Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Flipper Zero Geiger Counter

kasiin.top

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 86 posts

Re: Flipper Zero Geiger Counter

#21

Post by vegadw »

hgomersall wrote: post #14
leshenka wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but how many amps though?

How many is safe? I don't mean that facetiously - do you have a good understanding of a safe power limit on a source at hundreds of volts?

There's a really good video on this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGD-oSwJv3E

But even beyond that, the maximum power output will still be pretty limited. If you short the HV rails, it will almost certainly start to drop in voltage and raise in current quickly, but only to the limits of the resistance from other elements in series and the power source's output ability. I strongly doubt you could even make something dangerous from the Flipper, at least unless you attach a large cap, let it charge slowly, and attach a taser module.

Re: Flipper Zero Geiger Counter

#22

Post by emsign »

ge96 wrote: post #12

There is a subreddit where people measure the radiation given off by random things you'll see them pointing some device at the ground or an object. Like an old glass cup

If you have one of those small scintillators on you all the time you can measure your own radiation. A significant spike in the spectrum for Potassium-40.

Re: Flipper Zero Geiger Counter

#24

Post by burnt-resistor »

It's cute, looks nice, and bravo for shipping something, but FZ is too hyped and too expensive for what it is.

I have a similar Geiger counter that functions standalone and works as an Arduino module. It doesn't appear to be very sensitive because bananas don't increase counts. The only household object able to barely increase counts was some vintage uranium glass tucked away in a corner behind a display case.

Re: Flipper Zero Geiger Counter

#25

Post by OkayPhysicist »

hgomersall wrote: post #14
leshenka wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but how many amps though?

How many is safe? I don't mean that facetiously - do you have a good understanding of a safe power limit on a source at hundreds of volts?

Talking a bit out of my ass here as someone whose EE experience ended at graduation, but a good general rule is if you stay below 5 mA continuous, it is rather difficult to injure yourself. For extremely short shocks (like you get when you discharge a capacitor across yourself) you can get away with a lot more than that, though.

I would be rather surprised if a device that is powered off a lithium ion battery like the one in the Flipper Zero managed to seriously injure someone.

Re: Flipper Zero Geiger Counter

#26

Post by wer232essf »

vegadw wrote: post #7

This project is neat and OP did a good job, but I think the interest in Geiger counters among hackers needs an update. The Geiger kit on Adafruit (Yes, I know that makes the cost a lot higher to be from them instead of Ali, but I think is a good baseline for "finished good" price) is $99. Meanwhile, Raysid or Radiacode let you do full on gamma spectrometry, for about 2.5x the price. And, like, yeah, 2.5x the price. I…

[dead]

Re: Flipper Zero Geiger Counter

#27

Post by burnt-resistor »

Chabsff wrote: post #2

I know that footguns are broadly "on-brand" for the flipper zero ecosystem, but exposing high-voltage leads like that without any warning whatsoever seems a bit much .

Chinese Geiger counter kits sometimes include a single piece of plexiglass or nothing at all. I have one I only use when placed inside a plastic bag, so it's not going to be detecting any α. I haven't yet put it up against my CDV-717.

Re: Flipper Zero Geiger Counter

#28

Post by privatelypublic »

whytevuhuni wrote: post #17

I wonder if a device with worse RAM can measure radiation by checking how many of its own bits are being randomly flipped. Coding a program that could self-heal and survive in such a situation would be fun.

You'd crash the hardware just as often as the program.

Re: Flipper Zero Geiger Counter

#29

Post by aftbit »

You can get a standalone (cheap) Geiger counter like the GQ GMC-300S on Amazon (B0B541D433) for ~$50. If you're interested in monitoring radiation and have a higher budget to play with, I highly suggest stepping up to the Radiacode 103G (~$600) or the Radeye B20-ER (~$3000). The Radiacode can only detect gamma/x-ray, but is a spectrometer so it can determine the energy level of the radiation. The Radeye can do the full suite of γ α β, and can provide energy-compensated dose rates when its gamma filter is in place.
Post reply on HN