I was wondering if the SatNOGs group has considered putting the parts up on an online 3d printer? Such as Shapeways or i.materialise ? I’ve had good experiences with both, but as a test I put in the T connectors from the Helical antenna build.
Shapeways was the most expensive at $104, whilst i.materialise was about $59, not including shipping. With shipping i.materialise was still the cheaper option.
I know that with Shapeways however you can upload items and create a store. Has the SatNogs team thought about this? They could perhaps sell them and make some money to further fund the project?
Thank you for bringing this option to our attention.
We are going to see the feasibility of each one, check materials, printers used, costs, options, maintenance needed and most of all the quality of the delivered parts and make a decision.
If you have experience with both, as you say, we would love to hear your comments on them both!
I should clarify the total cost, is for 9 T connectors.
I.materialise’s polymead is really quite strong. I had this printed from them: http://imgur.com/a/bqhwA#11 and that was rather strong as I’ve dropped it a few times.
The item I got from Shapeways was a sandstone figurine so I’m not sure of their plastics quality.
Looking at I.materialise it looks like that they also have a shop: http://i.materialise.com/shop which you can sell the parts from.
