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GQ makes several dosimeters, I own the dual-tube GMC-500+. The cheaper single tube dosimeters will max out and saturate at radiation levels far below those tha

GQ makes several dosimeters, I own the dual-tube GMC-500+. The cheaper single tube dosimeters will max out and saturate at radiation levels far below those that are immediately harmful to human health. (This was the source of the famous "3.6 roentgen per hour, not great, not terrible" meme-- he was looking at a meter that was reading off-scale high at 0.001 R/s) If you're buying a dosimeter with the threat in nuclear war in mind, check the specs for maximum readings.

robocat 3y ago
> "3.6 roentgen per hour, not great, not terrible" meme Quote from HBO's Chernobyl, the dramatisization of Anatoly Dyatlov: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/anatoly-dyatlov https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/anatoly-dyatlov A more balanced view of him: https://www.rbth.com/history/330525-anatoly-dyatlov-chernobyl https://www.rbth.com/history/330525-anatoly-dyatlov-chernoby... and https://www.history.com/news/chernobyl-nuclear-disaster-7-people-who-played-crucial-role https://www.history.com/news/chernobyl-nuclear-disaster-7-pe... Aside: all of us, even the most competent engineers, can deny what is happening or make bad calls during an emergency, especially where everything is unknown during the initial stages. It takes very good training to teach us to make better emergency decisions - e.g. firefighter's training, and some military. Beware of selection bias in repeated deadly situations.
BetterGeiger 3y ago
You are right max range is important for some applications, and most cheap Geiger counters saturate very easily (that two tube device you mentioned being a notable exception). Even still it is not great to refer to them as dosimeters because measuring dose with a low cost Geiger counter is risky at best. That's because they are calibrated to Cs-137. Some so-called energy-compensated Geiger tubes exist and give more accurate dose information, but they are not used in consumer-grade devices (or at least none that I've seen, and I own a ton and constantly study the market). Also Geiger tubes can pick up a lot of beta, and in that case it will dramatically overestimate dose because beta should be blocked in order to get an accurate dose reading, and none of the usual suspects do that. Even if beta is blocked, dose is often strongly overestimated due to the lack of energy-compensation I mentioned. That's one of the reasons I developed the Better Geiger S-1, to have an accurate and fool-proof high range dosimeter at a consumer-friendly price point ($149).

robocat 3y ago

> "3.6 roentgen per hour, not great, not terrible" meme Quote from HBO's Chernobyl, the dramatisization of Anatoly Dyatlov: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/anatoly-dyatlov https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/anatoly-dyatlov A more balanced view of him: https://www.rbth.com/history/330525-anatoly-dyatlov-chernobyl https://www.rbth.com/history/330525-anatoly-dyatlov-chernoby... and https://www.history.com/news/chernobyl-nuclear-disaster-7-people-who-played-crucial-role https://www.history.com/news/chernobyl-nuclear-disaster-7-pe... Aside: all of us, even the most competent engineers, can deny what is happening or make bad calls during an emergency, especially where everything is unknown during the initial stages. It takes very good training to teach us to make better emergency decisions - e.g. firefighter's training, and some military. Beware of selection bias in repeated deadly situations.

BetterGeiger 3y ago

You are right max range is important for some applications, and most cheap Geiger counters saturate very easily (that two tube device you mentioned being a notable exception). Even still it is not great to refer to them as dosimeters because measuring dose with a low cost Geiger counter is risky at best. That's because they are calibrated to Cs-137. Some so-called energy-compensated Geiger tubes exist and give more accurate dose information, but they are not used in consumer-grade devices (or at least none that I've seen, and I own a ton and constantly study the market). Also Geiger tubes can pick up a lot of beta, and in that case it will dramatically overestimate dose because beta should be blocked in order to get an accurate dose reading, and none of the usual suspects do that. Even if beta is blocked, dose is often strongly overestimated due to the lack of energy-compensation I mentioned. That's one of the reasons I developed the Better Geiger S-1, to have an accurate and fool-proof high range dosimeter at a consumer-friendly price point ($149).