Viewing profile — BetterGeiger

For staying safe you want high max range and energy-compensated dose response. No ultra cheap devices offer that, mine is the closest thing on the low end of price, but consider me…

Yes exactly, often a small energy compensated GM tube that is not very sensitive but can handle very high radiation levels is included in the same device as a pro detector with a f…

Oh I didn't realize that worked with home assistant. It's a little different than a Geiger tube, that device uses a PIN diode and reacts to radiation interactions with the diode it…

I really want to make one to sell but too many other projects. The last time I saw them for sale was through the UKRAA but they seem to be out of stock for a while. You might be ab…

I am not aware of anything that can connect to home assistant like that. It is definitely missing from the market and something I would like to make eventually, but too many other …

I am not certain but this tube looks like an M4011 which typically measures up to 1 mSv/hr for a reference Cs-137 source. Pretty low maximum level, not suitable for emergencies.

tl;dr not useful. To make a long story short, max range is very important and these cheap tubes saturate easily, and they don't give energy-corrected dose rate. They also cannot do…

No worries, I hope you can get some rest :)

I gave a more detailed comment already, but price/performance is not a simple two axis thing. No consumer grade gamma spec device measures high dose rate which is needed for emerge…

Practically every radon measuring device on the market does it the way I described because of the reasons I described.

If you want to actually measure radon concentration quantitatively what you are describing is not the way. Typically devices simply measure alpha count rates coming from air, radon…

Cool project! My business is Better Geiger (www.bettergeiger.com), I design and sell radiation detectors. I just hope people keep in mind the capabilities and limitations of those …

Fantastic! Let me know if you have any questions... and be sure to find a current 12 year old kid to plant the seed of interest in radiation. :)

You are right max range is important for some applications, and most cheap Geiger counters saturate very easily (that two tube device you mentioned being a notable exception). Even…

It is a myth that radon collects in "low points", concentrations are low and it diffuses as the molecules bounce around. However, as you said radon is entering into those areas pri…

I'm sorry to say that some of the sensor design details, including material and geometry, are not shared. That was a critical optimization process during the design phase (tricky b…

haha, yes... unfortunately they emit such an extremely tiny amount you can't measure it with ordinary means, I tried: https://twitter.com/BetterGeiger/status/1523769482602196992

Thank you! Most people don't need one (and hopefully it stays that way) but I still think it's a fun and educational device. If nothing else it's a conversation piece. :)

You are right, the commenter implied that.

Yes, and even if you have a high-end alpha detector, ingested radioactive material cannot be detected externally if it's only emitting alpha. One would need to take a blood sample …

Beta particles are basically energetic electrons flying around, yes, but for a Geiger counter to detect them they have to be quite energetic in order to penetrate the Geiger tube i…

Thanks :D

I think the core of the explanation given is correct but some of the adjacent details need adjustment. The important part is: "Clothes dryers are very effective at making staticall…

I think they have already done that. I doubt a large percentage of people will both see the request and follow through with it.

Here's how I would approach it... Based on a given detector geometry you can imagine it has a detection efficiency as a function of distance from the detector. Now you can imagine …