Re: [DIYbio] DIY nanodrop alternative?

An OD600 would be great for bacterial concentrations, and doing MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) testing.  A cheap spec that could do that consistently would be fantastic and one I would buy in a heartbeat.  Luckily I'm able to use one at school for the time being but, that won't be forever.

For DNA concentration you'd need UV 260nm, which seems to increase the cost exponentially, as UV LED's or light sources seem to be $200-$300+.  There are other ways to get UV 260 but I still don't know of any extremely cheap way, not that I've done much research in the area.  There have been many long threads on DIYspecs on here so the archives would probably give some more info.

UV260nm gives you DNA quantification and the ratio of that to UV280 gives a basic look at "purity".  280nm is for protein contamination due to tryptophan

We had some old ghetto spec 20's my freshman year,  http://www.ebay.com/bhp/spectronic-20

and "Spec 20's" seem to be a common teaching tool in undergrad/highschool labs.  They cost more than I thought they would on ebay but I bet you could best offer at $50 on them and snag one.  Just make sure to scour the description and make sure it isn't broken and for parts only.  

I feel your pain in the DNA quantification area.  Sometimes someone lets us use the nanodrop to test DNA conc before sequencing, but honestly we've just been estimating by running a gel and comparing intensity to the ladder of known concentration.

Unfortunately if you want a UV/Vis spec it probably won't be cheaper than $1,000 off used lab equipment websites (and that's for the old ones, who knows if they work)  http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=UV%2FVis+spec&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.XUV%2FVis+spectromet.TRS0&_nkw=UV%2FVis+spectrometer&_sacat=0  

not to mention they probably weigh 50-100 lbs.

Reach out to local university professors, even if it's just "hey I have a few samples I was wondering if I could test the concentration of".  If they see you're putting in hard work and not even going to that university (or any university) they might say, "Hey this kid is a hard worker, he should come work for me!"  Or, "here is an old piece of equipment we havn't used in ages, take it".

From what I've observed 99% of people WANT to help other people, it's just a matter of asking for help.  

Personally I love the look of the small, compact Ocean Optic machines that hook up via a USB cable.  They seem really portable and easy to use, but also cost thousands of dollars.

http://www.oceanoptics.com/Products/spectrometers.asp

For any of the engineers out there, how does ocean optics manage to get a UV/Vis inside something the size of a book, while most UV/Vis specs I see are the size of a hood of a car?  Lamps and mirrors vs....whatever is driving the one in the ocean optics?

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