Saturday 30 May 2009
Penniless Peggy Project
I have found myslef, once again due to lack of employment by the Institution (the system being pay for what you work and given no work since beginning of May) absolutely penniless. For all the freecycling I have done the karma hasn't swung round to me yet. As you can guess this does somewhat inhibit the moves forward in terms of working on the narrow boat, electronic projects (requiring parts) and contributing to the food bill.So with time on my hands (and I don't deal with this at all well) I have made up a new workstation - facing out the window and put my mind to a project that (thank goodness) she has all the parts for. This is the Penniless Peggy Project taken from the book ReadyMade - how to make {almost} everything by Thames and Hudson. Please note that although the suggestion is that this project will cost next to nowt, bear in mind the many pegs I bought (back when money was cheap) work out actually quite expensive (in my terms) - less you can beg them for free!
Take 192 dolly pegs
Have the following tools near by
Using a pencil and ruler, mark 176 of these dolly pegs 1/2 an inch from the bottom
and 1 inch and 1/8 from the top
Then drill these holes. I used a fancy wooden clamp table found in the outhouse to hold the pegs in place. This or other clamp would be best to prevent the peg from whizzing around when drilling. Oh also, I used a hand drill for more gradual drilling rather than power zappers.
Alas, the drill bit has just broken! There is not another small drill bit in the flat at all! However Leigh assures me that (and through a nice demonstration) it is still workable even if a bit short. I will persevere.
Damn! It's like drilling using your elbow, it's making a hash up so looks like I will abandon drilling til tomorrow, when I can try to beg, steal or borrow a 2mm bit.
I have just realised, dear reader, that you haven't the foggiest what I am making. Just thought I'd let you know, that I know. TBC.
Saturday 16 May 2009
Mice Drum box
I was given (some Christmas times ago) a tin full of milk chocolate mice. The chocolates have long gone and now I feel it is time to get cracking with using the tin for another sound byte.
There has been an old (fortunately working) T.E.N.S. electronic pain relief machine lying about the place which occasionally gets used when music making, only it is never very usable. The unit is too fiddly and the pads always come apart. So here is the trail of thought....
Using the tin, neatly house the T.E.N.S. add a spot of modification - circuit bending skills here, include the use of a contact mic between the T.E.N.S. pads to pick up the signal. Include some neat switches and buttons to control the unit and an output jack. Does it need an inbuilt speaker?? Hmm... maybe not (we will see how it goes and add one at a later date if necessary).
And there we should hopefully have a tidy drum box unit to run through effects or straight into an amp. Joy oh Joy!
Step 1: take the T.E.N.S. apart and look inside.
It appears that I will need a new battery holder and perhaps reconsider these flat batteries (expect some research is needed here as to what types). The switches are push to make and soldered flat to the circuit board, the rubber elements on the old T.E.N.S. case were the neat external buttons which triggered these. I will have to hunt about the tubs of switches and knobs for some replacements.
The circuit has several resistors, small capacitors and two slightly larger ones, two diodes (BZX from what I can work out), three voltage regulators C9013 G-042 and G-117 and G-051 plus what I think are three other diodes. Then there is something that looks like a housed coil?
The circuit board is a simple printed board with the connectors in place. There appears to be a memory unit (the black blob) but I may be mistaken. From the PCB there is the lead connectors going off to the two pads (which one would attach to hurt body part).
Time for tea now, so this will be completed at a sooner than later date.
There has been an old (fortunately working) T.E.N.S. electronic pain relief machine lying about the place which occasionally gets used when music making, only it is never very usable. The unit is too fiddly and the pads always come apart. So here is the trail of thought....
Using the tin, neatly house the T.E.N.S. add a spot of modification - circuit bending skills here, include the use of a contact mic between the T.E.N.S. pads to pick up the signal. Include some neat switches and buttons to control the unit and an output jack. Does it need an inbuilt speaker?? Hmm... maybe not (we will see how it goes and add one at a later date if necessary).
And there we should hopefully have a tidy drum box unit to run through effects or straight into an amp. Joy oh Joy!
Step 1: take the T.E.N.S. apart and look inside.
It appears that I will need a new battery holder and perhaps reconsider these flat batteries (expect some research is needed here as to what types). The switches are push to make and soldered flat to the circuit board, the rubber elements on the old T.E.N.S. case were the neat external buttons which triggered these. I will have to hunt about the tubs of switches and knobs for some replacements.
The circuit has several resistors, small capacitors and two slightly larger ones, two diodes (BZX from what I can work out), three voltage regulators C9013 G-042 and G-117 and G-051 plus what I think are three other diodes. Then there is something that looks like a housed coil?
The circuit board is a simple printed board with the connectors in place. There appears to be a memory unit (the black blob) but I may be mistaken. From the PCB there is the lead connectors going off to the two pads (which one would attach to hurt body part).
Time for tea now, so this will be completed at a sooner than later date.
Badge day
To start the day came an envelope enclosing a kitty card from Amy, Hayden and Mr Susan and these two lovely badges; bike and watering can. What a lovely lady that Yma is! Beam, beam.
Thursday 14 May 2009
Transceiver from her love!
From the best love there could possibly be I received this in celebration of passing the Foundation course:
So, there it is, I am beaming from cheek to cheek. With my callsign down, M6DOE, the female deer has a new found hobby. The Yaseu Vx-170 is still charging it's heart out, though I couldn't resist and scanned around and listened in on a Morse lesson between Mary and John earlier today, great stuff, she even picked up a thing or two! Hours of fun!
This is Mike Six Delta Oscar Echo over.
So, there it is, I am beaming from cheek to cheek. With my callsign down, M6DOE, the female deer has a new found hobby. The Yaseu Vx-170 is still charging it's heart out, though I couldn't resist and scanned around and listened in on a Morse lesson between Mary and John earlier today, great stuff, she even picked up a thing or two! Hours of fun!
This is Mike Six Delta Oscar Echo over.
Wednesday 13 May 2009
Radio project
The radio club nights of late have been occupied with the latest construction project, a radio receiver. Run by John. I have been taken through the first steps; understanding the circuit diagram, a lesson in solder (basically if your life depends upon it don't use lead-free solder, but wash you hands afterwards!) and then working in 'ugly fashion'.
What is this? I hear from the beyond the door... Well, it is a form of building a circuit with the use of copper plate and copper pads (insulated on one side with paper or fiber glass) and not being restricted by using a circuit board (PCB board with lines connecting parts up). The main copper plate is the earth and so any parts that need to be isolated from this are soldered on to the pads which are mounted on the plate. It apparently looks ugly, but I think it looks awesome!
The above image is the first evenings work. This flat board will have a vertical piece soldered at the front for switches and such like, so the copper plate was carefully positioned right at the edge of the wooden block. The plate was pre-drilled (thank you John) and so using a marker pen the holes, attaching the plate and capacitor, were marked down on the wooden block and drilled. Due to the nature of the wooden block forming a small mountain when drilling, Oi! first drilled with a small bit (not all the way through mind as this is purely to aid the working of screws) and then only slightly in with a larger drill bit to overcome the mound. There are four holes for the screws, one in each corner. Then three holes arranged at points of a triangle (for the tuning capaciter) and two for a brace for the capaciter. Just a note that the capaciter is absolutly brilliant! with very fine fins that glide between each other at the turning of the spindle. There are lovely cogs that gently spin as you do so and a tiny spring to prevent any bounce back as you tune back and forth.
With the use of a template for the copper pads, I was able to mark down in formation where on the copper plate they were best to go. So using a stanley knife and ruler a sheet of copper plate had been scored on both sides into 5mm strips. This was then snapped off using pliers and cut into small squares using some hard-core cutters (making sure not to let the pieces fly off). Using the good ol' super-dooper glue, these were fixed in place. Notice the longer strip for several connections and the small rectangle of holed board for the IC chip (more about that later).
So, there we are. I'm not sure if I can post the circuit diagram, best check in with John next week. Until then, over.
Monday 4 May 2009
Bodhi Tin
I had the whole afternoon free, why the bankers were on annual leave, see. So, pottering in the studio I decided to do a spot of circuit bending and rehouse the mini chanting box that had been around for some time, thus making a super noisy fx pedal.
I had previously opened it up and searched about inside, only finding a small PCB board leading to two AAA batteries and a small speaker. The unit has pre-programmed chanting samples which I suspect are in the black blob on the PCB. The only other components are a capacitor and resistor.
I started by exploring the circuitry with a wire, and seeing what will bend the sound. I found that joining the resistor to another part had the enchanting effect of super-speeding up the sounds. This was the only possible amendment using the parts on the PCB. So simple is best.
I already has stores of odds 'n' ends so she collected together two switches and a female jack. I decided that one switch would be to turn the unit on/off whilst the other one is to switch between the bent effect and the original chanting sounds. The chosen switches were rocker ones, where clicking back is on, whislt forwards is off. With the batteries already in place from the chanting box, I detached one side of the connecting wire and ran this via the switch. The two wires from the circuit bent points were attached to the second switch.
Then, I removed the speaker and replaced this with the female jack, to allow running the unit through other effects or straight into an amp. The wires leading to the speaker were replaced with new wire as they were really thin and frequently broke when working on them. The metal travel sweetie tin was chosen due to the lovely circle shape it has and citrus fruits on the front. This was drilled and cut to make the two holes in the lid for the large switches and for the jack input.
All electronic parts were soldered together and the first test run was held in front of Molten Gods 1 and 2. I then realised that to change between chants you had to stop and open up the unit to press the tiny switch on the PCB board. So came the next adjustment. I tested out with a push to switch on button if I could simply attach two wires from this to the points of the tiny switch on the PBC board. It appeared to work, makes sense eh?! So this was soldered inplace, an extra drilled hole was made and the switch put in place.
Presenting the Bodhi Tin. Named after the tale about Budda sat under the fig tree, known as the Bodhi tree. This little sweetie is perfect for amplifiying the chants and messing with the pitch, great fun to play through other effects too.
Om...
I had previously opened it up and searched about inside, only finding a small PCB board leading to two AAA batteries and a small speaker. The unit has pre-programmed chanting samples which I suspect are in the black blob on the PCB. The only other components are a capacitor and resistor.
I started by exploring the circuitry with a wire, and seeing what will bend the sound. I found that joining the resistor to another part had the enchanting effect of super-speeding up the sounds. This was the only possible amendment using the parts on the PCB. So simple is best.
I already has stores of odds 'n' ends so she collected together two switches and a female jack. I decided that one switch would be to turn the unit on/off whilst the other one is to switch between the bent effect and the original chanting sounds. The chosen switches were rocker ones, where clicking back is on, whislt forwards is off. With the batteries already in place from the chanting box, I detached one side of the connecting wire and ran this via the switch. The two wires from the circuit bent points were attached to the second switch.
Then, I removed the speaker and replaced this with the female jack, to allow running the unit through other effects or straight into an amp. The wires leading to the speaker were replaced with new wire as they were really thin and frequently broke when working on them. The metal travel sweetie tin was chosen due to the lovely circle shape it has and citrus fruits on the front. This was drilled and cut to make the two holes in the lid for the large switches and for the jack input.
All electronic parts were soldered together and the first test run was held in front of Molten Gods 1 and 2. I then realised that to change between chants you had to stop and open up the unit to press the tiny switch on the PCB board. So came the next adjustment. I tested out with a push to switch on button if I could simply attach two wires from this to the points of the tiny switch on the PBC board. It appeared to work, makes sense eh?! So this was soldered inplace, an extra drilled hole was made and the switch put in place.
Presenting the Bodhi Tin. Named after the tale about Budda sat under the fig tree, known as the Bodhi tree. This little sweetie is perfect for amplifiying the chants and messing with the pitch, great fun to play through other effects too.
Om...
Foundation: review
With regards to the amateur radio foundation licence here is a recap of things you need to know. Firstly, it does get easier, this is from the point of view of someone who is self taught in electronics and inexperienced in working on the air. The club that I attend, ran the foundation course over 10 evenings with a good teacher who happily answered any daft questions. Then I spent the whole weekend with a refresh of all topics, mock exam and the final exam.
As part of the licence you need to undertake some practical assessments. This is really fun. You have to set up a HF and VHF/UHF rig, tune into stations, read the signal strength, then send and receive a CQ call and morse. The morse is at a very very slow and steady pace, so from having not touched a key before, I passed.
All these practical achievements are recorded on a 'record of achievement card' which needs to be presented on the day of your exam. This along with some identification, like a passport. In the actual exam, you have 45minutes to answer 25 multiple choice questions on topics covered in the RSGB Foundation Licence handbook. You are given four sheets of information to use as reference, these include the Foundation licence parameters, the 2mtr and 20mtr band plans, frequency/wavelength conversion chart and the chart stating the uses of the VHF band.
The topics to address are;
Hay-ho, it's all good.
As part of the licence you need to undertake some practical assessments. This is really fun. You have to set up a HF and VHF/UHF rig, tune into stations, read the signal strength, then send and receive a CQ call and morse. The morse is at a very very slow and steady pace, so from having not touched a key before, I passed.
All these practical achievements are recorded on a 'record of achievement card' which needs to be presented on the day of your exam. This along with some identification, like a passport. In the actual exam, you have 45minutes to answer 25 multiple choice questions on topics covered in the RSGB Foundation Licence handbook. You are given four sheets of information to use as reference, these include the Foundation licence parameters, the 2mtr and 20mtr band plans, frequency/wavelength conversion chart and the chart stating the uses of the VHF band.
The topics to address are;- Nature of Amateur Radio
- Licence Conditions
- Feeders and antennas
- Propogation
- Technical Basics
- Transmitters and Recievers
- EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility)
- Repeaters
- Operating Procedures
- Safety
Hay-ho, it's all good.
Sunday 3 May 2009
Pass!
Papa Alpha Sierra Sierra. Whooo! That is what it said on my certificate for the Foundation License today. Sweet!
This weekend has been jam packed with going over the entire 10 week course aided by a slide-show detailing all the main points, then a mock exam and the final exam. I have to say that I really did enjoy myself and am very grateful to the gents who took the time to get her through it.
Celebrations are in order and she is now contemplating which hand held to spend good money on.
Saturday 2 May 2009
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