- Nov 20, 2011
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I bought on Ebay a new old stock Canberra Radiac AN/UDR-13. The DoD screwed up on the initial testing, It looks like these units are not accurate for dose recording if you are within 2 kilometers of a nuclear explosion. 
They used to cost over 700 dollars new but now they can be had for 180-220 dollars new. The DoD decided to buy a slightly upgraded model that would work more reliably if you are within 2KM from a nuclear blast.:
DoD notification.
http://jacks.jpeocbd.army.mil/Public/FactSheetProvider.ashx?productId=389
Their loss is my gain:
Okay The Unit arrived in its box, manuals etc.. a nice pouch that is MOLLE compatible and you can hang it on your belt.
The unit comes from factory set to some insane radiation levels (nuclear war levels) I reconfigured it down a notch to civilian risk levels.
I set the rate alarm to .001 centigrey/hr (which is 100 uR/hr)
On power on the unit goes through an internal self test to confirm operation, then it shows you either dose or rate.
I check with my Cs-137 1 curie check source and confirm it reads .002 centigrey/hr which means its good. (200uR/hr)
The units were built in 2006, calibrated in 2009 and cal expiration at 2012. But I checked with my source and it looks good.
These unit also have a neutron detector, Typically Neutron radiation will only occur during a fission/fusion event or if your near a particle accelerator. ie: Nuclear power plant explodes etc..
The unit has heft and looks solidly built. They come with a nice case, a laminated quick reference card in the unit a battery installation sheet and a nice manual.
Bettery life is minimum 150hours (continual measurement mode) of continual operation. That is 6.25 days of 24/7 use.
Sleep mode, unit battery will last 2000 hours (83 days) sleep mode means every 5 minutes it wakes up and displays reading and would alert if thresholds are met, It will automatically wake up at any moment if a neutron event is detected (ie nuke plant explodes etc..)
Sleep mode would be the normal civilian non-event mode for every day monitoring, think of it like a smoke alarm at this point.
I will be testing with rechargeable batteries.
Now unlike the NukAlert keychain which only clicks if radiation reaches 100,000 uR/hr this AN/UDR-13 can be set to alarm at 100 uR/hr The NukAlert is notorious for false alarms etc..
Also there are no false alerts. The unit will never alarm unless a true event occurs and it reads 100 uR/hr (when set to that threshold)
The NukeAlert is much smaller obviously and fits on a keychain, but I would feel more confident carrying this since it is significantly more sensitive. And remember 5000 uR/hr is considered a radiological risk for non radiation workers.
I want to add, the unit has an energy compensated detector. Which provides an accurate flatter response. A source that detectors over-respond to in terms of readings (non compensated GM tubes, NaI detectors I tested both with UDR-13 as reference) (due to lower 200kev field) this provides the correct reading. Remember you dont want chicken little false alarms, only a true alarm for a real event.
Spec sheet.
http://www.tradewaysusa.com/Catalog...cation/Nuclear/ANUDR-13 Pocket Radiac Set.pdf
They used to cost over 700 dollars new but now they can be had for 180-220 dollars new. The DoD decided to buy a slightly upgraded model that would work more reliably if you are within 2KM from a nuclear blast.
:DoD notification.
http://jacks.jpeocbd.army.mil/Public/FactSheetProvider.ashx?productId=389
Their loss is my gain
:Okay The Unit arrived in its box, manuals etc.. a nice pouch that is MOLLE compatible and you can hang it on your belt.
The unit comes from factory set to some insane radiation levels (nuclear war levels) I reconfigured it down a notch to civilian risk levels.
I set the rate alarm to .001 centigrey/hr (which is 100 uR/hr)
On power on the unit goes through an internal self test to confirm operation, then it shows you either dose or rate.
I check with my Cs-137 1 curie check source and confirm it reads .002 centigrey/hr which means its good. (200uR/hr)
The units were built in 2006, calibrated in 2009 and cal expiration at 2012. But I checked with my source and it looks good.
These unit also have a neutron detector, Typically Neutron radiation will only occur during a fission/fusion event or if your near a particle accelerator. ie: Nuclear power plant explodes etc..
The unit has heft and looks solidly built. They come with a nice case, a laminated quick reference card in the unit a battery installation sheet and a nice manual.
Bettery life is minimum 150hours (continual measurement mode) of continual operation. That is 6.25 days of 24/7 use.
Sleep mode, unit battery will last 2000 hours (83 days) sleep mode means every 5 minutes it wakes up and displays reading and would alert if thresholds are met, It will automatically wake up at any moment if a neutron event is detected (ie nuke plant explodes etc..)
Sleep mode would be the normal civilian non-event mode for every day monitoring, think of it like a smoke alarm at this point.
I will be testing with rechargeable batteries.
Now unlike the NukAlert keychain which only clicks if radiation reaches 100,000 uR/hr this AN/UDR-13 can be set to alarm at 100 uR/hr The NukAlert is notorious for false alarms etc..
Also there are no false alerts. The unit will never alarm unless a true event occurs and it reads 100 uR/hr (when set to that threshold)
The NukeAlert is much smaller obviously and fits on a keychain, but I would feel more confident carrying this since it is significantly more sensitive. And remember 5000 uR/hr is considered a radiological risk for non radiation workers.
I want to add, the unit has an energy compensated detector. Which provides an accurate flatter response. A source that detectors over-respond to in terms of readings (non compensated GM tubes, NaI detectors I tested both with UDR-13 as reference) (due to lower 200kev field) this provides the correct reading. Remember you dont want chicken little false alarms, only a true alarm for a real event.
Spec sheet.
http://www.tradewaysusa.com/Catalog...cation/Nuclear/ANUDR-13 Pocket Radiac Set.pdf
Last edited:
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