Building a DIY spectrometer

[@meowchin]

LOL'd at Diode venting off his frustrations about modern software distribution practices. I feel you, man.

[@vaclavtrpisovsky]

Thankfully, it is not difficult to find software that does not annoy the user. Keyword: _open source_ (and yes, the spectrometer program is open source)

[@meowchin]

@@vaclavtrpisovsky Yeah, for sure, there's ton of cool open source software nowadays. But the amount of subscriptions is also unfortunately growing.

[@gfr2023]

this is because sometimes I made everithing electronic and less software

[@BRUXXUS]

I've been trying all sorts of stuff for diffusing light lately, but not a plastic bag! That's so smart I'm embarrassed not to think of it.😅 Even though I use my 3D printer nearly daily for various projects, and also well versed in screen recording and all that, I love your very unique style and glad you stick to it. Using scrapped or recycled stuff, the massive soldering iron, the hand-drawn schematics and diagrams... that's what makes this channel special. Thanks for the awesome videos!

[@edgeeffect]

If you can find an old plasma(??) or maybe LCD TV laying around in the rubbish, the screen has a few layers of very nice diffuser in it.

[@tsraikage]

lol, pva glue is my best go-to diffuser, which i never thought about😂 you can watch Technology Connextras video about it

[@BRUXXUS]

@@tsraikage OH YEAH! I completely forgot about that video! Thanks for the reminder.

[@BusyElectrons]

What a fascinating project. I'm looking forward to what you learn in part two, and building one of my own.

[@WagTsX]

I was waiting for this video so much, and got even more excited to know that it'll be a series of videos on this topic. I didn't know that IRcut filters also cut UV. Super interesting, now I think I can make a camera also to see skin aging under UV light.

[@thehobbyist2431]

Normally the the IR-Cut Filter is only a low pass filter. What blocks the UV light below 400 nm is often just the absorption from the lens and filter material. The Bayer pattern filter on the camera pixels also block in the UV range below 400 nm (blue pixels might not), but often extend into the near IR range. Therefore the low pass IR filter. But you can try a monochromatic sensor without Bayer filter. Maybe the UV absorption by the lens is not to strong.

[@L1mJahey]

love the sarcasm in this episode, also I was hoping you would upload a video about this, now I can see how crappy/good my home made LED grow light is!

[@jamescollier3]

haha. yeah I like the sarcasm too

[@piconano]

I didn't bother with the CD/DVD. bought the 1000mm refraction grating slide for a couple of $ from fleaBay. I also removed the IR filter from an old 640x460 usb camera. The slit can be 2 cutting blades arranged to be adjustable. I played for days with mine. If it emitted light, I was on it.

[@BRUXXUS]

I have a REAL old, low res USB webcam that's too slow and low res for any modern use. I wonder if it would be good enough or this project. 🤔

[@piconano]

@@BRUXXUS If it's USB, it's work fine. The old ones are better imo. easier to take out the IR filter.

[@BRUXXUS]

@@piconano Guess it's easy to jut try it and find out! I'm just worries because the image is so grainy normally. I'll give it a try!

[@eDoc2020]

@@BRUXXUS The most likely problem with using a real old webcam is that they don't use the same drivers and you might have difficulty finding drivers for a modern OS. If it's compatible it will probably work fine.

[@CuriousScientist]

Nice! I also built my own DIY spectrometer a while ago, but from scratch. I used a linear CCD to capture the spectrum and an old optical system with grating, slit and all other stuff. If you want to make a small slit, I recommend using shaving razor blades. They are straight, thin and cheap. Since they are made of martensitic steel, they are attracted by magnets, so you can easily adjust their position by using magnets. For even better calibration, you can use laser diodes, mercury vapour or sodium vapour lamps. They are fun! PS: I watch all the long videos.

[@wrrr10g53]

Love your unique quick 'n dirty no holds barred approach, still with ample depth and background knowledge. Hat's off to you, sir.

[@LaserPictures]

Always appreciate these longer vids. Neat project! Amazed just how well that software can work.

[@filipeoliveira4767]

I don't think anyone will complain again about screen recording 🤣

[@hhawawq1065]

Complaining about the screen recording has the purpose of getting entertaining complaints about complaints about screen recording which also makes for longer videos, which is also preferable!

[@vaclavtrpisovsky]

@@hhawawq1065 Also, complaints and meta-comlaints are engagement, boosting the video.

[@C40V15]

@@vaclavtrpisovsky I'm here to complain too. That's it. Not here to waste anyone time. Now move along!

[@andymouse]

Awesome, I hope they are doing stuff like this in the schools nowadays as its so accessible, great work as always....cheers.

[@scellyyt]

I made a spectrometer just like this one, using almost the exact same camera. It also had an identical lens assembly with the IR filter under the lens at the back. Unfortunately my attempt wasn't very successful, but now I feel like making a new better one.

[@xDR1TeK]

I didn't think it could've been that easy. Part of genius is figuring out how to simplify things. I'm in my late forties and I can't think that straight. I did something wrong in my life to be this stupid. Brilliant work Dany.

[@Broken_Yugo]

If it makes you feel better this is far from the first spectrometer built around a webcam.

[@xDR1TeK]

@@Broken_Yugo well no actually, it only means I haven't been paying attention to earlier works built around capturing spectrographs. Seems very analog. Something that resonates with my understanding of analog signals, but I'm still hanging around the low microwave band. I can't seem to feel my way through rudimentary mechanical means to manipulate light.

[@telwood15]

I'm in my late 70's so I know the feeling.

[@telwood15]

You could use razor blades to form the slit .

[@xDR1TeK]

@@telwood15 I wish I would remain curious such as yourself when I hit 70. Though my generation had the best of both worlds, we burn up faster. I fear for what the future would hold for my generation.

[@MrTurboturbine]

That software really is a true gem.

[@antibrevity]

Thanks for this very cool project. I really like your sense of humor, but I hope that you'll ignore people that complain when you record a screen with a camera. I really enjoy your videos and don't want you to get discouraged about making them. I want you to enjoy creating this content, but if you stop enjoying it then it will be time to quit. I love your drawings and screen recordings; your production style is one of the things that makes your channel great, though it is unfortunate that more people don't watch. I don't understand why, as this is one of the best electrical/diy channels on youtube, but it seems to me that all learning/maker channels have suffered in recent years as people are more interested in dumb entertainment than in learning things.

[@endleontiozae7061]

I love how you can build something like this for really cheap (probably around USD $30~40) and yet companies think they somehow can charge us 100’s of 1000’s of USD.

[@ForgottenLore]

I did this last year and the software kept crashing, but I was amazed to see the apparent accuracy when testing certain LEDs

[@buidelrat132]

It asks you the name of your snake. You never had a snake. 🐍

[@SilvaD702]

Very interesting! Time to find that prism I've had for 20 years and dig up that old webcam. Thanks for the weekend project

[@hugoegon8148]

This software for free is awesome. Your jokes made my day. Keep as you are, a niiiiccccceeee guy. 👍🏻😁

[@RicoElectrico]

0:26 dispersion in a prism is nonlinear. Better to use a diffraction grating of which CDs are a good substitute.

[@Langendimi555]

I watch long videos! Nice project 👍🏻

[@k4be.]

Diffraction gratings can be removed from almost any colour LCD display. Sometimes even 2 or 3 of them inside a single screen.

[@plainedgedsaw1694]

Those posh kinda translucent foils?

[@DrHouse-zs9eb]

1:30 maybe you should open up a comedy account. The snake killed me 😅

[@thombaz]

Its is a really good joke because the registering part is so true.

[@DiaconescuAlexandru2024]

04:10 I do watch long videos, I'd watch your videos even if they were 2 hours long. 20 minute videos seem like 5 minutes when they're very interesting and include the angle grinder :)

[@Gengh13]

You've convinced me to make one, I will wait for the results of the prism before I choose my approach.

[@twocvbloke]

Laptop webcams are USB connected, just internally, so you can have a much smaller camera in the box compared to that giant one, it's just working out which of the connections are which... :)

[@vaclavtrpisovsky]

The cables are frequently color-coded in a standard way. If the laptop still works, you can use a voltmeter to identify the power pins, and D+/D- polarity is frequently not critical, or at least it won't destroy anything if you get it wrong.

[@eDoc2020]

Even without any sort of labeling you can likely guess correctly. You can usually find a ground plane and then you can determine the ground pin. Then largish caps with one end grounded can be used to find power. D+ and D- will be remaining and hopefully you don't have more connections than that. Just remember they normally use 3.3v instead of 5v.

[@vaclavtrpisovsky]

@@eDoc2020 It is not destructive if you flip D+ and D-, so you can attempt both.

[@peerappel2012]

This is absolutely amazing.

[@ingloriousbuddah]

The longer the video the better

[@johnfrank6302]

Another great project, thank you. Looking forward to more on this project. I will also watch the long video.

[@beatrute2677]

ive delaminated cd's pretty well by putting semi strong tape and quickly ripping it off.

[@MrOpenGL]

I can confirm that. Soaking in water also helps a lot

[@vaclavtrpisovsky]

With older CD-Rs, it takes no special effort!

[@Debraj1978]

The CCD sensor may not have same sensitivity for all wavelength. But the idea is amazing.

[@na5y]

Love the video and the rant about modern software offerings ;) I used to use Eagle for PCB design but they changed the model from download only to one that required internet connectivity back to homebase. Very annoying!

[@KeritechElectronics]

Damn cool! A nice science project.

[@MyProjectBoxChannel]

Passwords and software registration. Two-factor authentication. I feel you man! I don't even feel like installing software these days.

[@the8bitpc_805]

Krásná výslovnost angličtiny 🙂

[@data007cz]

Nebude on z Prahe?

[@panosalex6242]

Wow.... you did your magic again. Very well done my friend .

[@JohnDuthie]

That's the Five and Beyond Camera! I recognize it because I bought one for the hell of it a while ago. Never found a proper use for it and ended up chucking it in the closet.

[@joejane9977]

thanks for the long version first

[@johnwelbourn3811]

Who needs a 3D printer when you've got an angle grinder. Your videos are never too long BTW

[@AlexanderBukh]

Thank you for another great make-show-and-tell !

[@JanKowalski-fp8pk]

You could use an old smartphone with an application in a box instead of a camera and a computer :)

[@mylittleparody2277]

Thank you for this video. It's very DIY, but you explain enough to understand how things work, that's really nice. As for the entry slit, the easiest way is to use two razor blades taped to your box. That way you can ajust your slit size. I will have a look at your second video on the subject, maybe you did just that = )

[@rene0]

'If the only tool you have is an angle grinder, any problem looks like an..'. I was waiting for your cat, honestly.

[@sklepa]

And those Polish KradeX plastic cases reminds me golden 90's xD

[@Agni_Puthra]

Wow! You are awesome.

[@greendragonmakerspace]

I love you dude. I hope you find many new things to make you happy. Best video in ages

[@boianpeev1820]

Great video again. we like the wild diode that makes stuff

[@UltraUltaderdritte]

Very interesting. Is it possible to calculate CRI and color temperature from the data?

[@Broken_Yugo]

AFAIK this is the tool for that job.

[@BRUXXUS]

This is what I'd be most interested in using this for. I want to make one!

[@alphadog6970]

7:04 Maybe the leds can be usefull if you trying to mesure something that doesnt emit light? Like a painted surfaces? You can use it as a comparator to check if the colors match.. Just a thought i may be wrong 👌

[@BRUXXUS]

I think this could work, but the light source needs to be perfectly white. Those crappy white LEDs probably aren't very good for that. 🤔 I wonder if you could calibrate it using a reference test color. Hmm.

[@404Anymouse]

@@BRUXXUS You don't need perfect white in the sense that it needs to put out constant intensity at all wavelength, but you do need perfect white in the sense that it needs to be putting out *some* intensity from all wavelength without gaps. Then you can take reference measurement of the light source, against which you later compare the test measurement to see how much each wavelength is attenuated.

[@BRUXXUS]

@@404Anymouse Oh, that makes sense! So, similar to trying to flatten out the EQ for an audio wave form, as long as all frequencies are represented, you can always balance it out to create a flat response...🤔

[@pauljs75]

Need this to come up with the correct answer to the recent Adobe vs. Pantone situation as well as create an open source color-match system available for ALL software. Just need to agree upon a standardized blackbody light source too for good CRI. (I don't see LEDs being that complete or even on the emitted spectrum. So it's old-tech incandescent for this application.) Maybe a small automotive halogen lamp could do the job (non-tinted like dome or side marker bulb, tube or "peanut"), as they're common and cheap? An alternate might be one of those PAR projector lamps like that used with transparency projectors. I'm guessing a device could consist of a camera at one end of light box with space to the side for an angled mirror. Another chamber or light tunnel for some halogen bulb that shines light onto the angled mirror. The mirror and side chamber for the bulb to keep the hot bulb away from other electronics and perhaps away from where you grab the apparatus. Then the camera looks down a light box onto the surface to be color matched, with the mirror reflecting down to the opening the camera is looking at. It might need some other details worked out - again you want it to be somewhat standardized so anyone can fabricate it and get consistent readings with anyone else following the general instructions, but I think it's a start.

[@jsonslim]

Man, your intonation is priceless :D

[@miszcz310]

It may look better from reflected CD because when you delaminate CD you can get a lot of 'stray light' so a lot of weird reflections. To make slit people use stacked razor blades. This could be also adjustable. On Ali or Amazon you can buy very simple visible spectrometers. They have slit, prism and screen i just put camera behind this whole thing and it works pretty good. They cost like 8$

[@johncoops6897]

What is the search term for Ali ?? Certainly nothing cheap is found when searching the word "spectrometer"

[@philfrydman2576]

Very interesting project and strait to the point as well. Very much waiting for the following episodes especially: remove the IR filter, and what about putting a cheap IR camera next to the visible light camera to extend better in the IR spectrum ?

[@kdoc00]

Eres increíble! menuda imaginación. de lo mejor de KZbin

[@adam_benda]

I would recommend you using OBS studio to capture the screen, it is free and it will definitly run nicely on your computer.

[@Tag-Traeumer]

Excellent!

[@cmuller1441]

Use 2 shaving blades facing each other to make the slit.

[@xfaster5814]

Hi, Actually there is another software that you can use for capturing and analyzing a spectrum, it's called SpectraGryph, it is free in it's basic license, and it's very professional and complete... i use that with my diy spectrometer and it's wayy better than theremino

[@CeZero4]

I am watching long if interresting videos!

[@medienmond]

Nice... I Like Long Videos!

[@jamesmauer7398]

Nice video. It might be interesting to try a black and white camera that lacks the bayer RGB filter. The software looks super useful, thanks for sharing the project!

[@BRUXXUS]

What sort of stuff could be measured with black and white camera? I'd expect only brightness? hmm 🤔

[@jamesmauer7398]

@BRUXXUS Yeah that's right in this case you would know the wavelength by it's position after the diffraction grating rather than the color the camera actually "sees".

[@BRUXXUS]

@@jamesmauer7398 OHHH! I didn't even think of that. Calibrate to known peaks from a source, same as he did in the video. Is there a benefit to using black and white sensor vs. a color one? I suppose it can take out some variables in bayer filter?

[@jamesmauer7398]

@BRUXXUS Exactly! I think that would be true about the filter and I guess there would be improved sensitively since all the light could reach the sensor instead of some being blocked by the filter.

[@jkvdv4447]

I get the feeling DGW has a fair bit of pent up frustration.

[@DiodeGoneWild]

It's just for entertainment ;). And maybe to give the programmers some feedback.

[@vaclavtrpisovsky]

@@DiodeGoneWild Just include _open source_ when searching for programs to fit your needs. You might need to read some documentation written by programmers for programmers, but the frustration with bad practices would be way worse. Theremino Spectrometer is open source as well.

[@Basement-Science]

Now THAT is a low cost spectrometer! Does removing the IR/UV filter actually give useful readings? Since the camera outputs only RGB data, and maps the IR/UV to some random RGB values, the program could at best determine the wavelength based on the distance from known color positions in the spectrum. No idea how well that would work or if the program actually supports that.

[@snik2pl]

Software dont look at color value but intesity at specyfic xy pixel position

[@klaus-udokloppstedt6257]

in fact, this would work better with a monochrome camera.

[@HugforYou]

And 17:31 very interesting! Another great project DGW!! Thank you!

[@guestwho552]

xD I thoroughly enjoyed the ranting in the beginning of the video.

[@michaelfisher9671]

Whaddaya mean no one watches long videos? You are insulting your Patreons!😂 Love your login rant. My wife wanted to know what I was laughing about so hard

[@Norzel7]

Would it make sense to add an optical fiber probe instead making a slit? Could also include a few wires leading to a bunch of LEDs that'd add up to a source of even, white light, to measure reflected spectrum and find out just how much TiO2 is in everything we look at.

[@BRUXXUS]

Oooh, yeah? I've got a bunch of old SPDIF cables lying around. I wonder if I could use one for this?

[@g0hjq]

Really interesting video. I can't wait to see part two. Something to build over Christmas.

[@TheSpinninHead]

Thanks for this wonderful video. I am NOT getting the vertical line spectrum like on top window. But the below spectrum comes well. I have used CD as transmission grating, and tried changing the angles too. What am I missing here? Also I could not remove the IR filter at all. However I did see IR region peaks. Is that normal? I do have a glass prism which I will be trying, along with a reflection mode CD disk.

[@chriskaye1997]

What a great rant, love it! ❤

[@CXensation]

Very interesting and ingenious DIY project. Thanks for your time making up this video.

[@alexna6129]

Реву та стогну вголосину :D Шикарне відео.

[@cocusar]

pretty cool, would like to see how this works with a prism

[@p_mouse8676]

For the slit. You could basically use and order a piece of PCB. 0.8mm is still very affordable.

[@masterfail8450]

Set the falling speed to 0, use a thin slit and tweak the camera settings. It would allow you to do some crazy spectrum 😜

[@Cassandra_Johnson]

You could get a better slit if you cut a larger hole and using shutters made of 2 pieces of black construction paper (or even thin metal) that you can use to overlap the larger hole and just move the shutter sides together until you have the very smallest possible functional slit.

[@artursmihelsons415]

Excellent video as always! 👍😂 Thanks for sharing info about software.. Never heard of it before..

[@squelchstuff]

Excellent! Thanks for this, and for saving me from the very sad memory of my pet snake (that I never had)

[@LawpickingLocksmith]

Wow! Your most useful video yet!

[@anonymoususer6448]

Amazing engineering work by a true engineer ! This is awesome work ! Who needs all of those expensive tools (like a 3D printer) when you have a brain and an engineer mindset. I was wondering how to ensure that the measurements were accurate, but then the calibration part came up. Niiiice ;-) I'm just wondering: this calibrated the wavelengths, but is there no need to also calibrate the relative intensity (per frequency-band)? Maybe there isn't... I don't know.. just asking. Does a CD/DVD reflect all frequencies with the same intensity? I have a prism here from an old Laserprinter, and I have an old webcam...I'm just missing a small bag of "courage" to get started with this /chrisV

[@MrAbrandao]

glue two razor blades in the inner side to make the slid. use a plastic film between them to grant uniform and small slid before gluing.

[@Roonasaur]

My guy here learned English from sitting next to Milton at the office, lol

[@davey2k12]

The angle grinder 😂😂😂😂

[@rkan2]

The fingers 😬

[@irfanyxp3489]

Diode: Should I resolder it pull it through and desolder it or... Me: Or cut using pliers or scissors Diode: USING ANGLE GRINDER! *VREENGG*.

[@davey2k12]

@@irfanyxp3489 next use a chainsaw 🤣🤣🤣

[@jasonvoorhees3282]

1:30 you also forgot to mention you would have to agree to their terms and conditions which will give out your private information (I am talking about other programs, not this one). It’s driving me crazy how most programs and applications nowadays require you to enter such information just so you can link the printer with your computer for example.

[@antibrevity]

Yes, but I just want to make sure readers understand that this is *not* true for Theremino Spectrometer. The software does not ask for personal information and thus cannot use or sell information it does not have. The website even states that it collects no user information and the applications are copyright-free, open source, and released under Creative Commons licensing. There is a Copyrights page that describes all of this, but thanks to worthless spammers we can no longer share links in these comments :(.

[@jasonvoorhees3282]

Thank you. I should have made it more clear. English is not my main language.

[@vaclavtrpisovsky]

Thankfully, open source alternatives are available for most use cases, and they very rarely use telemetry at all.

[@labiadh_chokri]

Thanks a lot for this project, why you didn't test it with infrared led and different laser pointer.

[@GbpsGbps-vn3jy]

As the books say - I put an used black winter sock in the box to block the reflections ... So ghetto, so diodegonewild-ish :D

[@raffyturc]

most informative diy spectro. 👌

[@ytrew9717]

Theremino is awesome!

[@iamdarkyoshi]

Very cool, I want to build of these out of junk now. Also, I'm one of the weirdos that prefers longer videos.

[@pikubose7706]

Near Slit , What is there ??? Diffraction grating or Mirror ?How to select wavelength for this caase? for example 400-700nm for analytical analysis of chemical solution or dye /Where you had connected DVD Diffraction grading? Have you connected the mirror? At the edge of the slit? Or you have connected in front of the camera-Lens?How to get absorbance -wavelength curve for a cuvette

[@jamescollier3]

The sarcasm was high today. I like the extra spice. Girl problems? lol

[@pauljs75]

This works with reflected light too, no? If so, combine this with a somewhat standardized light source in a box open at one end that can go against a surface, and this could be a step towards having an open-source color matching system. (Just need a way to come up with software for gamut color matching to get things close on-screen, that might be a neat project.) That would be part of the response with the recent Pantone and Adobe issues, but should also be extended to provide this color-match function to all open source software as well.

[@Z-Ack]

Try using the defraction filter section from an lcd screen.. like from an old smart phone..

[@markp7129]

Quick (maybe) question, is it possible that due to the quality of a CD/DVD that there could be potential contamination of the light compared to a prism that is designed for the purpose of clarity or doesn’t it matter? Either way, awesome video, thank you 😃😃😃

[@robertjung8929]

your detector is a $15 webcam... makes absolutely no sense to be worried about the distortion caused by the CD 😉 and also why to pay $10 for a prism when you can have an old CD for free ?

[@markp7129]

Agreed, it was just a general question as I was interested in the science of it? I will be interested to see the results of the next video with the prism.

[@BRUXXUS]

I think by calibrating the software using a florescent light, you can mostly get the measurements spot on. Since florescent lights have known peaks, even if the incoming light is sorta distorted, the software can compensate. That's what the little calibration step he shows is for. Pretty clever, I think! I do wonder how accurate this can be after calibration. 🤔 I'd guess pretty darn good!

[@Antek1234l]

This is awesome! Well done

[@rilosvideos877]

Thanks for this video - again a great idea and that easy! Have to do it myself. Would like to see the difference if using a good prisma instead of the CD 🙂

[@Evgen-Evgen-Evgen]

Very cool project!

[@versedbridge4007]

Lots of comedy with this one, that’s niceee.

[@andreidaniacovache]

I think I might have understood you wrong but: you said the DVD which spreads the spectrum more than the CD would be easier to overlap two spectrums but I think that doesnt really matter. For example say the CD takes light 500nm to 1000nm and spreads it first 5 to 10 degrees and the next spectrum maybe 20 to 40, then the DVD would maybe spread the first spectrum 10 to 20 degrees and the next one 40 to 80, but the risk of overlapping the first to second spectrum is the same. I probably explained this poorly, but can you clarify? Basically I think both CD and DVD will overlap if you remove the IR/UV filters or neither CD and DVD will overlap if you remove IR/UV filter. No?

[@johncoops6897]

The DVD has a MUCH finer grid. Hence the resolution is significantly better.