GEIGER MULLER TUBES, WHERE DO I FIND ONE THESE DAY

[Roach]

I am in the mood to build a Geiger Counter/ Radiation meter. The commercial ones are sold out. So, does anyone know where I can get a tube, or two without dealing with international orders?

Anybody building one and have a good circuit to use?

Tips pointers and advice welcome. Thanks.

[jimmy101]

Electronics Goldmine has several tubes and counters. You can also check Ebay for surplus CV (Civil Defense) counters, e.g., CDV-700. Up until recently a working one could be had for about $50. Since the events in Japan I suspect the prices have probably tripled.

Ebay often also has (or used to have) cheap Russian made GM tubes and pocket GM counters. Until recently they could be had for about $20.

A bit'o hacking and you can run the signal from any GM counter that produces an audio signal into the MIC input of a PC to get actual counts instead of just clicks and blinking lights. Google for "CDV Counter David Honig CDVCounter.exe" Also available from SourceForge: http://sourceforge.net/projects/cdvcounter/

[rshayes]

The Russian tubes seem to be the most commonly available. Prices seem to be in the $25 to $50 range.

At one time, American tubes were available on the surplus market for $5 to $10. These seem to have disappeared.

The CK1026 was an inexpensive tube that was sold for a new price of a few dollars in the 1960's. This was what was usually used in the hobby magazine projects of that time.

The 1B85 was a military type that showed up frequently in surplus.

The CK1026 and/or 1B85 might show up on eBay, but it might take luck to get one at a reasonable price.

[Bygar]

I vaguely remember an article that used a neon lamp I.E. Ne2 as
a detector. To improve sensitivity you can use diamond sanding or grinding powder
to thin the wall of the neon lamp. Which will improve sensitivity.
Hope this helps.
Bygar

[rshayes]

Fair Radio Sales lists two types surplus geiger tubes (type 5879 and type 5980). Prices are $ 46.00 and $ 35.00 respectively. A search for "geiger" will bring these up.

[Bygar]

I found an article for a radiation counter in an older issue of
Electronics, Published by McGrawhill.
It was in the Designers casebook section.
Sorry I didn't set it aside.
It used a modified PhotoPINdiode specified as large area.
The main mod was to replace the window with an aluminum window.
It was a HP device.
Good article in May issue of Elektor electronics 2011.
Hope this helps.
Bygar