Home Radiation Monitor

Rad Lad.

Know what's in the air. Before it matters.

The consumer radiation monitor category is essentially empty below $1,000. No fixed home monitors. No swappable detector systems. No mesh networking. Rad Lad fills the gap — from a $40 alpha detector to a post-event survey instrument that won't saturate when you need it most.

See the Models ↓
GLAD
0.12 µSv/h
Current Level · Background
SET
LOG
MESH
RAD LAD · ANDROTIK
4
Alert Levels
$40
Entry Model (CAD est.)
400V
GM Tube Operating Voltage
0
Internet Required
Alert Scale

Glad. Sad. Bad. Mad.

Four levels, all rhyming with Rad. No need to memorise µSv/h thresholds under stress — the device displays its level by name, and the name tells you what to do. µSv/h is the primary unit. mR/h shown for civil defence and prepper reference compatibility.

GLAD
0 – 0.5 µSv/h · 0 – 0.05 mR/h
Background radiation. All clear. No action required.
SAD
0.5 – 5 µSv/h · 0.05 – 0.5 mR/h
Elevated. Monitor. Limit outdoor time. Investigate source.
BAD
5 – 100 µSv/h · 0.5 – 10 mR/h
Dangerous. Shelter in place. Limit exposure immediately.
MAD
100+ µSv/h · 10+ mR/h
Emergency. Evacuate immediately. Distance is your only protection.
Product Line

Pick your level of ready.

Four tiers, funded in sequence. Contributions at each tier unlock development of that tier. Start simple. Upgrade the detector when you need to.

Tier 1 — RAD-1 Alpha $40–60 CAD

Entry-level always-on alpha particle detector. Plug-in or battery. Catches radon gas and alpha fallout contamination in the home.

  • Alpha particle detection — radon, surface fallout
  • Always-on home monitor
  • Simple display — current level name + reading
  • Audible alarm at configurable threshold
  • Glad / Sad / Bad / Mad scale
  • BOM target: ~$20–30
Tier 2 — RAD-2 Beta & Gamma $80–120 CAD

Fixed wall or desktop mount. GM tube detects penetrating beta and gamma radiation — the threats that pass through walls and accumulate as whole-body dose.

  • Beta and gamma detection (SBM-20 or J305β GM tube)
  • Digital display with trend graph
  • WiFi logging — readings and phone alerts
  • CPM · µSv/h · mR/h display modes
  • BOM target: ~$40–60
Tier 3 — RAD-3 Swappable Detectors $150–250 CAD

Modular base unit with swappable detector heads. Background monitoring on the sensitive scintillator, post-event survey on the high-dose tube — without saturating when dose rates spike.

  • Swappable detector module system
  • Sensitive scintillator — background monitoring
  • High-dose GM tube — won't saturate in emergency
  • Alpha surface barrier + beta/gamma modules
  • CPM · µSv/h · mR/h · dose accumulation
  • Data logging and alert history
Tier 4 — Add-on Meshtastic Mesh +$35–50 CAD

LoRa/Meshtastic module for any tier. No internet. No servers. Radiation readings propagate across a peer-to-peer encrypted mesh. Compatible with any standard Meshtastic device.

  • SX1262 LoRa radio — 915MHz North America
  • Broadcasts readings over encrypted mesh
  • AES-256 — no cleartext over the air
  • Compatible with the Meshtastic app
  • Neighbors see your readings on the map
  • Post-event: community hotspot mapping
Tier 4 — Meshtastic

No internet. No servers. Neighborhood-scale monitoring.

A single Rad Lad with the Meshtastic module broadcasts its reading to every compatible device within range — no router, no account, no cloud. LoRa radio covers city blocks with milliwatt power draw.

Post-event, a handful of Rad Lads scattered across a neighborhood creates a real-time radiation map visible to everyone on the mesh — propagated peer-to-peer, AES-256 encrypted. The Androtik Mesh node is compatible with the standard Meshtastic app, existing Meshtastic networks, and any SX1262/SX1276 device.

YOU
GLAD
GLAD
SAD
GLAD
Reference Label

None. Fun. Run. Shun. Done.

Printed on the back of every Rad Lad device. Five levels — five verbs. No lookup needed when seconds count.

Rad Lad — Back Label Quick Reference
NONE
< 0.5 µSv/h
Background — normal
No action required
FUN
0.5 – 5 µSv/h
Elevated — stay aware
Monitor, note the time
RUN
5 – 100 µSv/h
Dangerous — shelter or leave
Reduce exposure immediately
SHUN
100 – 1,000 µSv/h
Emergency — evacuate
Distance is your only protection
DONE
> 1,000 µSv/h
Lethal dose rate — acute exposure
Evacuate. Seek decontamination.
Community Networks

Your readings don't have to stay local.

Rad Lad is compatible with existing open radiation monitoring networks. Connect and contribute to global datasets — or stay mesh-only with no internet at all.

Safecast

150M+ global radiation readings, open dataset. Rad Lad can submit readings to the Safecast network directly over WiFi.

Androtik Mesh

Proprietary Meshtastic network for Androtik device owners. Radiation readings visible on the mesh map to all Androtik nodes within range — no internet required.

Radiation Network

Real-time crowdsourced radiation monitoring. Rad Lad WiFi tiers can contribute live readings to the Radiation Network public map.

Open Firmware

GPL-licensed firmware on GitHub. Community-contributed integrations, network connectors, and detector profiles are welcome. NIST-traceable factory calibration available as an upgrade.

Back the project.

Rad Lad is funded contribution by contribution. Pledge your support for the tier you want to see built. When the tier funds, development begins. Open firmware. Open hardware. GPL-licensed.