Do your own Gamma Spectroscopy with the Radiacode 103

In this video we review the radiacode 103, a handheld gamma ray spectrometer. We also as explore basic aspects of gamma ray spectroscopy.

Geiger counters measure radiation, and they're easy to buy online. But all they do is measure how much radiation there is. The Radiacode is a gamma spectrometer and can measure the energy of each individual gamma photon hitting it. When plotted on a histogram this gives a spectrum of gamma ray energy. This is tremendously useful because each radioisotope has a characteristic gamma ray spectrum that can be used to identify it.

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[NurdRage]

Meanwhile, in another universe: "Chemistry is amazing! In another universe I'd be making sodium in my basement rather than a nuclear reactor. Unfortunately in this universe you're stuck with me."

[bigclivedotcom]

Thanks for taking the scintillation sensor apart. That did indeed stop me from destroying my 102.
They're great little units. Very versatile, and the software and app seem well implemented.

[thethoughtemporium]

1 thing you missed in the pair production explanation and in your spectrum; You can see a peak at 511kev from the positron annhilating and releasing gamma rays. You can actually see the peak quite clearly surprisingly

[NicolasBana]

It's not great but not terrible. Hehe i laughed at that comment. Very impressive and very cool of you to have opened one for the most curious of us ! Never heard of the Compton Continuum or the pair production escape effect, very cool indeed !

[NathanaelNewton]

I have had the 101 and the 102 for several years and I love them! I remember watching antiprotons' videos of gamma spectroscopy years ago wishing I could afford one. When this one came on the market I was so excited and immediately bought one.

I found some super spicy rocks near a transit station in my city (Ottawa) is that get around 300 micro sieverts per hour 😮

I love it, it's been a great new hobby ❤

[Ismail-xqry]

I don't if this is a coincidence or not, but the same gamma spectrometer (used in the video) was also used during my faculty of science and tech open day in my university. Glad to see a complete review, applications of the whole thing, etc, i had my popcorn ready for a new nurdrage video 😇. Thank you, mr nurdrage 🙏

[JohnLobbanCreative]

Excellent review that answers some of my questions about the science!❤️ I have both the Radiacode 102 and 103. Excellent product! I’ve published many assays with spectrums in the Radiacode Facebook group.

[Kamunchu]

The OG chemistry channel. I remember your original glow stick video. you are a hero.

[chinobambino]

Hi Nurd, awesome video. I’m an ecotoxicologist who works at the Savannah River Site in SC, which recently became the second place in the country to produce plutonium cores/pits for weapons. We also produce most of the country’s tritium i believe.

I agree that nuclear physics are really interesting, and that if i had gone down a physics path instead of biology i’m sure I would have been drawn to it. One of the most interesting techniques i’ve come across is otolith microchemistry - ototliths are ear “stones” which form in the ear canals of bony fish and some other vertebrates, and who accumulate layers linearly with growth each year when it’s warm, and can thus be used like tree rings to age fish if they are sectioned. However, they can also be ablated/ionized layer by layer to look at what kind of contaminants (metals, organics, etc.) the fish has been exposed to throughout it’s life, and even match that up to specific years. Really incredible.

It’s recently been suggested that crocodilians typically have otoliths as well - which is very exciting to me, as we’ve marked some old alligators here on site which have likely been alive since before the plant was constructed in the 50s. Would be very cool to see an accumulation of ceasium etc over time through an old gator!

[cjb]

The nonlinearity is due to the Radiacode using a Silicon PhotoMultiplier (SiPM). While a regular PhotoMultiplying Tube (PMT) uses a more "analog" process for its gain and behaves more lienarly, SiPMs consist of an array of discrete SPADs (basically its individual sensor cells) wired in parallel. These SPADs are either activated or not. If it's hit by two photons at (almost) the same time, it still looks like it was hit by a single photon. This means that signal amplitude does not scale linearly with the amount of incident photons and instead flattens out - if an event activates all the SPADs on the SiPM die, that's your maximum signal. Any more photons won't change anything.

[k.c.sunshine]

I bought a 102 model about six months ago. I love it.

- battery is sized well so that it can take continuous measurements for about 3 or 4 days between charges
- my screen failed, however, I can still use the device through the cell-phone app
- I measured the potassium in my Japanese Matcha tea - it required one or two days of measurement to accurately pick up the potassium

Great review, NurdRage!

[Samonie]

i bought one 2 months ago and i couldn't be happier, it's such a user friendly device (compared to all other gamma spectrometers) and with such a small form factor i basically carry it around with me all the time. the battery life is also incredible, i've only had to charge it once a week whilst it kept collecting data

[andrews.]

Useful review indeed! After watching this I am definitely considering a purchase, this would make a very useful tool when I start my radioactive metal salt projects like americium nitrate synthesis. Great to see you post Nurd Rage!

[sachabinky]

The most comprehensive video on the 103 i've seen yet

[cpm]

This video is the best explanation of this device that I have ever seen. Thank you NurdRage!

[Carlos_GS]

I was really curious to see the sensor, thank you for the teardown! Maybe you could fix the device by running a calibration, they recently uploaded a tutorial explaining the process, apparently to fix whenever the device is dropped and the crystal moves. Thank you for the thorough review!

[TheArech]

I bought Radiacode 101 two years ago right after you've presented it, and it's just so freaking awesome thing! And I must say that during these 2 years the devs have seriously improved it from being 256channel spectrometer with dumb flat CPS->energy conversion into a 1024 channel with more or less proper conversion! Awesome work on their side and awesome value for the money. Thank you for sharing it!

[etienneguyot]

Got a 102 several months ago. Very happy with the performances. I just want to notice that I have to recalibrate it, which is quite easy using thoriated rods or gas mantles. Next project would be to build a lead castle to make measurements of weak samples and reduced background...

[komitadjie]

Man, I don't even have any radioisotope samples or have any reason to have one of these things, but now I want one just to poke around and see what I can find!

[Neptunium]

Well well well . . Look who else likes the radiacode! You'll probably be amazed by it's neutron detection abilities as well ! Very good review sir! It is an amazing device and affordable too! Your 12kev is not far off, the max energy of the beta is at 18kev with an average between 4 and 10. All that energy has to go somewhere right!, the Th232 spectrum has more decay daughter than actual Thorium but that's a good preview . Finally any reason why you are using the log scale instead of the linear one? Great vid as always...