From: crunch@netcom.com (John Draper)
Although, it IS possible to use a cesium noise source (Don't know the cost of that) and perhaps I can cut that price down by about a half or a third, but the design time would be much increased, and perhaps there would be twice as much electronics, and perhaps the posibility that the randomness won't be as good.
Remember also that a radioactive source thats decaying fast enough to put out 20,000 bits a second the way the RBG1210 can isn't something you want to stand near.
Total parts $63.50 (100 quantity)
Cost (4 X parts) $254.00
I don't get this -- why is cost four times parts? Is that including profit? Also, shouldn't it just be possible to buy a couple of components and do as well as the Newbridge Micro unit? It would seem that we should be able to build something a lot cheaper than $52 if all we need is a noise source that will make a line go high or low on a clock input... Perry