SoC #23
September 6th, 2009
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- 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.
