When a Garage Overflows with Science – Vincent Stuchlý (DIY Lab/Workshop)

How do you build a working lab in just a few square metres? Vincent Stuchlý is trying to do just that, with incredible passion and creativity. At Meet the Makers 22 he introduced us to his world of home experiments and instruments he builds himself, from oscilloscopes and antennas to a glass furnace.

Watch the full recording of Vincent Stuchlý’s presentation from Meet the Makers 22:

The video recording is in Czech.

Electronics that won’t fit in a room

Vincent’s obsession with tinkering began in an electronics workshop. That is where his whole journey started. “I started building my own devices, antennas and measuring instruments. Suddenly I had so many oscilloscopes at home that I had to think about where to put them.”

A radio amateur from A to Z

At the heart of his experiments is software-defined radio (SDR), a device available for around CZK 500 that can listen to signals from weather satellites, aviation communications and weather balloons. And the balloons are a source of more useful components – “parts literally fall from the sky”. Radiosondes can be found using an online service and turned into your own weather station.

Rocket science from the garage

Thanks to this technology, Vincent also started working with the Czech Rocket Challenge, for which he designed a launch system. He also obtained an amateur radio licence, which allows him not only to receive but also to transmit. “It opened the door to the world of radio clubs and a community dealing with satellite communication and various technical competitions.”

From radioactivity to melting aluminium

One field is not enough for Vincent: he moved on to measuring ionising radiation and built his own gamma spectrometer. Then he switched to foundry work, making his own furnace and casting equipment from readily available materials: a barrel, an old hair dryer, some sand and a 3D-printed pattern for the mould.

Glass, a vacuum pump and a neon future

Vincent has also started playing with glass, from making simple lab apparatus to experiments with a vacuum pump and evacuated tubes. He is slowly working his way towards making neon discharge lamps and vacuum tube devices.

If you are fascinated by technologies you can build yourself, follow Vincent’s project Laboratoř svépomocí (DIY Lab). Better still – come and meet him at one of the Maker Faire festivals, where he exhibits his instruments and is happy to explain everything.