GQ GMC-500+ (Plus) Geiger Counter Nuclear Radiation Detector

… tra la follia e la preveggenza. Se non vi serve per lavoro dire anche al vostro vicino che avete nello zaino un contatore geiger lascia uno strato di brina sulle vostre relazioni sociali a meno che il vicino non sia cresciuto negli anni 80 e abbia ancora qualche vivido ricordo dell’aprile ’86 o non sia stato a raccogliere funghi in alcuni bellissimi boschi dei balcani. Forti delle vostri consapevolezze se state valutando l’acquisto di questo attrezzo o avete giocato troppe ore a Fallout oppure siete della squadra, o entrambe le cose. Non voglio ripetere quanto e’ stato scritto con dovizia di particolari da altri clienti ma posso dire di avere questo gioiellino da 3 anni, di averlo collegato alla rete radmon e di aver potuto godere del privilegio di ricevere dati aggiornati delle misurazioni effettuate da una community di possesori sempre attivi e attenti ai loro rilevatori. Ricordo che l’estate scorsa in seguito a eventi di cronaca feci una connessione di una settimana e il mio contatore aveva cominciato a dare i numeri ( 173 cpm roba da fallout). Preoccuopato andai in un thread su reddit di possessori dei gmc e subito mi fu consigliato di ritarare uno dei due diodi per possibile sovralimentazione. Dall’interfaccia stessa del contatore ho ritarato il voltaggio del diodo incriminato (quello per misurazioni pi grossolane) perche fosse in linea con le misurazioni di un altro cliente che era vicino a me e in meno di un’ora ho risolto il problema di disallineamento . Se preso con la scontistica che occasionalmente viene applicata di tanto in tanto vale ogni singolo euro. C’e’ una tecnologia malvagia in questi cosi al vostro servizio se vi piace avere in casa un rilevatore di apocalisse.

Have checked the places I usually go, no signs of radioactivity so that is relaxing.
I probably dont need this but it could make me a hero one day. Maybe.

I bought mine to check for unexpected ionising radiation. I’m currently only seeing average 20CPM and peak 40CPM locally. I could have bought the 600 model, but I couldn’t justify the cost, because I doubt that Alpha particle detection would be useful to me.

The price is affordable, and it has logging, so could be paired with simultaneously time-stamp logged GPS data. I suggest that it really should contain a GPS receiver too, so that CPM and location could be logged together in the same device.

I don’t think that the WiFi functionality is all that useful, especially without paired GPS data, WiFi may be a significant power drain, and it’s dumb to assume mobile access to WiFi. I think that BLE should have been supported to allow data transfer to a mobile phone, and for synchronising the device’s real-time-clock.

Exelent instrument. Easy to use and many customisable features. Already paid for itself by alerting me to a highly dangerous source of radon gas in my home. A Second World War marching compass with a luminous dial indicates 180 counts per minite of gamma radiation, a very high value compared to the 10 counts per minute background. A serious lung cancer risk. It is no longer in the house.

First off, i’m not a nuclear scientist, so take my opinions with a pinch of salt.

Like many though, the dramas, documentaries and renewed news footage of Chernobyl over the last couple of months has renewed my interest in it and radiation in general and I was keen to take some recordings around the house, the back garden, on the plane and at the world famous Ukrainian power plant.

Positives

Fairly cheap for the quality of readings.
Large display with battery life
Rechargeable and replaceable battery recharged over USB, which lasts a day or more continuously switched on
Records data in the 3 most common units uSv/h, mR/h and CPM, which can all be viewed on screen at the same time
It clicks similarly to an old style reader, but thankfully the sound can also be turned off as it can get very annoying on a coach party

Negatives

Doesn’t use the best plastics, so feels a little cheap
It isn’t water resistant, so would probably need to be in a sealed bag to prevent water damage if using in the rain
It takes time to record more accurate readings. I think around 20-40 seconds held near something of interest, so in many cases you’ll never see a true high reading for something.
It also takes a similar length of time to revert to normal readings.

I think it’s a good price for the unit, but ultimately it’s not as fast to record results as the professional units (which cost many times more), so much better for taking longer readings than for quickly recording sudden spikes of activity. It’s nice to have a personal meter for reassurance though, especially if you live or work near a radioactive facility or are a scrap metal dealer.

If you use it on a plane then make sure the sound is off as even a short flight to Europe is many times more radioactive than a day spent on a tour around Chernobyl. My alarm went off almost instantly when I turned it on on the flight over.

I bought this because I wanted to know how high the background radiation is where I live. (Thankfully it’s low.)
I hope I’ll never have to use it for other purposes than satisfying my curiosity, but it’s a lot better than those old GM counters: it’s nice and small with two installed tubes, the price was right, the display is nice and readable, it has a built-in battery – perfect for what I wanted!