K64-CI180G_LND712 HIRO+plus Geiger Counter

by Atomic.dave Atomic.Dave@yahoo.com
This is a one of a kind custom hand-made Geiger Counter built by Atomic.Dave. It is based on a kit designed by John
Giametti (username: Brohogan) I have been building his DIY Geiger counters for over two years having built and sold
around 70 of them. All information for this kit is available at the developers website. As I have said before, this is more of a
kit for someone who knows a little bit about electronics but doesnt have the time or patience to build it, or would rather
someone else do all the dirty work. Having been built by me, of course there will be some imperfections, although as minimal as possible. This particular one is a culmination of all of its predecessors. It is certainly one of my more advanced kits
having more options then all accept the Cadillac, and I will do my best to explain how to use it. Once you have used it a
couple times, it will be a piece of cake.
OPERATION
Four Triple Pole switches- ALL OFF IN CENTER POSITION.

UP
CENTER
DOWN

SELECT
ALARM
SCALER

POWER
ON
OFF/USB
CHARGE

LIGHT
ON/ON
OFF
ON/OFF

ALARM
ON/ON
OFF
ON/OFF

SOUND
TONE
OFF
CLICK

NULL
TONE
RESET

A. SELECT switch does 2 things. When you first power on the unit, you will see first

Atomic.Dave K64
HIRO+plus V10.1
This customized first welcome window can easily be changed if you want, by doing a little programming in Arduino.
Refer to the DIY site for directions at the SOFTWARE section. But the default is now set to my name, Kit 64, and the second line is the Geiger Counter name, and the version of software that the AT328 chip is running V10.1.
The second window will show this:

300 CPM=1 uSv/h

Running at 5.24V
The first line refers to the conversion rate of CPM to uSv/hr for the internal tube (300) this can be changed in the program sketch, with Arduino. The second line refers to the current voltage that your system is running at. This is a 5 volt system. The 3000mAh 3.7v lipo battery is boosted to 5v with a pololu booster. Everytime you start up your GC (geiger
counter) it will show you this so you will always know your current voltage.
The third window will show something like this:

Alarm Set ?
Now at 200 CPM
At this point, you can hit the Select button to incrementally change the Alarm threshold number. Once you stop hitting
the button and wait, it will be set to the current number shown on the screen and will stay there until you change it either
again restarting and waiting for this part. You can also chose from units of measurement such as CPM or uSv/h for the Alarm.
B. POWER switch controls the power and charging of the unit. Up turns on the unit, Middle turns if off, and Down is for
when you charge the unit. When the unit is charging, the RED LED on the lower left side will remain constant RED while
charging, and when charging is complete, it will turn off. If you wish to power the unit with the USB in, and bypass the batteries for extended periods. Switch this power button to the middle position, and flip up the switch next to the USB port.
This will allow you to power the unit with the USB power and bypass the battery for long periods I suggest using this power
source. But you might just find that using the internal battery is enough.
C. LIGHT switch controls the Event LED (BLUE) and the LCD Backlight. Up turns on both, Middle turns both off, and
Down turns the LED on, and the Backlight off.
D. ALARM switch controls the Alarm LED and Piezo. Up for both on, Middle for both off, and Down for LED only on. This
makes for a silent visual alarm.
E. SOUND switch controls the Event speaker. Up for tone mode, Middle for mute, and Down for Standard Click Mode.
More on Tone Mode later.
F. NULL This button is used when running the sound in Tone mode. Its basically like a distance sensitive mode where the
closer you get to the radiation source, the higher the pitch of the beep will be. Then once you are at a chosen distance,
then you can push this button to reset the distance back to zero, and it will then restart a its lowest tone and as it gets
closer, again it will raise in pitch.
LEDS
At startup, you will hear the beeping of the piezo as your 2 SI-29BG GM tubes picks up radiation events. There are three
LEDs below the LCD. The Left one is GREEN and is a system status light which comes on when starting up, and when
sending data back and forth to your PC. Its basically a system OK light. If the green light ever freezes up, just restart the
GC, and it will reset itself. The middle is BLUE which is for radiation events and coincides with the beeping piezo which
can be muted with the mute switch. The Right one is RED for the Alarm which will only light up when a set alarm threshold
is reached.
OTHER SWITCHES, BUTTONS, PORTS, DIALS
NEW- Added 1 new switch to the right side of the unit next to the USB port. LEAVE THIS OFF (DOWN) WHEN NOT
USING USB power to run the unit and this MUST be off in order to charge the battery. Flip this up to turn it on.
Down when not powering the unit with the USB.
A. Starting on the left side top of the GC is the LCD contrast dial. As the LCD is used, it might get to a point for you to
readjust the contrast for it. Not a big deal, while the backlight is on, gently take a small flathead screwdriver and turn it to
the left or right until it appears to have the best contrast.
B. Below the contrast pot on the same side is the output multi-port used for Geiger Bot (with the included G-Bot
cable), and for Geiger Graph and RAD OSX (with the optional USB/FTDI cable) Just plug in the Geiger Bot cable into this
with the 3 conductor plug, and the 4 conductor into your iphone or ipad. Or plug the optional 3.5mm to USB cable into the

port, and into a USB on your mac or PC, then follow instructions to run those programs. It also serves as an mono audio
output for silent listening with headphones, or with the included 3 conductor to 3 conductor M-M audio cable, you can run
sound based data logging software.
C. On the right side of the GC is the Mini USB FTDI output/input for programming in Arduino. This also is used to
charge the internal Lithium Ion battery (with the power switch in the bottom position.) Or it can be used to power the GC
for extended periods, however when you power it this way, I would advise to turn off the LCD backlight. But its ok to turn it
on once in a while, but I wouldnt leave it on for extended periods.
D. EXT and INT? this refers to the geiger tubes. EXT is for the probe that plugs into the BNC connector and INT is for
the internal tube (CI-180G). When going from EXT to INT, please turn off the unit before toggling between the two. The toggle not only changes the anode connection from one tube to the other, but also changes the system uSv to CPM conversion rate. I have set the EXT conversion to 100. So you wont have to do any programming. Please remember that the
internal tube is Beta Gamma sensing only, but the EXT is full range or Alpha, beta, gamma, xray.
DISPLAY BAR GRAPH:
The display has a new bar graph style with placeholders and is much more responsive. It now updates 20 times per
second. The tone is also updated at this rate when used.
Auto-precision - decimals are dropped from the displayed dose rate as it gets larger.
Beginning with v10.1 the LOG PERIOD can now be set to intervals of less than 1 minute. Valid settings are OFF, 2s, 3s,
4s, 5s, 6s, 10s, 12s, 15s, 20s, 30s, and 1 minute intervals up to 720 minutes.
ABOUT DOSE UNITS:
The menu allows you select the name of the dose unit that appears on the display. However, to be clear, there is no
built in conversion between them. Instead the CPM->[DOSE] RATIO is adjusted depending on the name of the DOSE
UNIT selected. For example, 175.43 is the default set for the SBM-20 with uSv as the dose unit. Suppose you pick "mR"
as the dose unit name, and want to measure in milirems. ("mR" more correctly abbreviates as milliroentgens but is used to
save display space.) The rem is defined as .01 seivert. Therefore, to use the same ratio that was designed for the tube,
you would multiply that ratio by 10. You would enter a CPM->[DOSE] RATIO as 175.43 x 10 or 1754.3. Likewise if you
wanted microrems ("uR") you would divide the ratio by 10 and enter 17.54.
If you do want to use roentgens (used in older instruments) this source states that they are .96 rem in soft tissue. So
the CPM->[DOSE] RATIO for actual mR would be 175.43 x 10 x .96 or 1684.1. (for uR it would be 16.84)
PLEASE REFER TO THE DIY GEIGER COUNTER DEVELOPERS WEBSITE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

http://www.sites.google.com/site/diygeigercounter/
ARDUINO 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. There will also be a Library folder that will also need to be in the
same folder. Just remember that the folder has to be the same exact name as the sketch name is. And also within Arduino,
you will have to go to preferences and show Arduino where your default sketch folder is.
ARDUINO SETTINGS: Brohogan Software system version 10.1
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
GEIGER BOT SUGGESTED SETTINGS: (You may have to play with it to get it just right)

Select options

Select Geiger Counter

Select LND712 CS137

Adjust Conversion
factor to your tube:
123 for LND712
175 for SBM-20
360 for LND7317
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

GO TO: https://sites.google.com/site/geigerbot/

OTHER SOFTWARE LINKS:

http://www.blackcatsystems.com/GM/download.html
http://www.imagesco.com/geiger/geiger-graph.html
GEIGER GRAPH FOR PC NETWORKS: (cost is around $60. Use the OPTIONAL FTDI 3.5mm to USB cable)
This is a PC only software.

HARDWARE
1. DIY Geiger counter kit V5.1 by Brohogan, Running operating system 10.1
2. Internal CI-180G Geiger Muller Tube, and External RED probe with LND712 GM tube.
3. Power System by Seeeduino, Sparkfun and Pololu (please charge the unit until the RED light goes out)
A. You can power the Geiger in a couple different ways
1. With internal Lipo battery (Power switch in UP position)
2. With PWR switch OFF (middle), USB cable plugged into USB port on RIGHT side of geiger, USB PWR switch on right
side of unit switched UP, then plug USB cable into:
a. Computer or laptop USB
b. Wall charger block (included)
c. Standard 5v USB Cigarette adapter
d. To power and operate the unit this way for long periods, TURN OFF BACKLIGHT
POWER and OTHER SYSTEM ITEMS: This system is capable of producing 900+ volts, so be careful or you may get
zapped when handling the system while it is powered on.
A. Seeeduino Lithium Ion battery - 3.7v 3000mAh
http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/lithium-ion-polymer-battery-pack-3a-p-588.html?cPath=178_183
Full recharge in 3 hours, provides approximately 40 hour constant use of geiger counter with backlight off.
Charge with PC/USB will take about 5 hours or more.
B. USB Lithium Polymer battery charger
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10401
C. Pololu 5V Step-Up/Step-Down Voltage Regulator S7V7F5
http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/2119
D. Sparkfun 5V FTDI Basic Breakout
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9716
HIGH VOLTAGE ADJUSTMENT AND MEASUREMENT
When you remove the battery hatch on the lower part of the bottom of the unit, you will see three small holes on the top lip of the compartment. These are the
HV checkpoints, Negative and Positive, and a screw head that is used to decrease and increase the amount of HV this unit is sending to the GM tubes. You will
need a Multimeter with aligator clip ends, that is capable of handling this. Please go the the HV Test & adjust section of the DIY Geiger Counter website. In this section it will explain in more detail. I am providing you with a free 1Gig ohm resistor probe that plugs into the test point holes as shown below. Then use the aligator
clips on your multimeter to clip to the Red and Black leads on the probe. I have set it to about 450V since that is about midway between the two tubes. This is also
used for calibrating the unit.

ENCLOSURE
Dimensions: New Age Enclosure - S784114 - 7.8" x 4.1" x 1.4" (not including handle or feet)
http://www.newageenclosures.com/files/784114_r5_2.pdf
REPAIRS:
If the unit fails for some reason with six months from purchase, I will be more than happy to do any maintenance you need at no charge except shipping.
PACKAGE CONTENTS:
In your package you will find: Geiger Counter, LND712 Probe, (4) Cables: Geiger bot 3 to 4 conductor, Audio 3 to 3 conductor, 2ft BNC Cable, Mini USB to standard
USB2 with wall charger and 2 FREE BNC connectors. CD with software and documents, Manual, RAD sticker, and extra faceplate labels. Rad samples upon request provided in micro lead pig. BONUS- 1G ohm resistor probe for HV measuring. If you ever need to replace the faceplate label, you will need to open up the
unit, remove the bnc, toggle, and handle. Remove the old label, then place the new label on, they punch holes thru for these parts that you removed.

Internal Tube SI-180G

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS
Recommended Working Voltage:
Initial Voltage:
Plateau Length:
Plateau Slope:
Interelectrode Capacitance:
Load Resistance:
Working Temperature Range:
Length:
Diameter:

External Tube LND 712

360 - 420V
290 - 330V
100V
0.1% / 1V
10pF
5 - 10 MOhms
-500 +700
100mm
18mm

ELECTRICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Recommended Anode Resistor (Meg Ohm):
Maximum Starting Voltage (Volts)
Recommended Operating Voltage (Volts)
Operating Voltage Range (Volts)
Maximum Plateau Slope (%/100 Volts)
Minimum Dead Time (Micro Sec)
Gamma Sensitivity Co60 (Cps/Mr/Hr)
Tube Capacitance (Pf)
Weight (Grams)
Maximum Background Shielded
50mm Pb + 3mm Al (Cpm)

10
325
500
450 - 650
6
90
18
3
8
10

SELECT
ALARM
SCALER

POWER
ON
OFF/USB
CHARGE

LIGHT
ON
OFF
ON/OFF

ALARM
ON
OFF
ON/OFF

SOUND
TONE
OFF
CLICK

NULL
TONE
RESET

HIRO+plus
INT
EXT

EXT
A

A
s BET

S E N SI

HA

TI

Tube Select

AM

U
MA s

CI-180GP

atomic.dave

RADIATION DETECTOR

LIPO
LIP
CHA
CHARGER

In

O
ut
Out

LIPO

LCD Diode
Voltage
V
oltage Limiter
Band to left

5V Up/Do
wn
Up/Down
BOOST

270 OHM
RESISTOR
RESISTOR

EX
EXTT

INT

GM
GMTT &
C
onversion
Conversion
R
ate SELEC
Rate
SELECTT
TToggle
oggle
o
SSwitch
witch

300 OHM
RESISTOR
RESISTOR

INT

3.5mm
Socket
Socket

+
_

OPEN

OPEN

ST
TATTUS
STATUS
LED

680 OHM
RESISTOR
RESISTOR

SPEAKER
TONE
OFF
CLICK

O
56K OHM
ap
Cap
RESISSTOR .1 uF C
RESISTOR

.1 uFF Cap
Cap

SOUND

MUL
LTTI-SOFTWARE
A
MULTI-SOFTWARE
OUTPUT PORT
OUTPUT

1K OHM
RESISTOR
RESISTOR

ALARM
PIEZO
PIEZO

OPEN

BRD Pin 15

Alarm Piezo POS OPEN

EXT
EXT

LED/SND
ON/ON
OFF
ON/OFF

AL
ARM
ALARM
LED

LED/BKL
LT
LED/BKLT
ON/ON
OFF
ON/OFF

EEVENT
VEN
NT
LED
LEED

S
Red LED POS

PWR/CHG
P
O
ON/PC
O
OFF
C
CHARGE

OPEN

BRD Pin 15
5

ALARM
Threshold
TTimer
imer

LCD Jump L

S
Red LED POS

ALARM

LCD Jump R

Blue LED POS

LIGHT

OPEN

LED BRD POS

LIPO Chrg 5V Out

Blue LED POS

PPOWER

LIPO Chrg USB POS

5V Boost IN

FTDI 5V

SELECT

Piezo Jum
mp B
Jump

Piezo Jum
mp A
Jump

Board Pin
n 12

F
1

TONE
Reset

NULL

BRD FTDI 5V

7
6
5
4
3
2

8
9
10
11
12
13

FTDI

14
15
16
17
18
19

L R

HV
Adjustment
Adjustment
Pot
Pot Under
Battery
Battery Panel
Panel

HV Check
Points
Points Under
Battery
Battery Panel
Panel

O
OFF

O
ON

USB
Power
Power