K106 BORG+plus w/SBT-11A Geiger Counter by Atomic.dave Atomic.Dave@yahoo.com

This is a one of a kind custom hand-made Geiger Counter built by Atomic.Dave. It is based on a kit de-signed by the original creator of the DIY Arduino based Geiger Counter Kit- Brohogan. For over 3 years, Ihave built and sold about 100 of these kits, with very good results, and fantastic feedback by ebay cus-tomers. All information for this kit is available at the developers website and its a good idea to visit the sitefrom time to time as the software and other parts of it may change, upgrade or improve. As I have said be-fore, this is more of a kit for someone who knows a little bit about electronics but doesnt have the time or pa-tience to build it, or would rather someone else do all the dirty work. Having been built by me, of course therewill be some imperfections, although as minimal as possible. These instruc-tions will help you to understand the basic operation of this meter. Once youhave used it a couple times, it should be pretty easy for you to operate.

OPERATIONOn the face of the unit starting from the top are 3 vent holes, LCDbacklit display, 2 LEDS, 2 momentary buttons, and 4 triple pole slideswitches. Follow the label to locate the listed switches below:

VENTS (Three grilled holes just above the display)Starting from left is the event piezo where the sound comes out for every radiation event. Middle vent is theIR for the wireless remote control, so when operating the remote, try to aim it to this general location. Thenon the right is the piezo for the meters alarm which will sound off when your meter reaches a user selectableamount controlled by either the remote or the mode switch.

LEDSAfter powering the GC on, you will hear the beeping of the piezo as your SBT-11A GM tube picks up radia-tion events. The GREEN LED is for radiation events and coincides with the beeping piezo which can bemuted with the SND switch. The RED LED will only light up when a set alarm threshold is reached. The piezofor the alarm and events are located beneath the grilled vent below the display. Both LEDS can be turned offfor indiscreet radiation monitoring. The two switches for this operation are the two in the center of the four.LTS and ALM Middle postion is off.

SWITCHESA. MODEmomentary switch does 4 things. 1- Alarm control. 2- Scaler mode start/stop. 3- Alarm 30 second mute.4- Menu reset. 1.When you first power on the unit, you will see:

Atomic.Dave K105

SBT-11A v10.3C

This customized first welcome window can easily be changed if you want, by doing a little programming in Ar-duino. Refer to the DIY site for directions at the SOFTWARE section. But the default is now set to my name, Kit106, and the second line is the Geiger Counter Tube and the version of software that the AT328 chip is runningwhich is v10.3C.

Then a second window will come up with the first line showing the current set uSv to CPM conversionrate.

318 CPM=1 uSv/h

Running at 5.24V

The second line refers to the current voltage that your system is running at. This is a 5 volt system. The3200mAh 3.7v lipo battery is boosted to 5v with a pololu booster. Everytime you start up your GC (geigercounter) it will show you this so you will always know your current voltage.

The third window will show this:Alarm Set ?

Now at 500 CPM

At this point, you can push the MODE button to incrementally change the Alarm threshold number. Onceyou stop holding down the button and wait, it will be set to the current number shown on the screen and willstay there until you change it either again restarting and waiting for this part, or by using the included remotecontrol to change it. You can also choose from units of measurement such as CPM or uSv/h for the Alarmwith the remote. 2. It also acts like a stopwatch starter for the scaler mode. It has two preset times of 1 minute and 10 minute av-eraging. You can change this with the remote, or the sketch when connected to pc. Although it is much easierwith the remote obviously. Push the button and the timer starts where the first line is counting down from 60seconds. The numbers on the left are the current total events during this timed one minute. The numbers on theright is the seconds counting down from 60 to 0. Same thing goes for the second line, but for 10 minutes. 3.When your alarm goes off you can tap this button to mute the alarm for 30 seconds. 4. After programming your unit with the wireless remote, if you want to reset it to default settings. Hold downthis button while the unit starts up.

Please do not put any sharp objects intothese vents as damage will occur to theGM tube mica which is behind this grill.

USB PowerSwitch

AudioOutput

ChargingStatus LED

B. PWR Power switch controls the power and charging of the GC. Up turns it on the GC with battery power,Middle turns it off, and Down position is for charging the unit. To charge the GC, push down the USB powerswitch on the left side of the GC, as well as have the PWR switch down. When you do this, a RED LED to theright of the USB port will remain constant RED while charging, and will turn BLUE when charging is com-plete. If you wish to power the unit with the USB in, and bypass the batteries for extended periods, put thePower switch in the middle position, and push the USB power switch UP. Always keep the USB power switchin the middle (OFF) when powering the unit with the batteries.

C. LTS This is the Light switch that controls both the GREEN Event LED and the LCD Backlight. Up turns onboth, Middle turns both off, and Down turns on just the LED, and turns the Backlight off for power saving. D. ALM The Alarm switch controls the Alarm RED LED and Piezo. Up for both on, Middle for both off, andDown for LED only on. This makes for a silent visual alarm.E. SND The Sound switch controls the Event speaker. Up for tone mode, Middle for mute, and Down forStandard Click Mode. More on Tone Mode later.F. NULL This button is used in "Tone Mode" where clicks are replaced by a tone which varies in pitch basedon the CPM. When pressed, a new baseline is created for the pitch so if you are moving to an area with ahigher background the pitch will still indicate changes at the new level.

DISPLAY IN DEPTH:

The top line shows the CPM (updated every 5 sec. by default) and a quick response bar graph (updated20 times / sec.). The bargraph will be replaced with ALARM if the displayed CPM exceeds the alarm thresh-old. It is also replaced by Vcc when it drops below 4.2V. The second line shows the dose unit and the calculateddose. The dose unit and the dose ratio (CPM to dose unit) are settable in the menu (controlled by the wirelessremote or via arduino). Pressing the Select button while in this screen will switch to the Scaler screen . . .

Two scalers are provided, each with its own period. The scaler on the top line is fixed at one minute andthe scaler on the bottom line is set to a programmable period from the menu. Each scaler has two modes -counting and ongoing. The screen on left shows both scalers counting. A running total of the counts is dis-played, along with the amount of time left for the scaler period. The screen on the left shows that the oneminute scaler finished the counting mode and is now showing the average CPM and dose rate for the period.These values now become a moving average. The bottom scaler can also be set to "Infinity" in the menu bysetting it below 2. This is a special mode that shows the total accumulated dose since the scaler screen wasfirst started. Pressing the Select button while in the scaler screen will bring you back to the main screen.However both scalers will still be accumulating counts, so you can go back and forth between the mainscreen and the scaler screen and still see meaningful data.

OTHER SWITCHES, BUTTONS, PORTS, DIALSA. Just to the right of the NULL switch 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 screw-driver and turn it to the left or right until it appears to have the best contrast.

B. Located on the lower left side is the OUTPUT multi-port used for Geiger Bot (with the included G-Botcable), and for Geiger Graph (with the optional USB cable) Just plug in the Geiger Bot cable into this with the3 conductor plug, and the 4 conductor into your iphone or ipad. It also serves as a mono audio output forsilent listening with headphones, or with any 3 conductor to 3 conductor M-M audio cable, you can run soundbased data logging software or amplify the clicking.

C. Just to the left of the MOD button is the USB power and charge control switch. If you want to power the GCwithout using the batteries- 1. Turn off the GC battery by switching PWR to middle position. 2. plug in the USBcable, and other end to any 5v source such as a wall charger, cigarette adapter, pc, mac or laptop usb output. 3.Flip switch to the Up POWER position. To charge the GC- 1. Push PWR switch down to CHARGE position. 2. Pluginto USB source. 3. Push USB switch to the down CHARGE position. When you do this, a RED LED comes on tothe right of the USB port and will remain RED till it is done charging, then the RED LED will become BLUE. Duringnormal operation with battery, keep this switch in the middle OFF position.

D. On the lower right side is the Mini USB FTDI output/input for programming in Arduino. This also is usedto charge the internal Lithium Ion battery (with the power switch in the bottome position.) Or it can be used topower the GC for extended periods, however when you power it this way, I would advise to turn off the LCDbacklight. But its ok to turn it on once in a while, but I wouldnt leave it on for extended periods. When uploadingany new changes to the program sketch, you will need to have the USB PWR switch in the up position white itis plugged into your pc with the USB cable. This same USB is used for an output to two different usb basedFREE Radiation Logging softwares. Both are PC based and not available for mac.

http://radmon.org/http://radiohobbystore.com/radiation-logger/

SCALER SCREEN

REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEMThis adds some conveniences such as the ability to adjust certain things on the GC without the need to plug into your PC or mac. It is al-

ready setup to work. All you have to do is point the remote towards the IR window (above the display behind the steel speaker grill), and push thepower button on the remote to start. As soon as you do that these options will pop up. Use the channel button to move thru each option, and usethe volume buttons to move up or down within those options. You can also use the number pad to input numbers rather than using the up down ofthe volume. After you reach the desired amount you push ENT to enter it into the system.

The keys on the SONY Remote Control perform these functions:GREEN POWER BUTTON enter or exit the menu system. "DISP PERIOD (MS) is the first prompt you will see.CH + moves to the next menu optionCH moves to the previous menu optionVOL + increments the value already set for the current option or toggles an optionVOL decrements the value already set for the current option or toggles an optionENT finalizes the entry in the current menu option if changes were made. When used out of the menu, it acts like the "null" button to reset the tone.Digits 0-9 for direct entry of values (instead of Volume or Arrows) must use Enter after using digits.Decimal Point - enters a decimal point - used when setting the ratio.Mute used when out of the menu mutes the speaker

MENU OPTIONSInitially, the menu options are set to defaults. Settings made will be stored in EEPROM on the ATmega328, so they will be in effect when youpower back on. Pressing and holding the Select button at power on will reset all menu settings back to their default settings. Here's a brief de-scription of each menu option along with its default setting: DISP PERIOD (MS) - The number of milliseconds before the display refreshes. 5000 (5 sec.) is a good setting.(Display counts are based on a "running average" I do not recommend settings of less than 5 seconds.)LOG PERIOD - Interval to write the CPM, 'dose', and MCU voltage to the serial output. Default = 1 minute Zero means logging is turned off.CPM->[DOSE] RATIO - Sets that ratio for the type of GM tube used. Default = 175.43 CPM and 100 CPM to dose unit (uSv) Note this ratio will dependon the dose unit being displayed - see DOSE UNIT. Also note that 2 ratios can be stored. The second ratio can be selected by the Tube Switch. De-pending on the position of the switch this menu option will set the value for either the 1st or 2nd ratio. 175.43 is the common default for the SBM-20 and100 for the LDN 712. The DEC PNT or AV/TV key on the remote can be used to enter a decimal point.ALARM THRESHOLD - When the CPM or DOSE units is greater than this value the alarm is triggered. Default = 500 CPM This can be either inCPM or the dose unit selected see ALARM UNIT. Zero means the alarm is turned off. Unlike using the Select button, any value may be en-tered. The alarm will stop when activity drops back under the alarm threshold. You can also silence the alarm for 30 seconds by pressing the Se-lect button when the alarm is sounding.DOSE UNIT - Use the arrow keys to select the name of the unit for the dose value - "uSv/h", "uR/h" or "mR/h". Default = uSv/hALARM UNIT - Sets whether the alarm is based off of CPM or the DOSE unit. Use the arrow keys to select. Default = CPMSCALER PER (MIN) - Sets the period for the second scaler. Default = 10 minutes If scaler period set to "Infinite" (setting below 2) , the accumu-lated dose rate is displayed on the scaler screen.BARGRAPH MAX CPM - Sets the CPM that will give a full scale reading on the bar graph. Default = 1000 CPM Also see the Tone Mode sectionfor how this option affects tone mode.TONE SENSITIVITY - Determines how sensitive the tone is to changing activity. Default = 4 Low numbers are more sensitive. (see below)USE RADLOGGER? - When "Yes" serial output is compatible with Radiation Logger and RadLog applications. Default = OFFREG. VOLTAGE - Displays the voltage powering the MCU (Vcc). To a large degree, this represents the state of the battery.Note that each menu setting has a minimum and a maximum setting. Entries that are out of bounds will revert to the minimum or maximum.

ABOUT DOSE UNITSThe 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 betweenthem. Instead the CPM->(unit) is adjusted depending on the name of the DOSE UNIT selected. For example, 175.43 is the default set for theSBM-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 abbre-viates as milliroentgens but is used to save display space.) The rem is defined as .01 seivert, and 1uSv = 0.1mR. Therefore, to use the same ratiothat was designed for the tube, you would multiply that ratio by 10. You would enter a CPM->(unit) as 175.43 x 10 or 1754.3. Likewise if youwanted microrems ("uR") you would divide the ratio by 10 and enter 17.54.If you do want to use roentgens ("exposure" - used in older instruments) this source states that they are .96 rem in soft tissue. So the CPM->(unit) for actual mR would be 175.43 x 10 x .96 or 1684.1. (for uR it would be 16.84)

TONE MODEInstead of the usual 'clicks', tone mode produces tones that vary in frequency with the current activity - much like a metal detector. There is alsoan associated "null" button that resets the scale to the current activity. Tone mode is very responsive to changes in activity, and the change inpitch is much more noticeable than a change in the rate of clicks. It was primarily designed for field surveying. The sensitivity of the tone mode isset by the TONE SENSITIVITY menu option. Sensitivity refers to the 'bandwidth' of the tone. When set to low numbers, say 4 (the default) only asmall increase in activity is needed to produce higher tones. When dealing with more sensitive GM tubes, decrease the sensitivity by using avalue of say 8 or 10. Experiment with values that suit your ear.

The BARGRAPH MAX CPM menu setting also affects tone mode by defining the CPM that will produce the highest frequency of tone. Normallythis is set to highest CPM for situation and tube being used. In order to get the best spectrum of tones, tone mode is based on a logarithmic pro-gression rather than a linear one. This fits with the fact that radiation intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from thesource. The "null button" resets the range of tones so that the low notes are set back to the current activity. This is a useful feature when switchingfrom a low to a high background for instance. The null button removes the higher background so increased activity may be more easily discerned.

SETTING UP TONE MODE1. Set the proper conversion ratio for your tube. With the proper ratio set, the null point will automatically be set when the counter is powered onso normal background radiation is ignored. 2. Place a sample of the mineral or other radioactive item you are trying to detect approximately oneinch from the detector. Note the CPM reading after it has stabilized. 3. In the menu, set the BARGRAPH MAX CPM to the CPM value you notedin step 2. 4. Adjust the tone sensitivity setting to suit your preferences. For most mildly radioactive items (such as red Fiestaware), sensitivity set-tings from 1-5 work well. The ideal value varies depending on the activity level of the target object, the tube, and the distance. Lower settingscause the tone to increase in frequency faster in response to smaller changes in the count rate. Higher settings cause the frequency to increasemuch more slowly for changes in count rate. When the sensitivity setting is 0, the frequency will jump very rapidly from the lowest frequency tothe highest one. This setting is useful to quickly scan an area to determine if there are hot spots. You will likely want to change the setting to ahigher number to help locate the hot spot.

LOGGINGLogging is provided in the form of serial output through the FTDI connector at 9600 baud, N,8,1. The frequency to send the serial output is deter-mined by the LOG PERIOD menu setting.

The default format has a header on the first line with each line of data in comma separated values for CPM, Dose. and Vcc. For example,36,0.2052,4.79 (36 CPM, 0.2052 dose, 4.79V) When USE RADLOGGER? is set, no header is created, and only CPM is output. Thissetting is used when connecting the serial output to the Radiation Logger application.

SOFTWARE SWITCHESIf you are willing to load the software, modify it, and upload it, you can set #defines to change certain behavior or add special features to the pro-gram. In general all the common features are enabled and you don't have to mess with it. But if, for example, you want to use a 2x8 LCD, you sim-ply change a #define, and upload the new release.

All user based #defines are located at the beginning of the sketch and may change based on the version. Below is a list of the most interestingdefines in the current version.

EIGHT_CHAR - formats for 2x8 LCD when true DOGM_LCD -DogM LCD used for display (SPI interface) IR_RC5 - use Phillips RC5 IR protocol instead of Sony ANALOG_METER - support for analog meter output - REQUIRES HARDWARE - see this project TONE_POT_ADJ if set, a 100k pot can be used to set TONE SENSITIVITY instead of the menu option. SELF_TEST - adds one to each counter every 167ms - simulates a ~360CPM count

There are step by step instructions on installing the Arduino IDE and uploading new software.

GEIGER BOT SUGGESTED SETTINGS: (You may have to play with it to get it just right) GO TO: https://sites.google.com/site/geigerbot/

ARDUINO Software and Serial-USB connection information:ON the cd you will find the FTDI driver and Arduino program version 1. Install both and restart your mac. Copy the Geiger Sketch folder to thesame 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 achange 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 exactname 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 10.3C1. Open Arduino2. 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 comingup once per minute.For more info go to website under Software section on the DIY geiger counter website. Or go to Arduino.cc

Select options Select Geiger Counter Select LND712 CS137 Adjust Conversion factor to your tube:

123 for LND712175 for SBM-20

360 for LND7317Select I/O Settings

Auto Adjust OFF(you may need to play

with this setting) RMS Window 1

Delay Window 30Volume Thresh 20000

Ultrafast Rates ON

PLEASE REFER TO THE DIY GEIGER COUNTER DEVELOPERS WEBSITE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:http://www.sites.google.com/site/diygeigercounter/

HARDWARE1. DIY Geiger counter kit V5.3 by Brohogan, Running operating system 10.32. SBT-11A Geiger Muller Tube (New Old Stock from Russia)3. Power System by Panasonic, Sparkfun and Pololu (please charge the unit until the RED light turns BLUE)A. You can power the Geiger in a couple different ways 1. With internal Lipo battery2. With PWR switch OFF (middle), USB cable plugged into USB port on bottom panel of GC then plugged into:

a. Computer or laptop USBb. Wall charger block- This is the fastest way to charge the battery.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 han-dling the system while it is powered on.

A. Panasonic Lithium Ion battery - 3.7v 3400mAh Full charge provides approximately 20 hours constant use of geiger counter with backlight off. Charge with PC/USB will take about 5 hours or more.

B. USB Lithium Polymer battery chargerC. Pololu 5V Step-Up Voltage Regulator U1V10F5 http://www.pololu.com/product/2564D. Sparkfun 5V FTDI Basic Breakout

Russian Geiger TUBE Counter SBT-11A For alpha, beta and gammaGENERAL SPECIFICATIONSVoltage of start of counting 260-320 VOperating Current each section (uA) 0.5-1.1Recommended Operating Voltage 400 VPlateau Length/ Inclination - 80V/0.5%/VOwn Background (Pulses/s) 0.6 Dimensions 55 mm x 29 mm

ENCLOSURE: Serpac H75 Dimensions: 182.9mm X 92.7mm X 30.5mmhttp://www.serpac.com/h75.aspx

REPAIRS:If the unit fails for some reason within 6 months of purchase, I will be more than happy todo any maintenance you need at no charge except for parts and shipping. The SBT-11A issold AS IS and is not warranted under this repair.

PACKAGE CONTENTS:In your package you will find: BORG Geiger Counter, Lead Pig w/ Sample, Sony RM-EZ4 Remote Control, (3) Cables:Geiger bot 3 to 4 conductor, Long and Short Mini USB to standard USB2. CD with programsketch, photos, documents, Manual, RAD sticker, and extra faceplate labels. FREE UV key-chain flashlight with batteries while supplies last.

THE GEIGER KIT IS NOT INTENDED TO GUIDE ACTIONS TO TAKE, OR NOT TO TAKE,REGARDING EXPOSURE TO RADIATION.

THE GEIGER KIT AND IT'S SOFTWARE ARE FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. DO NOT RELY ON THEM IN HAZARDOUS SITUATIONS!

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