From rich.gibson at gmail.com Wed Feb 6 15:43:46 2008 From: rich.gibson at gmail.com (Rich Gibson) Date: Wed Feb 6 15:43:58 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] test Message-ID: -- Rich Gibson Chief Scientist (and bottle washer), Locative Technologies http://mappinghacks.com http://geocoder.us http://testingrange.com AIM period3equals From rich.gibson at gmail.com Wed Feb 6 15:49:43 2008 From: rich.gibson at gmail.com (Rich Gibson) Date: Wed Feb 6 15:49:54 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Meeting tonight, and mail test Message-ID: Hi, Meeting tonight...and this is a test of the blabber list. -- Rich Gibson Chief Scientist (and bottle washer), Locative Technologies http://mappinghacks.com http://geocoder.us http://testingrange.com AIM period3equals From rich.gibson at gmail.com Thu Feb 7 02:34:55 2008 From: rich.gibson at gmail.com (Rich Gibson) Date: Thu Feb 7 02:35:10 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Re: Sebastopol Dorkbot Tomorrow In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hi, Dorkbot Sebastopol tonight went well. I wrote it up here: http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotsebastopol/ There are links to pictures. On a house keeping note, unless I hear other wise I am going to assume you are all on the dorkbotsebastopol-blabber list, and I'll stop cc'ing you individually. Cheers, Rich From douglas at music.columbia.edu Thu Feb 7 13:37:40 2008 From: douglas at music.columbia.edu (douglas repetto) Date: Thu Feb 7 13:35:31 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] prueba Message-ID: <47AB4FF4.4060908@music.columbia.edu> Testing the blabber list, please ignore. From steve at chalem.com Fri Feb 8 15:14:32 2008 From: steve at chalem.com (Steve Chalem) Date: Fri Feb 8 15:14:45 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Heliostat Carts Message-ID: <3606B5BAD467A349AC94B0D05164DBD603786117@EXVBE014-13.exch014.msoutlookonline.net> I ran into Bruce L. at Baeteff Salvage yesterday, and we got to talking more about a heliostat power generation demonstration setup. One idea: mount the tower on a truck, or freestanding on the ground. Each mirror rides on a separate cart that can move and rotate on 4 wheels; the mirror can be tilted up and down in one axis. This gives all the degrees of freedom we need. The cart doesn't need to know its location with great precision; just enough not to bump into other carts or wander off. All it needs to know with precision is the position of the sun relative to its own frame of reference; and the position of the tower relative to its own frame of ref. Both can be found optically, maybe with a rangefinder for the distance to the tower. The carts are going to move on the order of inches per hour, I figure, so they're not going to be a hazard. Somewhere like burningman the mirror could be mounted 8' or so above the cart platform so that people can stand underneath it on the platform for shade. From steve at chalem.com Tue Feb 12 12:29:37 2008 From: steve at chalem.com (Steve Chalem) Date: Tue Feb 12 12:29:48 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Meeting Tomorrow (Wednesday) Message-ID: <3606B5BAD467A349AC94B0D05164DBD6038078E2@EXVBE014-13.exch014.msoutlookonline.net> I haven't heard from Rich G. yet about tomorrow night. But last time I talked to Brad S. he expected to be available, and I want to pick Brad's brain. So if Rich somehow isn't available I'm going to break into his house and have a meeting there anyway. I'm bringing a box full of stepper motors and related stuff; a head full of questions; and probably a lack of some tiny cheap component that's necessary to get things working. If you can think of what that might be and you have some lying around, please bring a few. From bsilva at sonic.net Wed Feb 13 16:10:11 2008 From: bsilva at sonic.net (bsilva) Date: Wed Feb 13 16:10:20 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Meeting Tomorrow (Wednesday) In-Reply-To: <3606B5BAD467A349AC94B0D05164DBD6038078E2@EXVBE014-13.exch014.msoutlookonline.net> References: <3606B5BAD467A349AC94B0D05164DBD6038078E2@EXVBE014-13.exch014.msoutlookonline.net> Message-ID: I may not be able to go tonight. My Wife's pretty sick and depending on how she's feeling, I may stay home. Hopefully, I'll be there. Brad On Tue, 12 Feb 2008, Steve Chalem wrote: > I haven't heard from Rich G. yet about tomorrow night. But last time I > talked to Brad S. he expected to be available, and I want to pick Brad's > brain. So if Rich somehow isn't available I'm going to break into his > house and have a meeting there anyway. > > I'm bringing a box full of stepper motors and related stuff; a head full > of questions; and probably a lack of some tiny cheap component that's > necessary to get things working. If you can think of what that might be > and you have some lying around, please bring a few. > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ > > From steve at chalem.com Wed Feb 13 16:29:10 2008 From: steve at chalem.com (Steve Chalem) Date: Wed Feb 13 16:29:20 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Meeting Tomorrow (Wednesday) In-Reply-To: References: <3606B5BAD467A349AC94B0D05164DBD6038078E2@EXVBE014-13.exch014.msoutlookonline.net> Message-ID: <3606B5BAD467A349AC94B0D05164DBD603807FEE@EXVBE014-13.exch014.msoutlookonline.net> Who all is planning to make it? Rich might or might not be home, but he said we can use his house anyway. If there's a really small number, maybe we could meet at my shop (halfway btwen downtown Sebastopol and downtown Santa Rosa). -----Original Message----- From: dorkbotsebastopol-blabber-bounces@music.columbia.edu [mailto:dorkbotsebastopol-blabber-bounces@music.columbia.edu] On Behalf Of bsilva Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 1:10 PM To: A discussion list for dorkbot-sebastopol Cc: dorkbotsebastopol-blabber@dorkbot.org Subject: Re: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Meeting Tomorrow (Wednesday) I may not be able to go tonight. My Wife's pretty sick and depending on how she's feeling, I may stay home. Hopefully, I'll be there. Brad On Tue, 12 Feb 2008, Steve Chalem wrote: > I haven't heard from Rich G. yet about tomorrow night. But last time > I talked to Brad S. he expected to be available, and I want to pick > Brad's brain. So if Rich somehow isn't available I'm going to break > into his house and have a meeting there anyway. > > I'm bringing a box full of stepper motors and related stuff; a head > full of questions; and probably a lack of some tiny cheap component > that's necessary to get things working. If you can think of what that > might be and you have some lying around, please bring a few. > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ > > ........................................................................ .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ ........................................................................ From steve at chalem.com Wed Feb 13 16:29:51 2008 From: steve at chalem.com (Steve Chalem) Date: Wed Feb 13 16:30:03 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Desoldering with a propane torch Message-ID: <3606B5BAD467A349AC94B0D05164DBD603807FEF@EXVBE014-13.exch014.msoutlookonline.net> Has anyone here tried it besides me? From bsilva at sonic.net Wed Feb 13 19:10:07 2008 From: bsilva at sonic.net (bsilva) Date: Wed Feb 13 19:10:17 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Desoldering with a propane torch In-Reply-To: <3606B5BAD467A349AC94B0D05164DBD603807FEF@EXVBE014-13.exch014.msoutlookonline.net> References: <3606B5BAD467A349AC94B0D05164DBD603807FEF@EXVBE014-13.exch014.msoutlookonline.net> Message-ID: Woah! Not in many years! It works, but I wouldn't recommend it except when scavenging non-temperature sensitive parts from board that you intend to throw away. I've never been able to heat the solder enough to melt without burning the board. OTOH, you're probably better with a torch than me. Brad On Wed, 13 Feb 2008, Steve Chalem wrote: > Has anyone here tried it besides me? > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ > > From bsilva at sonic.net Wed Feb 13 19:14:20 2008 From: bsilva at sonic.net (bsilva) Date: Wed Feb 13 19:14:29 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Meeting Tomorrow (Wednesday) In-Reply-To: <3606B5BAD467A349AC94B0D05164DBD603807FEE@EXVBE014-13.exch014.msoutlookonline.net> References: <3606B5BAD467A349AC94B0D05164DBD6038078E2@EXVBE014-13.exch014.msoutlookonline.net> <3606B5BAD467A349AC94B0D05164DBD603807FEE@EXVBE014-13.exch014.msoutlookonline.net> Message-ID: I will be able to make it tonight. Anyone else have an opinion about meeting at Steve's shop instead of Rich's? If Rich isn't home, I'd prefer Steve's shop. I always like checking out other people's shops! Brad On Wed, 13 Feb 2008, Steve Chalem wrote: > Who all is planning to make it? Rich might or might not be home, but he > said we can use his house anyway. > > If there's a really small number, maybe we could meet at my shop > (halfway btwen downtown Sebastopol and downtown Santa Rosa). > > > -----Original Message----- > From: dorkbotsebastopol-blabber-bounces@music.columbia.edu > [mailto:dorkbotsebastopol-blabber-bounces@music.columbia.edu] On Behalf > Of bsilva > Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 1:10 PM > To: A discussion list for dorkbot-sebastopol > Cc: dorkbotsebastopol-blabber@dorkbot.org > Subject: Re: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Meeting Tomorrow (Wednesday) > > I may not be able to go tonight. My Wife's pretty sick and depending on > how she's feeling, I may stay home. > > Hopefully, I'll be there. > > Brad > > > On Tue, 12 Feb 2008, Steve Chalem wrote: > > > I haven't heard from Rich G. yet about tomorrow night. But last time > > I talked to Brad S. he expected to be available, and I want to pick > > Brad's brain. So if Rich somehow isn't available I'm going to break > > into his house and have a meeting there anyway. > > > > I'm bringing a box full of stepper motors and related stuff; a head > > full of questions; and probably a lack of some tiny cheap component > > that's necessary to get things working. If you can think of what that > > > might be and you have some lying around, please bring a few. > > > ........................................................................ > > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with > electricity.......... > > > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > > > ........................................................................ > > > > > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ > > From steve at chalem.com Wed Feb 13 19:56:22 2008 From: steve at chalem.com (Steve Chalem) Date: Wed Feb 13 19:56:34 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Tonight's Meeting is at Steve's Shop Message-ID: <3606B5BAD467A349AC94B0D05164DBD6038080B2@EXVBE014-13.exch014.msoutlookonline.net> Tonight's meeting will be at my shop, mainly because it's easier for me than hauling boxes full of stuff to Rich's and trying to get it all hooked up again. My shop is at 4019 Sebastopol Rd. in Santa Rosa (sharing a parking lot with Community Bicycles). My cell number is (707) 280-8333. >From Santa Rosa or US-101, take CA-12 west (toward Sebastopol) and turn left at the first light (Wright Rd./Fulton Rd.). >From Sebastopol, take CA-12 east (toward Santa Rosa) and turn right at Wright Rd./Fulton Rd. Once on Wright Rd., take the first left (Sebastopol Rd.). ***A few seconds later*** turn left into the first driveway. Look for my dark gray Toyota pickup and park near it. My door isn't marked, so please refer to the attached visual aid. --Steve -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Steve's Studio Door.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 20659 bytes Desc: Steve's Studio Door.jpg Url : http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotsebastopol-blabber/attachments/20080213/a275e17b/StevesStudioDoor-0001.jpg From steve at chalem.com Tue Feb 19 19:49:28 2008 From: steve at chalem.com (Steve Chalem) Date: Tue Feb 19 19:50:26 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Logic-level to 15A A/C relay board Message-ID: <3606B5BAD467A349AC94B0D05164DBD6038EF82D@EXVBE014-13.exch014.msoutlookonline.net> Brad, Does the RLY102-5V-FT here look to you like a good deal and a reasonable thing to use with an arduino or bitwacker? http://www.winford.com/products/rly102.php?gclid=CPmDrMPE0ZECFQEsIgod2Wb BbQ --Steve From steve at chalem.com Tue Feb 19 19:53:15 2008 From: steve at chalem.com (Steve Chalem) Date: Tue Feb 19 19:53:34 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Another relay board Message-ID: <3606B5BAD467A349AC94B0D05164DBD6038EF830@EXVBE014-13.exch014.msoutlookonline.net> This looks like an even better deal (8 relays, $35) if I can get by with 10A 110vac per relay. Question: it's made for a parallel port, but I could hook it directly to a bitwacker or to eight of the digital pins on an arduino, right? http://www.electronickits.com/kit/complete/elec/ck1601.htm From rich.gibson at gmail.com Wed Feb 20 10:49:10 2008 From: rich.gibson at gmail.com (Rich Gibson) Date: Wed Feb 20 10:49:25 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Meeting tonight... Message-ID: Howdy, Last week a few of us dropped into Steve's shop and checked out his fun stuff. I'd be open to doing that again if anyone wants, otherwise I'm planning to be home this evening and ready for whatever happens. I think Brad may be a step closer to his Motor Control tutorial... Cheers, Rich -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotsebastopol-blabber/attachments/20080220/916f1bda/attachment.html From bsilva at sonic.net Wed Feb 20 13:48:22 2008 From: bsilva at sonic.net (bsilva) Date: Wed Feb 20 13:48:32 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Meeting tonight... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I am a step closer. In fact, lets go ahead and schedule it for next week. So, while I won't be there tonight, next week (if it works for Rich and others), I'll bring a projector and materials and see if I can make anything make sense. I propose Wednesday February 27th at 7PM, with meet and greet starting at 6 PM. Rich; does that work for you? Everybody else? Brad On Wed, 20 Feb 2008, Rich Gibson wrote: > Howdy, > > Last week a few of us dropped into Steve's shop and checked out his fun > stuff. > > I'd be open to doing that again if anyone wants, otherwise I'm planning to > be home this evening and ready for whatever happens. > > I think Brad may be a step closer to his Motor Control tutorial... > > Cheers, > Rich > From rich.gibson at gmail.com Wed Feb 20 14:26:17 2008 From: rich.gibson at gmail.com (Rich Gibson) Date: Wed Feb 20 14:26:27 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Meeting tonight... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: it works for me! On Wed, Feb 20, 2008 at 10:48 AM, bsilva wrote: > > I am a step closer. In fact, lets go ahead and schedule it for next week. > > So, while I won't be there tonight, next week (if it works for Rich and > others), I'll bring a projector and materials and see if I can make > anything make sense. > > I propose Wednesday February 27th at 7PM, with meet and greet starting at > 6 PM. > > Rich; does that work for you? > Everybody else? > > > Brad > > > On Wed, 20 Feb 2008, Rich Gibson wrote: > > > Howdy, > > > > Last week a few of us dropped into Steve's shop and checked out his fun > > stuff. > > > > I'd be open to doing that again if anyone wants, otherwise I'm planning > to > > be home this evening and ready for whatever happens. > > > > I think Brad may be a step closer to his Motor Control tutorial... > > > > Cheers, > > Rich > > > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ > -- Rich Gibson Chief Scientist (and bottle washer), Locative Technologies http://mappinghacks.com http://geocoder.us http://testingrange.com AIM period3equals -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotsebastopol-blabber/attachments/20080220/ec51b1aa/attachment.html From rich.gibson at gmail.com Mon Feb 25 00:19:57 2008 From: rich.gibson at gmail.com (Rich Gibson) Date: Mon Feb 25 00:20:17 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Sebastopol Dorkbot this Wednesday Message-ID: Howdy all, Steve reminded me last Wednesday that I need to more clearly communicate that these 'meetings' are a case of 'default is on' ... I plan to be around on Wednesday evenings and have an open space to dork unless otherwise stated. OTOH, It wouldn't hurt for me to send out better announcements :-) So this Wednesday, which is more than 24 hours form now, we have a Very Special dorkbot sebastopol meeting. Unless I sadly misunderstood, Brad is going to gives us v1.0 of Motors and how to control them. Steve has been doing a lot with motor controllers and stepper motors in the last few weeks - I think it fair to say that Steve thinks that they are cool Saturday I went to the reopening of the Shipyard, and I have some things to share. Last year they did a workshop on Gassification. They started on Friday evening with a little lecture on the state of the art, and then spent the weekend making gassifiers and experimenting with the technology. Jim Mason and I talked about doing a similar workshop with collective solar...mirrors! Why not collect sunlight, concentrate it, and turn steam turbines, or Stirling engines, or whatever else? There are all sorts of obstacles and things to work out to make it economically viable, but we are hackers and artists and geeks. Sometimes all three. What we need is, in Jim's words, to bring the Hot Rod aesthetic to DIY alternative energy production. Let's generate energy because it is a cool thing to do....or at least, let's play with energy. Cheers, Rich -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotsebastopol-blabber/attachments/20080224/07fea007/attachment.html From bsilva at sonic.net Mon Feb 25 19:16:10 2008 From: bsilva at sonic.net (bsilva@sonic.net) Date: Mon Feb 25 19:16:20 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Heliostats and generation.... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <6488.206.176.226.66.1203984970.squirrel@webmail.sonic.net> Regarding our on-going discussion of practical or maybe just "artful" power generation; I found this link: http://www.redrok.com/engine.htm It's a series of notes and links regarding heat engines, I particularly like the idea of using a air-conditioner scroll compressor in reverse as a generator. Also, his main page focusing on Heliostats: http://www.redrok.com/main.htm I haven't looked these over much, but I thought others might be interested. Regards, Brad From steve at chalem.com Fri Feb 29 03:25:33 2008 From: steve at chalem.com (Steve Chalem) Date: Fri Feb 29 03:26:20 2008 Subject: [dorkbotsebastopol-blabber] Arduino does Real PWM Message-ID: <3606B5BAD467A349AC94B0D05164DBD6039E3E32@EXVBE014-13.exch014.msoutlookonline.net> Brad: Thank you again for your talk last night! It was very informative and helpful. Please take a look at this link http://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/AnalogWrite. It appears to me from this that the Arduino board does what you were calling "real PWM", not "R/C PWM (i.e. PWC)". --Steve