Review on 📟 GQ Gamma Radiation Detection Equipment - GMC 320Plus Full Kit by Sean Burnett

This is an amazing geiger counter and it seems like it was designed by people who respect geeks who like that sort of thing. The first thing I like about this meter is that it has a built-in rechargeable lithium battery that can be charged via a standard mini USB port. While this may not seem particularly remarkable, many Geiger counters (usually vintage/surplus) require exotic and unusual batteries. Another important design consideration is that the battery is a standard 14500 lithium cell and is user removable. Of course, you don't have to charge the battery too often because the battery life is excellent. These properties turned out to be very important for my Geiger counter (read more). I was very surprised to find my meter still chirping on my desk one day after accidentally leaving it on over the weekend! The meter has sufficient sensitivity so that ordinary weak sources of radiation "stand out" against the background of the indicators. The display is easy to read and various metrics and statistics are available in 3 different "display modes". The menu-based interface gives you the ability to change a variety of settings. Of course, nothing is perfect and neither is this product. The UI is pretty awkward to navigate with the device's 4 buttons, and the membrane buttons have poor implicit feedback and feel weak. I could easily see someone's long nails quickly damaging these buttons. The buttons can also be a little touchy, with some of them easily activated at the lightest accidental touch. Now, after using this meter for about 6 months, the meter started draining the battery rapidly even when it was turned off. It turned on normally when connected to the USB cable BUT it didn't charge the battery at all. I found that the battery was constantly drawing 120mA and traced this to a faulty transistor on the board. I was able to get rid of this parasitic drain by removing the transistor. I haven't replaced this component, but I can still power the meter through the USB cable. As for charging the battery, I only use an external charger and it works fine. Update: The keyboard doesn't work anymore and the display is defective. Because the backlight remains at maximum. I would give this thing one star but it was great when it worked. With all the best options available today, I scratch my head why a manufacturer would use a cheap, crappy membrane keyboard like they did in 1982.