Features

The Safecast bGeigieZen builds on a decade of worldwide user experience with our award-winning bGeigie Nano, and is similarly compact, portable, and rugged. The design of the Zen is in direct response to requests to have a Safecast bGeigie that is easier to build, and it improves performance and functionality in many ways. The bGeigieZen utilizes a solid-state main PCB board on which most of the electronic components are pre-mounted, reducing the total number of parts to assemble from 60 to 20. The bGeigieZen kit has many fewer connections to solder than the Nano, and consequently the time required to build it is only about one hour, as opposed to four or five typically required for the Nano.

Over the years since the bGeigie Nano was introduced in 2013, a number of its original components, including the GPS unit, the display, and the Arduino FIO processor, were discontinued and became hard to find, so we sought improved replacements. We found the M5Stack to be a good solution for processing, control, and display functions. The M5Stack has a lot more memory than the FIO, which makes it more flexible and more easily customizable. With a much larger and clearer 320 x 240 pixel color display,  the M5Stack gives the bGeigieZen the ability to provide more information to the user, including QR codes for easy linking via smartphone to online data. Programming and firmware updates are simpler than in the Nano, and use a standard USB-C connection. The bGeigieZen also uses a newer GPS module with better performance, and we’ve made the battery easily removable and replaceable by users. With wireless connectivity built-in, the bGeigieZen can be easily switched to realtime mode for use as a fixed monitoring station. All-in-all, the bGeigieZen is the result of helpful feedback from the Safecast community. As always, Safecast will continue to refine and improve it going forward.

bGeigieZen and bGeigie Nano compared: