Hello. A little background on me and what i am doing. I am an art teacher in Nebraska. If I were to describe myself I am a lover of trying new things. I am very much a tinkerer and love making things and trying new things.
As I said I like trying new things and for the last year or so I have been trying to figure out how I can contribute to a greater good of the world. I live in a very rural area so that poses some challenges. My solution was to try to provide as much date about my rural part of Nebraska as I could. The first step was I updated my weather station to one connected to the internet to provide up to date local weather details to people around the world. My next step was to try and find another data point to focus on. I decided that since I was located in my farming community maybe air quality / particulate matter might be a good place to start. I was able to get in contact with a company that provided me with a great air quality monitor. I have since worked at providing some 3D design options for the 3D printed case for that Particulate monitor and wrote a blog post about my experience. I have also been in contact with the owner of the company discussing what my next options should be to provide data for the greater good. The last time I talked with him, He suggested a seismic monitor or a radiation monitor. I have spent the last few days looking at consumer / citizen scientists quality seismic monitors. The most consistent name I have been finding has been Raspberry Shake. So I have been diving down the rabbit hole consisting of the manual and forum. This is where the main part of my question comes in. I do this for the fun of understanding the world around me and providing data for the overall good. I don’t have many funds to divert to this. Would there be any places to look to fund something like this? Or do you have any idea of where to find a used unit. I looked on ebay and facebook marketplace. I also contacted the company without any luck finding
I already have a raspberry pi I can use and I have access to a 3d printer and laser cutter. So that does mean I can pretty easily get by with just the board and sensor but that price would still come up to $200 with shipping.
So just seeing what my options are.
Thank you
Firstly, let me say that your dedication is to be admired! This is what we (also) need to further Citizen Science among the wider public!
I also have a weather station, my Shakes, and more around the house, so I can understand the wish to be able to monitor more and more phenomena.
As you are a teacher (if you haven’t already), you could try asking for funding to your school, maybe involve a student project too, or any community project-dedicated funds that you may have in your town/city. You could also try to set up a “gofundme” or similar crowdsourcing projects by explaining all that you have written to us and showing your dedication to contribute to science.
On a personal note, I have a second-hand full RS1D model that I could sell, but the price would not be too far from the one you’ve already mentioned, so I don’t think that could be an option for you.
I was able to get the funding I needed will be ordering a kit in the morning