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Blended Living » addictions http://4jdl.com/wp John's Words - looking for the best blend Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:17:19 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 SoC #23 http://4jdl.com/wp/2009/09/06/soc-23/ http://4jdl.com/wp/2009/09/06/soc-23/#comments Sun, 06 Sep 2009 13:03:42 +0000 John http://4jdl.com/wp/?p=319 SoC #23

The weather lately seems almost too nice especially for this time of year when the humidity and temperature in F usually add up to well over 170 but this summer its rarely hit that horrible dis-comfort index as long as you are not on a crowded subway platform that is seems along with other technical [...]]]> SoC #23

The weather lately seems almost too nice
especially for this time of year
when the humidity and temperature in F usually add up to well over 170
but this summer its rarely hit that horrible dis-comfort index as
long as you are not on a crowded subway platform that is
seems along with other technical hurdles the MTA can’t seem to figure out a way to
cool off the platforms and with the construction at 96th street its only gotten worse
I think it was well over 100F the other day down there
and with the moisture dripping all over the place it only seems to be some
medieval torture center in the making rather than
the nice new more convenient subway station it will become before the
next Olympics hopefully
resurrected many hobbies of late
and the anticipation phase of any endeavor causes more excitement and
misleading thoughts than any other
such as buying way too many things on Ebay
but as the weather turns in the coming weeks and more activities go indoors
I hope my recent failing nearsighted eyesight holds up to the miniature
electronics hobby I seem to enjoy so much
that’s a picture of a PCB, or prototype circuit board
it allows one to solder on small parts and wire them underneath
its like a multi-dimensional puzzle with some dimensions being
the physical layout on top, the wiring underneath, and a consideration for power requirement so that
the parts do what you want them to do
whether that’s a bright LED array, or a DC power supply, or a plant grow light
or a myriad of other tiny gadgets
not sure how I wondered over into acrylics from woodworking
but found some Ebay sellers for scrap pieces thick enough and cheap enough
to experiment with a couple blended projects
like maybe a stool with a clear top and lit from below with LEDs
or a corner or side table lit up, having wooden legs, and a clear acrylic top
next thought about a light box, actually of both types
one for art projects like drawing and etching onto acrylic
and the other type which is a bright light to simulate the sun during the winter months
haven’t spec’d that out yet, so don’t know if my current parts inventory has bulbs that simulate daylight enough to work
while thinking about it, there is another light box the kind used in photography and the LEDs do lend themselves well to enhancing lighting for digital photo projects
and red light for darkrooms, if that ever strays into my hobby stronghold
amassing some new tools like better soldering station, and better pliers and cutters
unfortunately my dremel like tool hit a snag as the seller let me know they may be out of stock
so may have to go back to the buying matrix decision board and start over
which is fun in of itself sometimes
but I can see how this buying thing can be such an addiction and should stop
and have been slowing as I crunch the data and the buying matrix function
returns some ‘no sale’ responses
however purchases made already have a steady stream of deliveries
and my delivery chain (UPS, USPS, FEDEX and doormen) must start to wonder what I’m up to
the lastest wandering off into new hobbyland has me reading about
wiring my own speaker crossovers and
winding magnet wire for inductors and what kind of
capacitors create the best high pass filters
which would be a great hobby to combine electronics, woodworking and possibly some acrylics stuff
but I wonder what I’m gonna do with the rest of the 200 tweeters I bought for 10 bucks?
(no not kidding – it was too good a deal to pass up)
and with free shipping! but it might have strained my guy’s back
they are tiny tweeters but 200 add up
so now I’m searching for tone generators and speaker building sites
wondering if there is freeware for tuning speakers
and if pimping speakers with LED lights goes too far.

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