Every company has its own unique history. Ours began 28 years ago. Since 1995, Gamma-Scout GmbH & Co. KG, headquartered in Cologne, has been working with experts and specialists in the fields of technology and research to develop and produce Geiger-Müller counters for measuring ionizing radiation – in short, radiation gauges. Our products are engineered and produced 100-percent in Germany – from idea to finished product.
The aim is to offer a reliable, easy-to-use, affordable measurement device that anybody can use, privately or commercially, alongside officially selected publications, to check radiation in the environment, in the workplace or on-the-go.
The plans for this go back considerably further – another 9 years to be precise, when founder Dr. Georg Dieter Mirow discovered during the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 that there were no affordable, easy-to-use Geiger counters available on the market that would have allowed regular consumers to assess the situation for themselves and react accordingly.
With this in mind, he conceived the Gamma-Scout as a continuous monitor that could not be switched off, powered by a sophisticated energy-saving concept. The thinking was that the device should and must not be switched off or out of charge at exactly the wrong moment, i.e. when things get interesting. And indeed, many years of experience show that, depending on the usage profile, the battery lasts for up to ten years. After that, simply replacing the battery is all it takes to ensure the Gamma-Scout keeps running and measuring just as well and reliably as it did before.
And there’s more: The Gamma-Scout not only shows the readings as they are measured but also stores its data day and night (depending on frequency settings), enabling users to document beyond individual moments in time. Our read-out software (Gamma-Scout Toolbox and Gamma-Scout Reader for Microsoft and MAC OSX users) allows users to manage their data, process it or delete it from the device.
These characteristics and many more are what differentiate the Gamma-Scout from its competitors. Today, the devices are sold worldwide, used in industry and commerce by government institutions and domestic households alike. The family-run company is now entering its second generation and is managed from Cologne.