K88 Pocket Geiger Counter

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 almost 3 years, I have built and sold about 90 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 buttons, and 2
triple pole slide switches. Follow the label to locate the listed
switches below:
LEDS
After powering the GC on, you will hear the beeping of the piezo as your
CI-180G 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.Dave K88
LBBP LND712v10.2
This customized first welcome window can 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 88, and the second line is the Geiger Counter name, (Little
Black Box Plus) , the LND Tube name, and the version of software that
the AT328 chip is running v10.2. The second window will show this:
100 CPM=1 uSv/h
Running at 5.24V
The first line refers to the conversion rate of CPM to uSv/hr for the
LND712 tube (100) this can be changed either 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.
The 1300mAh 3.7v lipo battery is boosted to 5v with a 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
something like this:
Alarm Set ?
Now at 500 CPM
At this point, you can gently 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 either again
restarting and waiting for this part. You can also chose from units of
measurement such as CPM or uSv/h for the Alarm with Arduino.
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. It can be changed in Arduino
to whatever times you wish to set it. 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 the time is reached, the numbers on
the left side act as a total counter. As soon as the number is reached,
the average appears on the right side in uSv/hr averages on the right
and cpm averages on the left. All this can be changed and customized
within Arduino.

2. POWER Power switch controls the power, backlight, and charging of

the GC. Right turns on the unit with the backlight off, Middle turns it off
and allows charging of the unit or to bypass the battery and use USB
power to run it, and Left turns on the unit with the backlight offsuggested for longer battery life.
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. But the alarm will still work, but in silent mode with the RED
LED being the method of alert.
OTHER SWITCHES, BUTTONS, PORTS, DIALS
A. At the top and to the right 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. Located on the bottom plate and to the right 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. Or plug the optional Geiger Graph 3.5mm to USB
cable into the port, and into a USB on your PC, then follow
instructions to run Geiger Graph. It also serves as a 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 or amplify the clicking.
C. On the left side of the bottom plate is the Mini USB FTDI
output/input for programming in Arduino. This also is used to charge the
internal Lithium Ion battery (Switch to the right and with the power
switch in the middle position.) A RED Glow will emit from the 3.5mm
port just to the right on the bottom panel. This is the charging indicator.
It stays RED on till it is done charging at which point it will go off. Or
switch to the left and it can be used to power the GC for extended
periods (with the POWER switch in middle), however when you power it
this way, the backlight stays off. 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/
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. This setting is
changed within Arduino.
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 10.2
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
http://www.imagesco.com/geiger/geiger-graph.html
GEIGER GRAPH FOR PC NETWORKS: (cost is around $60. Use the
OPTIONAL FTDI 3.5mm to USB cable) This is a PC only software.

HARDWARE
1. DIY Geiger counter kit V3.0 by Brohogan, Running operating system
10.2
2. LND712 Geiger Muller Tube
3. Power System by Sparkfun (please charge the unit until the RED light
inside the audio plug goes out)

POWERING YOUR GEIGER COUNTER

You can power the Geiger in a couple different ways
1. With internal Lipo battery
2. With PWR switch OFF (middle), USB cable plugged into USB port on
bottom panel of GC, switch to left, 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 H67
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, (2) Cables: Geiger bot 3 to
4 conductor, Mini USB to standard USB2. 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

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

SELECT

s GAM
A

A s B

POWER

SOUND

PH

s X-R

LND 712

atomic.dave

RADIATION DETECTOR

LIPO

In

5V Up/Down
BOOST

OFF &
CHARGE
ON &
ON &
BKLT ON
NO BKLT

Out

8
9
10
11
12
13

SELECT
ALARM
SCALER

7
6
5
4
3
2

3
4

1
2

5
6

11 13

15

MDfly 2 x 16 mini LCD

New Haven
Adapter board

10 12 14 16

to ground

ALARM
LED

300 OHM
RESISTOR

3.5mm
Socket

.1 uF Cap

56K OHM
RESISTOR .1 uF Cap

MULTI-SOFTWARE
OUTPUT PORT

270 OHM
RESISTOR

1K OHM
RESISTOR

EVENT
LED

NO CLICK
NO ALARM
CLICK &
CLICK &
ALARM
NO ALRM

SOUND

7
6
5
4
3
2

FTDI

TA

K88

s GAM

atomic.dave

LND 712

POWER

SELECT
SOUND

CHARGE

USB

POWER

the little black box plus

RADIATION DETECTOR

14
15
16
17
18
19

POWER

8
9
10
11
12
13

s X
- R AY

A LP HA