Geiger Counters

Following on from Pt.1 - Here are some pictures of the battery compartment. You can see the terminals at the bottom pivot in the middle like a seesaw, also with one battery inserted and then with two. I couldn't resist and took out the tube to have a look at it. It is rather large, pictured below next to a STS-5 tube (SBM-20 equivalent.) ↑ Seesaw battery terminals with pivot at the center. ↑ ↑ One battery inserted. ↑ ↑ Two batteries inserted. The cap has a large shaft that pushes down on the positive terminal, the battery is pressed down making the seesaw terminal push the other battery up.

This is one of my latest Geiger counters and it is in fantastic condition. To say this is probably more than 60 years old, it has really faired well. It wasn't working when I got it as one of the battery terminals had some corrosion to it. After a quick but very awkward clean up of the terminal it came to life. What really attracted me to this, besides it's condition, is the fact the meter is in CPS (counts per second.) I thought it unusual for a small counter of this era to be in CPS. Being CPS would mean it would be sensitive, which it is, fairly so. The unit is complete as far as I can

I have translated the manual with the help of a couple of internet AI translators. Attached below you will find a couple of PDFs of the original Russian manual and an English translation of the manual, also the text of the manual in .txt format. The PDFs quality isn't great as the images weren't great but they work. The text version is probably easier to read. A couple of things about operation that I was puzzled about were the mains/missing psu and missing battery. From reading the manual I'm assuming that this was in fact a "Lux" flashlight (battery/rechargeable) and that this company made

I have managed to power this up and it does work! 😊 I have also started reverse engineering it a little. I removed the two (brass?) strips and replaced them with wires so I can flatten the board out properly. The two strips were connecting the ground and VCC on the boards together. I haven't yet translated the manual, but I will in due time as I can't find a single thing about this counter on the internet at all and the info may be of use to others' too. In all it seems like a very basic counter with a quirky display. If I knew what the ICs actually were I could maybe replicate this on a

I found this on ebay priced at £12.52 delivered and couldn't resist at that price so I bought one for shits and giggles! Probably the most bizarre counter I have bought yet. (Apologies for the camera focus - new camera, very complicated... 😯 ) I haven't powered it on yet as I have no idea what battery it should be, if it should be a battery at all. It has US mains plug pins on one end but there is nothing wired to it, nor is there a battery cover. The only way to put a battery in is to disassemble the unit, which is rather cumbersome. It looks to be a flashlight made into a counter, but comes

Something I really dislike is planned obsolescence, and closely 2nd to that, where things are not user serviceable and have to be returned to the manufacturer for minor things such as battery replacement. I'm a large advocate of 'right to repair'. The battery in the Gamma Scout is a 10 year, 3.6v Lithium battery soldered directly onto the board. Gamma Scout (at last check some time ago) wanted 40 Euro plus shipping one way to Germany to replace the battery. Pfft! The original battery is about £20 all in for a replacement, but I decided to go another route and modify the Gamma Scout to take a

I thought I would try and collate a good list of old and new disaster and post apocalyptic films. Below are the films I have/have watched (Some I haven't watched as yet). Nuclear disaster: The Day After (1983) Threads (1984) Chernobyl HBO miniseries (2019) The War Game (1965) Dr Strangelove (1964) Broken Arrow (1996) Chernobyl Diaries (2012) Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) The China Syndrome (1979) Biological disaster: 28 Days Later (2002) 28 Weeks Later (2007) Contagion (2011) I Am Legend (2007) World War Z (2013) Zombieland (2009) Other disaster: After Earth (2013) Independence Day

Curiosity got the better of me so I decided to open up the Gamma Scout. I managed to carefully remove the sticker enough to reveal the screws so here are some pictures of the inside of the counter. The pictures aren't great as I'm not really setup with good lighting etc. A quick update after living with my Gamma Scout for a few months. Despite everything I have written (which my opinion remains true and I stand by) I have really grown to love this counter. It's very handy and just 'there' when I need/want a counter. It is the first counter I pick up now for whatever I want to check. Prior to

As the title suggests, I bought a Gamma Scout. I was, let's say, underwhelmed with it so decided to give my thoughts on it. I'll not cover everything here so if you are interested then it would be advantageous for you to read up on the Gamma Scout Alert on their website prior to reading my thoughts. I had been wanting a Gamma Scout for a couple of years to add to my collection. I'd seen them on the web, in Youtube videos. In places like Fukushima and Chernobyl/Pripyat etc. and from what I had seen I assumed, I think it's fair to say, I'd assumed it better than it actually is. I bought mine

I have finished up building/setting up my home radiation monitoring station and is all up and running. :cheer: https://www.blinkyslab.co.uk/radmon/ (currently offline.) I won't go into too much detail as it is pretty much just a NetIO GC10, in an enclosure with a couple of buttons and switches added. It is mounted outside under a canopy on my workshop so rain is no issue and I have used all sealed switches/buttons etc with rubber gaskets on each to seal it up nicely. The window for the tube at the front is covered with some Kapton tape to seal that up also. Power is taken from a 5v PSU inside