New in the Maker Shed: Geiger Counter Kit

By Michael Castor

Michael Castor

I am the Evangelist for the Maker Shed. It seems that there is no limit to my making interests. I'm a tinkerer at heart and have a passion for solving problems and figuring out how things work. When not working for Make I can be found falling off my unicycle, running in adverse weather conditions, skiing down the nearest hill, restoring vintage motorcycles, or working on my car.

View more articles by Michael Castor
6
Share via


Introducing the Geiger Counter Kit from the Maker Shed. This kit costs a fraction of a commercial unit and it works just like you it should, blinking and clicking in the presence of radiation. It takes about an hour to build and even has a serial output for tracking radioactivity over time.

Is Grandma’s pottery or glass collection radioactive? Do bananas give off radiation? Is that granite table given to you by your mother-in-law slightly “hot?” (In my case, yes!) With this Geiger Counter Kit these questions are yours to answer. While this is a functional Geiger counter it is for educational purposes only. Please do not use it for anything important.

6 thoughts on “New in the Maker Shed: Geiger Counter Kit”

  1. While cool, what would it take for something like a radon detector? I’d love to see what fluctuations happen over time in my attic. Granted, the cheap test kits say I’m safe, but what does that really mean?

    Reply

  2. To bad it’s still too expensive. I want something to hook up to the interwebz and GSM so it texts me when the local nuclear powerplanet is melting, or for when China has thrown ICBMs.

    Reply

  3. Here’s the deal with the countertops: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/garden/24granite.html?pagewanted=all

    TL;DR is that most granitic stone has some small amount of uranium, thorium, or radioactive potassium in it, but that the amount is negligible from a health perspective as long as your has is half-decently ventilated so radon doesn’t build up. People in areas where you need a radon detector in their basements are likely familiar with this.

    Reply

Comments are closed.

Tagged

By Michael Castor

Michael Castor

I am the Evangelist for the Maker Shed. It seems that there is no limit to my making interests. I'm a tinkerer at heart and have a passion for solving problems and figuring out how things work. When not working for Make I can be found falling off my unicycle, running in adverse weather conditions, skiing down the nearest hill, restoring vintage motorcycles, or working on my car.

View more articles by Michael Castor