[kwlug-disc] To WIFI or not to WIFI

[Andrew Kohlsmith (mailing lists account)]

> On Oct 9, 2022, at 10:04 AM, Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com> wrote:
> If you go to eBay, and search for "dosimeter", you will see relatively cheap devices, like this <https://www.ebay.ca/itm/394231462289> or this <https://www.ebay.ca/itm/284352318543>.
> Some have "Geiger" in their description, and all have the term "radiation" too.

I did a quick search on Amazon and eBay for both “dosimeter” and “geiger counter”:

$14 https://www.amazon.ca/allsun-Electromagnetic-Radiation-Magnitude-Household/dp/B07D5CKT23
$24 https://www.amazon.ca/Electromagnetic-Radiation-Detector-Dosimeter-Handheld/dp/B07D32TKD7
$24 https://www.amazon.ca/Gwnwtt-Radiation-Dosimeter-Automatic-Real-Time/dp/B0BG6VYLBV
$24 https://www.amazon.ca/Magnetic-Detector-Hunting-Paranormal-Equipment/dp/B07LBK9RH6
$31 https://www.ebay.ca/itm/204026881047
$39 https://www.ebay.ca/itm/403731884271
$51 https://www.ebay.ca/itm/304542358657

ALL of these are electromagnetic field strength meters, not ionizing radiation dosimeters. They typically measure in Tesla or Gauss, and will pick up everything from gas engine spark plugs to AM/FM radio to 433MHz thermometers to wifi. They’re not measuring anything useful for this discussion.

Units that claim to be “3-in-one digital radiation monitor” or “E-magnetic tester” or “Digital radiometer” are snake oil. The ebay, amazon, aliexpress/banggood, etc. sites are FULL of these. If they are measuring uT, mG, V/m, uW/cm2 or the like, they’re measuring EM fields, not ionizing radiation. They’re essentially a radio: an antenna and amplifier, but instead of making noise, they foment anxiety and mistrust of the scientific community.

The unit I mentioned in my other post is about $95 on Amazon (was about half that on AliExpress). Similar units would be items like these:
$45 https://www.ebay.ca/itm/234727376521
$47 https://www.ebay.ca/itm/295094367680
$59 https://www.ebay.ca/itm/283713466391
$69 https://www.ebay.ca/itm/403697385654
$95 https://www.amazon.ca/Radiation-Detector-Professional-Radioactive-Dosimeter/dp/B09WMY3316
$118 https://www.amazon.ca/Geevorks-Electromagnetic-Monitoring-Exceedance-Self-check/dp/B09V56K1M8
$125 https://www.amazon.ca/BTER-Radiation-Detector-Dosimeter-Professional/dp/B09TPY8M76
$155 https://www.amazon.ca/Radiation-Detector-Dosimeter-Electromagnetic-Professional/dp/B09TQ99FLT

$189 https://www.amazon.ca/GQ-GMC-320-Plus-Radiation-Detector/dp/B013S9FO8M

These all measure ionizing radiation only, and the main difference between them is packaging, power source, data logging and quality of the sensor (which translates to sensitivity and repeatability).

-A.

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