Build a non-electronic fallout meter.

A geiger counter measures active radiation. But if you are downwind of nuclear discharge (either nuclear detonation OR 'just a dirty bomb'), the most important concept for you will be "fallout" rather than radiation.

Fallout includes the total amount of rads you've absorbed so far. For people who have absorbed a massive dose, even a "non-lethal" amount within a year or two can be life-threatening.

This Device doesn't use batteries, which is critical if there has been a disruption of electrical service; or worse, a sinister electromagnetic pulse that has disabled your area.

Radiation affects how quickly a static charge can dissipate, and that is what is measured by this device:

The Kearny Fallout Meter.

Other links:
www.oism.org...
Wikipedia entry for the Kfm
PDF of the original CD "how to" booklet"

can't believe no one has posted this before . . .

Can you determine (with pencil and paper) the same information for those that already have a geiger counter? I believe this is possible/easy to do, just don't have any eqn's on hand...

Something like: Dose=Rads.average*(delta t)

Of course it would only be approximation and most likely not as accurate as the dosimeter(?).

Hey,
Thanks for this thread dr_strangecraft!
I think I will make one of these.

finally another DIY'er Thanks for that I will diafiently be making one

Originally posted by greatlakes
Can you determine (with pencil and paper) the same information for those that already have a geiger counter? I believe this is possible/easy to do, just don't have any eqn's on hand...

Something like: Dose=Rads.average*(delta t)

The real question I see in there is, how much radiation per hour is the threshold for various health risks?

My understanding is, the risk is cumulative; I just wonder whether it ever goes down over time . . . or do I have a lifetime exposure, and once you've crossed it, your done.

So like, if you've done more than 50 intercontinental flights, have had more than 20 x-rays, and lived in a radon-rich basement apartment during college, then . . . you are not allowed to own a glo-in-the-dark yoyo.

I know that I no longer need the Potassium Iodide tablets; I'm over forty, and the cancer takes longer than that to kill males. If I-isotopes wanna kill me, they'll have to stand in line behind cholesterol and some stuff I ingested at a black sabbath concert in the mid-eighties.

It would be nice if our ATS survival forum had a handy wall-chart of lethal radiation doses. There's always the "effects of nuclear blast at various distances" graphic; but then, most of our hard-core members have that chart memorized already.

Yes, some "effects of radiation flash-cards" are exactly what this forum needs! I'll see what I can mole up on Google.

back in a sec.
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It must degrade over time just as it build over time. I think humans are rated at a millirad/year number. We receive on average 300-400 mrad/year just from everyday sources, fillings, tv, smoking, environment, location of residence, radon, dental visits etc.

That is really cool! The one challenge with this device will be calibrating it so that you can tell whether a particular reading is dangerous or not. The website claimed accuracy within 25%, which is more than good enough for knowing whether your health is at risk or not, as you only need a general idea how bad the radiation is in such a situation.

Anyone know what the shelf life of dessicant is? (Probably depends on what kind) I'm just wondering whether you could build one of these and still have it working properly months or years later.

The dessicant shouldn't really be an issue. You seal up the container, and, assuming that no new moisture seeps in, the air in the container should stay. . . um . . . dessicated.

You can used uncooked rice as a dessicant. Plaster of paris works, too; although it is a mess if it ever becomes saturated. The little packets you get in food are merely powdered mica or silica. Saving those packets could be effective as well.

I think I saw a set of KFM plans that called for crushed drywall as the dessicant.

As far as the accuracy goes, one method to deal with that is to build more than one meter, and then compare their answers to arrive at a mean.

Or you can go back to the "lowest-tech" fallout meter: rapid hair loss.


keep your stick on the ice.

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Thanks for posting this, Dr.

We may need to make these sooner or later

Anyone want to make one? Interested to see how well this works and will it be sensitive enough to report everyday radiation dose.

Originally posted by d1k
Thanks for posting this, Dr.

We may need to make these sooner or later

Yeah, but merely bookmarking it won't do you much good.

By the time you remember you saw this on ATS, the EMP of a chinese-made, terrorist-detonated 10 meganuke will have fried your hard drive and erased all of your "favorites" from internet explorer.

I originally found this because I knew a guy who was mass producing these at home. In the days of the anthrax scare in 2002, he was selling them out of the back of his car in the parking lot at work. I think his price was like, $45 a piece. I call that 41 dollars in profit, each.

His bit went something like, "buy this a photocopy of the instructions, and then you can just put it at the back of your closet untill the nukes fall. At least you'll be prepared."

I'm pretty sure he sold several trunk loads of 'em. His product got more and more professionally made, and less like something you'd bother to copy.

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