Post Beta hardware iteration
For the Portable Environmental Monitor beta release, both the project summary and the system design document presented some of the things to improve next. The first PCB was fine, but…
Portable Environmental Monitor
The portable environmental monitor addresses pollution, the kind that we are unable to see but directly affects our health and causes life threatening diseases. Airborne toxic chemicals, radioactive dust and…
The first prototype
It's been a crazy run, trying to make this happen. After less then one month I now have the first functional hardware iteration or the first prototype. The Portable Environmental…
A true hacker makes his own PCBs
A true hacker makes his own PCBs. Dual layer. And in the kitchen. Why so? Because doing them as DIY and not paying lots of money to some greedy company…
Resistive touchscreen
A complicated project July was a tough month, and August is no different. Due to some components arriving late, I've only been able to start my work on the Hackaday.io…
MiCS-VZ-89 Air Quality Sensor
The MiCS-VZ-89 Air Quality Sensor can detect carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds. This article shows how to access its readings via I2C.
Sharp GP2Y1010 dust sensor
The Sharp GP2Y10 dust sensor can detect dust in air using the reflected infrared light, including very fine smoke particles. See how to use it with a microcontroller.
Tube: SBT-9 End Window Geiger tube
Pictures: This is a rare Geiger Muller tube with a mica end window that allows it to detect alpha, beta and gamma radiation. It is a good substitute for the…
ESP8266 Troubleshooting
I got a few esp8266 modules back in 2014, shortly after they've been announced on HackaDay. I didn't have much time for them, being caught with other projects, up until…
ILI9341 touchscreen LCD Library
I got a few QVGA LCD's with resistive touchscreen for an ongoing project. All that was left to do was putting the driver code together. The LCD code part was…
Introduction to STM32 microcontrollers
Introduction to STM32 microcontrollers shows how to setup the ide and toolchain to edit and compile STM32 apps on a MacOS workstation.
Tube: LND-712 End Window Alpha-Beta-Gamma Detector
Pictures: An excellent miniature mica window Geiger tube, suitable for detecting Alpha, Beta and Gamma radiation. As of 2015, it was selected for the uRADMonitor D series of radiation detectors.…
Digital bench power supply
As a follow up to one of my earlier projects, the Variable regulated power supply, initially designed to deliver 0..30Volts at up to 10Amps, I have decided it was time…
Serial Digital to Analog converter (serial DAC)
Introduction We're used to Analog to Digital converters (ADC) in a variety of applications such as voltmeters, thermometers or various other sensors. Their purpose is translating a given signal to…
Comparison of dosimeters
Like with all measurements, it will be very hard to find two different devices indicating the same readings, especially when we demand increased precision. We now know that there are…
DIY Dosimeter Geiger Counter KIT1.0
Note: there is a newer version of this project, KIT1.1, see it here If I was to give this project a version number, the closest match would be the uRADMonitor…
Atmega8 UDP Client
As a follow-up to Radu's Atmega8 and enc28J60 for ethernet support article, I used the libraries to implement an ATmega8 UDP client using ENC28J60 that broadcasts a simple “Hello World”…
ILI9163 LCD Library
An open source code library for the ILI9163 LCD. Circuit diagram for connecting it to an ATmega128 and demo video are included.
Tube: SBM-21 (СБМ-21) Miniature Geiger Muller
The SBM-21 Geiger tube offers relatively good sensitivity especially when compared to its ultra compact size.
Tube: STS-5 (СTC-5) Geiger tube
The STS-5 is a geiger tube for hard beta and gamma detection, manufactured in USSR in the 60's, similar in specs to the newer SBM-20.
Atmega128 Voodoo
Apparently I had no better inspiration on how to name this post. It all started with a nice sunny day, when I was in great shape for doing creative work.…
DIY AVR Development Board with Atmega128
Eagle diagrams and instructions for building a DIY Development board featuring the powerful Atmega128 microcontroller
Tube: SI-3BG (CИ-3БГ) Small Geiger Muller
SI-3BG Geiger tube is suitable for detecting high radiation doses, but finds little use in DIY applications.
The AVR Watchdog
The AVR Watchdog is an essential mechanism to protect long term run applications from code freezes affecting their functionality.
Tube: SI-22G (CИ-22Г) Sensitive Geiger Muller
Pictures: Details: The SI-22G is a highly sensitive hard beta and gamma radiation detector tube, made in USSR during the 80's for the Soviet Military Needs by the Soviet Institute…
Single Chip Computer
Learn how to create a single chip computer running BASIC.
3V to 400V regulated inverter for Geiger counters
A robust regulated high voltage supply, an inverter (boost converter / step-up) 3V to 400V for portable applications.
Google Tango Hackathon in Timisoara
Some impressions on the Google Tango Hackathon held in Timisoara in April 2014. See one of the Winner projects, the Camera 3D and some insight on the new device from Google.
Electric Fence Circuit for perimeter protection
Two battery operated, portable, electric fence designs using 555 and 556 timers.
Small size High-Voltage regulated inverter
Build a battery operated, compact high voltage inverter for Nixie tubes, neon bulbs or Geiger counters.