| Art outside |
[Oct. 11th, 2009|10:11 pm] |
Well, it started wet and ended wetter, but the in-between was pure fun.
More bands and performers than I've seen in one place.
Firegroove's fireperformance was top notch, more new moves and techniques made the
artform new again, I've seen so much generic firespinning, their show kicked it up , way up.
DC, Juicy, oh man, this was so wrong, they are the Uranium Savages of Rap and then some,
delightfully raunchy and so much wrongness it hurt.
The Fashion show was great, several designers, only wish they had better lighting so we could
have seen their work more clearly.
The Midway, I've seen video of this, now we got to experience it, great fun.
I'm sure the weather really screwed with them, but the staff and artists still pulled off an event that was far better than all the prior years combined. |
|
|
| Building stuff and other stuff |
[Aug. 22nd, 2009|10:23 pm] |
Today started promisingly, S. wanted to build one of the kits we got last year at Maker Fair.
It's an LED 'pummer' which randomly flashes LEDs and is solar powered. It's all analog,
built on BEAM principles of cheap and simple. It had a nice lightbox with LASER cutout panels
and a bit of vellum for a diffuser. So she got started and I tried not to 'help' too much.
The soldering was pretty easy and they have good written and pictorial instructions.
We got about 90% done and went to see Transformers, which was pretty good, but hey it's a
robot movie, what's not to like :)
The bad stuff... Some loser(s) broke into my truck, in the TinselTown theater lot at 3PM
and made off with a bunch of tools that I had cleaned up at the Warehouse for working
on A's truck at the DE, shit, of course they weren't mine. They also took my prescription
Raybans and a Sirius radio-boombox - both useless to anyone but me.
Got back , taped over the window, found a replacement on ebay for $30.
And figured what the heck, finish what we started, got the little LED box done
and hung it up outside the window, where it's flashing randomly red and yellow and green. |
|
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| Out of the house |
[Aug. 17th, 2009|01:44 am] |
I think we did the out of home thing enough this weekend,
Spent most of Friday,Sat at the Con, and went to Houston today
for a Shahrukh Khan viewing. Missed the Houston Gun Show though,
it must have been something, all the Amber Alert signs on I10 and I45
were advertising it. The little park they have next to the Conv Center
downtown is nice though. Even rained a bit, wow, instant steam bath!
In other news: The parts I bought for my Heli on Friday fit.
Now it needs tuning and some final assembly. I also got a simulator
cable for my Futaba Transmitter. Now I can practice and not break
expensive parts. 10 minutes at the Hobby Store convinced me I need
much more sim time before flying again. |
|
|
| Success! |
[Mar. 4th, 2009|12:35 am] |
I got the Microbot Alpha arm working tonight.
I downloaded a Palm controller package from Narced Technologies. It's pretty basic,
only sends step commands to a single axis, no inverse kinematics or even managing the gripper.
But it works, all the axes or the arm are working, the only thing that seems off is the
grip sensor is not working, but it's a mechanical problem, if I press the switch, the
controller stops closing the grip.
Pretty sweet, I even found the Opto-22 modules on ebay, so the controller can run up to
16 channels of inputs or outputs, DC or AC depending on which module is used.
Now to think up something interesting to do with a small robot arm.
Pics/vids later |
|
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| Robot Arm project |
[Mar. 1st, 2009|08:05 pm] |
Picked up a vintage (for computer gear at least) 1982 Robot Arm (thanks Deeptape)
It needed a little TLC to restring the internal cables and clean out spiderwebs and gunk.
Tried to power up and not much happening, check power supply rails and -12V not there.
So I pulled the controller and brought it inside to the workbench.
There had been some repairs done to the the board, judging by the date codes of the chips,
around 1988 or so :) They had replaced the CPU , a 6502, one of the serial chips MC68B50, and
the RS-232 driver, MC1488. But they soldered in the replacements, ugh, I hate desoldering.
So I took the board to work and used the nice Metcal Solder Vacuum, and pulled those parts
and a NE555 Timer used are a -12V charge pump. After a short trip to M.C. Howard's , I found all
the replacement chips, and a true rarity, a 6850P in ceramic with gold brazed leads.
That chip has a date code of 760210, Feb 10, 1976, pre-dates my Altair.
All the chips, sockets and a couple of cables came to $16, I love surplus places.
I also found a modern -12V regulator that takes +5V and switches it down to -12V.
This will replace the whole NE555 charge pump circuit, which is probably what blew out
the 1488 , which killed the 68B50 and the CPU. I used nice machine pin sockets for all the
parts I removed, the circuit board can not take more than a couple of IC removals before the
pads and traces start to come off.
I also found something interesting, apparently the original board was not so well designed,
4 of the decoupling capacitors only had 1 lead connected, the ground leads were left open.
The engineer who did the circuit board layout goofed. I marked up the traces on the board,
and have a pretty good idea of how it all works without a schematic. Also installed the -12V
regulator and hooked up the open capacitor leads to ground with some short wires.
Applied bench power to the board at it's 36V input and 5V input and saw clean regulated
power at +/-12V .
Connected up my laptop and tested the serial interface, I can see data coming in from the laptop serial with my o-scope, it gets into the MC1488 and gets level shifted from -12v,+12V to normal TTL 5V, 0V logic levels and the signal is present at the UART RxD input, but no output?
Hmm, appears that this board does not echo commands, and if you do not type exactly what it
expects, you get no response. But now @QDUMP (all caps) will list the program for moving the arm.
@QDUMP
224,0,24,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
225,6,82,13,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
226,3,24,226,0,0,0,0,0,0,-256
@READ
1
0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-1,255
Excellent, now to see if the robot can be controlled. |
|
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| It Lives! |
[Feb. 6th, 2009|03:44 am] |
The truck is back together and runs like new.
Started right up after cranking for about 30 seconds with the EFI fuse out
to bring up the oil pressure. Smoked like the devil for about 10 minutes
burning off all that SeaFoam I had poured into the intakes and soaked the injectors.
I think I'll take it to work tomorrow, no more RV commuting!
Surface roads though, it's not ready for I-35 yet, let the rings seat in 1st. |
|
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| The 5VZ-FE has landed. |
[Feb. 1st, 2009|10:13 pm] |
Wow, S. and I put the motor into the truck today, only 1 minor problem, the rear chain bracket was hitting the firewall and prevented the motor from moving back far enough to line up the transmission mounts. So we had to lift it a bit, support the trans with the floor jack like when it was removed and removed the rear set of chains from the block. After that it all went according to plan.
We missed the chili though :( , but the 4th Qtr of the game was good.
The heavy lifting is done, gonna be sore tomorrow, there was still a bit of 700lb engine wrestling even with the crane and jack.
( Read more... )The 2002 V6 settled into it's new home.
Still have to install the valve covers and hook up the wiring harness and re-attach the power steering pump, alternator and AC compressor.
But that should all go pretty fast. I should be driving it this week, probably Friday :) |
|
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| Ready to drop in |
[Jan. 18th, 2009|01:11 pm] |
Finally, the new refurbished 2002 5VZ-FE 3.4L V6 is ready to drop into my truck. Tons of work that a normal shop would never do.
Well, not unless you paid them an extra $2000 or so. I've got at least 40 hours shop time into this, probably more like 60,
and an similar number of research hours. It's been fun working on this, take it all apart , clean and paint, and reassemble, like a big
3D puzzle, I loved those as a kid. Mostly I don't even look at the shop manual, most of the parts go together in a logical way, and I
also have a good memory for 3D stuff. The shop manual is useful for bolt torque numbers, although I can tell by material and bolt size
about how much torque to put on any given bolt.
Some pics of the front of the motor:
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| Heavy Lifting |
[Jan. 14th, 2009|12:23 am] |
Did a test lift of the motor-trans, I clear the radiator support, but do not have enough angle to clear the firewall with the trans and the radiator support with the oil pan. Looks like I'll have to fabricate at least one lift tab to get the chain to clear the valve train at maximum tilt.
Its still cool to have 700lbs on the crane 4 - 7 ft off the ground. The chains are good with the static weight, but they might be over stressed if for some reason the motor dropped suddenly an inch or two. We drop a chassis at work a couple of inches and it develops 30G's inside on internal parts, the high-speed camera is really amazing watching boards and DIMMs flex and bounce. I don't think the motor block would bounce much from 5 foot, probably go through the floor, or crack it really bad.
( Read more... ) |
|
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| Engine, meet Trans, Trans, meet Engine. You two will be working together. |
[Dec. 30th, 2008|07:39 pm] |
Finished up the transmission flush and cleanup, and put the pan back on with 2 hard drive magnets inside to catch any future metal debris. Swapped the trans with the old motor on engine stand #2 and used the crane to position the trans to mount to the new motor. It's really nice to be able to adjust the tilt and height so the trans slips onto the back of the motor nearly effortlessly.
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| Book Meme |
[Dec. 17th, 2008|11:48 pm] |
According to the Science Fiction Book Club, these are the 50 most significant SF & Fantasy Books of 1953-2002. Bold the ones you've read, strike the ones you hated, italicize the ones you couldn't get through, asterisks for the ones you loved.
1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien*
2. The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov
3. Dune by Frank Herbert
4. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein*
5. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin
6. Neuromancer by William Gibson*
7. Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
11. The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom by Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight by James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
17. Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
22. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card*
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson
24. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway by Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
28. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
30. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big by John Crowley
32. Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
33. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement
35. More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man by Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach by Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld by Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon by Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
42. Slaughterhouse-5 by Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson*
44. Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
47. Stormbringer by Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks
49. Timescape by Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer
The Silmarillion made the list? It's like a reference book for LotR
Looking back through the past Hugos and Nebula awards,
there's quite a few books that I'd put on my list, and more than a few that by authors whose other works I've liked and I will have to add to my 'read this book someday' list.
|
|
|
| Got the new motor on the hook |
[Nov. 9th, 2008|10:11 pm] |
Got a lot done today, we pulled the crane and motor that had been chocked into place on my sloping driveway into the garage, it was not as bad as I thought it would be. I immobilized one wheel and rotated the crane and engine around that wheel, so it did not get the chance to roll down the driveway. I had also set down the motor and pallet and then retracted the crane arm and then
re-lifted the motor, pulling it in closer to the 4 main wheels of the crane instead of placing all the weight on the two outrigger wheels.
More details and pictures follow
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| Picked up a shop crane |
[Oct. 31st, 2008|01:35 am] |
Had them on sale at HF, crane and load leveler for less than $200
Motor's on it's way from Houston, so I had to get the crane built
to pull it out of Q's van. I need a busted shopping cart for a classic
gearhead mobile motor stand. Anyone seen one in a ditch?
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| Got a Motor |
[Oct. 27th, 2008|10:08 pm] |
Nice 2002 3.4L motor with 24,000 miles from a wrecked 4-runner in Houston.
Got a really good deal on it for $885, but I do have to pick it up.
Going to have to get a shop crane to lift it onto my trailer.
( Read more... ) |
|
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| Fix the truck |
[Sep. 27th, 2008|10:21 am] |
After working on the truck to clean out the EGR valve, so I could get it inspected,
I noticed it was low on coolant. So I add about a half gallon, and a couple days later I check it and it's low again. Ruh-ro, that's no good, I'm adding about a quart of water a day.
And now the Check Engine lite is back on, new code, P0305. Means #5 is missing at least 100 times since the key was turned on. That's prime indication of a head gasket water leak.
Means a big engine tear down is in order, never done one of those. Time to dive right in.
( Before / After ) |
|
|
| Electronics and stuff |
[Aug. 4th, 2008|10:23 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Shouting Fire Radio | ] |
Got my POV3 boards, assembled one for development and testing.
Also overhauled the EU1000 which had made a few beach trips it seems, there was
a 1/4" layer of oily beach sand on the inside of the case, some had seeped into
the inner engine case, necessitating a full teardown. Not as much playa dust as I
expected, but plenty of surface corrosion.
( POV3 ) |
|
|
| Tiki Dream Machine design plan. |
[Jul. 21st, 2008|10:51 pm] |
Here is a long discourse on my plans for the Tiki Dream Machine.
But first, Why?
This is the 10th anniversary of our first trip to the playa.
That year we were part of Tiki Fest '98 - The Playa Edition (at least that's how I refer to it :)
Tiki Fest was one of the first Theme Camps at Flipside and even before Flipside, our good St. Tiki
was holding TikiFest parties in his back yard. We had also done Tiki Fest - On the Beach.
Our theme for Flipside this year was "Dr. Tiki's Combustible Medicine Show" So, the cart of course had to be decorated in full Tiki regalia, and was well received, even by St. Tiki himself.
The dream part? Well, I've always had an interest in the gadgets known as 'Dream Machines'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamachine
And of course the whole Tiki Bar phenomenon was a post-WWII idealization of the Pacific Theatre's Polynesian culture brought back by returning servicemen.
So on with the show..
( The rest of the story ) |
|
|
| Hybrid power test |
[Jul. 13th, 2008|03:05 am] |
So tonight I ran the power test, charging the cart with a Honda EU1000.
Results as follows:
50 minutes Bulk Charge, 670W (900VA, the power factor of the charger is 0.72, awful)
The EU1000 with it's inverter tech does quite well, but it was pretty loud, running at
nearly full throttle to produce 900VA.
Once it went into Absorption, the power dropped to about 125W and the generator quieted way down.
Right now it's on line power doing Equalization, only about 60W, almost within reach of a solar panel on the roof of the cart.
So for a 1.5 hour charge cycle, it burned 22 Ounces of Gasoline.
Way better than the RV Onan would do. We had driven it all day Saturday and a little on Sunday
at Decompression. Lots of moderate hill climbing, but not a whole lot of distance covered
since RP is only about 20 Acres that we used.
Also got a log to use for Chainsaw Tikis, S's little electric saw should be able to do some good fine work on a small log. |
|
|
| Piss clear isn't just a good idea for the playa |
[Jul. 10th, 2008|12:29 am] |
Damn, feels like I sweated out half a gallon in an hour and a half.
Moving a whole lot of heavy stuff out of the garage, some went to the back yard.
Some stuff in storage inside the RV and in it's cargo bays.
RV's with cargo bays are the win.
Big bag-o-trash to toss into the dumpster at work tomorrow.
Now all I need is a 10,000 BTU portable AC and some more shelving to clear enough
floor space to really get to work.
Weather sez it's only 81 with 75% humidity now (12:30), probably about 90F in the garage.
Next week, daily high of 100 or better. At least it's not Houston, same temp, but ~100% humidity.
And people say it's hot on the Playa, c'mon down to south or central Texas, we got hot. |
|
|
| Prep time |
[Jul. 8th, 2008|12:17 pm] |
Cleaned out the truck , had a scooter lift, scooter and Sat Dish tripod from last week's Church Nite cleanup. Fixed the lift, now I can take Eyebot to more events.
The scooter got field stripped, removed the excess wiring and broken bits, it's ready for Mutation. And the tripod got broken down and folded up, this will come in handy for Wifi or other RF experiments.
We've got a pretty good plan for the Tiki Dream Machine mods to the cart.
I'll be talking to Chainsaw on Church Nite about carving me a couple of big Tikis for the
front of the cart. Need to find a couple of 6" x 4ft logs to carve up.
Also fixed the Nomad for KRL , the power jack was just about broken off the PCB.
I had to pull the LCD to get to it, lots of soldering on that.
Now that those little projects are done, tonight it's clear the garage time, make room
for the TDM build. Also need to take some photos for the BM08 DMV application, they are
being nice and putting it on hold until I can get them the Pics. |
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