Spectrometry Kit for Testing Substances

[777xog]

This caught my attention. A low cost spectrometer with open source software.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jywarren/public-lab-diy-spectrometry-kit?ref=home_spotlight
"This DIY kit helps analyze materials and contaminants. We need your help to build a library of open-source spectral data."

Has anyone used something like this before? Would it be a practical way of confirming the identity of research chemicals?
If so, I'd love to see a site like ecstasydata including spectrometry results in their database.

 

[Syanide]

Fantastic idea!

If it works, I mean.

 

[sekio]

As this is a visual only spectrophotometer (400-900 nm) it's not going to be very useful for analysing drugs. More useful would be a FT/IR spectrophotmeter, or a NMR unit.
Do you know what else is a good spectrophotometer? Your eyes.

Even if it would work for id'ing drugs you would need someone with pure frefrence materials to produce spectra for you to compare against

 

[Syanide]

Could this be used to identify contaminants in a water supply?

 

[sekio]

It's possible, sure, but it would be ineffective for chemical ID.