K99 Geiger Pal

This is a one of a kind custom hand-made Geiger Counter built

by Atomic.Dave. It is based on a kit designed by Username:
Brohogan. For 3 years, I have built and sold about 100 of these kits,
with very good results, and fantastic feedback by ebay customers. All
information for this kit is available at the developers website. As I
have said before, this is more of a kit for someone who knows a little
bit about electronics but doesnt have the time or patience to build it,
or would rather someone else do all the dirty work. Having been built
by me, of course there will be some imperfections, although as
minimal as possible. These instructions will help you to understand
the basic operation of this meter. Once you have used it a couple
times, it should be pretty easy for you to operate.
OPERATION
On the face of the unit are 2 LEDS, 1 momentary button, and 2
triple pole slide switches. Follow the label to locate the listed
switches below: PLEASE NOTE, DO NOT UNPLUG THE PROBE WHILE
THE UNIT IS ON. TURN OFF THE UNIT, THEN UNPLUG/PLUGIN.

LEDS
After powering the GC on, you will hear the beeping of the piezo as
your SBT-9 GM tube picks up radiation events. The GREEN LED is
for radiation events and coincides with the beeping piezo which can
be muted with the mute switch. The RED LED will only light up when
a set alarm threshold is reached. The piezo for events is located
beneath contrast pot on the right side.
Switches:
1. SELECT Green momentary switch- does 2 things. When you first
power on the unit, you will see this first screen:
Atomic.D
K99v103B
This customized first welcome window can be changed if you
want, by doing a little programming in Arduino. The second line
refers to the kit build no. (99) and brohogan software version 10.3B.
Refer to the DIY site for directions at the SOFTWARE section. The
second window will show this:
85 RATE
5.10V
The first line refers to the conversion rate of CPM to uSv/hr for
the SBT-9 tube (85) this can be changed in the program sketch, with
Arduino which I will explain later. The second line refers to the
current voltage that your system is running at. This is a 5 volt system.
2 AA batteries are boosted to 5v with a booster. IMPORTANT- MAKE
SURE YOU PUT THE BATTERIES IN ACCORDING TO THE
INDICATED + AND IN THE BATTERY COMPARTMENT. You can
use Alkaline, or nimh rechargeables. Everytime you start up your GC
(geiger counter) it will show you this so you will always know your
current voltage. The third window will show something like this:
Alarm ?
Now 200

At this point, you can hold down the SELECT button to

incrementally change the Alarm threshold number. Once you stop
holding the button and wait, it will be set to the current number shown
on the screen and will stay there until you change it by restarting and
repeating the same procedure. You can also chose from units of
measurement such as CPM or uSv/h for the Alarm with Arduino.
The final screen will say:
??? c/m
Then it starts counting with the first line being the Counts Per
Minute (CPM) and the second line being uSv/hr. Both numbers are
continuously averaged with it going back to 0 during pauses under
a minute.
This same button is used for changing the display from standard
mode to scaler mode. It has two preset timed functions, one for each
line. 1 minute and 10 minute averaging. The 1 minute first timer is set
and cannot be changed, but the second one can be changed in
Arduino to whatever time you wish to set it up to 90 minutes. It works
like a stopwatch starting as soon as you hit the button. The time
counts down on the right side of the screen in seconds. Until each
amount is reached, both lines act as total counters. During this time,
you will see a C on the left side of each line until that time is
reached. Once it is reached, the averaged count is displayed.
2. POWER controls the units backlight and power. Left is meter on
without backlight. Middle is OFF, and Right is meter on with
backlight off.
3. SOUND The Sound switch controls the Event piezo and the Alarm
piezo. Middle turns off both. Right turns both on. Left turns on only
the Event piezo. However you will have a choice to have the alarm
either silent with RED LED only, or LED and sounded alarm.
OTHER SWITCHES, BUTTONS, PORTS, DIALS
A. On the middle left side of the unit, is the LCD contrast dial. As
the LCD is used, it might get to a point for you to readjust the
contrast for it. Not a big deal, while the backlight is on, gently take a
small screwdriver and turn it to the left or right until it appears to have
the best contrast.
B. Located on the left side of the unit is the OUTPUT multi-port
used for Geiger Bot (with the included G-Bot cable), and for Geiger
Graph (with the optional USB cable) Just plug in the Geiger Bot
cable into this with the 3 conductor plug, and the 4 conductor into
your iphone or ipad. It also serves as a mono audio output for silent
listening with headphones, or with a 3 conductor to 3 conductor M-M
audio cable, you can run sound based data logging software or
amplify the clicking.
C. On the right side of the meter is the Mini USB FTDI
output/input for programming in Arduino. This is also used to power
the GC for extended periods, however when you power it this way, it
is very IMPORTANT to take out the batteries first, but you have the
choice of turning on or off the backlight with the power switch. Off
might be better for longterm use to save the life of the backlight.
When uploading any new changes to the program sketch, switch to

the left while connected to your pc with the USB cable. This same
USB is also used as an output for usb based FREE Radiation
Logging software. To use this software, you must download from this
site, and install on your laptop or PC. It is not available for Mac.
http://radiohobbystore.com/radiation-logger/
ABOUT DOSE UNITS:
The menu allows you select the name of the dose unit that
appears on the display. However, to be clear, there is no built in
conversion between them. Instead the CPM->[DOSE] RATIO is
adjusted depending on the name of the DOSE UNIT selected. For
example, 175.43 is the default set for the SBM-20 with uSv as the
dose unit. Suppose you pick "mR" as the dose unit name, and want
to measure in milirems. ("mR" more correctly abbreviates as
milliroentgens but is used to save display space.) The rem is defined
as .01 seivert. Therefore, to use the same ratio that was designed for
the tube, you would multiply that ratio by 10. You would enter a CPM>[DOSE] RATIO as 175.43 x 10 or 1754.3. Likewise if you wanted
microrems ("uR") you would divide the ratio by 10 and enter 17.54. If
you do want to use roentgens (used in older instruments) this source
states that they are .96 rem in soft tissue. So the CPM->[DOSE]
RATIO for actual mR would be 175.43 x 10 x .96 or 1684.1. (for uR it
would be 16.84)
PLEASE REFER TO THE DIY GEIGER COUNTER DEVELOPERS
WEBSITE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
http://www.sites.google.com/site/diygeigercounter/
ARDUINO Software and Serial-USB connection information:
ON the cd you will find the FTDI driver and Arduino. Install both and
restart your mac. Copy the Geiger Sketch folder to the same folder as
your Arduino program is and remember where that is as that will be
where you go to save your sketch everytime you make a change to it.
There will also be a Library folder that will also need to be in the same
folder. Just remember that the folder has to be the same exact name
as the sketch name is. And also within Arduino, you will have to go to
preferences and show Arduino where your default sketch folder is.
ARDUINO SETTINGS: Brohogan Software system version 10.3
1. Open Arduino
2. Open the saved sketch .ino file, connect your Geiger counter to
the USB with power switch off.
3. Verify the file by clicking the little check mark icon.
4. Click TOOLS, and Select Board type as Arduino UNO, and select
serial port as the top tty choice.
5. Click Serial Monitor (top right looking glass icon). Set Baud rate to
9600 and you should see the CPM, uSv and geiger counter
voltage data coming up once per minute.
For more info go to website under Software section on the DIY

geiger counter website. Or go to Arduino.cc

OTHER SOFTWARE LINKS:
http://www.blackcatsystems.com/GM/download.html
HARDWARE
1. DIY Geiger counter kit V3.0 by Brohogan, Running operating
system 10.3
2. SBT-9 Russian New Old Stock Geiger Muller Tube
POWERING YOUR GEIGER COUNTER
You can power the Geiger in a couple different ways
1. With internal AA batteries, Alkaline or Nimh rechargeables.
2. With PWR switch in any position, USB cable plugged into USB
port then plugged into:
a. Computer or laptop USB
b. Wall charger block
c. Standard 5v USB Cigarette adapter
d. To power and operate the unit this way for long periods, I
would suggest to TURN OFF BACKLIGHT to conserve the
life of the LCD.
POWER and OTHER SYSTEM ITEMS: This system is capable of
producing 900+ volts, so be careful or you may get zapped
when handling the system while it is powered on.
A. Sparkfun Lithium Ion battery - 3.7v 1300mAh
Full charge provides approximately 20 hours constant use of
geiger counter with backlight off.
B. USB Lithium Polymer battery charger
C. Pololu 5V Step-Up Voltage Regulator U1V10F5
http://www.pololu.com/product/2564
D. Sparkfun 5V FTDI Basic Breakout
ENCLOSURE: Serpac H67AA
Dimensions: 4.940 in X 2.750 in X 1.275 in
http://www.serpac.com/h67.aspx
REPAIRS:
If the unit fails for some reason within 6 months of purchase, I will be
more than happy to do any maintenance you need at no charge
except for parts and shipping.
PACKAGE CONTENTS:
In your package you will find: Geiger Counter & Probe, (2) Cables:
Geiger bot 3 to 4 conductor, Mini USB to standard USB2. Wall and
Car USB chargers. CD with software and documents, Manual, RAD
sticker, and extra faceplate labels.

GEIGER BOT SUGGESTED SETTINGS: (You may have to play with it to get it just right) GO TO: https://sites.google.com/site/geigerbot/

Select options

Select Geiger Counter

Select LND712 CS137

SBT-9
Voltage of start of counting = 260...320V
Working voltage = 380V
Length of flat part of counting curve = 80V
Slope of flat part of counting curve = 0.125 %/V
Background noise at 25 OC = 0.15 pulses/sec
Working temperature = -45...+50 OC
Life = 1*1010 pulses
Weight = ~8.5 g
Diametr = 10mm
Length = 73mm

Adjust Conversion
factor to your tube:
123 for LND712
175 for SBM-20
360 for LND7317
Select I/O Settings

Auto Adjust OFF

(you may need to play
with this setting)
RMS Window 1
Delay Window 30
Volume Thresh 20000

Ultrafast Rates ON

TOP

SELECT
POWER

SOUND

ALPHA

s X
R AY

SBT-9

ET

A s GAM

atomic.dave

K95

GEIGER PAL
RADIATION DETECTOR

ALARM
ALARM
LED

300 OHM
RESIST
OR
RESISTOR

SELECT
ALARM
SCALER

EEVENT
VENT
LED

1K OHM
RESIST
OR
RESISTOR

270 OHM
RESIST
OR
RESISTOR

TA

s GAM

10
8
6
4
2

9
7
5
3
1

11 12

13 14

15 16

13

14

17

16

18

12 11 10 9 8 7

TION DETECTOR
RADIATION

POCKET PAL

K90

atomi
atomic.c.dave

.1 uF C
ap
Cap

ALARM

SBT-9

POWER

SELECT

TOP

15

6 5 4 3 2 1

FTDI

In

Out
O
ut

Up/Down
5V Up/Down
BOOST

ROTCETED NOIT

.cimota

A G s AT

evad
LAP TEKCOP

09K

9-TBS

REWOP

TCELES
MRALA

56K OHM
RESIST
OR
RESISTOR

MUL
MULTI-SOFT
TI-SOFTWARE
MULTI-SOFTWARE
OUTPUT PORT

ON &
NO BKLT
BKLT

OFF
CENTER
ON &
BKLT ON
BKLT

POWER

SOUND

YA R - X s

NO CLICK
NO ALARM
CLICK &
CLICK &
ALARM
NO ALRM

s X
- R AY

A LP HA

A LP HA