How Do Survey Meters Differentiate Between Types of Radiation?

[shakystew]

I am familiar with detectors and some lab equipment (Scintillation, geiger counters, ion chambers) I used during my undergrad labs, but how exactly do survey meters work?

I have asked some rad workers and they just tell me "it's like a geiger counter, but more". So, how do they work / differentiate between incident radiation?

 

[Simon Bridge]

Depends on which survey meter it is.
You realize that the box containing the meter can have anything inside it the manufacturer wants, including but not restricted to, more than one kind of detector. These days a smart meter would include a computer.

Considering your familiarity with lab detectors - just think how you'd build a field detector to give a similar output.