Comments on: Cash awards for amateur scientific apparatus designs

By: Ken

Ken — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

That oscilloscope spec makes no sense. Accurate within 1% of what? And what are the bandwidth requirements?

With no other information, a freeware sound-card-based oscilloscope program would probably suffice.

By: schumach

schumach — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

This is a great idea. I’d probably be willing to put up a matching $100 for each of items 1,2,and 4. Maybe other people would as well.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

While the general idea would be interesting, the details are nuts. All 4 devices for 100 bucks? Might all be possible, but then the quality of the instruments will be horrible. vacuum pump with end pressure of 0.00whatever atm: and how much volume can this pump? What is the use if it can suck away just a liter an hour? 1% accurate scope? Accurate to what? Time? No problem, even the cheapest device will suffice. But is it useful? 1000x Microscope? Well, no problem already, glue together 30 $ 100x lens and 15 $ 10x eyepiece, there u go. But so what? What in the world should such an instrument be useful for? U need lighting, a condensor etc. Science can not be done on the cheap, not anymore. And 400 $, lol, that is silly. If I could make all these instruments for that price, I would not need 400 $ from an attention hungry blogger with half baked ideas.

By: St.Eligius

St.Eligius — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Dual trace O’scope with multimeter for $100? You probably can go get an old Tektronix from a old Ham’s estate sale cheap, probably wont have DMM. I got mine free.

By: Zee

Zee — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

It’s about each device for 100$.

The vacuum pump and the osciloscope have already been solved in the comments at the article!

By: Craig Montuori

Craig Montuori — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Just a quick correction; his name is Michael Woods, not Wood.

If anyone has any suggestions about how to set up a proper tax structure to let interested individuals send donations to this cash prize, I’d appreciate it. We didn’t expect the level of interest, and we’re trying to respond to it quickly. Mike’s traveling cross country right now and is a little hard to reach. He’ll be active on the site again on 10/19.

Also, people have brought up patents; we’re not looking to steal anyone’s work, just to encourage. Any suggestions for how to deal with these concerns?

The whole point is not to pick up a single something cheap and surplus on eBay or at a garage sale; it’s to design something that could be scaled up such that every household or every schoolchild could have these items. Remember ‘chemistry sets’ as a kid? Mike’s looking for something like this for the modern era.

I can be reached at montuori (at.) caltech (dot@) edu