Ohm's Law Remix

A new way to teach Ohm's Law...


My take... it should be another tool in the toolbox. If the old way isn't sinking in with a particular student, then see if this approach works. I'm not quite ready to rewrite all the books.

Monoprice and Amazon Basics

I've bought my share of inexpensive electronics. If I need some cables, adapters, or other miscellaneous small electronics and I am wanting to save money, but avoid some risk, I usually check two places.

Monoprice (Coupon "xmasinjuly" good for 5% off today and tomorrow.) - I've bought a ton of network patch cables from them along with other cables.

- or -

Amazon Basics - These are Amazon store brand electronics. I've had bad luck with iPhone chargers and the like from overseas. Amazon's stuff is higher quality without paying a premium.

Bunnie Interview on CSDN.net

Makers, fixers, open-source hardware, technology and more... some quotes below from Bunnie's interview with "CSDN.net, which stands for 'China Software Developer Network', or more colloquially, “Programmer Magazine.'"

It all starts with radio... of course, that is how I read it...

"In 1960, for all practical purposes there was only hardware, and it was all open. When you bought a transistor radio, it had its schematic printed in the back. If it broke, you had to fix it yourself. It was popular to buy kits to make your own radios."

Of course, you might break a few things along the way to becoming a magician...

"The Maker movement, I think, is less about developing products, and more about developing people. It’s about helping people realize that technology is something man-made, and because of this, every person has the power to control it: it just takes some knowledge. There is no magic in technology. Another way to look at it is, we can all be magicians with a little training."

And the company shouldn't have to meet any warranty obligations if a user breaks the hardware...

"I believe users should “own” their hardware, and “owning” means having the right to modify, change, etc. including root access rights. If the company has a concern about users being unsafe, then it’s easy enough to include an “opt-out” where users can simply select an electronic waiver form, and give up their support and warranty right to gain access to their own machine. Most people who care to root their machine are already smarter than the phone support they would be calling inside the company, so anyways it’s not a problem."

The Practical Meter

A Kickstarter project to help you monitor the capabilities of your charging device (wall outlet, solar panel, car charger, laptop, etc.) for your phone or other USB device.

WIREDInsider Kickstarter: Not all USB ports are created equal. This little device can tell you which one to use: ow.ly/mxCCD Mon, Jul 01 14:03:27 from HootSuite

Soldering Irons

Various shapes and sizes.

Old Fluke Multimeter

Does it play Pong?

GriffinLamar Old Fluke Multimeter. Pretty nice for it's age. Just got to figure out all the functions. instagr.am/p/Uc9clWBMAe /Mon, Jan 14 00:32:11 from Instagram

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Name: Griffin Taylor

Location: Richardson, TX

Web: http://www.youtube.com/user/GriffTaylor?feature=mhee

Bio: I'm not an artist, I'm an experimenter.

Following: 77 Followers: 27 Updates: 44

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Zero Ohm

I need to order some 0 ohm resistors for my shack.

Magic Smoke

I always wondered where the magic smoke was stored and how you documented that in a diagram. Now I know.

Crossover 27Q

The Chinese continue to crank out the inexpensive electronics. In this case, it is not a radio, but a monitor - the Crossover 27Q. It is said to use the same LCD panel as the Apple Thunderbolt Display. Yet another opportunity to save a lot of money if you are willing to take a risk.

AA Bang for your Buck

I continue to be amazed at what people can do with the Aruino.

LA3ZA Alcaline battery with most energy/money is RS Power Ultra? Measuring Battery Capacity w Arduino denishennessy.com/2012/04/08/mea… @denishennessyTue, Apr 17 01:43:58 from Tweet Button

Radio Quest

With all the advancements in technology, sometimes it is hard to find the basics.

harrymccracken My mom wanted a radio. It took me way longer to find one than I expected. wp.me/pg9un-eeX Mon, Feb 06 13:59:06 from web

Stocking Stuffers - Faraday Bag

Uncle links to ZCOOR, who suggests some anti-corrosion bags as stocking stuffers for the gunnie prepper in your family. That reminded me of the Faraday bags for protecting your electronic equipment from EMP - for your geek prepper.

Siri + Arduino = Universal Remote

A pretty cool hack... Siri + Arduino (Warning - foul language for no apparent reason in the video):


Siri Universal Remote from toddtreece on Vimeo.

Electronics Basics: How to read schematics

My father-in-law got me a little gift project for my birthday. I'm brushing up on some basics as they will come in handy.

Video: Collin’s Lab: Schematics
Link: Skill Set: Reading circuit diagrams

I missed the FIXIT Clinic

FIXIT Clinic:

"17th Street Studios, located at 1642 Highland Ave., is offering a free FIXIT Clinic at 6pm, tomorrow, Wednesday, September 14. All you have to do is bring one item that is broken (this can be ANYTHING that is broken) and we will provide as many tools and helpers to help you fix it."

I wish I had the free time to go to this. I have plenty of broken stuff and I'm sure I could have learned something.

EMP

Posting about the Faraday Bags reminded me of a book I read last summer: One Second After. (It was the summer of the post-apocalyptic stories as I also read On The Beach and Alas, Babylon. Nothing like some sunshine, sand, and stories about the end of the world to make for a pleasant vacation.)

One Second After describes the events after an EMP has completely disrupted modern life. With all electronics (including those in cars, computers, communications equipment, appliances, etc.) rendered useless, the supply chain quickly breaks down. When you have JIT inventories, your supply quickly goes to zero when the next truck or train doesn't arrive. Low inventories is great for cash flow, but not so hot for being prepared to survive without weekly trips to the fully stocked grocery store and pharmacy. Food becomes scarce as do medications including common place antibiotics and maintenance drugs like insulin.

In this disaster scenario, communications are down - most of the "when all else fails" ham radio gear included. Matt @ AmateurRadio.com gets to the heart of the matter:

"Amateur Radio is depended upon “when all else fails.” Ham radio operators pride themselves on their “readiness, resilience, and response.” Well prepared hams have their 72-hour Go Kits, extra batteries for their fancy HTs, etc. But what if the emergency involves some sort of EMP attack? Are you ready to provide emergency communications for your community when your solid-state HF and VHF transceivers have been rendered useless boat anchors?"

I am in no way prepared for an EMP attack or even most natural disasters. My goal is to keep chipping away at being prepared by making baby steps over time - first aid supplies in the cars, extra flashlights and batteries, radios and batteries, water, food, blankets, binoculars, fire making kits, etc.

While being able to communicate with a community or across a nation, doesn't by itself solve the issues of disease and hunger, it could go a long way in providing hope. And hope might just keep society a little more civilized.

Back to the book... it isn't high art by any stretch, but it is a good read and extremely thought provoking if not downright scary.

The junkbox

Need some odds and ends to supplement your junk box? Try the online market for electronics - the junkbox. You can find old gauges, fire alarm speakers, tubes, connectors, flux capacitors, fuses, etc.



Via Lifehacker

CircuitBee - Online Circuit Schematics Sharing

CircuitBee:

CircuitBee takes your schematic project files, converts them into its own internal format and then provides you with an embeddable version of the circuit, similar to Google Maps but for electronics schematics.

You can pan, zoom, go fullscreen, mouse over components to see what they are and we have plans for lots more features yet.

You can test out a sample right here. From a blogging perspective, it was trivial to embed the schematics below. It needs a feature to do more than import files - a simple, online tool to create and share basic schematics would be a great replacement for some of the drawings that hams create in MS Paint and post on the web.



Via Make

Solar Charger with USB

I like the Lady Ada/Adafruit kits. I've built the Minty Boost. I could try the USB, DC & Solar Lipoly charger and since it will do up to 1A, it would work with my fancy UV-3R USB cable.

For TNJeff

First, some information so he can start working on his General license.

And, an automated chicken coop door! Technology is amazing!