The main problem is as follows. From what it seems, most Geiger counter circuits opt for a piezo clicker. I'd like to just plug in a 3.5mm audio jack and be able to hear when pulses come in. The problem lies in this. When an incoming piece of radiation impacts the tube it does not create a perfect sine wave that would be nice to feed into audio devices. How to have this momentary jump trigger the output of a sine wave of specified frequency for specified time?
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\$\begingroup\$ When a particle is detected there is some high-low/low-high signal driving that piezo device. You can try pulling that signal and sending it through an amplifier to drive the headphones. \$\endgroup\$– earlCommented Nov 15, 2023 at 17:10
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\$\begingroup\$ You don't need a nice sine wave to make a sound in your headphones. The same pulse that makes a "tick" in the piezo sounder will make a "tick" in your headphones. \$\endgroup\$– Peter BennettCommented Nov 15, 2023 at 19:09
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\$\begingroup\$ rhett, Figure 4 on this site describes an output that provides both a piezo and a phono jack for headphones. Feel free to look over the entire schematic. But once the signal processing is done they just drive a single BJT for the click and this works with both a piezo and headphones. What problems do you see with their approach vs what you are considering? \$\endgroup\$– periblepsisCommented Nov 17, 2023 at 0:18
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Sure. The piezo clicker will have a voltage across it (creating the click) which you could process into a digital signal to feed to a micro controller. Your micro controller can then receive the click, and output a sign wave (assuming it has a DAC, else you need to add a DAC).
The rate of the clicks is pretty important information, and sometimes these are quite fast, so you could do some fun stuff where you increase the pitch of the sine wave to convey the rate. You could just turn a sine on for a set time per click - but the length of time it's on for affects how many 'clicks' you can interpret.
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\$\begingroup\$ Just throw an MCU at it, never fails. \$\endgroup\$– earlCommented Nov 15, 2023 at 18:08
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\$\begingroup\$ @earl Forgive me, but what's an MCU? \$\endgroup\$– rhett aCommented Nov 15, 2023 at 18:18
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\$\begingroup\$ @rhetta It's short-hand for the generic idea of some microcontroller (unit) without being specific about which. Basically, it just means something that only needs power and ground and software and doesn't imply anything about surrounding connections or parts other than the microcontroller itself. Some do require an external oscillator source, most don't these days. It also tends to connote something with just a few pins and usually not 32-bit or 64-bit. But the idea is vague enough that it could in some minds imply more. The idea evolves over time, too. Never the same twice, I suppose. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Nov 16, 2023 at 1:20
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\$\begingroup\$ @earl An MCU will fail in a radiation environment. \$\endgroup\$– JensCommented Nov 16, 2023 at 20:28
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\$\begingroup\$ @Jens if you are in a radiation environment that causes an MCU to fail, then I would highly recommend you not be in that environment listening to a Geiger counter to begin with. \$\endgroup\$– earlCommented Nov 16, 2023 at 21:27