building an homemade spectrometer

[g.bon]

Hi all,

I would like to try to build a spectrometer for analysing light spectrum.
My needs are specialy on UV range very near visible light (380 - 410 nm).

I've found a lot of things about CDRom spectrometer.
Digital camera can also made a kind of spectrometer.

So, is there someting simple to do for making a "computer assisted
spectrometer" ?
Perhaps with some special software and a webcam ?

thanks for any advice,
GB

 

[amdx]

Hi all,

I would like to try to build a spectrometer for analysing light spectrum.
My needs are specialy on UV range very near visible light (380 - 410 nm).

I've found a lot of things about CDRom spectrometer.
Digital camera can also made a kind of spectrometer.

So, is there someting simple to do for making a "computer assisted
spectrometer" ?

Perhaps with some special software and a webcam ?

thanks for any advice,
GB

I'm not sure how you can simply sense the light if your eye can't see it.
I have this spectroscope.
http://www.teachersource.com/LightAndColor/Spectra/HandHeldSpectroscope.aspx

Mike

 

[Jon Kirwan]

I'm not sure how you can simply sense the light if your eye can't see it.
I have this spectroscope.
http://www.teachersource.com/LightAndColor/Spectra/HandHeldSpectroscope.aspx

I suspect that since a 'digital camera' was mentioned by the OP, that
they want sensitivity in the CCD there for that wavelength range, as
well. Probably not using their eyes, directly.

Jon

 

[Polyp]

Hi all,

I would like to try to build a spectrometer for analysing light spectrum.
My needs are specialy on UV range very near visible light (380 - 410 nm).

I've found a lot of things about CDRom spectrometer.
Digital camera can also made a kind of spectrometer.

So, is there someting simple to do for making a "computer assisted
spectrometer" ?
Perhaps with some special software and a webcam ?

thanks for any advice,
GB

Not specific to your question, but ocean optics do some low cost
spectrometers. There are some tech articles on their site.
http://www.oceanoptics.com/

At least one of their products is a low cost PC connected spectrometer along
the lines of what you describe.

 

[Jon Kirwan]

Hi all,

I would like to try to build a spectrometer for analysing light spectrum.
My needs are specialy on UV range very near visible light (380 - 410 nm).

I've found a lot of things about CDRom spectrometer.
Digital camera can also made a kind of spectrometer.

So, is there someting simple to do for making a "computer assisted
spectrometer" ?
Perhaps with some special software and a webcam ?

thanks for any advice,
GB

I have built a few cheap, DVD-based spectrophotometers. You can use
heavy construction paper and elmer's glue for the box and baffles and
a flat razor blade to either cut a slit or else use themselves in
pairs to make precision optical slits to let the light in. Also, a
shoebox can be used. Or build something cheap from materials you are
comfortable with. These work pretty well with digital cameras, too.
I've not been interested in 380-410 and I have a sneaky suspicion that
the plastic used in the DVD will absorb a lot of it. But if your
source is bright enough or your camera sensitive enough, that may not
be such a bad problem. The optical lens of the digital camera may
also be a problem. You'd have to test to see. But you need to do
that, anyway. So if you have a source that you know emits in the
380-410nm band (a 405nm LED?) you could at least try it out and see
how well it measures out against the stated curves for it. You will
definitely see the problem, if there is one.

You can test with DVD-RW, DVD-R or DVD+R. I know for certain that the
DVD-R has a terrible, nasty absorption notch in the red (they include
a dye that absorbs there) and that the DVD-RW seems to not have that
problem. But you are on the weakly visible side of blue, so I suppose
you don't care about that, anyway.

I think Edmund Scientific carries (well, it used to be cheap) some
diffraction gratings, too. You might consider those.

What exactly are you trying to do?

Jon

 

[g.bon]

Not specific to your question, but ocean optics do some low cost

spectrometers. There are some tech articles on their site.
http://www.oceanoptics.com/

At least one of their products is a low cost PC connected spectrometer
along the lines of what you describe.

Thanks a lot,
Do you have an idea about price of the spectrometer you mentioned ?
GB

 

[g.bon]

I'm just trying to build an Uv source lightmeter.
Thanks for yours ideas.
GB

 

[Polyp]

Thanks a lot,
Do you have an idea about price of the spectrometer you mentioned ?
GB

It was 10 yrs ago. The lab I was working in had one. I remember it being <<
$1000 Australian, but I could be way off. I'm not sure what your need is so
that may be above budget.

We opened it up (as we all do). Used a linear array to sense etc. I think it
was serial or parallel port interfaced. Looked quite simple but I'm sure it
would be time consuming to reproduce it yourself.

 

[Martin Brown]

I'm just trying to build an Uv source lightmeter.
Thanks for yours ideas.

Why don't you use a UV filter glass then?

Regards,
Martin Brown

 

[Rich Grise]

I would like to try to build a spectrometer for analysing light spectrum.
My needs are specialy on UV range very near visible light (380 - 410 nm).

I've found a lot of things about CDRom spectrometer. Digital camera can
also made a kind of spectrometer.

So, is there someting simple to do for making a "computer assisted
spectrometer" ?
Perhaps with some special software and a webcam ?

Have you considered using a diffraction grating?
http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp?pn=3052116&bhcd2=1252003844

You'd need some kind of mechanical thing to zero in on the wavelength
of interest, unless you have a mongo light sensor that's sensitive to
UV.

Good Luck!
Rich