SI-8B TEKO DIY Geiger Counter by Atomic.

dave
Atomic.Dave@yahoo.com
This custom hand-made geiger counter built by Atomic Dave is based on a kit from DIY Geiger Counter. All info to create this kit is available on the website below so if you want you can create your own. Schematic and very detailed instructions are available at that site. This is more of a kit for someone who knows a bit about electronics but doesn't have the time or patience to build it. It was not built in a lab but by me personally, so there are some imperfections to it, although minimal. The components are all new, except the Geiger Tube which is Russian made tested New Old Stock.

http://www.sites.google.com/site/diygeigercounter/
It has a mini USB port on the top left side that is used for data logging with Free arduino software (FTDI driver required) and also used for programming and customizing the unit within Arduino. I am including a CD with all the necessary software, drivers and the sketch used to program it as it is. YOU will be able to take the sketch and change it to however you want. You can put your name on the screen, It just takes a little programming skill but all can be learned from the developers website listed above. It also has a 3.5mm digital output on the top right side for Geiger Bot hookup with the included cable. Make sure and plug the 4 conductor plug into the iphone and the 3 conductor into the geiger counter.

http://sites.google.com/site/geigerbot/

Select options

Select Geiger Counter Select Custom GM Tube

Adjust Conversion factor to your tube: 360 for LND7317 100 for LND712 175 for SBM-20 Select I/O Settings

Auto Adjust OFF (you may need to play with this setting) RMS Window 1 Delay Window 30 Volume Thresh 20000

Ultrafast Rates ON

NEW MENU MODE SWITCH: 1. When you first turn on the unit, it will prompt you to set the Alarm. If you have not set it yet, it will say Alarm OFF. However if you hold the mode button down the alarm set amount will climb in increments of 10 cpm till it gets to 100, then it climbs in sets of 50 until it reaches a max of 600 cpm, until you let go, and once you let go, that is what the alarm threshold will be until you reset it. As long as you don't reset it, that is the amount it will remain at. 2. The first display that comes up is the current CPM and below it is the level of uSv/hr. To the right of the CPM is a bar graphic representative of the level of Radiation occuring by the second. The CPM and uSv portion is updated every 4 seconds. 3. Press the mode button and a new display will come up. It is like a stopwatch and as soon as you press it for the first time it will start the timer process where it will give you average counts in a 1 minute and 10 minute period. Until it reaches 1 minute or 10 minutes it will show current total counts. After it reaches those points it will show the uSv conversion on the right column. 4. Press the mode button again and it will go back to the first menu. ALARM Speaker and LED: The alarm has its own red LED, speaker, and mute switch. You can mute the event piezo and you will still hear the Alarm piezo if the threshold is met, unless you mute it. You can mute both the event speaker and alarm speaker, but both LEDs will flash accordingly, with the Red alarm LED shining solid till the level goes back down below the set alarm threshold. Installed inside this nicely planned out kit is a PANCAKE CI-8B which senses Alpha, Beta and Gamma. The pancake tube is mounted securely to the case with hot glue. It comes with three accessories. 1- a aluminum cover which acts as a beta shield. 2- a plastic cap with steel grid to protect the mica window. It comes with this placed over the tube but removes quite easily with the little plastic tab on the top left of the cap. Once removed, you expose the delicate mica window which is very delicate so please be careful not to place heavy items on this tube. 3. a removeable tray for samples to be set over the mica tube for testing of items. It has a handle in the center to easy move the tray to and from the geiger tube. This system comes with 4 FREE Tenergy 2600mah NIMH rechargeable batteries and a FREE battery charger. With the Tenergy, expect over 10 hours of continuous use with the LCD backlight on, and up to 20 hours with the LCD backlight off. You can keep two batteries charging while the other two are in the unit then swap when needed. You can also power the unit with the USB cable continuosly but make sure and turn the power switch off. You can plug the usb into a wall charger or a cigarette adapter as long as it is 5v. You might notice that when you power the system with the usb that you might need to adjust the contrast of the LCD so that adjust pot is convneniently located to the left of the display.

Software and Serial-USB connection information:

ON the cd you will find the FTDI driver and Arduino program version 1. Install both and restart your mac. Copy the Geiger Sketch folder to the same folder as your Arduino program is and remember where that is as that will be where you go to save your sketch everytime you make a change to it. ARDUINO SETTINGS: 1. Open Arduino 2. Open the saved sketch .ino file, connect your Geiger counter to the USB with power switch off. 3. Verify the file by clicking the little check mark icon.

4. Click TOOLS, and Select Board type as Arduino UNO, and select serial port as the top tty choice. 5. Click Serial Monitor (top right looking glass icon). Set Baud rate to 9600 and you should see the CPM, uSv and geiger counter voltage data coming up once per minute. For more info go to website under Software section on the DIY geiger counter website. Or go to Arduino.cc

HARDWARE 1. Power System by Adafruit and Pololu (please charge the unit for minimum 3 hours before use) A. You can power the Geiger in a couple different ways 1. With rechargeable NIMH batteries 2. With any type of alkaline AA batteries. 3. With USB cable plugged into data port on LEFT side of geiger then plugged into: a. Computer or laptop USB b. Wall charger block (not included) c. Standard 5v USB Cigarette adapter (not included) d. To power and operate the unit this way make sure POWER SWITCH IS IN OFF POSITION - Its ok to have switch the on for a little while, but DAMAGE WILL OCCUR if left this way for long periods- best bet is NOT to do this. e. For long usage of geiger counter (constant on for long periods) the preferred way to power it would be with power switch OFF and USB cable powering from left side. LIST OF POWER SYSTEM ITEMS: A. Tenergy Premium NIMH rechargeable batteries - 1.2v 2500mAh http://www.all-battery.com/aa2500mahhighcapacitynimhrechargeablebattery10320.aspx B. 5v power booster: Input Voltage: 0.9-5V Output Voltage: 5.0-5.2V Rated Output Current: 1000mA Tansferring Efficiency: 90% on average Output Noise: 50mV (max.) Working Temperature: -40 - +85 deg C (industrial grade) Full Load Temperature Rise: 20 deg C Quiescent Current: 130uA Load Regulation: 1% Voltage Regulation: 0.5% Dimention (L x W x H): Approx. 25 x 18.5 x 5. 5mm Russian Geiger TUBE Counter SI-8B New, old stock. Working Voltage: 360-440V Plateau Inclination: 0.3%/V Max. working current: 18.2 mA Max. speed of counting: 3400 pulses/sec Efficiency of logging Beta: 50-85% Own Background: < 2 Pulses/s Diameter: 75mm http://www.sovtube.com/product.php?id_product=333 ENCLOSURE Teko Enclosure - TBT-B.7 - 163mm x 88mm x 25mm http://www.teko.co.uk/en/prodotti/famiglia/HH/serie/112