Radiation detector
 

Anyone have some experience with radiation detectors? Or are they called geiger counters or something ?

I would be interested in buying one, see what kind of ambient radiation I deal with day after day. Should be high quality & pretty sensitive. What prices we talking about here?

Re: Radiation detector
 

There aren't many good choices. I did exhaustive research on this last year. The old Civil Defense meters are best acquired here http://www.radmeters4u.com/#5. The cheap ones on E-bay need to be calibrated, and that is impossible without MAJOR radiation emitting equipment. Be prepared to shell out a few Benjamins for a good one, and even then it has a shelf life. If you get one, I don't think you want a "geiger counter" - it is too sensitive. You actually want a "survey meter" - it will let you know if the nuclear S has hit the F. (Sorry, just reread your post and see that you want a sensitive one. Then a geiger counter is what you want.)

For me, I've chosen the Nukalert. It is a simple (clumbsy) key-fob like device that beeps if it detects radiation. It beeps different codes to correspond to the level of radiation. I think it is the best way to go if you just want something around to warn you if danger is heading your way - then you just have to figure out which way is the "other" way. I think it has a battery life of 10 years.

Hope this helps.