Smart Geiger Counter Radiacode-103 with Free Mobile App. Nuclear Radiation Detector

Excellent. Instruction videos very good.

An incredible, real scientific instrument, not a toy. The model I have is the Radiacode 103. It is extremely sensitive; a granite headstone in a cemetery or war memorial monument will immediately show an increase in background as you get close. Natural background in a building from the stone, brick and plaster shows up quite clearly. It will even detect (though you need to sample for a few hours) the very low energy x rays emitted from a tritium keychain as the result of X ray fluorescence from the zinc sulphide phosphor. Smoke detectors and radium watches will drive it crazy with a red light and vibration warning (if enabled). It will show (again after a few hours of sampling) the peak from natural potassium 40 that is in food (and our bodies). It's a marvel of technology and if you have any interest in radiation, it's a terrific little gadget.

First impressions are that this is a very useful and versatile tool. Not used in a real situation yet but looks like its up to what it is designed for. Only mild constructive criticism - the menu that allows access to the different functions, I found a little awkward to access, plus no written instruction manual supplied, otherwise good value for money and i woul recommend.

The ability to create spectrograms of unknown samples places this device at another level compared to simple Geiger-Muller tube devices. While small it is a sophisticated analysis instrument, but it is the software that makes it stand out. I'm using the Windows PC and also iOS app. The mobile phone app is just excellent for work in the field. I've knocked one star off because my example 103 is way out of calibration and I will need to re-calibrate it (fairly simple task requiring access to a standard such as Thorium 232, but the info on the Radiacode website is not a great deal of help).

Muy interesante como gadjet científico. No tengo idea de como funciona el modo espectrograma.

Il Radiacode 103 è semplicemente straordinario: compatto, preciso, versatile. Rileva e distingue in tempo reale radionuclidi naturali e artificiali, ma il suo vero punto di forza è la possibilità di fare spettrometria gamma dettagliata anche in campo! Perfetto per collezionisti di minerali radioattivi, appassionati di fisica e uso didattico. Software migliorabile, ma l’hardware è eccezionale.

Für niedrige und mittlere Strahlungswerte besser als Geigerzähler! Kleine Geigerzähler sind normalerweise eher schlecht, weil sie durch das geringe Volumen des Detektors (GM-Zählrohr) und die geringe Dichte des Mediums (Gas) bei geringen Strahlungsintensitäten nur sehr geringe Zählraten liefern und damit nur sehr langsam auf Änderungen reagieren. Man muss dann viele Minuten oder Stunden messen, um brauchbare Messwerte zu erhalten. Der Radiacode 103 hat dieses Problem nicht, weil es ein Szintillations-Zähler ist und der dichte Detektor-Kristall selbst mit nur 1cm^3 Volumen schon ca. 6 CPS bei 0.07 uSv/h registriert (normale Hintergrundstrahlung hier). Außerdem kann es die Energie der Strahlung bestimmen und ein Spektrum erstellen, anhand dessen man dann bestimmen kann, was genau da strahlt. Das ist bei Geräten mit GM-Zählrohr so nicht möglich und andere Szintillations-Zähler sind eher teuer. Die (relativ jungen) Apps für macOS (Apple Silicon) und iPhone sind hübsch und funktionieren gut, die Android-App soll sogar noch etwas besser sein (diese ist schon länger verfügbar und daher ausgereifter und mehr verfeinert). Für Windows gibt es auch eine Software (habe ich nicht getestet) und es gibt eine FOSS Python-Library. Der Unterschied zwischen RC103 und RC102 ist die etwas bessere "Auflösung" der Spektren beim RC103. Kann man je nach aktuellem Preis und geplanter Anwendung dann entscheiden, was das bessere P/L-Verhältnis hat.

When I first received this Geiger counter I was very dismayed. The screen on the actual item tells you very little information and seemed confusing. And then when I started working with the app on the phone and testing it, this old Engineer started to feel something on her face that was unusual - it was a genuine smile of joy (it also made me talk about myself in the third person, but I digress). This item does so much and has so many modern features that I just keep finding new things to do with it. I really love it's GPS connectivity to the phone, I really love the fact that when I dropped it in a 1 acre field I was able to locate it and to have it sound an alert (the alert was soft, but it allowed me to find it when I had narrowed it down to a 5 foot area and somehow still could not find it). The ability to track radiation as you drive around is both cool and concerning, I have to wonder why one warehouse in town is sending out 200 counts per minute from approximately 200 feet away. But that's someone else's problem, I'm playing with the Geiger counter. At first I'd bemoaned the fact that does not detect alpha like my GCM 600+. Well, alpha is difficult to detect accurately I mean yes I use both counters, but this one is my go-to now. I'm very impressed by the fact it can use the energy spectrum to identify the most likely radioactive isotopes. I said it on top of a 10 pound collection of thoriated welding rods, and within a couple minutes he told me very clearly that it was sitting on top of thorium. The same for potassium, uranium, radium (identified by daughters), promethium, iodine, technetium, iridium, americium, lanthanum... basically everything that I had that was radioactive. It was not able to identify my tritium although it did pick up the radio activity, I'm guessing the bremsstrahlung x-rays? It's a small size makes it simple to throw in my purse and carrying with me, and the very long battery life and quick charging means it goes for days constantly without a charge. This was useful when I went to the dentist office and the dentist was so intrigued we ran his x-ray machine multiple times with me standing at different locations nearby. I was able to show him that the location they typically stand when they take x-rays was getting slight amounts of radiation, so they moved the controls back. Really there are no negatives at all regarding this Geiger counter, except that I wish the little chime plays when it is lost could be made louder so it'd be easier to find. So it receives a 99/100, or 5 stars. I know there is a new version of this counter out, but I haven't been sold on the improvements with it to justify buying that as well. And I think that testifies even more to how good this item is, it really does so much I just don't need anything else... (except alpha...what about a separate mini alpha pancake detector that can connect to this one via bluetooth? Oh, and maybe you guys can be the first to somehow bring out a reliable neutron detector below $1000?) hey, one can wish.

Works as expected still need to dive into it to get to know the details of the apparatus