers that can confuse you in an emergency. Hey by the way, with the Better Geiger you can get a waterproof case and test source! :) ...otherwise, the radiacode-101 is definitely cool if you want to measure gamma spectra, but that's why the price is over double, although maybe there will be a future Better Geiger to measure spectra too. :)
Also was found that the Radiacode does not do spectral compensation of isotopes like originally speculated. Does the BetterGeiger do spectroscopic compensation? I cant recall from the many discussions about your product in the server.
@@jamesluck2969 Yes it does take the incoming energy into account in order to correct for dose rate. Doing that effectively was one of the biggest challenges of developing the product, and the aspect I'm most proud of.
First of all, please look at H(10) filter for B20. This one is used to measure dose and dose rate with this detector. Also I have H(0.07) filter to measure x-ray dose (not higher than 160 keV) rate. Then, choose B20-ER instead of B20 to raise upper level limit from 10 kcps to 500 kcps (or 30 Mcpm) and 2 mSv/h to 100 mSv/h. I use this device more often than other of my devices if I don't know what is in front of me. It rather small to be placed on extention adapter to measure in holes or on high places. The next unique feature of B20 is the direct activity measurement of given isotope, alpha or beta emitting one.
@@SerpiphEven with the H(10) filter used in the video there is a variation in response vs. energy. This variation is much stronger when the radiation is not coming at a straight angle towards the front of the detector, and in the measurements in this video the angles were mixed between straight and very sharply angled because the source was placed very close to the surface! Another factor is that in those "contact" measurements the measurement is very sensitive to the position of the source, a tiny bit closer or further can cause really dramatic changes in response, and with the B20 it is probably possible to get the source a little bit closer to the sensitive element. All of these things combined can explain the difference between what the B20 read, what the cheap detectors read, and what the Better Geiger read. I designed the Better Geiger and I know how it responds to different energies, and I trust the number it gives.
@@BetterGeiger, first of all, I just speak about the device overload and the existence of B20-ER to extend the limits. Also, I say about H(10) filter to measure the dose rate but nothing was spoken here about the measurement quality and the measurement conditions.
Great demos of some counters, very well done and explained. Thank you. The gamma spectroscopy aspect of the Radiacode sounds like it would be fascinating to use and explore with to see what could be found/identified out there. To be able to identify the source type sounds very very interesting (if there is anything to be found).
The Better Geiger S-1 is a scintillator type detector and compensates for the energy level of all gamma radiation, because it can directly measure the kev of any given gamma ray event. Any standard GM detector, especially pancake tubes, even with an energy-compensating gamma filter, will always over-report the dose rate when measuring gamma energies lower than what they're calibrated for, typically Cs-137 at ~662 kev. Conversely, they will also under-report dose rates when measuring gamma energies HIGHER than what they're calibrated for, too. The only dose rate numbers you can trust are when you're measuring Cesium 137 (if that's what it's been calibrated for. some meters are calibrated for Cobalt 60).
Very well done! I bought a GMC320 when I got atarted. I agree it is slow to respond. I added a Soviet alpha detector to mine & got rid of the GM tube, for better sensitivity. It looks kinda funky now, with my shade tree enclosure, but it's OK. P.S. Were you the Andrew that I read about in a 2018 BBC story: The man who hunts 'hidden' radioactive objects ?
Yeah, that BBC story was about me. I wish I had started making videos about the stuff I was finding when I started out. But I’m happy with how the channel is shaping up.
All of your videos are very interesting!! I know nothing about radiation. I'm finding myself googling it trying to learn more. However as a truck driver I used to haul crushed cars. Sometimes the Receiver of these loads would find hot items in the load. Most times it would be a short piece of oil field pipe. They would put it inside a 50 gallon barrel with a lid on it, and make me return it to the shipper. The shipper would show me how he could remove the radiation by putting the hot pipe in a fire. Later he would test it with his Geiger counter and it would not detect anything. Anyhow this is all very interesting and keep the videos coming!
I have watched this channel for 10 years. It has been amazing to see them go from a well dressed, middle aged woman, to a man, to a man with red hair, to a 12 foot tall man with eleven ears and antlers. Seriously, this person has suffered greatly to bring us content about radiation. #respect
An excellent video. I think the underlying problem with the GMC-320 with the Ra-226 sample on contact was that not only is it slow to pick up the dose, it wasn't designed to show or calculate CPM values exceeding 65535. As such, an overflow happened, causing the counter to roll over and start from zero.
Excellent video, I mentioned I wanted to see something like this on another of your videos.. There is so little reference for this kind of information.. Have been trying to understand what is safe and how to make comparisons.. I had hoped to see some of these detectors, but one more is the Dosimeter-Radiometer MKS-05 Terra-P+.. Cheap is good, but to be reasonable and have calibration items available is very important.. Thanks, keep sharing your knowledge.. You have so much response it seems you are doing a great service..!
Great video! Thanks for testing all those devices and giving some advice... Wanted to share some info for german/european watchers. At first (before I watched any videos) I just ordered a quite cheap device from Amazon and later found out, that it is only able to measure beta-, gamma- and röntgen radiation. Just ordered an additional one (VOLTCRAFT RM-400 - roughly 350€), that can also measure alpha radiation, which was important for me. All in all for both dosimeters I payed around 550€. Depending on the devices, the prices do in general range between 200€ - XXXX€ for useful devices. Another important fact for me was, that it is run with batteries.
Interesting and expensive channel - now I needed to buy another radiation counter :D. Thanks for sharing the RadiaCode 102. Always was looking for an alternative to Geiger-Müller tubes in a portable, but home use scenario. Gamma-spectroscopy is an interesting field and the 102 will even fit in the pocket.
Nice video! I think part of the dose discrepancy is due to the S-1 having the detector much further from the wall of the case than the Radiacode. Inverse square law strikes again! Would have been nice if the distance from center volume of detector was noted in the manual somewhere.
On the GQ one, you can reduce the time for a fast count estimate so it won't take so long to plateau. It will fluctuate more but not take so long to build up counts
Just did some comparisons with my new Mazur PRM-9000 / very similar refresh and features as a radeye and a good alternative to a B20 at a descent price (about $700) . Compared it to the Better Geiger and the GQ GMC-300 plus . Overall yes you do get what you pay for , the Mazur is def higher level enthusiast / professional level in terms of giving more accurate rates ( also reads Alpha , Beta, Gamma and X-ray )and is able to be easily recalibrated and serviced by Mazur and other companies , the Better Geiger is def fast and is good for letting you know proximity to radiation sources well and is very sensitive ( maybe too sensitive being a scintillator style sensor ?) , and the GMC is good enough for occasional antique hunters or beginners but is very cheaply built .
I don't know about the GMC 320+ but on the GMC 500+ model under user option it has a setting called fast estimate time. I find that changing that setting to 15 seconds gives the best performance and dramatically improves the response time. On the init setup menu I adjusted the tube voltage up to 48% this increases sensitivity and also extends the upper limit range a little bit.
Have you ever seen a Project Farm video? I highly recommend them. If you ever do another video like this one a PF video might give you some ideas on how to do it.
There's lots of great options out there. I need to do a second video about some of the other options. But I do feel like this first video has some solid choices.
Everyone should have as many meters as possible! It's so awesome to be able to detect all the invisible things around us! I got a GMC for the affordability and take it with me whenever I go on the road. Lots of fun to see how the background levels change in different cities. But yeah, also wish it was a bit more bench-worthy.
Very expensive though & not necessary. With all these radiation "watchers" out there hopefully we'll be able to PREVENT the worst of the criminal shenanigans (contamination, dumping etc) the nuclear industry carried out in the 40's 50's 60's 70's & 80's...whilst still being pro nuclear power. The worst of that was connected to nuclear weapons production it seems...with bad practices, fraud & corruption.
@@RadioactiveDrew Where in my comment did I say that you shouldn't? Nowhere...all I suggested was that lots of them aren't necessary...when a few that covers most of the bases is fine. A bit of intelligence in the selection of those few & the knowledge to use them correctly can save a lot of money.
That's why when there is fallout and hundreds of roentgens per hour, little toy meters don't save your life. But higher range meters do, in the hundreds of roentgens per hour. And they need to be small and discrete and portable so you can have it with you at all times. Ivan isn't going to announce when or where his nuclear rocket launches will happen.@@RadioactiveDrew
My wife got me a Terra-P by EcoTest a while back. Detects Beta and Gamma. I like it a lot...but not sure how easy it is to get now since the company that makes them is from the Ukraine.
Ludlum 14c are our meter of choice with pancake probe in our Nuclear Medicine department. Per NRC refs/our materials license all of our meters are calibrated annually. We have a couple older Bicrons and an Inspector.
I got it off of eBay from a seller I buy from. Hers the link to the listing. www.ebay.com/itm/295395705380?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=s-DlLdAZRGa&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=phvzq5xqrby&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
This puts into perspective how much radiation x-ray tubes can emit. If holding that radium source almost at contact for 1h equals to about 4 chest x-rays while an x-ray lasts about one tent to one third of a second and the focal spot is about 1m away from the patient after it passed thorough filters and collimators. Its an absolutely insane dose rate what x-ray machines put out, not surprising there have been mishaps during fluoroscopy procedures.
Holding the radium source to the chest for one hour is not equivalent to 4 chest x rays. And yes, x ray tubes are crazy. A small tube can produce dose rates of 1Sv/h at 1 metres distance continuously. For intermittent operation, much higher dose rates are possible.
X-ray tubes can emit enough energy to kill you in a second if they are large enough and have enough watts of power running through them. All x-ray tubes are not made for medical x-rays. Some are made for industrial uses and emanate a lot more power because they are built to consume a lot more power.
Very helpful! I would love love love to see a part 2 or follow-up video. I would like to see some more standard sources tested at a controlled distance and controlled amount of time. I'm interested in how far away from common sources like fiesta or uranium glassware or thorium mantles different detectors are able to notably register. Making a time/distance chart could be cool. I like when you talk about how you use different detectors, like scintillation detectors for honing in. Does having an alpha detector make antiquing easier?
I think having a detector that can detect alpha radiation makes it a bit easier. Usually the detectors are a bit larger so they can detect the beta radiation from further away.
I did. Thanks Drew. I'm in the market for one of these and while i know this isn't a thorough review and not even scratching the surface of the number of counters that are made(theres 100s), i was able to eliminate quite a few and know what i can test whatever i buy with.
The Radiacode101 actually have a built-in spectra function to tell which radioisotope is present, but due to the resolution of the screen ( and crystal ), better view is obtained when connected to a phone with its app.
Thanks for the video... I was already wondering if I would buy one, where to get one. Just for "fun". Sure turns out the RadEye is the best... but also the most expensive. I get your note on "government spending" :)
I am reminded of a use for a GM tube and Beta source you might not think of. In the USAF I worked on the F-106 interceptor. In order to measure the engine oil quantity at any flight attitude, Conair, the maker, wrapped a tube of radioactive gas (DNR what type) around the oil tank. The GM tube sat on the other side of the tank. It's integrated count indicated the oil quantity. A reliable system as I recall. Considering that one of the squadron's birds carried a missile with a 1.5KT war head nobody worried about a little radon gas.
Radon gas in that situation would be the lest of my concern in that situation. To measure a liquid like jet fuel you would need a gamma or neutron emitter of some kind. Interesting way to do it.
@@RadioactiveDrew The engine oil was measured with a radioactive source gas. The fuel, JP4, was measured by the capacitance of probes in the several tanks. The geometry of the plates on the cylindrical probes was a compensation for the tank dimensions. But yes, it is a unique feeling standing next to a nuke, even a small one.
Great video. I have a cheapie Russian GM detector, same as a the white one you demonstrated. I also got a bargain on a Canberra AN/VDR2 kit with all 4 probes. That unit is a bit larger than the fisher, but the probe set is incredible. I use it when I want to “get serious”, but use the cheapie when hiking or going to gem shows.
I like my Gamma Scout. Would add the Radiacode-101 for spectrum analysis if the political/supply situation would abate. Also, isn't your B20 calibration-traceable to a standard? I would believe that one!
Well the B20 is calibrated for Cs-137, and while it does exhibit a fairly flat energy response with the dose filter, looking at the curve it does tend to over respond a bit to higher energy gamma. I don't think this is the cause of the reported higher dose however. The better Geiger's detector is not right against the case like in the Radiacode, it is actually in a little cup of epoxy, which puts it a distance from any of the case walls. This extra distance is likely the cause of why the dose readings are lower, I'm sure if you moved the source an equivalent distance away from the radiacode they would be more likely to agree.
Hello, I've been watching your videos for some time and find them very interesting. As soon as you start to think about radioactivity, you immediately think of the Geiger counter. But if you dig a little deeper, you'll realize that there are several types of device. The video isn't bad, but it's important to distinguish between ictometers, radiameters, dosimeters and contaminameters. In fact, everything changes depending on the intended use, but the most interesting are: on the one hand, Geiger-Muller tube counters can detect beta, gamma and, in certain specific cases, alpha rays. And on the other hand, radiation meters, also known as flow meters, which can use a Geiger-Muller tube or another type of sensor, as on the radiacode-102. Unlike the simple counter, the radiation meter is energy-compensated, enabling it to give a more or less reliable estimate of dose rates, whatever the radio-element under consideration. But the disadvantage is that only gamma rays are generally taken into account by the survey meter. I emphasize that my comments are synthetic, since I have omitted neutron radiation... I'm looking for an easy-to-use but effective ictometer: like the radiascan 701A, capable of counting alpha, beta and gamma radiation. Unfortunately, my search is in vain, given that since the sanctions against Russia, there are none on the market, and that most equivalent meters cost over $1000 for specialized corporate use, or that those on sale are only for gamma and beta radiation! Can you advise me on this? What choice should I make for a good meter without spending $1000?
It depends on what you’re going to be using the detector for. A good all around would be a used Ludlum Model 3 with a 44-9 probe. Then you could change out probes based on your use. Those can be found in good condition for well under $1000.
@@RadioactiveDrew Thank you for replying individually to each comment! I'll take note of your advice, in any case I'll continue my research and continue your passion because your videos are great. I thank you for the attention you've given me! Have a nice day :)
Very informative! I always wanted a Geiger counter, but the good ones are so pricey! Also, any chance you could lower the volume when the beeping ramps up? Every time that RadEye gets going, my cats freak out! 😉
For prepping you need a survey meter that can handle hundreds of roentgens per hour, since that is what fallout can deliver. The meters shown today overload or "saturate" at maybe 2 roentgens per hour and then go to zero. So you think you are in a zero radiation field but are actually getting killed by hundreds of roentgens per hour (unless it alerts you it is overloaded = saturated). If you are in a fallout zone at 600 r/hr and head one way to get 800 r/hr but another way to get 100 r/hr, you can't tell the difference unless you can measure it. You don't always have a nice fallout shelter to jump into, so until you get to one you have to measure which path leads to danger and which path leads to lesser doses of radiation. A Sievert like $ is a hundred times more than Roentgen like cent. Three Sieverts kills half the people, equal to 300 Roentgens if accumulated dose within a few days. One Sievert or 100 Roentgens within a few days gives radiation sickness. Five Sieverts or 500 Roentgens within a few days would kill most anybody.
Since this video covers different choices of dosimeters, it would be great to test their resistance to electromagnetic interference. Maybe except RadEye, although I did test my GQ GMC-500+ twice by exposing it for 2-3 seconds with no permanent issues or any damage. One of the sources can be housing of 55 W operating compact fluorescent light. Ludlum dosimeter as well as any one with external probe is good to demonstrate that no ionizing radiation is involved above normal background level. Electric discharge weapon is an excellent source as well as piezo-electric lighter. The best source however is x-ray tube power supply built by students of physics or electrical engineering as part of their project. Maybe The University of Montana has one. Of course the necessary precautions must be taken: in addition to ionizing radiation, the potential difference easily exceeds 50 kV.
You are very generous towards the cheaper counters saying there kinda slow and not very good I have a lot of good units but a few cheaper ones and you were cracking me up with the cheaper units I also agree with you alot of people should have atleast one geiger counter
Well I don’t want to talk bad about something that someone might want to buy because that’s all they can afford. I try and present it as level as I can.
If I only had a cheap meter on me for measurement. And it started to go crazy showing high levels of radiation. It's still giving me the same message as a more expensive meter. To GTFO of there ASAP!
I build my own gm counters. I use a lot the sbt10a tube, is very sensitive and gives a background of 180 to 240 cpm. I wantef to get a Cs137 source but could never locate one. I have a small collection of radioactive minerals and items. Thorite is relatively easy to find online. The gamma spectrometer you showed uses a very small crystal and a solid state sensor so is sortbof limited. Planning to build a scintillation detector using a photomultiplier and a good size Nal(TI) crystal
Very interesting. Really curious where and how you store your radioactive sources. I have a couple of them and 3D printed containers with lead shielding in the walls. I am building my own geigers.
12:57 If you haven’t heard, the Radicode has been upgraded to the 102. I just got one a few days ago! I ordered a 101 over a month ago, and got notified I would get a 102. It’s so small and nicely made! Seems like background around my place is ~0.07 uSv/h or ~7 CPS. That seem higher than I was expecting…
That dose rate is a little higher than normal after the energy compensation update that happened. Before that the background was around .08 uSv/hr, which is pretty normal.
@@RadioactiveDrew i recently noticed when you use your radeye, you see background around 38 CPM? When I put the 102 in CPM, it shows ~385, but uSv/hr is still ~0.07 - 0.06. that's just a difference in the kind of detector and how fast it reacts? (can't compare directly)
@@Revvek the dose rate between the 2 detectors is very close because that's done using a conversion. The scintillation is going to be far more sensitive to background and gamma radiation than the pancake detector.
NGL, besides sensetivity, the sound of the click is the most important to me. None of that beep beep nonsense. It should sound like a micrometiorite just hit a mylar sheet. GQ-GCM 500 or 600 are both good for that.
Seeing this video shows how important it is to know that not all radiation detectors detect every kind of radiation. If you don't understand that, you may think you're safe when you're actually in danger.
I own a total of 4 geiger counters/dosimeters, but my favorite is the Mazur PRM-9000. Simple, yet elegant device with super accurate measures and a multitude of options. I always carry a Soeks 01M on me since it's super small, but the Mazur is still my number one. I'm glad your channel exploded Drew! I've been a subscriber for a while and was hoping it would get bigger, never thought it would go that fast though! Congrats! Keep it up!!
I have a Soeks 01M as well. That was my first Geiger counter. I use to carry it around with me everywhere and have it constantly running in the truck on road trips. It was a great little detector. Yeah, the channel has been taking off.
I also always have my Soeks with me. I have it in my front pocket on when I go into Goodwill. A quick move of a suspected piece of Vaseline glass or pottery by my pocket tells me if it’s hot or not.
I love the RadiaCode 101, the detection principle is more accurate and way more sensitive per area. Furthermore the battery last for weeks on one charge while recording continously!
I have a GMC-500, always wanted a rad-eye but kind of expensive for a hobbyist. I live near the rocky flats and wondered if there was anything radioactive near me
I'd imagine that the GMC-500 would be BLIND to most of the radioactive contamination that took place at RF's, because the Chinese glass GM tube can only detect high energy beta particles, gamma & X rays...not the mainly alpha particles that are emitted from significant Plutonium contamination at that site & farther afield. Minimum you'd need is a mica pancake sensor equipped meter.
I searched the exact video title. You read my mind. Anyone who reviews this type of equipment has to know a thing or two! There was a German researcher who used to make videos inside the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone and they had several devices that I dont fully understand the purpose of. For example: 3 different devices? One for high energy gamma? I think they were looking for small sources that contained radionuclides from the reactor itself. When they started getting into mSv/hr it was scary. She handled them with minimal PPE, I was more concerned about chemotoxic effects of the metals themselves. Especially anything calcium seeking like Strontium-90. I think she said most of the remaining contamination outside the containment structure is Cs-137. Some plants pick up this, but many do not. She proved that the apples were not substantially above background/a control. She ate this apple right off the tree. I wouldn't eat a potato grown there, but I think there's understatement of chemotoxicity in these radionuclides. The radiation may be OK, but what about other contamination. Chemicals used in the Liquidation. Heavy metals like lead... I'm kinda ranting here. What should I buy for a general purpose device and where do you get them serviced if they're full of IC and digital signals? Analog is ok. I want to test granite slabs before and after the sealant, also finding Hotspot on them. Great video by the way.
She found a pea sized source that was reading 20 mSv/hr with her gamma device and a tube covered in plastic. So that was just gamma? She was holding it in her bare hand. I guess it's not THAT radioactive but she can't run NMR or mass spec to find what's actually in that little piece of graphite. Could be Pu in that lmao. I loved her videos so much.
I remember watching Bionerd. She made some interesting videos. As far as what detector to get...it kind of depends on your budget. The digital ones can work great and I have seen zero drift in the calibration on my Radeye B20. The analog Ludlums do in re-calibration from time to time. I have a small pulse generator that I use for calibrating those.
I bought a really cheap Geiger Muller tube one from Banggood (£40) and it seems quite good if slow to settle. I have an Aladdin lamp with a new old stock mantle and it is splendidly active. 20-30 CPM background and the mantle reads 300-400 CPM with the glass removed so I assume that it is an alpha emitter. Genuinely interesting stuff to mess with.
It's a fun hobby with so many facets to it, that can be done safely with some basic knowledge & precautions. I think the real hazard with mantles only comes about after they're lit, when they can disintegrate so easily & literally blow away & become airborne. If I may ask, which PRC GM counter model is it? Not many that do cps/cpm, as most are dose rate only in uSv/h.
@@ajacks1349 it’s a Pudibei! It has a nice Geiger muller tube but it’s not directional obviously. It does cpm and cumulative dose with user set limits. I was genuinely surprised. I think that I saw it on a channel called survival Lilly.
@@robinwells8879 Ah yes, I watch the lady from Vienna, Austria too now & again...🤣 I recently bought an unbranded HFS-10 from amazon but had to return as the battery drained completely within a few days, when switched off. Apparently a known major fault. which the seller must have known about. I think the vast majority of PRC counters/detectors use a variant of the glass tubed GM's, often an m4011, which even the claimed US company GQ electronics with its GMC 300 & 500 series... uses. All mine are from the UK, Russia, US, Poland & Israel, so mainly SBM-20 variants & LND mica pancakes.
I wish radiation detectors were more available when i was young. I,got my first one from an employe of the Doodewaard Nuclear plant, It was an old Cutie pie made by nuclear Chicago. Alas it was a bit to late to have a healthy childhood. My dad was a collector of military compasses, optics, watches, aircraft instruments and radio equipment. the collection was everywhere in the house even in his bedroom, and also in mine. Under my bed was a Gibson Girl emergency transmitter, next to my bed were german flak optics with the large radium painted aiming sight, a german radio transceiver and the instrument panel of a Harvard. When i got the cutie pie at age 14 my life expectancy was suddenly reduced to zero, but i am still here!
🗣️ Dear Customers, RadiaCode-101 is currently out of stock due to unexpectedly high demand. New orders will be dispatched in approximately 50 days after the order. We are very sorry for the inconvenience. We will attach a free gift leg band case for Radiacode, for this delay. All shipments to EU countries, USA, UK, Norway, Switzerland, Australia and Canada and others are dispatched from Cyprus (European Union).
Personally I think you get what you pay for, but for just a warning the cheap ones will do. For radiological surveys I’d personally use the Ludlum with probe, and I would pay for calibration if it was used for serious use. It’s nice because it also has a high dose tube in the event of really bad things.
I own a Ludlum model 3 with a 44-38 probe, a Ludlum 2241 with a 44-9 pancake probe, and custom BC408 plastic scintillator probe for X-Rays, and a 44-10 sodium iodide scintillator. I also have a Radiascan 701, and a Radiacode 101. Don't ask me for financial advise. Would absolutely recommend the Radiacode 101 for a first buy because all the features in a small package the built in gamma spec is awesome. my first buy was a GQ300E they are dreadfull. When hiking around scouting for goodies the smaller detectors are way less cumbersome.
The worst thing about it is that they (manufacturers, health bodies & governments) knew about the health hazard implications of these materials long before they restricted their manufacture & use. Homer Laughlin made Fiestaware with Uranium oxide (actually DU) coatings/glazes up & including 1972 !!!
I'm very much interested in getting a Ludlum 14C Geiger Counter in the future. Thank you for your demonstration of all the Detectors. I'm also interested in where I can get the various T-Shirts that you wear in your videos. 👍
Great comments, especially at the start about getting kids involved and people educated. Way to much Fear Uncertainty and Doubt spread by special interest groups. Great reviews. Small market and expensive here in Australia to get one of these devices, but are keeping an eye out. Thanks for the great channel.
Interesting video. I picked up a Radiascan 701A a couple years ago based off another YT channel's (Brainiac75) review and have been happy with it. For the price ~$350 USD iirc it works quite well. I see now it's over double that at $875. They also have a gamma spectrometer for a reasonable price. Looks like they ship from various places around the world but seeing as they're based out of and made in Russia good luck getting one right now.
I do like the video, but would love to see the tests on the detectors using different shield materials to block alpha particles, like a plastic layer, an aluminum sheet to block beta particles and so to show how well they detect each type of radiation.
Interesting video. Actually since I've discovered your channel I've though about purchasing a Geiger counter. Not only are radioactive antiques interesting to me but they have a radioactive waste dump site in St. Louis MO and I'm curious how bad it is. Thanks for the vid Drew. Merry Christmas and happy New Year.
@@RadioactiveDrew I've collect antiques here and there. After watching one of your videos I noticed the orange Fiesta wear in one of my cabinets and showed my wife. She was like, "Should we get rid of it?"🙂. I have various other things as well, just curious.
Hiii! Ive been a fan of yours since i watched your video of visiting the decomissioning plant. I just want to say you really helped me discover my love for radioactive and nuclear stuff and my choice of geoger counter. Im 15 and have been into this stuff since i was like 8 lol.
@kaylus9859 the detector didn’t break. The programming for the device had a fault when getting to that high count rate. Some people have told me a firmware update fixed this issue but I don’t know if that’s true because I haven’t verified it.
@@RadioactiveDrewyay ty!!! I just ordered a GMC 320s for a starter detector. The cheapest i could find that i had seen reviews on. I appreciate the tips!! ❤
I was subscribed to Radioactive Drew way before it was cool 😎 😄 congrats on your channel blowing up! (that's quite the Am241 collection! If you could somehow seal them in their vial or a glass ampoule under vacuum, you could almost certainly observe the emission spectrum for helium by exciting it with a high voltage / Tesla probe, recreating the Rutherford-Rounds experiment. No one's ever done that on video before to my knowledge!)
@@RadioactiveDrew Sorry, Rutherford ROYDS experiment. Yes, it may take some time to be able to observe the lines, and a very high vacuum will need to be attained initially, so on second thought, the experiment cannot be conducted in that small vial which would be permeable at the cap, but will need the sources to be sealed in a new clean glass ampoule.
Could you do a video on radiation measurement? You often talk about counts per minute and show Kcpm or Cpm on the Radeye, but I have no idea how these counts or the Radeye’s measurement relate to real life(I.e. a chest x-Ray, or a CT scan, etc.
The meters he showed overload (saturate) at about 2 Roentgens or less, and be worthless in a nuclear fallout zone because they would decay to zero after being overloaded or saturated. A dental x-ray would be about 15 milliRoentgens (15 milliRems) and a chest x-ray about 30 milliRems. With modern x-ray film, even less. 100 Roentgens in a few days produces radiation sickness in most people. 300 R in a short time kills half the humans. 500 and certainly 600 Roentgens in a few days kills almost everybody. You can absorb 7 R per day and not get radiation sickness, but any radiation increases the risk of cancer and weakening of your white blood cells in the direction of body weakness and infections. One Sievert (like $) is a hundred times more than one Roentgen (like cent). A Becquerel is one decay or one ray of radiation per second, without regard to energy level. A Curie is millions of decays, without regard to energy level. A Roentgen is enough radiation to ionize about a billion air molecules into positive and negative fragments. A Sievert is 100x what a Roentgen is. Tissue damage is measured as Rems or Grays, since gamma rays are a low risk to certain tissues like muscle but a high risk for cancer to tissues like bone marrow and the lining of the intestines. Rem = roentgen equivalent mammalian, as opposed to cancer induction risk to fish or birds. Some of these measurements can only be done in a lab with a lot of taking angles and overlaps into account, so only cancer therapy labs worry about them.
I think the Better Geiger is more accurate than you think. The sensor is not right up to the casing so it up close it's actually a few millimeters further away then the others and that is a lot. To better compare gamma know where sensor is internally and align so that ditance to object is say 5 cm (2 inch). The Better Geiger should be energy compensated. That is the whole idea of it. I would not say the RadEye is bad but for gamma I think the two scintillators are better (when you know where the sensor is internally) as they're energy compensated. The RadEye is expensive, yes, and calibration is most likely very good (to the known isotopes). But I think it's probably also way overpriced. It has a small audience and government as primary customer happily pays more than regular market price. Sure I'd love one too but not at that price. For the Hanchen. It looks more or less like FS2011. If you're savvy with a soldering iron you can get custom firmware for it - Rad Pro. Rad Pro is also for NH-750 and a few others that share same microcontroller (you can set tube in firmware). It has a very interesting option - Instantaneous readout - where it takes average of 5 seconds or 11 counts whichever is fastest. No more extremely slow rise and fall. Of course it fluctuates more because of the randomness.
Wow, that seems like a lot of finagling to get that Hanchen to not be horrible. The Radeye B20 has a whole list of isotopes to choose from so it can be energy compensated if you know the isotope you are dealing with. You can also add more to that list. Of course that software and communication cable to do that is horribly expensive. The Radiacode and the Better Geiger are very solid detectors. I have both but I use the Radiacode everyday and carry it around with me.
@@RadioactiveDrew Yeah. I got to get the Radiacode some day. Not overly expensive on their website. It's not that bad loading another firmware in the FS2011 etc. It's just solder 4 connections and connect a USB interface device to your computer. I might very well experiment with it in the near future. When hunting radioactive antiques I don't bring my best geiger. Just a cheap one which IMHO is good enough to decide whether or not to buy but a little faster readout would be nice.
thanks for doing this. too many to choose from. i currently only have an SMG2 which isnt much... definitely want a radeye AB100 (alpha and beta) and a radeye G to cover everything
About two years ago I got my hands on a Soeks 112 because I wanted something small and portable that I could use for testing rock samples and minerals. I bought it for about 100 Euros or about 120 USD and now it's pretty much impossible to get.
My first GC was one of the best gifts I ever received. It was a build your own kit from Adafruit, but wasn't to hard to put together. No displays but there is a way to connect it to a computer to get counts off it. I have had many hours spent at antique malls looking for hot items, and always feel joy upon finding them.
@@Simonjose7258 i dont have that exact kit but one similar that i bought off walmart's website of all places and it was like 100 bucksno case or anything just a board with a Arduino and LCD on it and a tube from china it seemed to do pretty good with my thoriated lantern mantles
@@GeigerCounterVirtualMuseum sadly there are not many places here that sell antiques but when i demonstrated to a few people how some smoke alarms are radioactive they were genuinely shocked and i explained how its such a small amount and shielded that its safe
Nuclear was such a massive part of Americana for a literal decade or two. My granddad was a nuclear physicist, and always talked of Nuclear like it’s an endless clean energy if used right. I wish more thought like you, Drew. Great content.
Kinda surprised you didnt mention how the different counters use different tubes and something else worth mentioning is alot of the ones from china actually under drive the tubes like the one i had the tube start and working voltages were 400 to 500 volts and the hv supply in it was only giving the tube 320 now my gmc500+ i like cause i can put in other tubes and adjust voltage as needed on the fly in the menu which i have done to allow me to use an lnd712 alpha beta gamma tube and my readings seem to match what my check sources say they should be
Unless you're using a high-impedance volt meter, the very act of measuring the voltage in a geiger counter will cause it to drop significantly and give you a false low reading. You need to use a meter with 1 GOhm input impedance. Standards DMMs won't work to get an accurate reading.
@@Orcinus24x5 i was not using a dvom rather an analog i also had the same reading on a dvom and scope i was also measuring before the current limiting resistor right on the output of the simple diode and cap voltage multiplier it also seemed to not be completely stable it is very possible that mine was just defective which if so is no biggie since i have a much better one now
whoa, BG set you them!? That's stand up! I feel like price points (except the last thing) feel spot on for what you get (in all aspects that implies). I want to get into this hobby and I'm thinking betterG then the radacore, and maybe a Cold War era detector if a sleeper appears on the bay. TY for the video!
Tritium was used on analogue watch dials for many years. Interesting thing as an aside was a metallic taste in my mouth as I was working outside here in Georgia USA shortly after the Chernobyl Tragedy in 1986. But that could happen anywhere on earth given the testing done in various parts of the world in the 1950's. Including the vaporizing of an island by US. I had actually forgotten that smoke detectors have americium 241 in them to detect ionizing smoke.
kcpm = kilo counts per minute. So 100 kcpm = 100,000 cpm. Need to be very careful with Ra-226 because it decays into Radon gas (222) via alpha particle emission. Radon-222 also decays via a similar alpha particle emission reaction pathway into Polonium-218 (then to Lead-214). There are further readioactive decays via beta particle emissions (ie electrons) as well as side reactions involving more alpha decays. Handle that Ra-226 very carefully and ensure it's well ventilated and shielded. Remember, this material is in decay mode ALL THE TIME. And with Ra-226 having a half life of about 1600 Years it's practically a permanent hazard as far a human life or a community is concerned.
I would say that the Radeye and Radiacode are correct. Especially the radiacode because it uses a scintillation crystal which can actually discern energy levels and therefore calculator dose based on that. Also I think that everyone should go for a scintillation based detector like the radiacode, the ability to do gamma spectroscopy is incredibly useful when your trying to identify why something or someplace is radioactive
The better geiger is a scintillation detector. According to their website, it determines the gamma photons' energy based on the intensity of the flash of light produced within the scintillation crystal. The radeye uses a pancake tube to my knowledge, unable to determine gamma energy levels. The radiacode 101, also being a scintillation detector, can and does determine gamma energy levels and can perform gamma spectroscopy. Either the better geiger or the radiacode 101 is accurately calculating gamma doses based on energy and one would assume the more expensive radiacode to be the most accurate
@@AGuyFromHazard That's a common misconception. While scintillation detectors do produce a signal proportional to incoming energy, this feature is not used to calculate dose. The BetterGeiger has some kind of energy compensation, I dont know if it works properly. The RadiaCode does not have such and delivers falsely high reading at energys significantly lower then 662 keV.
@@sonyxperiasmk The energy proportional pulse can be used to calculate dose, while the radiacode does not do this, meters like the radeye PRD, and better geiger S-1 do.
@@RadioactiveDrew I don't know if you have ever looked into the Mazur meters before but they're pretty solid units too I got the 9000 recently that comes with the GM pancake tube.
The GMC-320 going back to lower readings during high CPM events might be related to an integer overflow within the software. It never seemed to go above 65535 which is the maximum value a 16-bit integer can hold. The manufacturer is likely using 16-bit arithmetic in their firmware and they should really change that to 32-bits. Additionally, the reason why it takes SO LONG to settle to the right value isn't related to the detector itself but to the software doing overly agressive and too naive averaging. The manufacturer was likely trying to compensate for the tube not being sensitive enough at normal background levels by doing a long average, but this cause problems in highly dynamic environments like yours. The should relax that or make their averating algorithm a bit more intelligent (or configurable)
It's a wonder how someone hasn't created custom firmware for the 320 to fix some of its issues, like issues in calibration (not being able to place a decimal point, if you replace the stock tube with a better one and you have to calibrate it but can't get exact numbers because you can't place a decimal point), issues with slow screen response (maybe more optimization in the software could help, or maybe a separate firmware for users that has replaced the stock tube with a more sensitive tube and don't have to rely on such aggressive averaging), and the count limit due to it being 16 bit, and other quality of life changes and bug fixes. I wonder if there's a hardware limitation that keeps them from being able to use 32-bit?
@@madmax2069 Definitely not a hardware limitation regarding the 16bits issue. You can do 32bits arithmetic on a 8bits microcontroller if you want to. They are just a bit lazy :-)
@@the_bootloader I know it's using an STC microcontroller running at 35Mhz (I'm not sure if it's an 8bit or 16bit), I know you can do it on an 8bit CPU it's just going to be really slow at doing it (which is what I call a limitation, it's not that it can't do it, it's just going to be too slow at doing it to be useful), if you do this you probably won't be able to get the display to count up faster (it'll probably be even slower to respond than it is now), probably why they used 16bit instead of 32bit. It's a tradeoff, higher count and slower count speed, vs lower count and higher count speed.
@@madmax2069 It's actually very fast (from an assembly perspective, to count, it is basically about adding a conditional jump to do another add and handling the carry) and if there was an issue with high count rates they could optimize it, for instance by having using a native 16bits counter in the interrupt and increasing the 32bits count time permitting in the main loop. Honestly it is really not an issue and the microcontroller really enough has processing power especially if running at 35 MHz. Additionally, Geiger-Muller tubes tend to saturate at a few kHz - a well optimized interrupt handler can totally do a 32bits accumulation at this rate even in software, and they could have used a hardware counter to enable even more count rates. So TL;DR there is really no excuse for them not to handle this better.
@@the_bootloader so I wonder if they was just strapped for time, or just did a half butt job and just sent it using older software with few changes to make it work without improving it, or the person/people writing said software for it just either wasn't skilled enough, or just didn't care because its a cheap unit. the firmware is clearly updateable (seeing people on their forums flashing them to a different firmware)
Very well done! I’m a old Uranium miner and have worked in or operated over 17 Uranium mines in Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. I have enjoyed your mine explorations as I have operated a few of them. Keep up the good work!
That's awesome! Do you have any radiation related illnesses and how safe is it being inside a mine like that for a long period of time?
@@SkrixFox are you kidding? Of course he does! Don’t remind him
I read a worrying piece recently about effects on groundwater (etc) contamination from old U mine tailings ponds in USA. Seems a lot of sites become "nobody's baby". Do most mining companies take decommissioning responsibilities sufficiently seriously?
wow hope you dont have lung cancer
Take chaga mushroom and cannabis tinctures high cbd and low thc cannabis tinctures and research cbd patent aswell, you'll be fine and fuck the pharmaceutical companies they know about many cures, organic or inorganic cures but they won't allow them to be public because those corrupt people will have 0 income.
Current prices (as of 08/27/23):
Radeye B20: $2225.25
MIRA Geiger-2: $295.75 [new model, G-1 no longer made]
Radiacode-102: $279.85 ["newer" non-Russian model]
Better Geiger: $149.00
GMC-320 Plus: $118.98
Why no Ludlum prices? Dumdum
@@kishascape Could you add the Ludlum prices in your own comment? That would be more useful to us than calling names.
@@kishascape what's Ludlum? Pardon my ignorance
I would have LOVED my own Geiger counter when I was a kid. I was fascinated by radiation from a young age from the first time my grandpa showed me his old Geiger counter and explained what radiation was.
Believe it or not. I learned about radiation from roblox. The PBCC game.
I'm getting a CD V-700 for my birthday in 5 weeks
About how old were you when that conversation took place?
@@thehammurabichode7994 about seven or eight.
@@bowen3963 that’s actually amaizng
I'll answer some of your questions and make some remarks:
5:44 Cesium-137 is the only gamma emitting radionuclide that remains after a decade of a nuclear accident or nuclear bomb detonation. In the early days of such event Cesium-137 only contributes to 5% or less of your external radiation dose. However, because it has a gamma energy right in the middle of all the fission product's gamma spectrum, we use it to calibrate our detectors with great results.
8:07 The sticker on the smoke detector reads 20 microcuries not 40.
10:25 I think you meant "High range" tube instead of high limit.
13:41 Don't confuse "low level" gammas with "low energy" gammas. I think you meant low energy and low level usually means a small amount. Americium-241 emits high amounts of low energy gamma radiation. That kind of low energy gammas are easier to detect because in comparison, high energy gammas go right through your detector without any interaction.
14:39 If you hold the rock to your chest, you are not receiving 100 microsieverts per hour whole body dose. Only the outter inch of your chest. A chest X-ray gives your chest a dose of 1000 micrograys which are equivalent to 100 microsieverts whole body dose. The rock would give you at least 100 times less dose.
18:30 Both are probably correct. The radiacode-101 allows you to get the source closer to the center of its detector, that's all. And I think you should test someday if the B20 filter blocks beta radiation.
31:16 Energy compensation, by definition, means it responds to the rated gamma energy range just as good as the gamma energy that was used to calibrate it. In this and most cases Cesium-137. So yes "it is compensating for all the different sources of radiation" you can't just compensate for Cesium-137. That is not compensating, that is a non energy compensated detector *calibrated* against/for cesium-137. Hope that makes sense.
THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK! SEE YOU NEXT TIME, BYE.
Hello fellow health physics nerd 😤😤😤💕
Yeah, I misspoke about the micro Curies...it is 20.
Very detailed reply thank you
Could you possibly clear up a concern I have regarding the collecting of Uranium glass pieces & their contribution to RADON & its daughters within the home living space? As you know, some people particularly in the US, collect large amounts of these pieces. Can you point to any studies done specifically into RADON & its progeny contamination within the home living space? Thanks in advance...
@@ajacks1349 I have a collection of uranium glass and a radon detector and it doesn't raise the levels of radon at all.
Some of the "sneakiest" sources of radiation you might actually have in your home and not know about are not only vintage glazed dishes and pottery (trust me, it's NOT just Fiestaware) but military watches and instruments for vehicles and aircraft that don't glow any more, because the phosphor has worn out but the radium is *still there* and also, cloisonne' jewelry, pins, and military pins - those are often "hot". So having a rad detector is a good idea if you're into things like this.
www.youtube.com/@jirisatelitakxy7718
I used to repair clocks years ago and still have the “hands” drawer… yes I’m getting one!
Well, an upside is, for the dining ware, if the glaze remains intact, it's still safe to eat off of.
As for military sources, there was a changeover to tritium for self-illuminated devices. It shares the failure of phosphor with the old radium types though, the phosphor will fail before the tritium has decayed away. Had to replace one compass that I served with for my entire career for that reason. In theory, I could've had it serviced, but given some internal improvements in the current model and minimal cost difference, I just replaced it.
Had a laugh and gave a lesson in a different forum, where people were freaking out over Florida authorizing phosphogypsum usage in highway construction. It was used in construction and roofing tiles for decades, but "it's radioactive" freak-outs got it restricted. It's around as radioactive as an average granite kitchen counter - for much the same reason.
So apparently, phosphogypsum is evil, but granite is cool or something. Complete with a promise of driving down a Florida highway and contracting acute radiation syndrome, talk about overreaction and failed risk analysis.
I guess they should've stayed on the battlestar, as earth's way too hostile for them.
Actually examining the risk would be to look for dust liberated for potential exposure for sensitive individuals, form the isotope is in chemically, as in bioavailability or ability to become lodged in tissues such as lungs, etc. Nope, anything radioactive is evil, so excuse me while I go turn off the sun and all of the stars and put all the black holes into shoeboxes.
I have a WW2 wristwatch that no longer glows. My Radiacode 102 says 16.9 cps 320nSv/h. But when illuminated with a LED UV torch marked 395nm, the phosphor fluoresces. So maybe, a UV torch might be a useful additional piece of kit.
Nice work buddy. One thing Ive learned from Wyatt (my five year old son interested in radiation) is that kids have an almost infinite spongelike ability to learn seemingly complex ideas as long as they have the right tools and methods to teach them (like your videos). Thank you and keep up the great work!
Thanks man.
I'm impressed with the apparent accuracy of the Radiacode-101. I got one in January and unexpectedly found a small particle of radium in a tunnel system from the elevated count some distance away. It was fairly spicy as the dose rate topped out at 212μSv/h.
It can scare you a little if you're standing around and the high alarm suddenly goes off as happened to me one day. It dropped back down after a second so my best guess it that the crystal was hit by a single cosmic ray which made the dose rate go through the roof briefly. It didn't help my nerves that this happened on the weekend after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
@cho tam Some features are not available without companion software on a computer or mobile device and some of that requires an internet connection.
Without the app you still get basic dosimeter functions but cannot do mapping or get detailed information about the spectrum.
You need an internet connection to view details about the decay events indicated from the spectrum.
Good question. No it isn’t dependent on the app to work. Certain features won’t happen without using the app. The Radiacode 101 needs to be connected to a phone to log radiation activity on a map. But the phone I use only has Wi-Fi data. So it only connects when I’m home and works fine with no internet out and about.
@@MagicGhost47 The RadiaCode app does not require internet access. I was even able to do a map log without it. It logged the proper GPS coordinates etc. in the exported log file.
@Magic_Ghost Radio Code-101 is produced in Russia, not the EU or China. Scan Electronics LLC
IQ Park Business Park 109089, Russia, Moscow, Ugreshskaya str., 2, p.36, office 41, they have sub-brands abroad, for example in Cyprus, but these are just distributors. This is just one of their products.
I bought mine on pre-order directly for about $ 150, after it cost about 200. Now it is about twice as expensive, about 300 at retail, due to increased overhead costs of the manufacturer.
In my opinion, the device is very overloaded with functionality and is more suitable for developers than for household use. Although, its functionality redeems any of its shortcomings.
Yes, the basic functionality of the device works without connecting to a smartphone. As far as I know, the iPhone, unlike Android, does not give the necessary access and permissions for the application to work, so the application for iOS exists only in a test form.
There are some problems with false positives from microwave interference or loss of connection, for example in a crowd where there are a lot of Bluetooth devices, but it depends more on your smartphone. There are also some connection stability bugs when working with Samsung smartphones and some Chinese brands.
@Adrian Nature's own fire drill.
It was cool to see your comparison of several geiger counters! I currently have a radiacode 101, and have been actually quite surprised at how many features beyond what a standard geiger counter has and general polish. The app is actually quite good, and I think deserves a video exploring all of the settings and logging things you can do with it. I have brought it in the car on road trips and overlayed the maps created by the radiacode with rock type maps from USGS, and they generally line up which I think is a cool experiment to do. The battery life and local logging abilities are good enough that I leave mine on 24/7 and charge it maybe once per few days to week. This means I can open up the app every few days and see if I previously was near any interesting sources (it auto connects over bluetooth and downloads the most recent data).
Extra note: I actually have two of them due to a shipping glitch, and they both always agree within the specified tolerance shown on the display next to the measurement, and came with a calibration certificate. That has made me feel more confident in their repeatability and made this comparison to other geiger counters interesting to see how accurate they actually are.
Hi Erik, there is a U.K. based UA-camr who has a few videos on the Radiacode 101 ua-cam.com/video/X3ZwpG8r4cU/v-deo.html
I love my Radiacode-101. The quick response makes it easy to home in on sources.
I wonder what russians do with all those user made radiation maps.
I bought the better gieger sc-1 about a month ago. It was around $160 after tax and shipping. I'm happy with it
Regarding the GQ GMC 320 (and 300e+): They unfortunately only used 16 bit or 2 byte to show the current CPM value. That means it rolls over to 0 after reaching 65535, and you have to remember to add that to the shown value. Furthermore, this obviously invalidates the µS/h reading. I once made it roll over to 0 three times, that was fun. (185kCPM or so)
You could try updating the firmware via USB. I think I remember that they fixed the 16 bit overflow bug a long time ago. (Not for the 300e+ though)
Apart from that, the device has a 3.5mm audio-jack. It's outputting the clicks as audio there. With a aux cable you can connect it to your smartphone and use the app "Radmeter" to get a more accurate, much faster measurement of high doses.
The 320 is also highly modifiable. I added a SBT11a pancake tube to mine and now it can detect alpha radiation, for example.
Thanks for that info, especially about being able to add an alpha detector. It looks like a nice little unit and good deal, for the price.
@@DEtchells
I presume you can add a sbt11a to any GMC that has the same default voltage range as the tube used in the GQ 300/320. Fortunately, the default tube of the 300/320 has almost the same voltage requirements as the SBT11A.
But you need to change the conversions factor of CPM to µSv/h (there are some available online via google.) you can find that either in the GQ GMC forum somewhere, or google :P
You can set the sample period on the GMC 320 to 10 seconds, through the User Options. I'm not sure if the 16 bit overflow would be reduced by 6x, but I supsect it would.
@@jboy55 that sounds more it is for the average calculation
I'd give ANYTHING to have ANY Geiger counter. Your channel fascinates me. Thank you, Drew!
Glad you find it interesting.
you can get a cheap piece of junk from china for about $20. It's not very sensitive, won't pick up bananas but will notice your smoke detectorrs rad source.
I got at PRM-7000 for measuring radiation at different altitudes on weather balloons, which it did well. It's more expensive than the GMC-320, but it has logging and doesn't seem to have the measurement latencies that other cheaper counters have. I think it's a much better option for those that want a counter that does logging.
Did you ever find significant levels at higher altitudes? What's the gist?
Great video. I got the RadioCode 101 and BetterGeiger units and m learning a lot in the process of figuring them out and comparing readings. Great to see Better Geiger’s creator commenting on this video. It’s a complicated subject with a large number of factors to consider.
It is complicated...that's why its hard for people to understand all the details. There's a lot to learn about the subject.
I'd trust Better Geiger to focus on accurate dosage readings, since that's basically the only purpose of the unit. I went with the RadiaCode for its extensive features and size. Might get the Better Geiger in the future, except it doesn't seem they have firmware updates. That's a bummer.
@@RadioactiveDrew especially with different types of detector. Just with G-M tubes, one gets into quenching, dead time on saturation, fold-back during recovery after saturation and each other type of detector has its own complications.
I've had quite a few enjoyable conversations with our base health physicist. :)
Not sure all that he had to monitor, as it's not my circus, not my monkey. I already had enough classified crap to keep me occupied without trying to cross the street to find trouble.
G-M tubes can burn out like vacuum tubes or tungsten light bulbs. Scintillator sensors have the chance to be more durable and longer-lasting.@@spvillano
@@jackieow there's nothing in a G-M tube to burn out. A tungsten light bulb can have enough filament evaporate to fail, which is its normal failure mode. Vacuum tubes can have cathode to heater leakage or heater failure, but typically die from cathode poisoning from residual oxygen or even envelope leak of air poisoning the cathode. The G-M tube failure would likely be similar, although more from leakage of air than poisoning, as they're not a hard vacuum.
Upside of G-M, they're cheap and plentiful. Downside, a bit less sensitive than scintillators and less long lived.
Like everything in engineering, it's all a tradeoff on price, function and capabilities. Specifically, what one can afford and the purpose one is putting the device to.
I had no clue uranium glazed tiles would be that active. Great video. No one should be afraid of learning about the world around us. I bought and built a counter from a kit years ago. Was much cheaper that way.
It was surprisingly hot compared to the uranium glass.
100% useful. This is exactly what I wanted to see in a quick comparison. Good stuff!
20:23 - Drew, speaking about correct dose rate measurement, the source should be placed not in touch with the detector to drop down bremsstrahlung effects in the filter and to reduce the effects of gamma flux changes from point to point. Try your detectors at a distance of 10 cm or more from the source to compare
Nice video, cool to see them all side by side! Your radeye is calibrated to Cs-137 (662 keV), so when you are measuring LOWER gamma energies like the source you compared, it is giving TOO HIGH of a dose number! This is a well-known problem with ordinary Geiger counters. You get a lot of features with the radeye that the others don't have, and a lot of expensive product certifications, that's why it's more expensive and the government uses it, not because it's more accurate across a wide range of energies. The fact that the radiacode-101 is matching the radeye is 100% proof that IT is giving the WRONG overestimated number also! That's one of the reasons I created the Better Geiger ;) ... it is much more accurate. The Better Geiger can also, importantly, handle about 20x HIGHER does rate than the cheap amazon Geiger counters on amazon (GMC-320), important for an emergency scenario! The downside is that, as you showed, it is not as reactive to betas. That makes it worse for searching for antiques which are mainly beta emitters (uranium glass, fiestaware) but it makes it better for every other application. You can also consider it an advantage, because Geiger counters will dramatically OVER respond to beta emitters giving wrong numbers that can confuse you in an emergency. Hey by the way, with the Better Geiger you can get a waterproof case and test source! :) ...otherwise, the radiacode-101 is definitely cool if you want to measure gamma spectra, but that's why the price is over double, although maybe there will be a future Better Geiger to measure spectra too. :)
Also was found that the Radiacode does not do spectral compensation of isotopes like originally speculated.
Does the BetterGeiger do spectroscopic compensation? I cant recall from the many discussions about your product in the server.
@@jamesluck2969 Yes it does take the incoming energy into account in order to correct for dose rate. Doing that effectively was one of the biggest challenges of developing the product, and the aspect I'm most proud of.
First of all, please look at H(10) filter for B20. This one is used to measure dose and dose rate with this detector. Also I have H(0.07) filter to measure x-ray dose (not higher than 160 keV) rate. Then, choose B20-ER instead of B20 to raise upper level limit from 10 kcps to 500 kcps (or 30 Mcpm) and 2 mSv/h to 100 mSv/h. I use this device more often than other of my devices if I don't know what is in front of me. It rather small to be placed on extention adapter to measure in holes or on high places. The next unique feature of B20 is the direct activity measurement of given isotope, alpha or beta emitting one.
@@SerpiphEven with the H(10) filter used in the video there is a variation in response vs. energy. This variation is much stronger when the radiation is not coming at a straight angle towards the front of the detector, and in the measurements in this video the angles were mixed between straight and very sharply angled because the source was placed very close to the surface! Another factor is that in those "contact" measurements the measurement is very sensitive to the position of the source, a tiny bit closer or further can cause really dramatic changes in response, and with the B20 it is probably possible to get the source a little bit closer to the sensitive element. All of these things combined can explain the difference between what the B20 read, what the cheap detectors read, and what the Better Geiger read. I designed the Better Geiger and I know how it responds to different energies, and I trust the number it gives.
@@BetterGeiger, first of all, I just speak about the device overload and the existence of B20-ER to extend the limits. Also, I say about H(10) filter to measure the dose rate but nothing was spoken here about the measurement quality and the measurement conditions.
Love your videos. I just bought a radiacode 102 and I can't wait for it to arrive. Thank you so much for the inspiration, keep it up!
That's awesome...I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Glad you're getting something out of the videos.
Great demos of some counters, very well done and explained. Thank you. The gamma spectroscopy aspect of the Radiacode sounds like it would be fascinating to use and explore with to see what could be found/identified out there. To be able to identify the source type sounds very very interesting (if there is anything to be found).
You would be surprised how much can be found.
It's so nice to see your channel growing Drew! Keep up the great work and God bless you!
Thanks. I’m glad to see it growing as well.
The Better Geiger S-1 is a scintillator type detector and compensates for the energy level of all gamma radiation, because it can directly measure the kev of any given gamma ray event.
Any standard GM detector, especially pancake tubes, even with an energy-compensating gamma filter, will always over-report the dose rate when measuring gamma energies lower than what they're calibrated for, typically Cs-137 at ~662 kev. Conversely, they will also under-report dose rates when measuring gamma energies HIGHER than what they're calibrated for, too. The only dose rate numbers you can trust are when you're measuring Cesium 137 (if that's what it's been calibrated for. some meters are calibrated for Cobalt 60).
Good information there
Very well done! I bought a GMC320 when I got atarted. I agree it is slow to respond. I added a Soviet alpha detector to mine & got rid of the GM tube, for better sensitivity. It looks kinda funky now, with my shade tree enclosure, but it's OK.
P.S. Were you the Andrew that I read about in a 2018 BBC story: The man who hunts 'hidden' radioactive objects ?
Yeah, that BBC story was about me. I wish I had started making videos about the stuff I was finding when I started out. But I’m happy with how the channel is shaping up.
I bought the GQ GMC-500Plus. You can adjust the read down to 5 seconds for faster response. 👍
@@markw.4679 You can for the GMC320 as well.
All of your videos are very interesting!! I know nothing about radiation. I'm finding myself googling it trying to learn more. However as a truck driver I used to haul crushed cars. Sometimes the Receiver of these loads would find hot items in the load. Most times it would be a short piece of oil field pipe. They would put it inside a 50 gallon barrel with a lid on it, and make me return it to the shipper. The shipper would show me how he could remove the radiation by putting the hot pipe in a fire. Later he would test it with his Geiger counter and it would not detect anything. Anyhow this is all very interesting and keep the videos coming!
That is interesting. Makes me wonder what was going on with those pipes.
I have watched this channel for 10 years. It has been amazing to see them go from a well dressed, middle aged woman, to a man, to a man with red hair, to a 12 foot tall man with eleven ears and antlers. Seriously, this person has suffered greatly to bring us content about radiation. #respect
😂
An excellent video. I think the underlying problem with the GMC-320 with the Ra-226 sample on contact was that not only is it slow to pick up the dose, it wasn't designed to show or calculate CPM values exceeding 65535. As such, an overflow happened, causing the counter to roll over and start from zero.
Excellent video, I mentioned I wanted to see something like this on another of your videos.. There is so little reference for this kind of information.. Have been trying to understand what is safe and how to make comparisons.. I had hoped to see some of these detectors, but one more is the Dosimeter-Radiometer MKS-05 Terra-P+.. Cheap is good, but to be reasonable and have calibration items available is very important.. Thanks, keep sharing your knowledge.. You have so much response it seems you are doing a great service..!
Wow ‼️so glad to see your subscribers are finally starting to grow ‼️🤩
You and me both.
Great video! Thanks for testing all those devices and giving some advice...
Wanted to share some info for german/european watchers. At first (before I watched any videos) I just ordered a quite cheap device from Amazon and later found out, that it is only able to measure beta-, gamma- and röntgen radiation. Just ordered an additional one (VOLTCRAFT RM-400 - roughly 350€), that can also measure alpha radiation, which was important for me. All in all for both dosimeters I payed around 550€. Depending on the devices, the prices do in general range between 200€ - XXXX€ for useful devices. Another important fact for me was, that it is run with batteries.
Interesting and expensive channel - now I needed to buy another radiation counter :D. Thanks for sharing the RadiaCode 102. Always was looking for an alternative to Geiger-Müller tubes in a portable, but home use scenario. Gamma-spectroscopy is an interesting field and the 102 will even fit in the pocket.
Nice video! I think part of the dose discrepancy is due to the S-1 having the detector much further from the wall of the case than the Radiacode. Inverse square law strikes again! Would have been nice if the distance from center volume of detector was noted in the manual somewhere.
That would be nice to know.
On the GQ one, you can reduce the time for a fast count estimate so it won't take so long to plateau. It will fluctuate more but not take so long to build up counts
I need to do another video testing out other detectors.
How do you do that?
Just did some comparisons with my new Mazur PRM-9000 / very similar refresh and features as a radeye and a good alternative to a B20 at a descent price (about $700) . Compared it to the Better Geiger and the GQ GMC-300 plus . Overall yes you do get what you pay for , the Mazur is def higher level enthusiast / professional level in terms of giving more accurate rates ( also reads Alpha , Beta, Gamma and X-ray )and is able to be easily recalibrated and serviced by Mazur and other companies , the Better Geiger is def fast and is good for letting you know proximity to radiation sources well and is very sensitive ( maybe too sensitive being a scintillator style sensor ?) , and the GMC is good enough for occasional antique hunters or beginners but is very cheaply built .
After watching some of your videos I was thinking of getting one. After searching it was pretty overwhelming. Glad you made this video.
I plan to make more. I think it’s good for people to see how these detectors work.
I don't know about the GMC 320+ but on the GMC 500+ model under user option it has a setting called fast estimate time. I find that changing that setting to 15 seconds gives the best performance and dramatically improves the response time. On the init setup menu I adjusted the tube voltage up to 48% this increases sensitivity and also extends the upper limit range a little bit.
Good to know. I didn’t get to mess with it too much.
Have you ever seen a Project Farm video? I highly recommend them. If you ever do another video like this one a PF video might give you some ideas on how to do it.
Thanks for that seat of the pants review - I have been considering a Radiocode for some time and it was interesting to see it compared this way.
There's lots of great options out there. I need to do a second video about some of the other options. But I do feel like this first video has some solid choices.
Everyone should have as many meters as possible! It's so awesome to be able to detect all the invisible things around us! I got a GMC for the affordability and take it with me whenever I go on the road. Lots of fun to see how the background levels change in different cities. But yeah, also wish it was a bit more bench-worthy.
Very expensive though & not necessary.
With all these radiation "watchers" out there hopefully we'll be able to PREVENT the worst of the criminal shenanigans (contamination, dumping etc) the nuclear industry carried out in the 40's 50's 60's 70's & 80's...whilst still being pro nuclear power. The worst of that was connected to nuclear weapons production it seems...with bad practices, fraud & corruption.
I would much rather have a radiation detector and know how to use it then rely on someone else to do it for me.
@@RadioactiveDrew Where in my comment did I say that you shouldn't? Nowhere...all I suggested was that lots of them aren't necessary...when a few that covers most of the bases is fine. A bit of intelligence in the selection of those few & the knowledge to use them correctly can save a lot of money.
That's why when there is fallout and hundreds of roentgens per hour, little toy meters don't save your life. But higher range meters do, in the hundreds of roentgens per hour. And they need to be small and discrete and portable so you can have it with you at all times. Ivan isn't going to announce when or where his nuclear rocket launches will happen.@@RadioactiveDrew
My wife got me a Terra-P by EcoTest a while back. Detects Beta and Gamma. I like it a lot...but not sure how easy it is to get now since the company that makes them is from the Ukraine.
Yes...they're still available from a Ukrainian con-merchant on ebay with huge price gouging evident.
Ludlum 14c are our meter of choice with pancake probe in our Nuclear Medicine department. Per NRC refs/our materials license all of our meters are calibrated annually. We have a couple older Bicrons and an Inspector.
I just picked up a pulse generator to calibrate my Ludlum Model 14C and Model 12.
@@RadioactiveDrew may I ask which pulse unit you got?
I got it off of eBay from a seller I buy from. Hers the link to the listing. www.ebay.com/itm/295395705380?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=s-DlLdAZRGa&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=phvzq5xqrby&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
@@RadioactiveDrew awesome thanx
This puts into perspective how much radiation x-ray tubes can emit. If holding that radium source almost at contact for 1h equals to about 4 chest x-rays while an x-ray lasts about one tent to one third of a second and the focal spot is about 1m away from the patient after it passed thorough filters and collimators. Its an absolutely insane dose rate what x-ray machines put out, not surprising there have been mishaps during fluoroscopy procedures.
Yes, x-ray tubes can put out a lot of radiation very quickly.
Holding the radium source to the chest for one hour is not equivalent to 4 chest x rays. And yes, x ray tubes are crazy. A small tube can produce dose rates of 1Sv/h at 1 metres distance continuously. For intermittent operation, much higher dose rates are possible.
X-ray tubes can emit enough energy to kill you in a second if they are large enough and have enough watts of power running through them. All x-ray tubes are not made for medical x-rays. Some are made for industrial uses and emanate a lot more power because they are built to consume a lot more power.
Very helpful! I would love love love to see a part 2 or follow-up video. I would like to see some more standard sources tested at a controlled distance and controlled amount of time. I'm interested in how far away from common sources like fiesta or uranium glassware or thorium mantles different detectors are able to notably register. Making a time/distance chart could be cool. I like when you talk about how you use different detectors, like scintillation detectors for honing in. Does having an alpha detector make antiquing easier?
I think having a detector that can detect alpha radiation makes it a bit easier. Usually the detectors are a bit larger so they can detect the beta radiation from further away.
I did. Thanks Drew. I'm in the market for one of these and while i know this isn't a thorough review and not even scratching the surface of the number of counters that are made(theres 100s), i was able to eliminate quite a few and know what i can test whatever i buy with.
The Radiacode101 actually have a built-in spectra function to tell which radioisotope is present, but due to the resolution of the screen ( and crystal ), better view is obtained when connected to a phone with its app.
Works with android tablets too...
@@ajacks1349 It do, can also function when connected to laptop with a USB cable. However I am unable to know if it supports apple devices yet.
That’s good to know information
That Ludlum brings back memories. We had the probe that had a shield over it so you could tell if it was gamma vs particulate radiation.
Thanks for the video... I was already wondering if I would buy one, where to get one. Just for "fun". Sure turns out the RadEye is the best... but also the most expensive. I get your note on "government spending" :)
I am reminded of a use for a GM tube and Beta source you might not think of. In the USAF I worked on the F-106 interceptor. In order to measure the engine oil quantity at any flight attitude, Conair, the maker, wrapped a tube of radioactive gas (DNR what type) around the oil tank. The GM tube sat on the other side of the tank. It's integrated count indicated the oil quantity. A reliable system as I recall. Considering that one of the squadron's birds carried a missile with a 1.5KT war head nobody worried about a little radon gas.
Radon gas in that situation would be the lest of my concern in that situation. To measure a liquid like jet fuel you would need a gamma or neutron emitter of some kind. Interesting way to do it.
@@RadioactiveDrew The engine oil was measured with a radioactive source gas. The fuel, JP4, was measured by the capacitance of probes in the several tanks. The geometry of the plates on the cylindrical probes was a compensation for the tank dimensions. But yes, it is a unique feeling standing next to a nuke, even a small one.
That sounds really interesting. Would be cool to see that setup.
@@glenbirbeck4098 I recently read Eric Schlosser's very interesting "Command and Control" , where he talks about "the Genie" :) Thanks for sharing.
I want one for myself! I keep saying I want a geiger counter for my birthday and no one believes me :(
Ask people to give you money for your birthday and buy one yourself.
Great video. I have a cheapie Russian GM detector, same as a the white one you demonstrated. I also got a bargain on a Canberra AN/VDR2 kit with all 4 probes. That unit is a bit larger than the fisher, but the probe set is incredible. I use it when I want to “get serious”, but use the cheapie when hiking or going to gem shows.
The VDR2 it is a great kit to have!
I like my Gamma Scout. Would add the Radiacode-101 for spectrum analysis if the political/supply situation would abate. Also, isn't your B20 calibration-traceable to a standard? I would believe that one!
Well the B20 is calibrated for Cs-137, and while it does exhibit a fairly flat energy response with the dose filter, looking at the curve it does tend to over respond a bit to higher energy gamma. I don't think this is the cause of the reported higher dose however. The better Geiger's detector is not right against the case like in the Radiacode, it is actually in a little cup of epoxy, which puts it a distance from any of the case walls. This extra distance is likely the cause of why the dose readings are lower, I'm sure if you moved the source an equivalent distance away from the radiacode they would be more likely to agree.
Hello, I've been watching your videos for some time and find them very interesting. As soon as you start to think about radioactivity, you immediately think of the Geiger counter. But if you dig a little deeper, you'll realize that there are several types of device. The video isn't bad, but it's important to distinguish between ictometers, radiameters, dosimeters and contaminameters. In fact, everything changes depending on the intended use, but the most interesting are: on the one hand, Geiger-Muller tube counters can detect beta, gamma and, in certain specific cases, alpha rays. And on the other hand, radiation meters, also known as flow meters, which can use a Geiger-Muller tube or another type of sensor, as on the radiacode-102. Unlike the simple counter, the radiation meter is energy-compensated, enabling it to give a more or less reliable estimate of dose rates, whatever the radio-element under consideration. But the disadvantage is that only gamma rays are generally taken into account by the survey meter. I emphasize that my comments are synthetic, since I have omitted neutron radiation...
I'm looking for an easy-to-use but effective ictometer: like the radiascan 701A, capable of counting alpha, beta and gamma radiation. Unfortunately, my search is in vain, given that since the sanctions against Russia, there are none on the market, and that most equivalent meters cost over $1000 for specialized corporate use, or that those on sale are only for gamma and beta radiation! Can you advise me on this? What choice should I make for a good meter without spending $1000?
It depends on what you’re going to be using the detector for. A good all around would be a used Ludlum Model 3 with a 44-9 probe. Then you could change out probes based on your use. Those can be found in good condition for well under $1000.
@@RadioactiveDrew Thank you for replying individually to each comment! I'll take note of your advice, in any case I'll continue my research and continue your passion because your videos are great. I thank you for the attention you've given me! Have a nice day :)
@Jofjcrj glad you appreciate the work. I try and answer as many comments as I can.
Very informative! I always wanted a Geiger counter, but the good ones are so pricey!
Also, any chance you could lower the volume when the beeping ramps up? Every time that RadEye gets going, my cats freak out! 😉
I usually lower it now in my videos. It use to be louder…what it sounds like in real life.
The Better Counter supposedly compensates for the energy according to their website.
Great video Drew. It would be interesting to see what you would recommend for a prepping situation for a SHF situation.
"Shit hits the Fan"?
I’m working on a couple videos about this subject.
@cyphermunk7258 that would be correct. Just tried to put it nicer if any kids saw the comment. Lol
@@RadioactiveDrewlooking forward to that
For prepping you need a survey meter that can handle hundreds of roentgens per hour, since that is what fallout can deliver. The meters shown today overload or "saturate" at maybe 2 roentgens per hour and then go to zero. So you think you are in a zero radiation field but are actually getting killed by hundreds of roentgens per hour (unless it alerts you it is overloaded = saturated). If you are in a fallout zone at 600 r/hr and head one way to get 800 r/hr but another way to get 100 r/hr, you can't tell the difference unless you can measure it. You don't always have a nice fallout shelter to jump into, so until you get to one you have to measure which path leads to danger and which path leads to lesser doses of radiation. A Sievert like $ is a hundred times more than Roentgen like cent. Three Sieverts kills half the people, equal to 300 Roentgens if accumulated dose within a few days. One Sievert or 100 Roentgens within a few days gives radiation sickness. Five Sieverts or 500 Roentgens within a few days would kill most anybody.
Since this video covers different choices of dosimeters, it would be great to test their resistance to electromagnetic interference. Maybe except RadEye, although I did test my GQ GMC-500+ twice by exposing it for 2-3 seconds with no permanent issues or any damage. One of the sources can be housing of 55 W operating compact fluorescent light. Ludlum dosimeter as well as any one with external probe is good to demonstrate that no ionizing radiation is involved above normal background level. Electric discharge weapon is an excellent source as well as piezo-electric lighter. The best source however is x-ray tube power supply built by students of physics or electrical engineering as part of their project. Maybe The University of Montana has one. Of course the necessary precautions must be taken: in addition to ionizing radiation, the potential difference easily exceeds 50 kV.
You should make a video where you explain how to read and operate and how to understand and compare the readings
I’ll work that into the next review video.
You are very generous towards the cheaper counters saying there kinda slow and not very good I have a lot of good units but a few cheaper ones and you were cracking me up with the cheaper units I also agree with you alot of people should have atleast one geiger counter
Well I don’t want to talk bad about something that someone might want to buy because that’s all they can afford. I try and present it as level as I can.
If I only had a cheap meter on me for measurement. And it started to go crazy showing high levels of radiation. It's still giving me the same message as a more expensive meter. To GTFO of there ASAP!
I build my own gm counters. I use a lot the sbt10a tube, is very sensitive and gives a background of 180 to 240 cpm.
I wantef to get a Cs137 source but could never locate one. I have a small collection of radioactive minerals and items. Thorite is relatively easy to find online. The gamma spectrometer you showed uses a very small crystal and a solid state sensor so is sortbof limited. Planning to build a scintillation detector using a photomultiplier and a good size Nal(TI) crystal
You can order a Cs-137 source (in the U.S.) from Spectrum Techniques. Only around $100.
It would be nice to see some of the detectors you’ve made.
@@GeigerCounterVirtualMuseum will do something when im back from vacations
My son is going to need a detector for his Nuclear Science merit badge. Thank you for posting about this.
Very interesting. Really curious where and how you store your radioactive sources. I have a couple of them and 3D printed containers with lead shielding in the walls. I am building my own geigers.
I keep all the spicy sources in an old safe.
12:57
If you haven’t heard, the Radicode has been upgraded to the 102.
I just got one a few days ago! I ordered a 101 over a month ago, and got notified I would get a 102. It’s so small and nicely made!
Seems like background around my place is ~0.07 uSv/h or ~7 CPS. That seem higher than I was expecting…
That dose rate is a little higher than normal after the energy compensation update that happened. Before that the background was around .08 uSv/hr, which is pretty normal.
@@RadioactiveDrew i recently noticed when you use your radeye, you see background around 38 CPM?
When I put the 102 in CPM, it shows ~385, but uSv/hr is still ~0.07 - 0.06.
that's just a difference in the kind of detector and how fast it reacts? (can't compare directly)
@@Revvek the dose rate between the 2 detectors is very close because that's done using a conversion. The scintillation is going to be far more sensitive to background and gamma radiation than the pancake detector.
@@RadioactiveDrew you can almost tell how cloudy it is outside with it. 😃
NGL, besides sensetivity, the sound of the click is the most important to me. None of that beep beep nonsense. It should sound like a micrometiorite just hit a mylar sheet. GQ-GCM 500 or 600 are both good for that.
That’s one of the reasons I like old vacuum tube detectors. They have great sounds
Seeing this video shows how important it is to know that not all radiation detectors detect every kind of radiation. If you don't understand that, you may think you're safe when you're actually in danger.
Very true.
Hello. I like everything about radioactivity.
Awesome video Drew, I was curious in another video about your detectors and didn't see this video. Your channel is great
Thanks. I’m trying to educate people on this topic while I learn more along the way. Radiation and radioactivity are such exciting subjects to tackle.
I own a total of 4 geiger counters/dosimeters, but my favorite is the Mazur PRM-9000. Simple, yet elegant device with super accurate measures and a multitude of options. I always carry a Soeks 01M on me since it's super small, but the Mazur is still my number one.
I'm glad your channel exploded Drew! I've been a subscriber for a while and was hoping it would get bigger, never thought it would go that fast though! Congrats! Keep it up!!
I have a Soeks 01M as well. That was my first Geiger counter. I use to carry it around with me everywhere and have it constantly running in the truck on road trips. It was a great little detector.
Yeah, the channel has been taking off.
@@RadioactiveDrew Super happy for you. You deserve it. Cheers!
Thanks.
I love my Mazur prm 9000 too. I let it run 24/7 logging and sometimes I hook it up to the radiation network.
I also always have my Soeks with me. I have it in my front pocket on when I go into Goodwill. A quick move of a suspected piece of Vaseline glass or pottery by my pocket tells me if it’s hot or not.
I love the RadiaCode 101, the detection principle is more accurate and way more sensitive per area. Furthermore the battery last for weeks on one charge while recording continously!
The Radiacode 101 (now the 102) lasts forever on one charge. I use mine daily when out and about.
I have a GMC-500, always wanted a rad-eye but kind of expensive for a hobbyist. I live near the rocky flats and wondered if there was anything radioactive near me
I'd imagine that the GMC-500 would be BLIND to most of the radioactive contamination that took place at RF's, because the Chinese glass GM tube can only detect high energy beta particles, gamma & X rays...not the mainly alpha particles that are emitted from significant Plutonium contamination at that site & farther afield. Minimum you'd need is a mica pancake sensor equipped meter.
I searched the exact video title. You read my mind. Anyone who reviews this type of equipment has to know a thing or two!
There was a German researcher who used to make videos inside the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone and they had several devices that I dont fully understand the purpose of.
For example: 3 different devices? One for high energy gamma? I think they were looking for small sources that contained radionuclides from the reactor itself.
When they started getting into mSv/hr it was scary. She handled them with minimal PPE, I was more concerned about chemotoxic effects of the metals themselves. Especially anything calcium seeking like Strontium-90. I think she said most of the remaining contamination outside the containment structure is Cs-137.
Some plants pick up this, but many do not. She proved that the apples were not substantially above background/a control. She ate this apple right off the tree. I wouldn't eat a potato grown there, but I think there's understatement of chemotoxicity in these radionuclides. The radiation may be OK, but what about other contamination. Chemicals used in the Liquidation. Heavy metals like lead... I'm kinda ranting here.
What should I buy for a general purpose device and where do you get them serviced if they're full of IC and digital signals? Analog is ok. I want to test granite slabs before and after the sealant, also finding Hotspot on them.
Great video by the way.
She found a pea sized source that was reading 20 mSv/hr with her gamma device and a tube covered in plastic. So that was just gamma? She was holding it in her bare hand. I guess it's not THAT radioactive but she can't run NMR or mass spec to find what's actually in that little piece of graphite. Could be Pu in that lmao. I loved her videos so much.
I remember watching Bionerd. She made some interesting videos.
As far as what detector to get...it kind of depends on your budget. The digital ones can work great and I have seen zero drift in the calibration on my Radeye B20. The analog Ludlums do in re-calibration from time to time. I have a small pulse generator that I use for calibrating those.
I bought a really cheap Geiger Muller tube one from Banggood (£40) and it seems quite good if slow to settle. I have an Aladdin lamp with a new old stock mantle and it is splendidly active. 20-30 CPM background and the mantle reads 300-400 CPM with the glass removed so I assume that it is an alpha emitter. Genuinely interesting stuff to mess with.
It's a fun hobby with so many facets to it, that can be done safely with some basic knowledge & precautions. I think the real hazard with mantles only comes about after they're lit, when they can disintegrate so easily & literally blow away & become airborne.
If I may ask, which PRC GM counter model is it? Not many that do cps/cpm, as most are dose rate only in uSv/h.
@@ajacks1349 it’s a Pudibei! It has a nice Geiger muller tube but it’s not directional obviously. It does cpm and cumulative dose with user set limits. I was genuinely surprised. I think that I saw it on a channel called survival Lilly.
@@robinwells8879 Ah yes, I watch the lady from Vienna, Austria too now & again...🤣
I recently bought an unbranded HFS-10 from amazon but had to return as the battery drained completely within a few days, when switched off. Apparently a known major fault. which the seller must have known about.
I think the vast majority of PRC counters/detectors use a variant of the glass tubed GM's, often an m4011, which even the claimed US company GQ electronics with its GMC 300 & 500 series... uses.
All mine are from the UK, Russia, US, Poland & Israel, so mainly SBM-20 variants & LND mica pancakes.
It is a fun hobby
I wish radiation detectors were more available when i was young.
I,got my first one from an employe of the Doodewaard Nuclear plant, It was an old Cutie pie made by nuclear Chicago.
Alas it was a bit to late to have a healthy childhood. My dad was a collector of military compasses, optics, watches, aircraft
instruments and radio equipment. the collection was everywhere in the house even in his bedroom, and also in mine.
Under my bed was a Gibson Girl emergency transmitter, next to my bed were german flak optics with the large radium painted
aiming sight, a german radio transceiver and the instrument panel of a Harvard.
When i got the cutie pie at age 14 my life expectancy was suddenly reduced to zero, but i am still here!
Those Cutie Pie detectors are pretty cool.
🗣️ Dear Customers, RadiaCode-101 is currently out of stock due to unexpectedly high demand. New orders will be dispatched in approximately 50 days after the order. We are very sorry for the inconvenience. We will attach a free gift leg band case for Radiacode, for this delay.
All shipments to EU countries, USA, UK, Norway, Switzerland, Australia and Canada and others are dispatched from Cyprus (European Union).
Love my radiacode. Will be getting another for backup.
Ahhh thanks Drew, was waiting for a video like this :) Cheers!
Yay 30k subs
I know...I'm excited about that sub count.
Personally I think you get what you pay for, but for just a warning the cheap ones will do. For radiological surveys I’d personally use the Ludlum with probe, and I would pay for calibration if it was used for serious use. It’s nice because it also has a high dose tube in the event of really bad things.
The Ludlum is a very solid detector. I always have one with me as a backup in the truck.
I own a Ludlum model 3 with a 44-38 probe, a Ludlum 2241 with a 44-9 pancake probe, and custom BC408 plastic scintillator probe for X-Rays, and a 44-10 sodium iodide scintillator. I also have a Radiascan 701, and a Radiacode 101. Don't ask me for financial advise. Would absolutely recommend the Radiacode 101 for a first buy because all the features in a small package the built in gamma spec is awesome. my first buy was a GQ300E they are dreadfull. When hiking around scouting for goodies the smaller detectors are way less cumbersome.
Yeah, smaller is usually better.
Those are some really nice instruments and probes
What's best for surveying for radium you think?
It's amazing how careless they used to be with radium.
It is pretty amazing.
The worst thing about it is that they (manufacturers, health bodies & governments) knew about the health hazard implications of these materials long before they restricted their manufacture & use. Homer Laughlin made Fiestaware with Uranium oxide (actually DU) coatings/glazes up & including 1972 !!!
Yeah that’s true
I'm very much interested in getting a Ludlum 14C Geiger Counter in the future. Thank you for your demonstration of all the Detectors. I'm also interested in where I can get the various T-Shirts that you wear in your videos. 👍
You can find the shirts at uraniumstore.com
Great comments, especially at the start about getting kids involved and people educated. Way to much Fear Uncertainty and Doubt spread by special interest groups. Great reviews. Small market and expensive here in Australia to get one of these devices, but are keeping an eye out. Thanks for the great channel.
Glad you enjoyed it.
That was an excellent product review and summary. I learned a lot. Thank you and greetings from Arizona.
Glad you got some info out of it. I’m working on another one with different detectors.
Interesting video. I picked up a Radiascan 701A a couple years ago based off another YT channel's (Brainiac75) review and have been happy with it. For the price ~$350 USD iirc it works quite well. I see now it's over double that at $875. They also have a gamma spectrometer for a reasonable price. Looks like they ship from various places around the world but seeing as they're based out of and made in Russia good luck getting one right now.
Yes, the Radiascan 701A is one of the best consumer grade/semi pro devices available.
By the way, produced by the same company as Radio Code-101. Scan Electronics LLC
Radiascan-701A costs $365 now, Radio Code-101 is about 260 in Russia.
You can get a radiacode 102 now from Cyprus..not Russia.
I do like the video, but would love to see the tests on the detectors using different shield materials to block alpha particles, like a plastic layer, an aluminum sheet to block beta particles and so to show how well they detect each type of radiation.
I might through in that example when I do a video explaining radiation.
Interesting video. Actually since I've discovered your channel I've though about purchasing a Geiger counter. Not only are radioactive antiques interesting to me but they have a radioactive waste dump site in St. Louis MO and I'm curious how bad it is. Thanks for the vid Drew. Merry Christmas and happy New Year.
Having a Geiger counter around is good. So many things around us are radioactive. I would like to check out that site in Missouri one day as well.
@@RadioactiveDrew I've collect antiques here and there. After watching one of your videos I noticed the orange Fiesta wear in one of my cabinets and showed my wife. She was like, "Should we get rid of it?"🙂. I have various other things as well, just curious.
It would be interesting to get some readings at that dump
@@The5As7you shouldn’t have any worries about the Fiesta in your cabinet.
@@GeigerCounterVirtualMuseum Why do you say that?
Hiii! Ive been a fan of yours since i watched your video of visiting the decomissioning plant. I just want to say you really helped me discover my love for radioactive and nuclear stuff and my choice of geoger counter. Im 15 and have been into this stuff since i was like 8 lol.
I’m glad you took up the interest. It’s a subject with endless things to discover.
@@RadioactiveDrew Yass! 💗💕☢️
@@RadioactiveDrewhey i had a question.
At 24:01 the detector dropped to a much lower number. What could this mean? Does it mean the detector broke?
@kaylus9859 the detector didn’t break. The programming for the device had a fault when getting to that high count rate. Some people have told me a firmware update fixed this issue but I don’t know if that’s true because I haven’t verified it.
@@RadioactiveDrewyay ty!!! I just ordered a GMC 320s for a starter detector. The cheapest i could find that i had seen reviews on. I appreciate the tips!! ❤
I was subscribed to Radioactive Drew way before it was cool 😎 😄
congrats on your channel blowing up!
(that's quite the Am241 collection! If you could somehow seal them in their vial or a glass ampoule under vacuum, you could almost certainly observe the emission spectrum for helium by exciting it with a high voltage / Tesla probe, recreating the Rutherford-Rounds experiment. No one's ever done that on video before to my knowledge!)
I've been thinking about this...capturing enough helium would be a trick but doable I think.
@@RadioactiveDrew Sorry, Rutherford ROYDS experiment. Yes, it may take some time to be able to observe the lines, and a very high vacuum will need to be attained initially, so on second thought, the experiment cannot be conducted in that small vial which would be permeable at the cap, but will need the sources to be sealed in a new clean glass ampoule.
The energy compensation filter for the radeye is rated for as low as 17keV, and hence it's going to be letting through a fair bit of beta.
Could you do a video on radiation measurement? You often talk about counts per minute and show Kcpm or Cpm on the Radeye, but I have no idea how these counts or the Radeye’s measurement relate to real life(I.e. a chest x-Ray, or a CT scan, etc.
I’ll do a video about the different units of measurement I use and how they relate to each other.
@@RadioactiveDrew Thank you! You’re content is excellent! 👍
The meters he showed overload (saturate) at about 2 Roentgens or less, and be worthless in a nuclear fallout zone because they would decay to zero after being overloaded or saturated. A dental x-ray would be about 15 milliRoentgens (15 milliRems) and a chest x-ray about 30 milliRems. With modern x-ray film, even less. 100 Roentgens in a few days produces radiation sickness in most people. 300 R in a short time kills half the humans. 500 and certainly 600 Roentgens in a few days kills almost everybody. You can absorb 7 R per day and not get radiation sickness, but any radiation increases the risk of cancer and weakening of your white blood cells in the direction of body weakness and infections. One Sievert (like $) is a hundred times more than one Roentgen (like cent). A Becquerel is one decay or one ray of radiation per second, without regard to energy level. A Curie is millions of decays, without regard to energy level. A Roentgen is enough radiation to ionize about a billion air molecules into positive and negative fragments. A Sievert is 100x what a Roentgen is. Tissue damage is measured as Rems or Grays, since gamma rays are a low risk to certain tissues like muscle but a high risk for cancer to tissues like bone marrow and the lining of the intestines. Rem = roentgen equivalent mammalian, as opposed to cancer induction risk to fish or birds. Some of these measurements can only be done in a lab with a lot of taking angles and overlaps into account, so only cancer therapy labs worry about them.
You are right, the B20 will be calibrate with Cs-137 and teted with Am-241, Sr-90 and Cs-137
I think the Better Geiger is more accurate than you think. The sensor is not right up to the casing so it up close it's actually a few millimeters further away then the others and that is a lot. To better compare gamma know where sensor is internally and align so that ditance to object is say 5 cm (2 inch). The Better Geiger should be energy compensated. That is the whole idea of it.
I would not say the RadEye is bad but for gamma I think the two scintillators are better (when you know where the sensor is internally) as they're energy compensated. The RadEye is expensive, yes, and calibration is most likely very good (to the known isotopes). But I think it's probably also way overpriced. It has a small audience and government as primary customer happily pays more than regular market price. Sure I'd love one too but not at that price.
For the Hanchen. It looks more or less like FS2011. If you're savvy with a soldering iron you can get custom firmware for it - Rad Pro. Rad Pro is also for NH-750 and a few others that share same microcontroller (you can set tube in firmware). It has a very interesting option - Instantaneous readout - where it takes average of 5 seconds or 11 counts whichever is fastest. No more extremely slow rise and fall. Of course it fluctuates more because of the randomness.
Wow, that seems like a lot of finagling to get that Hanchen to not be horrible.
The Radeye B20 has a whole list of isotopes to choose from so it can be energy compensated if you know the isotope you are dealing with. You can also add more to that list. Of course that software and communication cable to do that is horribly expensive.
The Radiacode and the Better Geiger are very solid detectors. I have both but I use the Radiacode everyday and carry it around with me.
@@RadioactiveDrew Yeah. I got to get the Radiacode some day. Not overly expensive on their website.
It's not that bad loading another firmware in the FS2011 etc. It's just solder 4 connections and connect a USB interface device to your computer. I might very well experiment with it in the near future. When hunting radioactive antiques I don't bring my best geiger. Just a cheap one which IMHO is good enough to decide whether or not to buy but a little faster readout would be nice.
thanks for doing this. too many to choose from. i currently only have an SMG2 which isnt much... definitely want a radeye AB100 (alpha and beta) and a radeye G to cover everything
About two years ago I got my hands on a Soeks 112 because I wanted something small and portable that I could use for testing rock samples and minerals. I bought it for about 100 Euros or about 120 USD and now it's pretty much impossible to get.
Yeah those are good ones. Easy to keep on you.
My first GC was one of the best gifts I ever received. It was a build your own kit from Adafruit, but wasn't to hard to put together. No displays but there is a way to connect it to a computer to get counts off it. I have had many hours spent at antique malls looking for hot items, and always feel joy upon finding them.
That sounds so cool. Is it expensive?
@@Simonjose7258 i dont have that exact kit but one similar that i bought off walmart's website of all places and it was like 100 bucksno case or anything just a board with a Arduino and LCD on it and a tube from china it seemed to do pretty good with my thoriated lantern mantles
It fun exploring an antique mall with them. Always get some funny looks. Most people want to know about it and are fascinated when I show them.
@@GeigerCounterVirtualMuseum sadly there are not many places here that sell antiques but when i demonstrated to a few people how some smoke alarms are radioactive they were genuinely shocked and i explained how its such a small amount and shielded that its safe
Nuclear was such a massive part of Americana for a literal decade or two. My granddad was a nuclear physicist, and always talked of Nuclear like it’s an endless clean energy if used right. I wish more thought like you, Drew. Great content.
Glad you’re enjoying the content. I’m glad I get to make videos about a subject that I’m interested in and other are interested in as well.
Kinda surprised you didnt mention how the different counters use different tubes and something else worth mentioning is alot of the ones from china actually under drive the tubes like the one i had the tube start and working voltages were 400 to 500 volts and the hv supply in it was only giving the tube 320 now my gmc500+ i like cause i can put in other tubes and adjust voltage as needed on the fly in the menu which i have done to allow me to use an lnd712 alpha beta gamma tube and my readings seem to match what my check sources say they should be
Unless you're using a high-impedance volt meter, the very act of measuring the voltage in a geiger counter will cause it to drop significantly and give you a false low reading. You need to use a meter with 1 GOhm input impedance. Standards DMMs won't work to get an accurate reading.
@@Orcinus24x5 i was not using a dvom rather an analog i also had the same reading on a dvom and scope i was also measuring before the current limiting resistor right on the output of the simple diode and cap voltage multiplier it also seemed to not be completely stable it is very possible that mine was just defective which if so is no biggie since i have a much better one now
@@Orcinus24x5 Or use a 1GΩ resistor in series...
whoa, BG set you them!? That's stand up! I feel like price points (except the last thing) feel spot on for what you get (in all aspects that implies). I want to get into this hobby and I'm thinking betterG then the radacore, and maybe a Cold War era detector if a sleeper appears on the bay. TY for the video!
Yeah, the guy that runs Better Geiger was very helpful about the whole thing. Glad you enjoyed the video.
In Soviet Russia, geiger counter counts YOU!
Tritium was used on analogue watch dials for many years. Interesting thing as an aside was a metallic taste in my mouth as I was working outside here in Georgia USA shortly after the Chernobyl Tragedy in 1986. But that could happen anywhere on earth given the testing done in various parts of the world in the 1950's. Including the vaporizing of an island by US. I had actually forgotten that smoke detectors have americium 241 in them to detect ionizing smoke.
I know about tritium being used in watches. I have a tritium compass I bought new a couple years ago.
kcpm = kilo counts per minute. So 100 kcpm = 100,000 cpm.
Need to be very careful with Ra-226 because it decays into Radon gas (222) via alpha particle emission. Radon-222 also decays via a similar alpha particle emission reaction pathway into Polonium-218 (then to Lead-214). There are further readioactive decays via beta particle emissions (ie electrons) as well as side reactions involving more alpha decays.
Handle that Ra-226 very carefully and ensure it's well ventilated and shielded. Remember, this material is in decay mode ALL THE TIME. And with Ra-226 having a half life of about 1600 Years it's practically a permanent hazard as far a human life or a community is concerned.
Good info! Although I have no immediate need for a GC, it's good to know what to look for.
I would say that the Radeye and Radiacode are correct. Especially the radiacode because it uses a scintillation crystal which can actually discern energy levels and therefore calculator dose based on that. Also I think that everyone should go for a scintillation based detector like the radiacode, the ability to do gamma spectroscopy is incredibly useful when your trying to identify why something or someplace is radioactive
The better geiger is a scintillation detector. According to their website, it determines the gamma photons' energy based on the intensity of the flash of light produced within the scintillation crystal. The radeye uses a pancake tube to my knowledge, unable to determine gamma energy levels. The radiacode 101, also being a scintillation detector, can and does determine gamma energy levels and can perform gamma spectroscopy. Either the better geiger or the radiacode 101 is accurately calculating gamma doses based on energy and one would assume the more expensive radiacode to be the most accurate
@@AGuyFromHazard That's a common misconception. While scintillation detectors do produce a signal proportional to incoming energy, this feature is not used to calculate dose.
The BetterGeiger has some kind of energy compensation, I dont know if it works properly. The RadiaCode does not have such and delivers falsely high reading at energys significantly lower then 662 keV.
I have a theory on the Better Geiger. I believe it’s using a plastic scintillator, which isn’t going to be as sensitive.
@@RadioactiveDrew not plastic, it's a CsI crystal, but is small and isolated within a resin sealed housing with in a housing.
@@sonyxperiasmk The energy proportional pulse can be used to calculate dose, while the radiacode does not do this, meters like the radeye PRD, and better geiger S-1 do.
I recently ordered a Ludlum Model 14C with the 44-9 and a Cs-137 check source for $750 and I have a backordered Radiacode 101.
The Ludlum Model 14C with the 44-9 probe is a solid detector to have. I'm very happy with mine.
@@RadioactiveDrew I don't know if you have ever looked into the Mazur meters before but they're pretty solid units too I got the 9000 recently that comes with the GM pancake tube.
The GMC-320 going back to lower readings during high CPM events might be related to an integer overflow within the software. It never seemed to go above 65535 which is the maximum value a 16-bit integer can hold. The manufacturer is likely using 16-bit arithmetic in their firmware and they should really change that to 32-bits. Additionally, the reason why it takes SO LONG to settle to the right value isn't related to the detector itself but to the software doing overly agressive and too naive averaging. The manufacturer was likely trying to compensate for the tube not being sensitive enough at normal background levels by doing a long average, but this cause problems in highly dynamic environments like yours. The should relax that or make their averating algorithm a bit more intelligent (or configurable)
It's a wonder how someone hasn't created custom firmware for the 320 to fix some of its issues, like issues in calibration (not being able to place a decimal point, if you replace the stock tube with a better one and you have to calibrate it but can't get exact numbers because you can't place a decimal point), issues with slow screen response (maybe more optimization in the software could help, or maybe a separate firmware for users that has replaced the stock tube with a more sensitive tube and don't have to rely on such aggressive averaging), and the count limit due to it being 16 bit, and other quality of life changes and bug fixes.
I wonder if there's a hardware limitation that keeps them from being able to use 32-bit?
@@madmax2069 Definitely not a hardware limitation regarding the 16bits issue. You can do 32bits arithmetic on a 8bits microcontroller if you want to. They are just a bit lazy :-)
@@the_bootloader I know it's using an STC microcontroller running at 35Mhz (I'm not sure if it's an 8bit or 16bit), I know you can do it on an 8bit CPU it's just going to be really slow at doing it (which is what I call a limitation, it's not that it can't do it, it's just going to be too slow at doing it to be useful), if you do this you probably won't be able to get the display to count up faster (it'll probably be even slower to respond than it is now), probably why they used 16bit instead of 32bit. It's a tradeoff, higher count and slower count speed, vs lower count and higher count speed.
@@madmax2069 It's actually very fast (from an assembly perspective, to count, it is basically about adding a conditional jump to do another add and handling the carry) and if there was an issue with high count rates they could optimize it, for instance by having using a native 16bits counter in the interrupt and increasing the 32bits count time permitting in the main loop. Honestly it is really not an issue and the microcontroller really enough has processing power especially if running at 35 MHz. Additionally, Geiger-Muller tubes tend to saturate at a few kHz - a well optimized interrupt handler can totally do a 32bits accumulation at this rate even in software, and they could have used a hardware counter to enable even more count rates. So TL;DR there is really no excuse for them not to handle this better.
@@the_bootloader so I wonder if they was just strapped for time, or just did a half butt job and just sent it using older software with few changes to make it work without improving it, or the person/people writing said software for it just either wasn't skilled enough, or just didn't care because its a cheap unit.
the firmware is clearly updateable (seeing people on their forums flashing them to a different firmware)