pygmc 0.14.1

Python package for Geiger–Müller Counter (GMC)

PyGMC

PyGMC is a Python API for Geiger–Müller Counters (GMCs) / Geiger Counters. It has just one dependency (pyserial) and works on multiple operating systems: Windows, OSX, Linux. PyGMC aims to be a minimalistic interface - lowering the installation requirements and allowing the user to build their own tools on top of a stable package.

• PYPI
• Documentation

Installation

pip install pygmc

conda install conda-forge::pygmc

Conda PyGMC version may lag latest PyPI version.

Example Usage

Jupyter Notebook

Auto discover connected GMC, auto identify baudrate, and auto select correct device.

import pygmc

gc = pygmc.connect()

ver = gc.get_version()
print(ver)

cpm = gc.get_cpm()
print(cpm)

Connect to specified GMC device with exact USB port/device/com.

import pygmc

gc = pygmc.GMC320('/dev/ttyUSB0')

cpm = gc.get_cpm()
print(cpm)

Read device history into DataFrame

import pandas as pd
import pygmc

gc = pygmc.GMC320('/dev/ttyUSB0')

history = gc.get_history_data()
df = pd.DataFrame(history[1:], columns=history[0])

datetime	count	unit	mode	reference_datetime	notes
2023-04-19 20:37:18	11	CPM	every minute	2023-04-19 20:36:18
2023-04-19 20:38:18	20	CPM	every minute	2023-04-19 20:36:18
2023-04-19 20:39:18	19	CPM	every minute	2023-04-19 20:36:18
2023-04-19 20:40:18	23	CPM	every minute	2023-04-19 20:36:18
2023-04-19 20:41:18	20	CPM	every minute	2023-04-19 20:36:18

Devices

Device	Brand	Notes
GMC-300S ✔️✔️	GQ Electronics	A little picky
GMC-300E+ / GMC-300E Plus	GQ Electronics
GMC-320+ / GMC-320 Plus ✔️✔️	GQ Electronics	Works smoothly
GMC-320S	GQ Electronics
GMC-500	GQ Electronics
GMC-500+ / GMC-500 Plus ✔️✔️	GQ Electronics	Works smoothly
GMC-600	GQ Electronics
GMC-600+ / GMC-600 Plus ✔️✔️	GQ Electronics
GMC-800 ✔️✔️	GQ Electronics	*Finally Working
GMC-SE ✔️	GQ Electronics	RFC1201

✔️✔️=physically confirmed works
✔️=user confirmed works
*Incorrect documentation caused incorrect implementation with pygmc<=0.10.0

Contributors

• Thomaz
• Huy

Notes

• Alternative Python projects for GQ GMC:
  • GeigerLog
  • gq-gmc-control
  • gmc
• Device website GQ Electronics Seattle, WA
  • Not affiliated in any way.

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Known Issues

• Ubuntu Issue
  • Ubuntu requires fixing a bug to be able to connect to any GQ GMC device.
    USB devices use VID (vendor ID) and PID (Divice ID)... It is common for unrelated devices to use a common manufacture for their USB interface. The issue with Ubuntu is that it assumes 1A86:7523 is a "Braille" device (for the blind) and, ironically, blindly treats it as such.
  • This causes the GQ GMC device to not connect.
• Ubuntu fix
  • The fix is to comment out the udev rule that does this. The text file may be in two places.
    • /usr/lib/udev/85-brltty.rules
    • /usr/lib/udev/rules.d/85-brltty.rules
  • Find the line below and comment it out.
    • ENV{PRODUCT}=="1a86/7523/*", ENV{BRLTTY_BRAILLE_DRIVER}="bm", GOTO="brltty_usb_run"
  • We see Ubuntu assumes 1A86:7523 is a Baum [NLS eReader Zoomax (20 cells)] device.