Testing an old Geiger tube?

Question

I have an old Soviet personal radiation dosimeter that I broke as a kid by dropping it into water. I opened it up a while ago and the electronics in there were quite simple - mainly a ~10cm Geiger tube and what looked like Soviet variants of standard logic ICs. The tube looked intact - is there a way for me to test if it's worth salvaging, though?

stevenvh · Answer 1 · 2012-06-16T16:24:23.740

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You have to apply a high voltage, like +500 V DC via 3 or more series resistors to the central anode, and connect the cathode via a 100 k\$\Omega\$ resistor to ground. The HV supply has only to source less than a mA. If an ionizing particle passes through the GM-tube, it will cause a brief discharge current, which in turn will give a brief pulse over the resistor.

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You'll need a radioactive source to test it. The higher the radioactivity the more pulses per minute you'll get (and the more unhealthy it is!). The pulses are short, IIRC in the order of microseconds, depending on the kind of particle. You'll need a storage scope to see them, or trigger a monostable multivibrator (MMV) with them, so that they're stretched in time.

edited Jun 16 '12 at 16:24

answered Jun 16 '12 at 16:02

stevenvh

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Try placing a smoke detector beside it. Some of these have a [radiation source](https://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj7xJuw1ofXAhVXGsAKHVdgArsQFgguMAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww3.epa.gov%2Fradtown%2Famericium-smoke-detectors.html&usg=AOvVaw0rlgUsiEcEHgQou9Dx181J). – Transistor Oct 23 '17 at 21:24
Lots of schematics on Techlib. http://www.techlib.com/science/geiger.html As a uranium soruce, try Autunite ore, a few bucks from eBay https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=autunite&_sop=15 – wbeaty Oct 23 '17 at 21:41
Or a banana, for that matter...they're not at all calibrated, but your average banana should be at least a bit above background... – ThreePhaseEel Oct 24 '17 at 02:16

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 16 '12 at 23:35

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You can quickly hookup a high voltage source from 555 timer, mosfet and transformer, then do everything as described by steventh. You can connect a piezo crystal to output - this way you'll hear clicks when particles enter tube.

You can get away without radioactive material, if tube is sensitive enough, you'll be able to detect background radiation with it.

answered Jun 16 '12 at 23:35

miceuz

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Note that you can't use just any small mains transformer, as they're not rated for 350 v AC, which you'll need to get 500 V DC. – stevenvh Jun 17 '12 at 04:50

Testing an old Geiger tube?

2 Answers2