Electronics

…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 : [...]

Read the full article →

…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 [...]

Read the full article →

…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 [...]

Read the full article →

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.

Read the full article →

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 [...]

Read the full article →

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!

Read the full article →

…555 timer “Ball Whacker”

October 10, 2011

As another Radio Shack “Great Create” challenge I put together this fun project. A 555 timer and simple optical feedback loop creates a simple cybernetic control system. The photocell in the tip of the arm responds to the light pattern falling across it – this in turn controls the position of the arm. Resulting in [...]

Read the full article →

…making some initial cuts with the CO2 Laser

October 4, 2011

Yes! Finally, after several iterations we have the installed, aligned and focused CO2 laser wreaking some serious havoc on a piece of MDO. There are still many tests to run and various safety mechanisms to install, but the system works, and is aligned over a 24″ x 24″ area (at least). I can think of [...]

Read the full article →

…building my Destructor(tm) beam

September 25, 2011

More progress in the laser/CNC saga. I built a cage from steel and MDO for the laser tube – fits really nicely. Next step is to add the first bounce mirror which will turn the beam straight up – into a PVC tube attached with plumbing flanges (The sales assistant at Menard’s asked me what [...]

Read the full article →

…fixing up a Roland Juno 60 synthesizer

September 18, 2011

A couple of years ago I bought a Roland Juno 60 from eBay. It was in “fairly good” condition but was very dirty and the faders did not work properly. There also seemed to be a sticky (beer?) substance on all the keys that was less than attractive. Additionally the programs weren’t being saved correctly [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries