[dba-Tech] spectroscopy continued - was Has anyone kickstarted

[John W. Colby]

Just a followup, I received my Public Lab Spectrometer yesterday and got 
it built today.  Got it connected to Windows 7 and displaying a spectrum 
on their web page

http://spectralworkbench.org/capture

Using a way too powerful LED flashlight to shine through a titrated 
sample measuring ammonia level in water, I got a spectrum, different 
from no sample.  Basically the blue end was completely attenuated 
through a yellow liquid sample.

Next step is to build a contraption to hold a white LED light source 
inside a dark chamber.  The widget will allow inserting a test tube 
sample into a hole, which inserts the test tube into the light path.  
The widget will then prevent light from getting around the sample, but 
light going through the sample will continue on to strike the 
collimation slit, and thus into the spectrometer.

With that done, I can get repeatable light samples whose spectrograph is 
representative of the color and density of the sample.

I am not yet sure of how to proceed from that point.  Obviously I need 
to measure the intensity along the spectrum, every X tics along the 
axis.  Something like that

-- 
John W. Colby