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Since you guys are also geeks I figured I could share this little project.
Basically what I've done is that I've connected an Arduino to a geiger counter and the internet. And now I have live readings on my server:
http://jlc-software.com/radiation_monitoring/
Sorry it doesn't involve PureBasic.
It uses the nice Google Charts API btw, which is worth to check out if you ever need to plot some data on a website! Other than that it is nothing very impressive, I just share it for fun if you are curious about the radiation in my apartment

EDIT: btw, I was told the Charts API dislike Opera...
I now updated it so you can click each day to list its hours and an hour to list its minutes!

Maybe I should get myself one of those so I can blame my buggy code on cosmic rays

idle wrote:Maybe I should get myself one of those so I can blame my buggy code on cosmic rays

Not a bad thought!
About cosmic rays btw, I've heard that a CME would show up in the data. It would be fun if I could validate that.

If you want a cheap kit then you can get:
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/p ... ber=G18410
They are often on a sale for 20 dollars. And for a cheap tube maybe a SMB-20 or this glass tube which is on a sale now (quite similar to the one I got in my setup):
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/p ... ber=G19129

I also have an LND 712 tube which is also sensitive to alpha particles making it an excellent device for hardware random number generation since you could put it next to an alpha source (like those in most smoke detectors) and make it go crazy. Actually I want to do a micro psychokinesis experiment using it.

Very nice project
Maybe you could convert the number of isotopes counted to some more meaningful unit of measurement.
After Chernobyl I did build a simple Geiger counter too, using a Micro ST6 to count the number of impulses and convert them to milli-Roentgen/hour.
I did use a russian CBM 20 tube working at around 400 volts that I found online somewhere.

BTW: When suicide become true, death should be also set to true, so you should be able to test for death only, unless you have a bug somewhere !

luis wrote:Very nice project
Maybe you could convert the number of isotopes counted to some more meaningful unit of measurement.

Yeah, I was thinking about converting it to μSv/h. But the conversion value I found were giving me the wrong result for my setup, so I must first figure out the right value. And also test it to see if the values can even be trusted before I state that I have a correct measure.

luis wrote:BTW:

Code: Select all

Until death Or suicide

When suicide become true, death should be also set to true, so you should be able to test for death only, unless you have a bug somewhere !

My life is full of bugs!

Thanks for the info!

Joakim Christiansen wrote:

idle wrote:Maybe I should get myself one of those so I can blame my buggy code on cosmic rays

Not a bad thought!
About cosmic rays btw, I've heard that a CME would show up in the data. It would be fun if I could validate that.

I would expect so and you're in a fairly good location for that.

Joakim Christiansen wrote: Actually I want to do a micro psychokinesis experiment using it.

You might have some fun with that, don't think it's ever been ruled out either.

Joakim Christiansen wrote:EDIT: btw, I was told the Charts API dislike Opera...

Opera is switching to Webkit soon ...

Interesting project JLC... is the Ethernet shield pretty easy to use? I have an Uno that I would like to get online.

By the way, I think I saw some comments by you when I was browsing Sparkfun.com the other day

I remember my training for survival on the nuclear battlefield from my military days:

First rule of radiation detection: If you are detecting the radiation and are not wearing protective gear, or in a protective environment and detecting remotely, then you have probably already been exposed and its too late. If the radiation was the bad kind or great enough, all a radiation detection capability will be good for in these cases is to give you something to talk or brag about until your hair starts falling out and/or your insides begin to turn to something the consistency of a bowl of mushy oatmeal.

Second rule of radiation detection: Even if wearing protective gear or in a protective environment, at some point the radiation is still going to overcome the protection or get in if exposure is long enough. Make sure you are not in a protective environment with claustrophobic personnel because their need to open the door and get out will to them be greater than your need to stay alive.

Third rule of radiation detection: You have the finest equipment in the world, just remember it was made by the lowest bidder.

Fourth rule of radiation detection: Always select someone else (preferably someone expendable and you don't like) to go out to do the detecting or to stay behind to man the phones/radio/post.

kenmo wrote:Interesting project JLC... is the Ethernet shield pretty easy to use? I have an Uno that I would like to get online.

With the official library it is quite easy to use yes (although the documentation could even be better) :
http://arduino.cc/en/Reference/Ethernet

kenmo wrote:By the way, I think I saw some comments by you when I was browsing Sparkfun.com the other day

That is very possible, that was the site which got me interested in electronics and I've bought a lot from them. What I love about them is that they show you how to use the stuff and that most of what they sell is easy to use. But now I have found other sites for getting much of the same stuff much cheaper:
http://www.fasttech.com/category/1099/e ... components (new site, best prices)
http://dx.com/c/electrical-tools-499/ar ... pplies-436 (well known site, larger selection)

Btw, while searching for info about geiger counter schematics I found this guy who did the same, but is a lot more experienced than me since he made everything himself:
http://www.pocketmagic.net/2012/10/urad ... STryHXcfME
He also has a "build blog" which I enjoyed reading and I plan making more geiger counters based on his schematic.


SFSxOI, that just makes me sad