Customer Reviews

Low Cost Geiger Counter

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a simple lightweight instrument. Made in Russia. Easy to use. Does not tick or beep with each count, only when a theshold is crossed in terms of counts.
I gave it a 4 instead of 5 because the manual seems to have been written by someone with a Russian/English dictionary who had one semester of English. But it was understandable. It also did not have any information on how to interpet the readings.
Not a professional instrument but good for someone who wants to be prepared for a local nuclear accident or terroist attack. Peace of mind. I tested it by holding it near a smoke detector and it worked!

I bought this device to use as the subject of a hiking project with my grandchildren, mapping with a GPS as I go and recording the local radioactivity as I go. (It should make a nice intellectual point to hiking.)
I first tried the device at my home (unradioactive I hoped) and then some other places that I knew, from previous use of laboratory-grade counters, definitely had some local radioactivity in the sand and cliffs and it gave readings more or less as I expected from the previous use of much more expensive counters. As another test, it also picked up radioactive gas-mantles quite well indeed when I sat the device upon one (the luminescent gas-mantles as often used in camper lamps are often very solidly radioactive--- a ref on this is available if amazon requests) The strong signal was expected but it was reassuring to get it. The device is convenient to use and I found gave repeatable results although you have to leave it sit for a few minutes to get a reliable result. Note that if you use gas old-style mantles to test it yourself please make sure they are the old-fashioned thorium based gas mantles as the many modern gas mantles are no longer radioactive. In my experience the non-radioactive mantles advertise this clearly on their packet and the old radioactive mantles are discreetly silent about radioactivity on their packet. (Choose one from an old camping shop that doesnt mention radioactivity on its packet and then dont sleep near it!)
The four stars come from its very low price for doing an adequate job.

The directions are very poorly done...very difficult to relate to the operation of the unit. I purchased some calibrated uranium ore to test this gadget with and found the results to be totally unreliable and very inconsistent. I ended up returning it to the vendor and purchasing their next level up unit called the 'Monitor 4' which performs GREAT (it was also almost double the cash, but I guess you get what you pay for). The vendor was a pleasure to deal with.

I purchased this product for my daughter's science project. She used it to measure the relative radiation of four different Uranium samples. The results ranged from 15 to 270 micro-rads per hour, effective enough to show the relative difference in radioactivity of all four samples. I was satisfied with it for the science project but disappointed that it does not click on each gamma ray penetration. It also is not very sensitive as unless the samples is right next to the side of the meter, it does not work. If you have the money you should buy the more expensive product, but for this purpose, I was able to get by with this low cost unit.

Well made, uses 2AAA batteries, accurate when compared to more expensive meter tested against beta and gamma sources. Light, easy to read, good instructions. Maximum reading is 999 microREM/h. This is great for background testing, but may not give you the upper ranges to measure higher levels you will need if you are looking for the safest place on 'the day after'.

I was prepared that this low cost geiger counter may not be too accurate. I wasn't prepared that this geiger counter did not work at all. Even worse, almost as soon as i plug in batteries, it started to overheat.

Since never in my life have I seen this happen, I stupidly openned it and pulled the hot batteries out (one of which already seems leaking) with my hands. Later I noticed that my hand were itching, so I washed my hands a lot which helped

This is a low quality product, made in Russia. Not worth $150, not worth FREE, because it's so dangerous. So buyers be ware.