K90_TEKOplus_CI8B Geiger Counter

by Atomic.dave Atomic.Dave@yahoo.com

This is a one of a kind custom hand-made Geiger Counter built by Atomic.Dave. It is based on a kit designed by John
Giametti (username: Brohogan) I have been building his DIY Geiger counters for over three years having built and sold
around 90 of them. Much of the information for this kit is available at the developers website. 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 may be some imperfections, although as minimal as possible. This
Russian tube/probe is one of the most sensitive that I have ever used before. I have preset the high voltage to about 380v.
Dont be afraid by the amount of background radiation this will pick up, just consider the size of the the mica window and how
much it will pick up. As all mica windows, please be careful when handling it, and realize that it can pop easily if poked with a
hard object. It is however much less delicate than a LND7317 as it will not require a air pressurized container for shipping.
OPERATION
Five Triple Pole switches- ALL OFF IN CENTER POSITION. (FOLLOW PHOTO BELOW FOR BUTTON LOCATON)
A. MODE momentary switch does 2 things. When you first power on the unit, you will see:

Atomic.Dave K90
TEKO CI-8B V10.3
This customized first welcome window can easily be changed if you want, by doing
a little programming in Arduino. Refer to the DIY site for directions at the SOFTWARE
section. But the default is now set to my name, Kit 90, and the second line is the Geiger
Counter Name and Tube, and the version of software that the AT328 chip is running
V10.3.
Then a second window will come up with the first line showing the current set uSv
to CPM conversion rate.

440 CPM=1 uSv/h

Running at 5.24V

100 CPM=1 uSv/h

Running at 5.24V

The second line refers to the current voltage that your system is running at. This is
a 5 volt system. The 3200mAh 3.7v lipo battery is boosted to 5v with a pololu booster.
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 this:

E
B

Alarm Set ?
Now at 500 CPM
At this point, you can push the MODE button to incrementally change the Alarm
threshold number. Once you stop holding down the button and wait, it will be set to the
current number shown on the screen and will stay there until you change it either again
restarting and waiting for this part, or by using the included remote control to change it. You can also choose from units of
measurement such as CPM or uSv/h for the Alarm with the remote.
It also acts like a stopwatch starter for the scaler mode. It has two preset times of 1 minute and 10 minute averaging. You
can change this with the remote, or the sketch when connected to pc. Although it is much easier with the remote obviously.
B. LIGHT this controls the LCD backlight and the blinking Green LED. Left for only the LED on, middle for both off, and right
for both LED and Backlight on.
C. POWER switch controls the power and charging of the unit. Right powers the unit with the internal battery, Middle turns it
off, and Left is for charging the unit. (in addition to this, you will need to switch the USB power switch on the lower right side
to the down CHRG position) When the unit is charging, the RED LED just above the mini USB port at the bottom of the unit
will remain constant RED while charging, and when charging is complete, it will turn BLUE. If you wish to power the unit
with the USB in, and bypass the batteries for extended periods. Keep Power switch in OFF position, and flip the USB power
switch on the lower right side to the PWR position. (when not using USB power or charging, keep this USB switch in the
middle position)
D. SOUND switch controls the Event speaker. Right for tone mode, Middle for mute, Left for Standard Click Mode. More on
Tone Mode later.
E. GREEN NULL momentary this works only when in Tone mode for the event speaker. When you are scanning in Tone
mode, you can push this to reset the sensing to zero. More on this later.
F. USB switch is used to control the power coming into the mini usb port. UP to bypass the battery and use only USB
power. Middle to turn it off, and down to charge the unit. Remeber to switch the POWER switch to CHG when charging,
and OFF when using USB power.
G. ALM switch controls the Alarm LED and Piezo. Up for both on, Middle for both off, and Down for LED only on. This
makes for a silent visual alarm.
LEDS
After turning on the unit, right away, you will hear the clicking of the speaker as your GM tube picks up radiation events.
There are two LEDs below the GM tube. The Left one is GREEN which is for radiation events and coincides with the clicking speaker which can be muted with the mute switch. The Right one is RED for the Alarm which will only light up when a
set alarm threshold is reached. It can be turned on or off. The speaker for the alarm and events is located above and left
and right of the GM tube at the top of the unit.
OTHER SWITCHES, PORTS or DIALS
A. To the left of the LCD 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. To the right of the LCD is the output MULTI-PORT used for Geiger Bot (with the included G-Bot 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 an
mono audio output for silent listening with headphones, or with the included 3 conductor to 3 conductor M-M audio cable,
you can run sound based data logging software.

D. At the very bottom of the unit is the Mini USB FTDI output/input for programming in Arduino. This also is used to
charge the internal Lithium Ion battery (with the power switch in the bottome position.) Or it can be used to power the GC
for extended periods, however when you power it this way, I would advise to turn off the LCD backlight. But its ok to turn it
on once in a while, but I wouldnt leave it on for extended periods. When uploading any new changes to the program
sketch, you will need to have this switch in the up position white it is plugged into 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/
REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM:
It adds some conveniences such as the ability to adjust certain things on the GC without the need to plug into your
PC or mac. It is already setup to work. All you have to do is point the remote towards the IR window, and push the power
button to start. As soon as you do that these options will pop up. Use the channel button to move thru each option, and
use the volume buttons to move up or down within those options. You can also use the number pad to input numbers
rather than using the up down of the volume. After you reach the desired amount you push ENT to enter it into the system.
After you are done, hit power again to get out of this mode.
The keys on the Remote Control perform these functions:
On/Off enter or exit the menu system. "DISP PERIOD (MS) is the first prompt you will see.
CH Down moves to the next menu option
CH Up moves to the previous menu option
VOL Up increments the value already set for the current option or toggles an option
VOL Down decrements the value already set for the current option or toggles an option
ENT finalizes the entry in the current menu option if changes were made
When used out of the menu, it acts like the "null" button to reset the tome.
Digits 0-9 for direct entry of values (instead of Volume or Arrows) must use Enter after using digits.
PERIOD enters a decimal point - used when setting the ratio.
MUTING used when out of the menu mutes the speaker when in "tone mode"
RECALL used when out of the menu - switches between the main screen and the scaler screen
Menu Options:
Initially, menu options are set to defaults. Settings made will be stored in EEPROM on the ATmega328, so they will be in
effect when you power back on. Here is a brief description of each menu option:
DISP PERIOD (MS) The number of milliseconds before the display refreshes. 5000 (5 sec.) is a good setting.
(Display counts are based on a "running average" I do not recommend settings of less than 5 seconds.)
LOG PERIOD When to write the CPM, 'dose', and MCU voltage to the serial output. Zero means logging is turned off.
CPM->[DOSE] RATIO Sets that ratio for the type of GM tube used. Note this ratio will depend on the dose unit being displayed - see DISPLAY UNIT. Use the DEC PNT or AV/TV key to set a decimal point.
ALARM THRESHOLD When the CPM or DOSE units is greater than this value the alarm is triggered. Unlike the button,
any value may be entered.
DOSE UNIT Use the arrow keys to select the name of the unit for the dose value - "uSv/h", "uR/h" or "mR/h".
ALARM UNIT Sets whether the alarm is based off of CPM or the DOSE unit. Use the arrow keys to select.
SCALER PER (MIN) Sets the period for the second scaler.
BARGRAPH MAX CPM Sets the CPM that will give a full scale reading on the bar graph. This also affects tone mode
TONE SENSITIVITY Determines how sensitive the tone is to changing activity. Low numbers are more sensitive.
USE RADLOGGER? When "Yes" serial output is compatible with Radiation Logger application - see Android / PC BT
Graphing page.
REG. VOLTAGE Displays the voltage powering the MCU (Vcc). To a large degree, this represents the state of the battery.
Note that each menu setting has a minimum and a maximum setting. Entries that are out of bounds will revert to the minimum or maximum.
DISPLAY BAR GRAPH:
The display has a new bar graph style with placeholders and is much more responsive. It now updates 20 times per second. The tone is also updated at this rate when used.
Auto-precision - decimals are dropped from the displayed dose rate as it gets larger.
Beginning with v10.1 the LOG PERIOD can now be set to intervals of less than 1 minute. Valid settings are OFF, 2s, 3s,
4s, 5s, 6s, 10s, 12s, 15s, 20s, 30s, and 1 minute intervals up to 720 minutes.
"Tube Select" is still supported where grounding I/O pin 9 will use an alternate ratio for CPM to Dose unit. The CPM>DOSE RATIO in the menu will set and save which ever ratio is selected at the time it's used. This allows setting of both
the primary and alternate ratios.
The current state of the the mute button and the scaler mode are saved in EEPROM and the Geiger kit will come up in
those states the next time it's powered on.
A "reset all" #define can be set. When uploaded the EEPROM is reset to all the default values. This may be useful if the
EEPROM contains invalid data from a previous release.
Another #define can put the counter in a test mode. 360 CPM is simulated. Interrupts are not producing the count so it
can be affected if tone mode is on.
Major restructuring of the code base including use of tabs and memory saving techniques.
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 program version 1. 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 10.1
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
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

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

OTHER SOFTWARE LINKS:

http://www.blackcatsystems.com/GM/download.html
HARDWARE
1. DIY Geiger counter kit V5.3 by Brohogan, Running operating system 10.3
2. New Russian CI-8B Geiger Muller Tube
3. Power System by Seeeduino, Sparkfun and Pololu (please charge the unit until the RED light turns BLUE)
A. You can power the Geiger in a couple different ways
1. With internal Lipo battery (Power switch in UP position)
2. With PWR switch OFF (middle), USB cable plugged into USB port on RIGHT side of geiger, USB PWR switch on right side of unit switched UP, then plug
USB cable into:
a. Computer or laptop USB
b. Wall charger block (included)
c. Standard 5v USB Cigarette adapter (included)
d. To power and operate the unit this way for long periods, TURN OFF BACKLIGHT To save LCD Life.
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. Seeeduino Lithium Ion battery - 3.7v 3000mAh
http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/lithium-ion-polymer-battery-pack-3a-p-588.html?cPath=178_183
Full recharge in 3 hours, provides approximately 40 hour constant use of geiger counter with backlight off.
Charge with PC/USB will take about 5 hours or more.
B. Sparkfun USB Lithium Polymer battery charger
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10401
D. Sparkfun 5V FTDI Basic Breakout
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9716
E. Pololu 5V Step-Up/Step-Down Voltage Regulator S7V7F5
http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/2119

ENCLOSURE
Dimensions: New Age Enclosure - S784114 - 7.8" x 4.1" x 1.4" (not including handle or feet)
http://www.newageenclosures.com/files/784114_r5_2.pdf
REPAIRS:
If the unit fails for some reason with six months from purchase, I will be more than happy to do any maintenance you need at no charge except shipping.
PACKAGE CONTENTS:
In your package you will find: Geiger Counter with Russian CI-8B Pancake Tube with Factory Cover, (3) Cables: Geiger bot 3 to 4 conductor, Audio 3 to 3 conductor,
Mini USB to standard USB2 with car and wall charger. CD with software and documents, Manual, RAD sticker, and extra faceplate labels. Sony RM-EZ4 Remote.

10mm

30mm
16.5mm

80mm

70mm

65mm
mica window

8 distance)

RUSSIAN GEIGER TUBE COUNTER CI-8B

The slope of the plateau of the counting characteristics,%, not exceeding:
Sensitivity of the counting rate, imp.s-1.A-1.kg:
Sensitivity of the counting rate (imp / uR):
The slope of the voltage-current characteristics,%, not more:
Amplitude voltage pulse, V, no less than:
Own background, imp / s, max:
Effectiveness of registration of beta radiation,%:
Current sensitivity, uA:
Operating range voltage, V:
Maximum operating speed counting, pulses / s:
Maximum operating current, mA:
The maximum permissible exposure dose of gamma radiation, A / kg:
The maximum permissible exposure dose of gamma radiation (R / h):

0,3
C
1.3 * 10E12 ...
1.9 * 10E12
(350 500)
1,25
20
2
50 85
8 15 (at P = 12.9 * 10E-10 A / kg (5 uR / s))
360 440
3400
18.2
21.5 * 10E-6 (for 1 min)
(300) (for 1 min)

PANCAKE 7317 (@1/8 distance)

LIGHT
LIGH
HT

POWER

SOUND
SOU
UND

,%$s/&&s/.

#('s/&&s/.

#,+s/&&s4.%

--

--

CI-8B
B

/.
ALM OFF
LED

PWR
OFF USB
CHG

atomic.c.dave
atomi

K90

RADIATION
R
RAD
DIATION DETECTOR
DETECT
TOR

FTDI 5V

LIPO Chrg USB POS

LI
PO
LIPO

5v in

5v in+

Batt+

LCD Diode
V
o
oltage Limiter
Voltage
Band to left

Batt

300 OHM
RESISTOR
RESISTOR

300 OHM
RESISTOR
RESISTOR

ON/ON
OFF
ON/OFF

AL
ARM
ALARM
LED

ON/ON
OFF
ON/OFF

EEVENT
VENT
LED

ON
OFF/USB
OFF/
/USB
CHARGE
CHA
ARGE

ALARM
Threshold
Timer
Timer

ALARM

Red LED POS

BRD Pin 15

Red LED POS

LIGHT

OP
PEN
OPEN

LC
CD Jump L
LCD

LC
CD Jump R
LCD

POW
WER
POWER

Blue LED POS

LED BRD POS

LIPO Chrg 5V Out

OPEN

Blue LED POS

5V Boost IN

SELECT

OPEN

3.5mm
SSocket
ocket

1K OHM
RESISTOR
RESIST
OR

ALARM
PIEZ
O
PIEZO

OPEN

BRD Pin 15

.1 uF C
ap
p
Cap

56K OHM
M
RESISTOR
RESIST
OR
R

O
OPEN

O
OPEN

Alarm Piezo POS OPEN

O

.1 uF C
ap
Cap

TONE
OFF
CLICK

SOUND

Piezo Jump B

Piezo Jump A

Board Pin 12
2

E
1

11

12

TONE
Reset

NULL

10

13

5 4 3

2 1

FTDI

14
15
16

IR SENSOR

CHRG
CHRG

OFF

ON

USB
POWER

/.
ALM OFF
LED

--
--

atomi
.dave TOR
atomic.cDETECTOR
RAD
DIATION DETECT
RADIATION
K90

SOUND
#,+s/&&s4.%

POWER
#('s/&&s/.

LIGHT
,%$s/&&s/.

PWR
OFF USB
CHG

CI-8B