{"id":12204,"date":"2016-10-16T17:58:47","date_gmt":"2016-10-16T21:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/?p=12204"},"modified":"2016-10-16T17:58:47","modified_gmt":"2016-10-16T21:58:47","slug":"diy-geiger-counter-using-555","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/diy-geiger-counter-using-555\/","title":{"rendered":"DIY Geiger Counter using 555"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Geiger counters are used to detect beta particles and gamma rays radioactive emissions. The counter consists of a tube filled with an inert gas such as helium, neon, or argon at low pressure, to which a high voltage is applied. The tube becomes conductive of electricity when it is impacted by a high-energy particle or photon. <em>Tanner_Tech<\/em>&#8216;s <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.instructables.com\/id\/Simplest-Geiger-Counter\/?ALLSTEPS\" target=\"_blank\">Instructable<\/a><\/strong> shows how to build the simplest 555 timer based DIY Geiger counter using minimal\u00a0electronic components.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_12206\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/5552.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12206\" class=\"wp-image-12206 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/5552.jpg\" alt=\"Geiger counter using 555 timer\" width=\"800\" height=\"384\" srcset=\"https:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/5552.jpg 800w, https:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/5552-580x278.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-12206\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Geiger counter using 555 timer<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>Tanner_Tech<\/em>&#8216;s design uses 555 timer IC as an astable multivibrator to drive a step-up transformer through a MOSFET in order to generate the high voltage required for the Geiger tube. A piezo element placed in series with the Geiger tube acts as a detector, which clicks every time the ionization event occurs inside the tube due to high energy particles.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_12205\" style=\"width: 884px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/555circuit.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12205\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12205\" src=\"http:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/555circuit.jpg\" alt=\"Circuit diagram of 555 timer based Geiger counter\" width=\"874\" height=\"344\" srcset=\"https:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/555circuit.jpg 874w, https:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/555circuit-580x228.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 874px) 100vw, 874px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-12205\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Circuit diagram of 555 timer based Geiger counter<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Following\u00a0video\u00a0shows this device working.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"860\" height=\"484\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lRNw5JOoL-w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Too make this Geiger counter work, there needs to be two parts of this circuit; the high voltage power supply, and the detector circuit. In the diagram above, the high voltage circuit consists of a 555 timer driving oscillator driving a transformer. The 555 timer generates a square wave that, through a resistor, turns on and off a MOSFET transistor. This MOSFET drives a small step up transformer. The output of the transformer is then fed into a voltage doubler where the voltage is boosted to about 500 volts. Then, the voltage is regulated through a series of 4 100v zener diodes to the Geiger tube&#8217;s recommended 400 volts.<\/p>\n<p>For the detector circuit, the Geiger tube&#8217;s anode is wires directly to the 400 volt power supply. In between the cathode of the tube and ground, I placed a piezo electric element. This converts the small current flow from the Geiger tube to a audible click.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Geiger counters are used to detect beta particles and gamma rays radioactive emissions. The counter consists of a tube filled with an inert gas such as helium, neon, or argon at low pressure, to which a high voltage is applied. The tube becomes conductive of electricity when it is impacted by a high-energy particle or photon. Tanner_Tech&#8216;s Instructable shows how to build the simplest 555 timer based DIY Geiger counter using minimal\u00a0electronic components. Tanner_Tech&#8216;s design uses 555 timer IC as an astable multivibrator to drive a step-up transformer through a MOSFET in order to generate the high voltage required for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[201,227],"tags":[1196,1505,1504],"class_list":["post-12204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-555-timer","category-news","tag-555-project","tag-diy-geiger-counter","tag-geiger-counter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12204"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12209,"href":"https:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12204\/revisions\/12209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}