Talk:Geiger counter

message: According to Knoll, the response to gamma rays comes by way of gamma-ray interactions with the sold wall of the counter. Using high-Z materials for the wall, makes the counters more suited for gamma-ray detection.
Answer-  I have added in a complete section about this and made graphic, as this fundamental and important process was not explained in the original article. Knoll ref also added.Dougsim (talk) 08:50, 19 July 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Gamma rays

message: Would it be OK to merge the
Geiger-Mueller tube article
with this Geiger counter article ?
--DavidCary 03:52, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Merge proposal

message: * A note to the wise cdv 715 an 717 are not geiger counters they are high range ion chambers that are no where near as sensitive as a geiger counter.
Moved above from main article page – this was added as justification of the removal of the image. If you have more information about the above, I'd suggest perhaps setting up a article for ion chambers (unless this is synonym for some already existing article) and placing this information in it. Thanks. - postglock 13:39, 17 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Note

message: In the UK TV series Eleventh Hour (UK TV series), broadcast 9th Feb 2006, a character remarks that some people dislike the name 'Geiger counter' because its inventor Hans_Geiger was an "arch Nazi" who doesn't deserve the constant recognition that geiger counter confers on him. (Instead they call it a 'radiation detector'.) I'm not suggesting you change the title of this entry or anything, but I wonder whether it's worth mentioning this within the text somewhere? Demos99 22:15, 9 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, this is true.  Inside the nuclear industry we call the Geiger Counter a 'Radiation Detector' nowadays.  It's not really as a result of political correctness, but because 'Radiation Detector' is a better description.  Radiation detectors come in all shapes and sizes, from little pager-sized units that you clip on your lapel to things that you can drive an 18-wheel truck through.  They can have alpha probes, beta probes, or (if you really want one) a remote 'Geiger-Muller' type gamma probe, but as you say 'Radiation Detector' is the generic name, and 'Geiger Counter' only really lives on in some poorly-researched science-fiction scripts. 160.84.253.241 11:33, 2 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: To your note: Hans Geiger was NOT an "archznazi". Get your history in order and grow up.--89.204.137.240 (talk) 15:05, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

text: I've rearranged the first section accordingly, and for additional clarity (IMHO).  I think it still needs work, there's some possibly irrelevant information. 142.59.153.99 04:46, 7 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Title

message: Growing up in an atomic-saavy family, I was told that counter built before 1945 (the first detonation of a nuclear device) were somehow more accurate.  Any truth to this? Check-Six 05:06, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Pre 1945 they were made for prospecting the ore, post they were made to avoid the concentrate fallout, somewhat as a placebo effect :-/
They were not more accurate - they just had less background to contend with. Dougsim (talk) 09:10, 21 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Pre-1945 Geiger counters? 

message: This page was vandalized. I restored the article to a previous version, and found a few places where similar vandalisms (obviously from the same person) had occured on this version as well.  I skimmed through it and deleted what I found, but had a limited time to proofread. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 204.211.37.221 (talk) 17:35, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: We don't really need a description of the content. I removed it since it was offensive. I understand that editing other people's comments on a user page is not usually done. The IP address of the above commenter has not been active for years and it was pretty unpleasant stuff, quote marks or not. Kathybramley (talk) 08:14, 11 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Vandalism 

message: Cant find anything to verify the existence of a pre-lude counter on the internet. 130.194.13.104 (talk) 23:44, 19 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Pre-lude counter? 

message: Are the clicks heard the result of a single particle impact, or multiple particles? -- Beland (talk) 07:48, 21 February 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: The clicks are the product of an electric circuitry, and can be turned off, and are not caused directly by the particle. whe clicks are switched on, you should hear a click per particle detected. Eldad Abramski (talk) 11:45, 11 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sensitivity 

message: This article could have the whole contents of Geiger–Müller tube merged in; it would better explain how these instruments work. It seems logical to me to discuss the whole system under one article title instead of talking about individual parts. We should also probably mention uses of GM counters, such as prospecting and the cold war era of a Geiger counter in every bomb shelter. --Wtshymanski (talk) 14:37, 11 April 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: I say do that, but maybe create a main article for radiation detectors - maybe from this or a new one. That could outline the basic science of trying to detect radiation and the different approaches, with a little compare and contrast.Kathybramley (talk) 08:35, 11 May 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: The term "Geiger counter" is often used for an instrumemt capable of detecting any ionizing radiation. I think we should destinguish between this tube and radiation detectors. So there should be at least two articles: one on "Radiation detectors" (which should include the Geiger counter) and one on the "Geiger-Mueller tube". This would also help to make the article on "Radiation Detectors" more readable by keeping out lots of the technical and physical background required for the GM-tube article. -- Wosch21149 (talk) 14:19, 4 August 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Suggest merge

message: The article states that the first "Geiger Counter" from 1908 "...was only capable of detecting alpha particles." Is there any evidence for this? I assume that a simple GM tube was rather capable of detecting gamma rays than (exclusively) alpha particles. --Wosch21149 (talk) 14:20, 4 August 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  History 

message: The picture of the "deflection needle type geiger counter" in the introduction is a Thermo Mini 900. The Thermo Mini series can use a GM tube or a scintillation detector:
http://www.thermoscientific.com/ecomm/servlet/productsdetail_11152_L10432_81904_11961779_-1
Since there is a significant difference between these types of instruments, I strongly suggest using a less ambiguous picture.M.moulson (talk) 17:24, 11 April 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Misleading introductory picture 

message: Physics - scintillation link. This did go to the scintillation counter page - what is the reason for changing this? 
It now points to a physics page which is not as relevant to the Geiger article; which itself has a general thrust of concentrating on the practical use of hand-held geiger survey instruments.
I would like to revert this. Comments please. Dougsim (talk) 08:53, 19 July 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Scintillation physics link 

message: This page says the Geiger Counter was invented in 1908, yet all other sources says 1928.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.93.4.17 (talk) 20:49, 17 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Invention Date 

message: Great rewrite. I think it bears mentioning that the popularity of the GM counter in part stems from the relatively powerful pulses produced by the electron avalanche in a GM tube.  Those 1940's and 1950's counters had almost nothing in them besides a big battery, the GM tube, perhaps a single stage tube amplifier, and a meter movement.  We shuld perhaps also mention that Geiger counters are less useful in high radiation fields due to the recovery time of the tube. --Wtshymanski (talk) 13:58, 21 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Popularity

message: The new section on photon dose units I would suggest is not appropriate in this article. Whilst an interesting table, it is too technical, and deals with a very small part of a specialist subject, whereas the thrust of the GM counter article to is to give a simple explanation to the casual reader on how a GM counter works. I would therefore suggest that this section is removed, as it will serve only to confuse. 
I think it is actually also too technical for the GM tube article, which I have deliberately kept separate from the GM counter. The tube article is for people who want to go deeper. However SI photon units are very deep. 
This is a good table which will help to de-mystify radiation dose, but suggest it should not be here. It could well go in some of the articles on dose and fluence elsewhere.
Dougsim (talk) 06:35, 8 April 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  SI Photon dose 

message: So "Geiger Counter" and "G-M counter" are used very interchangeably in this article. I notice that an above talk section deals with this minimally, but no edits have been made to clean this up. I also read some claims abut calling it just a "radiation detector" but that was abandoned because it was too general and other devices are known as this. I only know this device from popular culture where it is always called a Geiger Counter. The article makes it clear that Geiger Counters employ the G-M tube, so I'm not sure why we are sometimes calling it the G-M counter. It is just confusing. StarHOG (Talk) 13:16, 25 September 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: This appears to be a regional issue.  "GM detector" and "G-M detector" (for the :Geiger–Müller tube that is contained in the equipment) appear to be chiefly British names for the same device.  Geiger-Mueller counter and Geiger–Müller Counter are redirects to this article. Both names (Gieger and GM) are correct.  We should perhaps make some effort to verify my impression and if correct, add the alternate name in the lead.  General Ization Talk   13:20, 25 September 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: I see that, too. Well, I think the redirects should appear in the intro as Bold and then use a standard descriptor of "Geiger counter" for the rest of the article when speaking about the device and not the tube. StarHOG (Talk) 13:56, 25 September 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: That's fine.  I suspect that the common name is a product of Americans' tendency to stop using any name they can't remember how to spell!  (I'm American.) General Ization Talk   15:12, 25 September 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Name 

message: I would like to see more history about what these were like over the decades, Cold War Era and all. I would like to see photos, also. 2601:240:8301:5070:0:0:0:9B30 (talk) 04:06, 5 February 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  More History, Please