I suppose it depends on what you consider to be costly equipment, the silverpuppy was one of the cheapest constant current cs generators I've seen & its also very user friendly/well built. If you want details it's here: http://www.silverpuppy.com/
I don't know about the bob beck protocol, I think thats just the 4 9v batteries wired together. I used to use that method but I prefer a smaller particle size generated by the constant current generator (batteries are constant voltage) as I consider it better quality CS. If you're happy enough with what you use though keep on using it if it does the job.