Smart Geiger Counter Radiacode-103 with Free Mobile App. Nuclear Radiation Detector

When I first received this Geiger counter I was very dismayed. The screen on the actual item tells you very little information and seemed confusing. And then when I started working with the app on the phone and testing it, this old Engineer started to feel something on her face that was unusual - it was a genuine smile of joy (it also made me talk about myself in the third person, but I digress). This item does so much and has so many modern features that I just keep finding new things to do with it. I really love it's GPS connectivity to the phone, I really love the fact that when I dropped it in a 1 acre field I was able to locate it and to have it sound an alert (the alert was soft, but it allowed me to find it when I had narrowed it down to a 5 foot area and somehow still could not find it). The ability to track radiation as you drive around is both cool and concerning, I have to wonder why one warehouse in town is sending out 200 counts per minute from approximately 200 feet away. But that's someone else's problem, I'm playing with the Geiger counter. At first I'd bemoaned the fact that does not detect alpha like my GCM 600+. Well, alpha is difficult to detect accurately I mean yes I use both counters, but this one is my go-to now. I'm very impressed by the fact it can use the energy spectrum to identify the most likely radioactive isotopes. I said it on top of a 10 pound collection of thoriated welding rods, and within a couple minutes he told me very clearly that it was sitting on top of thorium. The same for potassium, uranium, radium (identified by daughters), promethium, iodine, technetium, iridium, americium, lanthanum... basically everything that I had that was radioactive. It was not able to identify my tritium although it did pick up the radio activity, I'm guessing the bremsstrahlung x-rays? It's a small size makes it simple to throw in my purse and carrying with me, and the very long battery life and quick charging means it goes for days constantly without a charge. This was useful when I went to the dentist office and the dentist was so intrigued we ran his x-ray machine multiple times with me standing at different locations nearby. I was able to show him that the location they typically stand when they take x-rays was getting slight amounts of radiation, so they moved the controls back. Really there are no negatives at all regarding this Geiger counter, except that I wish the little chime plays when it is lost could be made louder so it'd be easier to find. So it receives a 99/100, or 5 stars. I know there is a new version of this counter out, but I haven't been sold on the improvements with it to justify buying that as well. And I think that testifies even more to how good this item is, it really does so much I just don't need anything else... (except alpha...what about a separate mini alpha pancake detector that can connect to this one via bluetooth? Oh, and maybe you guys can be the first to somehow bring out a reliable neutron detector below $1000?) hey, one can wish.

This is an interesting device. I've had a bit of time to tinker with it and have taken it out in the field. It's not a geiger counter. A geiger counter uses a geiger-mueller tube. A typical thin-walled geiger tube can only really register beta and pick up that there is radiation present, not its energy. It's basically numbers of clicks of ionizing radiation without being able to tell you anything about it. This is a scintillator that mostly picks up gamma and tracks voltage of counts in kev. It tracks these counts in spectra, spectrograms over time, and location. It's not quite a lab-grade device, but it puts this sort of monitoring and tracking into an affordable device. It's the kind of device you can carry with you and track radiation levels and doses around your location. You can put it next to an emitter, take a spectrum and identify the type of emitter. If you have an alpha or beta source, like uranium or thorium, it doesn't necessarily read it directly, but records the gamma emissions of decay chain products to identify the source. It's very sensitive to these types of sources in a way that a cheaper geiger tube device usually isn't. I think that the intended "killer ap" would be using it to monitor food sources down wind of Chernobyl. It's a European product in that way. That's not as much of a concern for me. For me, it can be a bit of a toy where I can take spectra of common emitters, like uranium glass, vintage dishes, lantern mantles. I've figured out that my downtown areas is slightly more radioactive than where I live. However, it's not a toy. It's a pretty serious device. There's a feature in the app that lets you identify emitter types through the differing peaks on a spectrum. You can take a baseline background reading and subtract it from your spectra to really make the source type more clear. It really does do a lot for the money. I use it as a safety device when I replace smoke detectors for people. I can check them for radiation emitters before disposing of them so i don't expose myself and others. As well, I run a desert education group and it helps in identifying minerals in the field. I found out one of my camera lenses is a beta emitter (thorium glass) which doesn't change much, but I'm happy that I know not to carry it in my vest pocket for 12 hours a day. My heads up is that the Android app is much more mature than the iOS app. The iPhone app is missing a lot of features, but it seems like they are updating about once a month. As of February 2024, the tracks feature works and the radiation level and dose rate features are working. You can take spectra but can't save them yet. I hope this gets fixed quickly, since this is maybe the best feature for me. The android app has pretty modest requirements, so I borrowed an old Android phone to save spectra and do background subtraction until these features are added. I don't think this is a deal killer. Also, the Android app has some odd English locutions so it might take some time to figure out what these features are, and you might need to refer to the documentation a few times before getting comfortable. So far, the iOS app is much more intuitive, though it is a work in progress.

This little gadget isn't very big (about the size of a snickers bar), but it's about 20x more sensitive to gamma radiation than a typical geiger counter. This is because it uses a scintillation crystal detector instead of a tube of low pressure gas. The crystal is far denser than the gas, so gamma photons are much more likely to interact with the crystal than the gas as they pass through. But the greatest benefit of using a scintillation crystal isn't the extra sensitivity, it's the ability to measure the energy of detected gamma photons. That enables you to identify the isotope(s) emitting the radiation. By looking at the distribution of the peaks in the spectrum data, you can distinguish between naturally occurring uranium and thorium and K-40, and manmade fission products like Cs-137 and I-131. You can use it to definitively comfirm whether or not an area has been contaminated with fallout from a bomb or a nuclear accident, a lost or misplaced industrial radiation source, or natural radioactive sources, and accurately assess radiation hazards. By itself, it makes a great portable detector, but the small screen makes the spectrometer function a little difficult to use. But it has Bluetooth that can connect to a phone app, and the app makes displaying and interpreting spectra fairly easy. The app has a built-in library of gamma sources, so you can click on a spectrum peak and see isotopes that have emission lines in that area. When you have multiple emission lines that match multiple spectrum peaks, you have a positive ID of the radiation source. The app logs the detected radiation level over time, and can combine that log with GPS mapping to locate areas with high radiation levels. The app can also calculate how contaminated food or other materials are if you buy a marinelli container for testing. That feature can be used to verify whether food is safe to eat if there is a concern about contamination. Battery life is a little over a week, depending on screen backlight use, click volume, etc. It has a standard USB C port for charging or connecting to your computer, so that's hassle-free. Overall I really like mine, and think it's a great thing to have for emergency preparedness and learning about radioactivity. It's not just educational, it could save your life!

I purchased this after having one on order with the manufacturer for over a month on backorder. This delivered in three days and of course, the one from Cyprus landed a couple days later. While there has to be a lot under the hood, the main thing that impresses me hardware-wise is that it is not a run of the mill Geiger counter. It uses a GAGG(Ce) scintillator coupled with a photomultiplier tube. This is pretty next-generation technology! While impressive in its own right, the power of the device is brought forth with the software that is available for smartphones and desktop computers. That's where the big time analysis and pretty pictures can be found! You do get rudimentary activity/dose rate/dose information and (I believe) some background spectra analysis (haven't figured this out yet). Inside the box you have the detector and a USB-A to USB-C cable. There are a couple cards with basic safety information and a QR code to scan to get the software. The QR code doesn't work (as of 2/15/25) so it's just as easy searching for it through wherever you get your phone software. I highly recommend getting a case for it as well. Not only does it make it easier to travel with it, but it adds a layer of protection to your somewhat less cheap new toy. I picked up the EVA hard case with the one I got off Amazon and a silicone skin for the one I got from the manufacturer. Obviously the hard case will be more protective but the skin allows for quick use. I actually have it clipped to the carabiner on the backpack I take to work. This is ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE MORE sensitive and accurate than the "yellow box" Geiger counter made in China that you can pick up here and just about everywhere else. If you want something to look at everyday things, the Radiacode would be my recommendation. If you're serious about radiation detection, you need to put on your Big Boy Pants and get a Ludlum Model 3 or similar. But now we're talking (at least) an order of magnitude higher cost.

This is a truly amazing, sleek-looking device -- more than just a "dumb" Geiger Counter which basically just lets you know whether ionizing radiation was detected, this opens up a whole new way of looking at sources of natural (and artificial) radiation around you by giving you information about the "strength" of the radiation detected and provides a graph of the different energies of radiation detected which allows you to identify the actual source of the radiation since each element and source has its own characteristic footprint. This is a tiny device which is an amazing value for the money given what it enables you to do. A must have for a physics geek and amazing gift for the nerd who thought they had everything but will quickly fall in love with this device. There are a ton of instructional videos and information on their web site which makes for a low barrier of entry for this highly capable device.

Part of my EDC now. I make sure it always has a charge, the battery life is great, even with frequent checking and backlight illumination I am constantly 7+ days on a charge. I wear it at work everyday around cabinet xray machines, yes I know it does so much more, and I do use it for other things but this is my daily use. It is interesting to me to see my exposure and watch the peaks as the lead curtains sway. Durability is amazing, I did get the silicone case to put it on, which makes it easier to hand of my badge or off my belt. I can be rough with things in the work place (broken phone screens, watch screens, broken pens) and I have not had any damage to this at all, not even a scratch on the screen and this is several months of ownership. Functionally this is amazing and keeps getting better. The recent update even allowed testing food for radiation on Iphone which was previously only for the higher end monitors. This does seem to scare some people that know little of radiation safety princables, some that I know after showing the geiger clicks around smoke detectors talked about throwing them all out and taking the risk. Be prepared if purchasing to have to explain more about readiation than you ever thought you would need to do. As a side note no need to send this through TSA baggage screening to be nosey, it maxes out the sensor. You may also find yourself looking to buy things just to play with it (Amaon does sell uranium ore, and thorium welding rods)

Radiacode makes an incredible product that I would happily buy many times over. 1. The customer service is sharp and responsive. I ordered a 103 and despite coming from Cyprus, took my only about a week to receive. It took a couple days to prepare for shipping so I reached out to inquire. Radiacode responded quickly and even offered the arm band to me as an apology. 2. The device itself is packaged very nicely with the two part cardboard box similar to Apple. A molded foam insert kept everything neatly in place. It was aesthetic and well secured. 3. The device itself is wonderfully engineered. It is compact, ergonomic, and intuitive. It is feature rich and very impressive. The battery life is something to boast about too. I wore it as a dosimeter for 4+ days in a row before getting it below 20%. There is a built in gyro that will reorient the screen depending on how it is held. The case of the device is nicely molded and feels robust. 4. The app is feature rich (with more under development). I understand the Android app may have some more features than iOS, however the iOS app is well put together, intuitive, and does everything I want it to. Overall, Radiacode blew my socks off with this device and it is an incredible piece of equipment. No wonder Radioactive Drew was a fan. Well done

when I compare the radiacode with the cdv-700 and the GMC-800 they all read about the same for a test source of about .6 us/hr. The CDV-700 seems most sensitive, but they are all very close. The advantage of the radiacode is the very nice smartphone app, but its disadvantage is you need the app (and a phone) to be fully usefull. The GNC-800 is simple and fully self contained, and the CDV-700 is a very reliable 75 year old meter. I like having a variety of detectors.

Ich habe das Gerät von einem Praktikanten gezeigt bekommen. Weil ich selbst Mineralien sammle mit Schwerpunkt UV-Mineralien und darunter auch strahlende sind, ist das handliche Instrument ein hervorragender Begleiter. Zudem macht es radioaktive Strahlung neben hörbar sichtbar und das auch im grafischen Sinn mittels der Smartphone-App. Leider sind die Erklär-Videos in Englisch gehalten und die grafischen Funktionen etwas komplex, so dass es durchaus von Vorteil ist, sich etwas intensiver damit zu beschäftigen. Zudem gibt es viel Material auf der Homepage im Internet mit u. a. Erläuterungen zu den vorhandenen radioaktiven Isotopen. Wie mit dem Gerät deren Spektrum bestimmt werden kann, erschließt sich mir leider nicht. Die Bedienung des Radiacode selbst hat sich mir intuitiv erschlossen. Vorteilhaft ist, dass es sich um einen Szintillationszähler handelt, der empfindlicher reagiert als ein Zählrohr und weniger Strom verbraucht. Der USB-C-Anschluss mit Ladefunktion gefällt mir auch.

The Radiacode 102 stands as a remarkable achievement in engineering, showcasing state-of-the-art electronics and software clearly designed by a small team of passionate experts. Their dedication to creating the best possible product within budget constraints is evident, as is their enthusiasm, reflected in their active engagement with users on forums like Geigerzählerforum. This advanced yet user-friendly device revolutionizes the consumer market for radiation detection, making gamma spectroscopy accessible to a broad audience, including young physics enthusiasts. Its combination of affordability, performance, portability, and ease of use opens up fascinating opportunities to explore radioactivity using common sources such as thoriated gas lamp mantles, thoriated welding rods, uranium glass, and radioactive minerals like thorite and uraninite. The Radiacode 102 serves practical purposes too, quickly alerting users to increased gamma radiation levels during potential nuclear incidents, and capable of measuring weak radioactive contamination in environmental samples, though this requires extended measurement periods and lead shielding. As a scintillator detector, it not only measures radioactive radiation with high sensitivity but also identifies its origin, boasting approximately 7 times more sensitivity for gamma radiation than the Mazur PRM 9000 pancake Geiger counter and 20 times more than the GammaScout. However, it's less sensitive than Geiger counters for beta and especially alpha radiation detection. The device comes with versatile software options, including mobile apps for Android and iPhone, a Windows application (currently limited to USB connectivity), and compatibility with third-party software like BecqMoni for easy Bluetooth connectivity. It can also function independently, storing data in internal memory. In terms of performance, my unit achieves 9.8% resolution for Cs-137, sufficient for isotope identification, though it can't match the sensitivity and resolution of larger, more expensive scintillators. For highly sensitive measurements, such as detecting Cs-137 in food, I employ a NaI(Tl) detector with 50 times larger crystal from GammaSpectacular and a lead shield to suppress the background radiation. Overall, the Radiacode 102 represents a significant advancement in consumer-grade radiation detection technology, proving invaluable for both amateur enthusiasts and professionals in the field of radiation detection and analysis. I attach some spectra measured with the Radiacode-102 and the Android app: Radium 226, Thorium 232, Lutetium 176, Potassium 40, Cesium 137, Cobalt 60, Americium 241 and the beta emitter Strontium 90.

Muy interesante como gadjet científico. No tengo idea de como funciona el modo espectrograma.

Excellent. Instruction videos very good.

Vraiment parfait, pas de derive en temperature, la dose correspond. L'interface est tres bien, complete et simple. La taille du cristal etant seulement de 1cm3 la sensibilite aux hautes energies est tres faible mais on peut quand meme voir le potassium naturel a 1461keV et le 2614keV du thorium. Ca reste toutefois un appareil pour connaisseurs, vu son prix et sa complexite. A utiliser en complement d'un detecteur geiger qui permettra aussi de detecter les alpha et beta.