Measuring Radiation: A How-To

If you're looking to get into collecting and hunting for radioactive things, you'll need to get yourself a geiger counter. There's loads of different types available, but you're probably looking for a geiger counter that can detect alpha particles (since all natural isotopes emit this type of radiation as a primary source!). Alpha-capable GMCs are quite expensive, so if you're not willing to spend upwards of £250 on one of these models, you could always stick with one of the entry-tier counters such as the GQ GMC 500 plus, which runs about £120. 

My two counters are both the GQ GMC machines; a GMC 500+ and a 600+. The 600+ cost me £250 not including shipping from where they are made in Washington, USA.

Free Mobile Apps? Those are fake!

Not everyone is going to be wise to the fact that every single app for detecting ionizing radiation is completely fake and is randomly pulling data from nowhere. Apps that appear to be counting something genuine are likely to be falsely advertised or misinterpreted; those are Electrical Magnetic detectors and cannot collect any kind of radioactive data whatsoever. It's also debateable if those even work, but I'm not concerned with those apps anyway.

It is possible to record data using a specific instrument designed to attach to a phone, but these devices are extremely overpriced for their much worse reliability and inaccuracy in data reading. You're paying substantially more for the convenience of plugging a usb-fitted tube into your phone so you don't have to carry around a larger unit, but an actual geiger counter will have been calibrated and tested specifically for its purpose. I would argue that a lot of these tube-to-phone devices are also fitted with vastly inferior geiger muller tubes, perhaps even something else entirely. There's a chance for a huge margin of error in your readings- a geiger counter is NOT something you want a huge margin of error on!