The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning
Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.
Making the world a better place, one piece at a time
The new X10 controller on our dresser has a nice lid over the buttons. Unfortunately, the lid lacks any affordance to raise it: smooth edges all around, slick surface, no notches or bumps.
The obvious, albeit ugly, solution: add some black and very grippy rubber strips to the front and side edges of the lid. Now one finger suffices…
Puzzle: how did the designers expect us to lift the lid?
Had the occasion to run the flexy snake through a kitchen drain that turned out to be not as plugged up as I expected, which is always good news. Replaced the cleanout plug, hosed off the snake, coiled it up, and applied the usual three nylon cable ties to keep the snake together.
It took me years to figure out that last step. None of the old-school tricks work for me; I can’t tie knots in string / twine / rope while simultaneously holding those coils together and the snake resists any attempt to weave the loose ends into the bundle.
Mercifully, I don’t use the snake all that often and I don’t feel at all bad about tossing three cable ties each time.
You figured that out long ago, right?
The default OpenOffice 3.2 graphics cache is probably large enough for ordinary documents. However, I put together a 9-page illustrated biography for a birthday party last year using (most likely) OOo 3.1 and that file dragged OOo 3.2 to its knees.
The default cache settings are something like
Crank those to
Much better!
I’m sure that depends on what you’re doing and how much memory your PC has, but when OOo gets really pokey on a graphics-intensive document, check the cache.
Mary wanted to convert some old tomato cages into flower supports and deer protectors (until the flowers get big enough), by the simple expedient of flipping the cages over with the large end down. She figured we could chop off the wire ends that normally anchor the cages to the ground, then bend them into hooks for secure ground anchors.
I deployed the linesman’s pliers, which only showed that my wire size estimation is grossly underdeveloped. The high-carbon steel wires required bolt cutters… but a few minutes of twang effort scattered two dozen really stiff wires across the patio.
I ran a marker across the pile at the bend point, grabbed two random steel rods in the vise and, in short order, bent up a stack of ground anchors.
Not every job requires G-Code …
I carry around an ancient Zire 71, from the time before PDAs merged with phones and PCs to become fashionable objects of desire.
Anyway, it turns out that the buttons on the front are remarkably easy to squash in your pocket: the poor thing spends a lot of time turning itself on and off. I machined a plate with two holes for the four buttons and a lengthwise recess with two notches for the joystick selector. The whole affair slides into the pouch Mary made for it and works fine.
I tweaked the thing a bit when I got a replacement Zire a few months ago; the grippy tape I put on the sides seemed to be just large enough to force the joystick against the protector while sliding it into the pouch. Now that’s not a problem.
This is in the nature of documentation, just in case I need something like this ever again. I found these pix while looking for something else …
You’ve seen bits & pieces of this in the previous weeks and months: now it’s up and running!
Admittedly, this is brassboard hardware; I must now build three final versions for our bikes incorporating all the tweaks & adjustments. But it’s time to write this stuff down so I can find it again … and perhaps you can use some chunks, too.
What it does:
Why we need it:
Major sub-projects (some already partially written up):
I don’t have an instruction manual to go along with this, nor is there a parts kit available. You’ll certainly want to modify everything for your own purposes; the circuit board and case certainly won’t fit whatever HT you’re using!
Over the next several days, I’ll be describing & documenting the tricky parts… in no particular order, because I’m not going to sort my notes & photos ahead of time.
I favor a small cylindrical earbud with a good seal inside my ear for use with the amateur radio on my bike. These things come with back vents that allegedly improve their bass response; that’s not a concern for communications-grade audio and, worse, the vent produces a tremendous amount of wind noise.
The solution is straightforward: put some tape over the vent!
I used Kapton tape, because I have it, but in point of fact the snippet of duct tape I applied on the first ride (having forgotten to do it on the bench) worked just fine. A drop of epoxy would be fine, too, if you were a bit careful about not letting it ooze down inside the case while it cured.
Despite the fancy appearance, this is a random pick from the assortment of earbuds I’ve bought at $10 or less over the last few years. According to my golden-eared assistant, the audio quality varies dramatically among the assortment, but they all work reasonably well between 300-3000 Hz. I suspect the insanely cheap ones on eBay are essentially the same things, although IMO they’re intended to collect large quantities of high positive ratings: caveat emptor.
Speaking of caveats, insert the usual safety caveats here.
Note that we’re using one earbud for tactical comm, not boppin’ to the music, and the audio level is low enough we (well, I) can’t hear diddly at speeds over 15 mph. Your jurisdiction may prohibit “headphones” or “earphones” or some such, so behave accordingly.
All the officers I’ve met think the radios are a great idea, if that means anything.
