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Packaged It Up

A project log for Geiger Counter

A simple Geiger counter with serial output and local display.

bharbourBharbour 09/26/2019 at 20:180 Comments

All of the boards are built and working, and the system is packaged up. The Linux code that will log the output data is mostly written and operating.

In normal use, there is no need for a display. A connector to allow using a display is shown and capped off at the lower right corner of the box. My plan is for this counter to run mostly unattended in a back corner of my shop, collecting data for extended periods. The enclosure should be fairly weatherproof, if I wanted to move it outside. A later project is a simple weather station, and putting this box in the same outdoor enclosure as the weather station would make sense, as my goal is to collect long term count data and try correlating it to weather patterns.

A standard character LCD display with a serial interface backpack is plugged into the counter here. Some kind of protective packaging will be necesary for the display, but I don't forsee many uses for a handheld counter in my shop.

Finally, here is a picture of the enclosure with the cover in place.

The sun is fierce here, so it will need to go under some kind of protective cover if it is placed outside. With the cover in place, the electronics run about 10F above the ambient temperature. This picture also shows the serial interface backpack on the display.

Total power consumption is under 700mW at 12V input. About half of that goes into the high voltage power supply. The digital filter board pulls about 10 or 15mA at 3.3V and the MCU and display pull the rest.

Next, I want to see if I can find any radiated RF, since this box will be running near my amateur radio equipment.

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