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What’s the cheapest scientific instrument that can get an average amateur to the bleeding edge of discovery work? So not just scutwork that the pros with billion dollars instruments like CERN or Hubble indulgently farm out.
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RF bias here but an inexpensive software defined radio + home made antennas + GNU Radio/derivatives. For real fun: a microwave oven + wooden partitions covered w aluminium foil + anything you dare put in there. No sharp metallic objects! Outdoors/fume hoods if plastics.
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As far as antennas go, the following are very easy to prototype at home. Easier if you have a copy of Balanis' Antenna Theory/some calculators. Use SMA connectors as std. - Patch antennas: styrofoam + aluminium/copper tape. - Horn antennas: metal tins/plastic jars with foil.
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