This app turns any smartphone into a geiger radioactivity counter

[ghi]

Hopefully we won't need it, but you never know; 5$ only, and according with the reviews and  tests this app is accurate ;

http://rdklein.de/html/radioactivity.html

[ghi]

opps, sorry wrong forum; too much

     

[Brooke]

I didn't think there was any hardware in your smartphone that could measure radioactivity -- but this is really cool!  They are using the camera like a photomultiplier detection of sorts.  Nifty!  Thanks for posting!

[NatCigg]

if a beta particle is a electron and gamma is a wave of energy.  I could guess the cameras light sensors could pick up the radiation???  maybe???  a digital camera guy should know what forms of energy are detected.  After-all, light is radiation.

Edit: Google is your friend.  This read was a little more of a intro than i needed. http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/HOW.HTM .
after reading, I guess the energy (beta and gamma rays) are detected by the silicon in your phone. the signal is the used by the app to make some assumptions based on their calibration. 

I struggle to understand how light is a particle AND a wave, but it is. Whats the difference between a electron, a beta particle, and a photon...good grief.  Well, apparently they are very similar and I could imagine a photosensor reacting to radiation. 

[Brooke]

Beta particles are high-speed electrons.  Gamma rays are photons.  Alpha particles are helium nuclei.  Alpha particles don't penetrate matter far.  Beta particles can penetrate farther, but are still stopped in something like aluminum within a few millimeters.  Gamma rays can penetrate much farther.  My guess is that the camera's ability to detect radiation is limited to gamma rays.

[Zimme83]

My thought also. If the camera can detect the shorter wavelengths of the gamma ray it should be possible to use it to measure radiation. Alpha and beta particles is harder to detect with a phone but they are a lot less dangerous.

[NatCigg]

notice. "Each photosite on a CCD or CMOS chip is composed of a light-sensitive area made of crystal silicon in a photodiode which absorbs photons and releases electrons through the photoelectric effect. The electrons are stored in a well as an electrical charge that is accumulated over the length of the exposure. The charge that is generated is proportional to the number of photons that hit the sensor.

This electric charge is then transferred and converted to an analog voltage that is amplified and then sent to an Analog to Digital Converter where it is digitized (turned into a number)." 

Therefore i contrive a photon could give a false positive and a electron could give a false positive. gamma ray exciting the silicon and beta rays filling the well with electrons. not everything gets caught but the error is predictable and thus the sensor and program can be calibrated.

[ghi]

I've seen  cool infrared photos posted  on POTN photo forum. This guys posted videos sharing tips on  how to convert any digital camera  equiped with CMOS sensor in infrared camera. I understand this sensors can record electromagnetic radiation beside visible spectrum and the sensors is covered with an infrared  filter to prevent IR  messing the colors; This filter is removed for camera conversion to IR. Maybe even human eye /retina has some abilities to read certain  radiation.  I remember watching a video about the highest altitude  space shuttle mission affected by Van Allen radiation belt ,the crew has reported seeing sparks with closed eyes .

[Zimme83]

http://www.universetoday.com/94714/seeing-cosmic-rays-in-space/

[kappa]

nice app.. but unless you have an ionizing chamber in your phone.. don't think it will be very accurate.. 

[Brooke]

nice app.. but unless you have an ionizing chamber in your phone.. don't think it will be very accurate.. 

The guy actually calibrates different models of phones on his web site.

It's interesting watching the video of him doing some of the tests and calibrations.

He even has access to an instant-death Co-60 chamber for seeing what happens at the high end.  It's quite amusing to look at the phone video from that exposure. 

[Brooke]

Here is video from the phone's perspective.  You wouldn't want to be holding it. 

https://youtu.be/qJcOq5sLxPo?t=287

[ghi]

Ahh,  Brooke I just noticed you are in WA,  i read about Hanford leak getting worst. I would buy a real geiger, not this app only; I purchased a Mazur 8000, but regret I didn't get the 9000 model . This after I watched a video mentioning that  that Fermi nuclear station in Monroe, Michigan(20 miles away)  is storing 3 times more  than Fukushima spent fuel rods in cooling pools .

Just a cool video I just watched on Mail Online, not related but interesting.

[Brooke]

Thanks, Ghi.

I have a RADEX RD1503+.  It seems pretty decent, and costs $160 from Amazon.com.

Fortunately for me, I'm about 150 miles from Hanford, with a mountain range between me and it, and upwind by typical wind patterns.  Also, Hanford is long since shut down, so there is no problem with any power loss causing bigger problems.  All of their problems are a result of slow leaking of old tanks storing waste or contaminated soil, and those things operate on timescales that are long, allowing human intervention over decades (as opposed to, say, Fukushima where the response time needed to be hours or at most days).

All of the reactor buildings are "cacooned" except one (B-Reactor), through which the public can take guided tours.

[Meatwad]

While looking at Geiger counters, I found these. Scroll to the answered questions sections, its a goldmine

http://www.amazon.com/Images-SI-Uranium-Ore/dp/B000796XXM/ref=pd_sim_328_7?ie=UTF8&dpID=51LrKbS8ajL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=1JFY7VANAHF1AKCMHXVG


http://www.amazon.com/JL421-Badonkadonk-Land-Cruiser-Tank/dp/B00067F1CE/ref=pd_sbs_236_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=51XCJQ2Q2SL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=1VR0TP66857X4480AD1Z