Smart Geiger Counter Radiacode-103 with Free Mobile App. Nuclear Radiation Detector

This little gadget isn't very big (about the size of a snickers bar), but it's about 20x more sensitive to gamma radiation than a typical geiger counter. This is because it uses a scintillation crystal detector instead of a tube of low pressure gas. The crystal is far denser than the gas, so gamma photons are much more likely to interact with the crystal than the gas as they pass through. But the greatest benefit of using a scintillation crystal isn't the extra sensitivity, it's the ability to measure the energy of detected gamma photons. That enables you to identify the isotope(s) emitting the radiation. By looking at the distribution of the peaks in the spectrum data, you can distinguish between naturally occurring uranium and thorium and K-40, and manmade fission products like Cs-137 and I-131. You can use it to definitively comfirm whether or not an area has been contaminated with fallout from a bomb or a nuclear accident, a lost or misplaced industrial radiation source, or natural radioactive sources, and accurately assess radiation hazards. By itself, it makes a great portable detector, but the small screen makes the spectrometer function a little difficult to use. But it has Bluetooth that can connect to a phone app, and the app makes displaying and interpreting spectra fairly easy. The app has a built-in library of gamma sources, so you can click on a spectrum peak and see isotopes that have emission lines in that area. When you have multiple emission lines that match multiple spectrum peaks, you have a positive ID of the radiation source. The app logs the detected radiation level over time, and can combine that log with GPS mapping to locate areas with high radiation levels. The app can also calculate how contaminated food or other materials are if you buy a marinelli container for testing. That feature can be used to verify whether food is safe to eat if there is a concern about contamination. Battery life is a little over a week, depending on screen backlight use, click volume, etc. It has a standard USB C port for charging or connecting to your computer, so that's hassle-free. Overall I really like mine, and think it's a great thing to have for emergency preparedness and learning about radioactivity. It's not just educational, it could save your life!

I purchased this after having one on order with the manufacturer for over a month on backorder. This delivered in three days and of course, the one from Cyprus landed a couple days later. While there has to be a lot under the hood, the main thing that impresses me hardware-wise is that it is not a run of the mill Geiger counter. It uses a GAGG(Ce) scintillator coupled with a photomultiplier tube. This is pretty next-generation technology! While impressive in its own right, the power of the device is brought forth with the software that is available for smartphones and desktop computers. That's where the big time analysis and pretty pictures can be found! You do get rudimentary activity/dose rate/dose information and (I believe) some background spectra analysis (haven't figured this out yet). Inside the box you have the detector and a USB-A to USB-C cable. There are a couple cards with basic safety information and a QR code to scan to get the software. The QR code doesn't work (as of 2/15/25) so it's just as easy searching for it through wherever you get your phone software. I highly recommend getting a case for it as well. Not only does it make it easier to travel with it, but it adds a layer of protection to your somewhat less cheap new toy. I picked up the EVA hard case with the one I got off Amazon and a silicone skin for the one I got from the manufacturer. Obviously the hard case will be more protective but the skin allows for quick use. I actually have it clipped to the carabiner on the backpack I take to work. This is ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE MORE sensitive and accurate than the "yellow box" Geiger counter made in China that you can pick up here and just about everywhere else. If you want something to look at everyday things, the Radiacode would be my recommendation. If you're serious about radiation detection, you need to put on your Big Boy Pants and get a Ludlum Model 3 or similar. But now we're talking (at least) an order of magnitude higher cost.

* Photos are of a spectrum using my Radiacode 103 inside a homemade lead castle, reducing background radiation by about 90%. After testing a raw tuna sample from Japan for 9 hours, no Cesium 137 is detected! The Radiacode 103 is an excellent scintillation detector. It's well-built, affordable, very sensitive, and versatile. It can be used as a dosimeter to measure both dose rate and total dose accumulation. But what really sets it apart from normal geiger counters is the fact that it can be used to identify what radioactive isotopes you are detecting. The app is extremely well designed and useful. It even includes a feature that allows you to automatically calculate how many becquerels of gamma radiation a food sample you are testing has. Unless you need an instrument that can detect alpha and beta radiation, I strongly recommend getting the Radiacode 103 over the GQ-GMC 600. Both are about the same price, but the Radiacode 103 build quality and components are MUCH better, plus it's a much more versatile instrument. Finally, keep in mind that if you are looking for a survival radiation detector, none sold on Amazon are capable of detecting very high levels of radiation that you would most likely encounter during a nuclear war. For that purpose, I recommend either the Ecotest DKG-21 or DKG-21M detectors. They are able to accurately measure gamma radiation dose rates accurately up to 1 Sievert/hour (1,000,000 microsieverts/hour). Very few new gamma radiation detectors available on the market today are able to accurately measure levels this high. Both detectors are made in Ukraine and the build quality is excellent.

When I first received this Geiger counter I was very dismayed. The screen on the actual item tells you very little information and seemed confusing. And then when I started working with the app on the phone and testing it, this old Engineer started to feel something on her face that was unusual - it was a genuine smile of joy (it also made me talk about myself in the third person, but I digress). This item does so much and has so many modern features that I just keep finding new things to do with it. I really love it's GPS connectivity to the phone, I really love the fact that when I dropped it in a 1 acre field I was able to locate it and to have it sound an alert (the alert was soft, but it allowed me to find it when I had narrowed it down to a 5 foot area and somehow still could not find it). The ability to track radiation as you drive around is both cool and concerning, I have to wonder why one warehouse in town is sending out 200 counts per minute from approximately 200 feet away. But that's someone else's problem, I'm playing with the Geiger counter. At first I'd bemoaned the fact that does not detect alpha like my GCM 600+. Well, alpha is difficult to detect accurately I mean yes I use both counters, but this one is my go-to now. I'm very impressed by the fact it can use the energy spectrum to identify the most likely radioactive isotopes. I said it on top of a 10 pound collection of thoriated welding rods, and within a couple minutes he told me very clearly that it was sitting on top of thorium. The same for potassium, uranium, radium (identified by daughters), promethium, iodine, technetium, iridium, americium, lanthanum... basically everything that I had that was radioactive. It was not able to identify my tritium although it did pick up the radio activity, I'm guessing the bremsstrahlung x-rays? It's a small size makes it simple to throw in my purse and carrying with me, and the very long battery life and quick charging means it goes for days constantly without a charge. This was useful when I went to the dentist office and the dentist was so intrigued we ran his x-ray machine multiple times with me standing at different locations nearby. I was able to show him that the location they typically stand when they take x-rays was getting slight amounts of radiation, so they moved the controls back. Really there are no negatives at all regarding this Geiger counter, except that I wish the little chime plays when it is lost could be made louder so it'd be easier to find. So it receives a 99/100, or 5 stars. I know there is a new version of this counter out, but I haven't been sold on the improvements with it to justify buying that as well. And I think that testifies even more to how good this item is, it really does so much I just don't need anything else... (except alpha...what about a separate mini alpha pancake detector that can connect to this one via bluetooth? Oh, and maybe you guys can be the first to somehow bring out a reliable neutron detector below $1000?) hey, one can wish.

I love it, First, it worked, right out of the box. The online docs are superb, and the downloadable software puts this device into a class much, much higher for very little more money. The simple ability to conduct Radon checks for yourself, friends and family will pay for the device. If something happened, such as a meltdown, you can conduct your own fallout survey and know about your area with accuracy. You can tell if your clothing is contaminated. The ability to determine what all those little clicks are indicating is a great thing to relieve stress. I have hearing problems .. The RADIACODE 103's click feature is a little hard to hear for me, so be prepared for that. My wife says its plenty loud. Nothing's perfect, but the 103 comes close. Obviously developed by experience pro's in radiation, chemistry and software.

I knew going into my purchase that I would be quite satisfied with my Radiacode 103 Gamma Spectrometer. However, what I did not anticipate was how often I would get a chance to use it! I knew radiation was all around us 24/7, but I didn't quite understand just how common it was. When I first booted up the device, I was greeted by a lovely little startup chime and the classic Geiger counter clicks. I really love that they added a speaker specifically for the clicks. They sound pretty convincing too. Anyway, after I let it stabilize I was reading around 3.5 CPS in my house. I then grabbed my sherbet dish made of uranium glass, and instantly my 103 started clicking indicating that this object was more radioactive than background isotopes such as potassium and carbon. Only around 10CPS, but still detectable. After I analyzed my item for around 24 hours, I could indeed say with 100% certainty that it contained uranium. That's really what makes this device better than all Geiger counters of a similar price range, you just can't do spectrometry with a $100 GMC-300! Afterwards I brought my 103 down to a relatives house that's made of brick. I turned the device on I was instantly a little bit surprised that the background was around 6 to 7 CPS, around 2x that of my house. Not entirely surprising, but note worthy and cool nonetheless. Then came the Am-241 source from a dead smoke detector. For those who don't know, modern smoke detectors of the ionization type contain a tiny amount of a radioactive metal called americium-241. This radioisotope is highly radioactive with the primary radiation type being alpha particles which are contained in the detector. However Am-241 also emits low energy gamma radiation which is detectable by the Radiacode 10X series of devices, Even with the smoke detector fully assembled. I did something that you probably shouldn't do as a novice, and I removed the source from the ionization chamber. I placed it in a plastic baggie to prevent any contamination. The highest I think I've seen is around 2kCPS, quite spicy! The radiation drops off fairly quickly though, so as long as you store any source properly it's not an issue. I keep mine inside of a steel tin, inside one of those fireproof lock boxes. The addition leather case and arm/leg band are great quality as well. They are not included with the device, though I would highly recommend adding them to your purchase. Being able to wear my 103 during a bike ride and use the radiation map feature has been a joy. The Android app truly has many features, too many to cover and a simple text review. You can actually download the app and set it to demo mode if you'd like to test some of them without purchasing a device for yourself. In short, these are amazing little devices and I feel that everyone should have one. Not necessarily for the gloom and doom aspect of nuclear fallout from weaponry or dubiously maintained nuclear power plants (cough Chernobyl cough), but for the incredible physics and science behind radiation. It's not a boogeyman, it should be treated with respect and if more people understood it the world would be a better place! Thanks for making an incredible device Radiacode! I'll probably be purchasing a 103G at some point in the future.

This radiation meter is a really cool thing. I went to our local nuclear power plant to measure the radiation level. It was a little higher than at home. I also hid it in a lead container at home for the sake of an experiment to make sure it was working properly. The radiation in the container was zero. It seems to work and measure correctly. Easy to set up. It works for a long time from the built-in battery. I don't remember exactly, but it works for about 5 days on one full charge.

I struggled building my own Gamma Spectroscopy instrument from surplus parts. Then, I struggled getting the software I needed working properly. The result is a passable instrument, but not particularly portable. This device and your cell phone, does much of the same, and functions as a dosimeter as well. Very nice software installed. There is a learning curve, but you can do basic radiation measurements, as soon as you charge it up and turn it on. Seems a bit small and delicate, but with careful handling, no problems so far. Lots of good video help online. Not a great geographic survey meter because the detector area is small, and not sensitive to Alpha. I paired my ear buds through my phone, so I can hear the activity clicks, and alarms, with both my phone, and this device, parked in a belt case, or pockets. That leaves my hands free, and attracts very little attention in public places.

Muy interesante como gadjet científico. No tengo idea de como funciona el modo espectrograma.

Der Radiacode 103 überzeugt durch seine hohe Messgenauigkeit, kompakte Bauweise und die benutzerfreundliche App-Anbindung. Die Spektrometrie-Funktion liefert detaillierte Ergebnisse, die sowohl für Einsteiger als auch für erfahrene Anwender interessant sind. Lange Akkulaufzeit, regelmäßige Updates und eine hochwertige Verarbeitung machen das Gerät zu einer hervorragenden Wahl für die mobile Strahlungsmessung. Klare Empfehlung!

Vraiment parfait, pas de derive en temperature, la dose correspond. L'interface est tres bien, complete et simple. La taille du cristal etant seulement de 1cm3 la sensibilite aux hautes energies est tres faible mais on peut quand meme voir le potassium naturel a 1461keV et le 2614keV du thorium. Ca reste toutefois un appareil pour connaisseurs, vu son prix et sa complexite. A utiliser en complement d'un detecteur geiger qui permettra aussi de detecter les alpha et beta.

This unit has a resolution of 1keV and can be used with the software package: RadioCode available to download from the app store and run on your mobile. The app is free to use, and provides a very comprehensive range of setting along with the colour the colour graphics. I would suggest that you buy a case to protect the unit; I bought the distinctive hard yellow case which provide more than adequate protection for field use. You can test out your unit on an old smoke detector which uses a Am241 as its source. Peaks occur around 60keV (true: 59.6) and 26keV (true: 26.3,) the difference being due to the 1keV limitation per channel.

Fabulous device, even for casual hobbyists! Was able to measure radiation levels and review gamma spectrometry on several items. These included a "healing bracelet" I purchased at a rock and mineral show, two fossils and a uranium glass pitcher I picked up at an antique store. The bracelet and fossils were far more radioactive than I would have thought, so it was very useful in how I decided to store and display these items. It took a little while to figure out the gamma spectrometer function, but the manuals and app are easy to download, and the Bluetooth ios app readily connects when using an iPhone 15. Great value and lots of fun!! 5 Stars!!!