Centium Geiger Counter K49-CI-8B

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 G. (user: Brohogan) 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. DIY GEIGER COUNTER DEVELOPERS WEBSITE:

http://www.sites.google.com/site/diygeigercounter/

PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE MANUAL BEFORE USING THIS UNIT

OPERATION 1. LCD DISPLAY: Flip power, light and sound (mute) switch To the RIGHT (on). The LCD backlight display light comes on, and you will see the words:

Atomic.Dave v8r1 CENTIUM CI-8B

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. However the part that says v8r1 refers to the version of software that its running which is version 8 and release no. 1. The second window will show something like this:

79 CPM to uSv Running at 5.05V

The first line refers to the conversion rate of CPM to uSv/hr for your CI-8B tube (79) this can be changed in the program sketch, with Arduino, but it is set so no change is necessary. The second line refers to the current voltage that your system is running at. This is a 5 volt system. The (2) 2600mAh AA nimh rechargeable batteries are 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. After that, the third window will look something like this:

CPM 48 uSv/hr

| | | | | | | | | | 0.13

On the first line is the current CPM and to the right of it is a graphical simulation of by the second CPM representation. On the second line is the converted uSv/hr. (48 divided by 79) if it was a different geiger tube such as the SBM-20, then the conversion rate would be 175 or 48 divided by 175 which would be 0.27. LEDS Right away, you will hear the beeping of the piezo as your CI-8B GM tube picks up radiation events. There are three LEDs. The BLUE is for radiation events and coincides with the beeping piezo which can be muted with the mute switch just below it. The RED comes on only when the set threshold is reached. On the upper right side of the unit is just below the MINI USB FTDI port is a GREEN LED which is a system status light that comes on when starting up, and when sending data back and forth to either your PC. If the green light ever freezes up, just restart the GC, and it will reset itself. SWITCHES On the face of the unit is first the EVENT CLICK on/off switch. Next is the power switch, (right for on, and left for off), then the ALARM SOUND on/off switch. On the left side close to the LCD is the backlight on/off switch, and below that is the LCD contrast dial. You may need to adjust this once in a while, but not very often. BELOW the power is the Mode switch described below. GREEN MENU MODE BUTTON 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. 3.5MM MULTIPORT Finally at the bottom right 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 FTDI 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.

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: 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 will probably have to play with it to get it just right) https://sites.google.com/site/geigerbot/

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

RAD OSX free data logging for macs: (although you can use the included 3.5mm male to male 3 conductor to 3 conductor audio cable from the multiport to your PC or Macs MIC input, it works best with the FTDI/TTL USB cable below) http://www.blackcatsystems.com/GM/download.html GEIGER GRAPH FOR PC NETWORKS: http://www.imagesco.com/geiger/geiger-graph.html (cost is around $60. Use the Optional FTDI 3.5mm to USB cable) This is a PC only software. To purchase the optional cable go to: www.mouser.com, and do a search for: FTDI/TTL-232R-3V3-AJ HARDWARE 1. DIY Geiger counter kit V4.0 by Brohogan http://www.sites.google.com/site/diygeigercounter/ 2. CI-8B Geiger Muller Tube 3. Power System by Tenergy and Pololu (please charge batteries for minimum 3 hours before use) A. You can power the Geiger in a few different ways 1. With the two included Nimh AA batteries. 2. With USB cable plugged into TOP RIGHT side of geiger with power switch OFF. 3. With USB cable plugged in, then plugged into: a. Computer or laptop USB b. 5v 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 MIGHT 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 to use the USB cable and plugged into laptop or computer

POWER and OTHER SYSTEM ITEMS: A. (2) Tenergy Nimh AA battery - 1.2v 2600mAh http://www.batteryjunction.com/1po20aaba.html Full recharge in 3-7 hours, provides approximately 25-40 hour constant use of geiger counter Remove the batteries by unscrewing the battery compartment plate. Place in charger and charge. B. Pololu Step Up/Step Down Voltage Regulator S7V7F5 http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/2119 C. Sparkfun 5V FTDI Basic Breakout https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9716 Note for the Battery Compartment Please take special care when screwing and unscrewing the battery compartment. The lid is made of plastic and will break if you overtighten the screws. So go slow, and never use a power-driven screw driver to remove or install ANY of the screws on this unit. CI-8B GEIGER MULLER TUBE Installed inside this nicely planned out kit is a super sensitive Russian Pancake CI-8B which senses Alpha, Beta and Gamma. The tube has been uniquely installed on top of the geiger counter for convenient sample scanning. Included is an aluminum cover that can also be used as a beta blocker. Although you still need to be careful with the mica window on top, this tube is known to be much more resilent to damage than the mica window on an LND7317. I am also including a galvanized grill for sample scanning as well to protect the mica. Please note that the sensitivity of this geiger muller tube is about twice as high as most tubes in the beta gamma region. Background radiaion levels will seem very high with averages of over 100-120 CPM. This is something you will have to get use to. The large surface area of the mica window of the tube is the reason for this. Do not be alarmed, take note of this for a starting point for reading background, then make adjustments when measuring other items. This tube is from NEW OLD STOCK and has been tested to be good. http://www.sovtube.com/en/x-ray-and-geiger-tubes/333-ci-8b.html TEKO ENCLOSURE TEKO Enclosure TBT-2b.7, 210mm x 116mm x 31.6mm http://www.tekoenclosures.com/enclosures/tekbox-tbt.htm REPAIRS: I will be more than happy to do any maintenance or calibration, if you need at no charge except shipping. PACKAGE CONTENTS: In your package you will find: Geiger Counter,Lead Pig w/ Samples, (3) Cables: Geiger bot 3 to 4 conductor, Audio 3 to 3 conductor, Mini USB to standard USB2, CD with software and documents, Manual, stickers, extra silicon feet, and extra faceplate label. Nimh Battery Charger.

10mm

30mm 16.5mm

80mm

70mm

65mm mica window

Note: the diode labeled D/R is normally a 150 resistor. However, if a diode is used note that the symbol shown is backward

s.

EVENT

POWER

ALARM

MODE

B E TA s G

CENTIUM

atomic.dave
RADIATION DETECTOR

MA

ALP
H

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Backlight On/O switch

Ground

GEIGER BOT CABLE

Signal

Signal

Ground

TTL-232R-5V-AJ Cable

R11

39K0 ohm

8 9 10 11 12 13

3.5mm

USB

OPEN Jumper
14 15 16 17 18 19

7 6 5 4 3 2

Radiation Data Logging for Geiger Graph & RAD OSX

Grounds

+ +

56K OHM .1 uF Cap RESISTOR

3.5mm Socket

+
LED Output

.1 uF Cap 1K OHM RESISTOR

27K ohm
R14

5v Step UP/DN Boost EVENT LED

STATUS LED

680 OHM RESISTOR MOMENTARY SWITCH FOR ALARM OR MENU SELECT

ALARM LED

_
300 OHM RESISTOR

ALARM HOOKUP
+

SLIDE MUTE ON/OFF SWITCH