A number of years ago we we’re at what we like to think of as a “Mad Scientist” garage sale. Held in a warehouse (which I’m sure no longer exists) in Seattle, this place had an unbelievable array of equipment and tools, many of which we had no idea what their function was. In among all this stuff was an old Geiger counter from the University of Washington. The price wasn’t outrageous, so being curious, we bought it.

We decided that we would do readings periodically, and post them, mostly because we can; however if we ever see the levels truly spike, we will wonder what has happened. We have done some research on what radiation levels are expected naturally in the Seattle are, and we’ve never seen the levels maintain any levels above the expected background radiation. Even during the height of the concern of radiation from Fukashima.

Since this Geiger counter has never been calibrated, any readings posted here are should not be taken as scientific evidence of anything.

Note on methodology: the readings we post consist of turning on the Geiger counter, monitoring the readings for 30 seconds, and then posting an average “guesstimate” along with notes on any spikes during that time.

Geiger CounterGeiger Counter

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