GC-20
A Geiger Counter, Dosimeter and Radiation monitoring station all-in-one. Fully open soruce.
The GC-20 Geiger counter is a result of several improvements made on my original GC-01 counter, such as a much more compact footprint, WiFi connectivity, data logging, timed count, and other new software features. It uses a new, custom designed PCB with mostly SMT components to save space, and includes USB charging for the 2000 mAh Li-Po battery that powers it. And of course, the code and all hardware design files are free and open source.
Customer Reviews are in!
I own and have owned many geiger counters so I have a lot of experience with many brands and models. You have done a great job designing this one. It’s my new favorite.
- Jack Leatherman, Ohio
It works very well and I would like to compliment you on a very nice piece of engineering. It is very evident from the display layout and overall user interface that you put considerable thought and effort into the design of this product.
- Richard Fults, California
Using the venerable SBM-20 Geiger tube, the GC-20 is capable of detecting beta and gamma radiation, and comes with the following main features:
- Touchscreen controlled, intuitive GUI
- Displays counts per minute, current dose, and accumulated dose on homescreen
- Sensitive and reliable SBM-20 Geiger-Muller tube
- Variable integration time
- Timed count mode allows measurement of low doses
- Choose between Sieverts and Rems as the units of the effective dose rate
- User adjustable alert threshold
- Adjustable calibration to relate CPM to dose rate for various isotopes
- Audible clicker and LED indicator toggled on and off from homescreen
- Offline data logging
- Post bulk logged data to cloud service (ThingSpeak) to graph, analyze and/or save to computer
- Monitoring Station mode: device stays connected to WiFi and regularly posts ambient radiation level to ThingSpeak channel
All files related to the GC-20, such as the code, Gerbers, STLs, circuit schematic, User Manual and Build Guide can be found at my GitHub page for the project.
Direct PDF links to the User Manual, Schematic and the Build Guide are below:
If you buy it pre-built or if you make one and give/sell it to someone, no programming or tinkering of any kind is needed by the user to make use of all of the features. Everything, including WiFi setup, is handeled through the GUI.
Buy the GC-20 from my Tindie store here.
My "production line" of GC-20s! I'm getting pretty good at making these.
The trusty toaster oven method of soldering SMT components. Testing out multiple board soldering.
Doing a batch of 13 boards in a single run. Got to significantly streamline the process of manual stenciling, pick-and-placing and soldering in batches of 3 or 4. Oh how I wish I had a pick-and-place robot. Santa pls