Counters are on their way to Japan!!!
Hi everyone, as mentioned in the previous post, four samples are now shipping to Japan. Two are going to Shigeru, and the others are for Akiba. Both of them are our partners in Japan. Below, the information may help you know more about the counter.
As you can see, the green PCB instead of the breadboard we used in the previous version is a circuit board for driving Geiger tube.
It is powered by an external power supply system, and with the help of Arduino users can easily interpret the results through computers. Also, we found that the voltage plugged in the tube somehow influences the count we may get. Basically, the higher voltage we plugged in, the bigger count recorded. After comparison test, we figured out that the relatively accurate count can be gained at 430V.
According to the Department of Environmental Protection in China, the average radiation level in Shenzhen city was 108.9nGy/h on 11th April. In the same day, we recorded results from 99.1nGy/h to 124.0nGy/h according to our several models, which the average level was 111.5nGy/h. We got slightly higher result, but still can be reasonable. For more detail, you can check our garden website (http://garden.seeedstudio.com/index.php?title=Geiger_Counter).
Though components align with each other in time and space, they still are prototypes without serious calibrations, please use them for hobbyist or reference only. We will wait for the on-site validation and improve it. Then the initial 100 pcs pioneering manufacture batch will be assembled. Your inputs are highly appreciated!
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Cool cool, can’t wait :p
The sample of Twig version is ready. It could be controlled by Arduino/Seeeduino directly. We are now making the batch. Should be ok in 20 days.
The GM tube has already been put in the store. But you may need to wait a litter bit longer for the complete detector.
Any updates? 🙂
When will beta orders be taken?
Oh awesome!
Both. Japanese customers will get this for free. ( 1 sold, 1 donate to Japan)
I have tried to get this circuit to work before but without success (it is similar to the one used by sparkfun).
Even tried to simulate it on http://www.falstad.com/circuit/ to see where I might go wrong, but fail to get it to run properly.
$ 1 5.0E-6 10.20027730826997 50 5.0 50
r 112 112 112 176 0 1000.0
r 112 176 112 256 0 1000.0
t 160 288 192 288 0 1 0.534903225324023 0.6327092189440341 45.0
t 64 272 112 272 0 -1 -0.43301488332939875 -0.5469671825100952 100.0
r 64 272 64 176 0 100000.0
r 64 272 64 352 0 150000.0
w 192 352 192 304 0
w 64 176 112 176 0
d 112 176 192 176 1 0.805904783
w 192 272 192 176 0
c 128 352 128 256 0 3.0000000000000004E-7 -1.3065763128450751
w 64 352 128 352 0
w 128 352 192 352 0
w 112 256 128 256 0
r 112 288 160 288 0 1800.0
R 112 112 112 80 0 0 40.0 9.0 0.0 0.0 0.5
g 128 352 128 384 0
O 192 176 192 144 0
w 192 176 224 176 0
w 224 176 224 208 0
w 224 208 288 208 0
w 288 208 288 176 0
w 112 112 224 112 0
T 224 176 288 112 0 4.0 1.0 -6.563577501504465E-4 2.0599841277224584E-18 0.999
d 336 112 400 112 1 0.805904783
d 400 112 464 112 1 0.805904783
c 288 64 400 64 0 1.0E-8 -5.4911317089734855
c 336 112 336 176 0 1.0E-8 9.972501219974614
c 464 112 464 176 0 1.0E-8 15.44859162675603
w 288 112 288 64 0
w 400 64 400 112 0
w 336 176 464 176 0
d 288 112 336 112 1 0.805904783
w 192 352 336 352 0
w 336 352 336 176 0
r 464 112 528 112 0 1000000.0
r 528 112 592 112 0 1.0E7
187 592 112 592 176 0 1000.0 1.0E9 1000.0 0.0010
w 464 176 464 208 0
w 464 208 592 208 0
w 592 208 592 176 0
O 592 112 592 80 0
o 17 64 0 42 5120.0 9.765625E-5 0 -1
o 41 64 0 43 20.0 9.765625E-5 1 -1
I mean it should be a walk in the park – an oscillator and a voltage multiplier.
Any pointers how I could get something working? Transformer should just be a 600:600 I assume?
the info. you need will be showed on the garden page.
Its great to see the fast progress! How are you guys planing to sell it? With or without the tube? Or maybe both..
what is the conversion factor of these tubes? I mean what is the relation between counts per minute (cpm) and Servants? we need it to know in order to make the right correlation.