Stephen Hobley

Jupiter and Andromeda (again)

February 13, 2012

It was murderously cold outside last night. But I stayed out long enough to attempt a photograph of Jupiter. This time I had bought a Microsoft Lifecam 1080p webcam, and removed the focusing assembly so that it was just a bare sensor. This was attached to a 2X Barlow lens and installed in my 8″ [...]

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…observing the Orion Nebula

January 31, 2012

Last night was a pretty cool night for astronomy (both figuratively and literally) – there was a great deal of stuff visible, and since I traded my old iPhone for one of the new Droids I was able to take advantage of Google Sky* and some of the other location apps to find interesting stuff [...]

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Hey, it’s been awfully quiet around here…

December 16, 2011

Yes it has, during the run up to Christmas things get a bit crazy in the Hobley household. That’s not to say I’ve not been very busy on the CNC router, but mainly producing presents and other festive stuff. I have been working on a tip-top secret project featuring the Ebow-clone I put together in [...]

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…infringing patents (probably)

November 23, 2011

I’ve been meaning to build one of these for ages. Can anyone guess what it is? It’s not a Taser, or one of those shocking buzzer things – the clue is that the coils are well “potted” and have very different gauges of wire. Answers on a postcard please, or in the comments… UPDATE : [...]

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…Treasure Finder for MAKE:Projects

November 19, 2011

This was my favo[u]rite of all the MAKE projects I’ve been working on. This project uses 2 oscillators in a configuration very much like a Theremin to create a beat frequency (BFO) metal detector. Range is a few inches for the smaller detection coil, but the detection range can be increased by adding a larger [...]

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…Fritz Lang’s Theremin Stand

November 6, 2011

(Sounds like something you’d find in Warehouse 13) For many weeks I’ve been trying to come up with a cabinet design for the vacuüm tube Theremin I built a while ago. I decided that the electronics were far too marvelous to hide away in the classic RCA “drinks cabinet” – and that something more radical [...]

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Fry’s – now dealin ‘duinos…

November 6, 2011

Wow, didn’t expect that. I was lurkin’ in my local Fry’s and found a section full of Arduino clones… They seem to have a range (from Megas to Nanos) of them – prices are pretty good too.

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Air Guitar? …meet Air Piano

November 5, 2011

My buddy John Claeys sent me a link to this video of the AirPiano device being demonstrated by Jo Hamilton. I’ve not been able to find out too much about the design or origins of the instrument. It seems to use optical proximity sensing to detect the player’s hands. A neat idea, and a slick [...]

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Jarre demo’s “Mini” laser harp at Hamburg concert

November 4, 2011

Ricardo Melo just sent me a link to footage of Jarre’s recent gig in Hamburg. Looks like he’s added a mini laser harp to his rig. Looks like it uses a straight “interruption” trigger built into the frame. This kind is way easier to keep under control on stage.

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DIY CO2 Laser Cutter – more test cuts…

October 11, 2011

I re-aligned the bounce mirrors, added an air-assist, and did some test cuts on acrylic, plywood and hardwood. Slowing the feedrate seems more effective than increasing the power. Need to spend some time with different materials, figuring out the cut parameters for each one. Oooh shiny!

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