page_title: Civil defense Geiger counters
section_title: PDRM82
hierarchical_section_title: Civil defense Geiger counters / British civil defence instruments / PDRM82
caption_attribution_description: Photo showing the PDRM82 used by the Royal Observer Corps.
context_page_description: However, most civil defense devices were ion-chamber radiological survey meters capable of measuring only high levels of radiation that would be present after a major nuclear event.
  Most Geiger and ion-chamber survey meters were issued by governmental civil defense organizations in several countries from the 1950s in the midst of the Cold War in an effort to help prepare citizens for a nuclear attack.
  Many of these same instruments are still in use today by some states, Texas amongst them, under the jurisdiction of the Texas Bureau of Radiation Control. They are regularly maintained, calibrated and deployed to fire depts and other emergency services.
context_section_description: In 1982 the British PDRM82 was issued for civil defence. This model is lightweight, with an LCD display and a plastic case, and has all the electronics, including miniature Geiger tube (shielded against beta particles), on a single, EMP-hardened, PCB. It was designed by Plessey to use three standard 1.5 volt cells, and is microprocessor controlled with digital readout.
  For use by the Royal Observer Corps, the instrument was also provided in the fixed version designated the PDRM82(F). The fixed version had an external coaxial socket mounted on its rear that accepted a cable from the above ground ionisation detector under a polycarbonate dome. For training purposes, timed simulated readings could be fed to the meter from an EPROM.
caption: Plessey PDRM82
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