Category: moved from livejournal

Crossfading on Mac?

November 24, 2003

All,

I’ve been used to using Sonic Foundry’s Vegas for putting together cross-faded mix discs on my PC. However, since Vegas isn’t available on Mac, I’m looking for something else that will let you slide audio tracks on top of each other then adjust cross-fades easily. I’m thinking maybe Soundtrack, or just using Final Cut Express, exporting one big AIFF file, then breaking it into tracks.

Does anyone else have a better idea? I don’t want to go with something like Traktor as I’m not intending to do this realtime…

?

November 21, 2003

Does anyone know an EE, or know where I can find (at a reasonable price, or the plans to make) a 12v DC to 12v DC transformer? I want to electrically isolate my iPod from the rest of the car.

Oh, and no, the problem still isn’t solved. :(

automotive electronics moved from livejournal

!!!

November 20, 2003

So, yes. I finally got my iPod problem solved. It was, in fact, the Radio Shack noise filter. It seems that their idea of a noise filter just isn’t an isolating transformer, it also has a cap in it, which manages to keep a bit of juice going through the Key/Acc line. I noticed this manifesting itself in the radio, which would continue to play for .5 seconds after I’ve flipped the car off. I never remembered it happening, anyway…

But, I removed this filter and the problem is gone. Everything’s working great, just a little alternator whine at loud volumes when no music is playing. Perhaps I’ll investigate a better quality filter in the future. For now, I’m glad it’s done.

Anyway, there’s some pictures of my iPod hooked into the car at http://www.dingleberrypie.com/gallery/ipod_incar.
I just need to wait for the eBay person to ship my Belkin TuneDok, then I’ll have a proper holder that will allow viewing while driving…

automotive electronics moved from livejournal

:)

November 20, 2003

Ahh, iPod problem solved. It *was* the noise filter on the power line. Unfortunately, I’ve got a little more noise now, but it’s an acceptable amount until I can come up with a better solution.

automotive electronics moved from livejournal

…

November 20, 2003

I *think* I may have found the source of the iPod troubles that I was having. It seems that when I have the power filter connected in with the Key/Acc line, it almost holds a charge of sorts, keeping Key/Acc high for a little while (maybe 1/2 second when the radio is on) after I flip the key to off. I’m thinking this bit of extra charge there is possibly keeping the iPod from properly thinking the power has been removed.

I tested this by:

1) Leaving the radio on and quickly switching the ignition from accessory to off. Radio stayed in for .5 sec extra.
2) Cut the line running to the filter (and thusly the iPod adapter).
3) Repeat step one, observe that radio does not stay on for .5 sec extra.

After dinner (and some King of the Hill) I’m going to throw some laundry in, then reconnect the iPod adapter, sans filter, and see if the problem still exists and if there is any additional noise. If no noise and problem is gone, I’ll be a happy Steve. If the noise is still there, it’s time to investigate 0:0 transformers for coupling purposes. I’m not sure how to set this up… I’m not sure why the Radio Shack filter seems to hold a charge. Maybe there’s a cap in there to prevent voltage drop? Not sure…

automotive electronics moved from livejournal

:)

November 17, 2003

Yes, cutting tenons into long oak pieces on a table saw without a dado blade isn’t the best idea. My hands are sore and cramped just from holding the pieces against the miter. But, the results are looking good… I’m going to try to work on these a bit more tomorrow before class, and then I should be set to do some sanding before the major assembly of the head- and footboards go.

Oh, in case you don’t know, I’ve been working on building a solid oak queen-sized bed for about two years now. I was constantly putting the project away in order to work on moving into my condo, the rooms upstairs, or various other things. Well, I finally have a table saw, and with that, most of the tools I needed to keep working. I just need to keep the motivation going… There’s still the finishing of the mortises, cutting of the large curve in the head and foot boards, sanding, assembling the head and foot boards, adding the spindles, finishing the side rails, then staining and applying urethane to everything.

Oh, here’s a picture of the bed I’m making: http://www.dingleberrypie.com/gallery/bed/aac
Here’s the tenons I cut tonight: http://www.dingleberrypie.com/gallery/bed/DCP_1294
Here’s the garage as it was left tonight: http://www.dingleberrypie.com/gallery/bed/DCP_1293
Here’s the whole bed project gallery. Not a lot of pics, as I’m lazy about this project: http://www.dingleberrypie.com/gallery/bed

making things moved from livejournal

:)

October 16, 2003

Okay, iTunes for Windows kicks ass. It’s *just* like iTunes for Mac. This makes me really happy… Although, if this had come out a year ago, I may not own a Mac right now. heh.

So, yes, if you have *lots* of music around, especially if you wish the library features of Winamp 3 actually worked, give iTunes for Windows a chance. It’s slick…

Oh, and there’s all the iTunes Music Store stuff that lets you buy CDs online reasonably.

computers moved from livejournal music

Office!

October 13, 2003

After finally getting my office back together for tomorrow’s arrival of the G5, I thought I’d take some pictures of my office in it’s current state. Click here or on the picture below if you’d like to see some more photos. After I get the G5 in place (it’ll go on the aluminum slab that’s on the rack, but be placed where the G4 cube is) I’ll likely take some more photos, complete with detail of the aluminum stand that I made for the G5.

Click for more…

UPDATE: Whoops… I just realized that this post went to the wrong journal. It was supposed to be in . Sorry about that…

around the house computers moved from livejournal

RIVETHEAD!

October 4, 2003

Wow, I feel like a true out and out rivethead tonight. I just spent the last hour filing, grinding, and wire brushing a 10″ x 20″ piece of 6061 aluminum alloy. See, when the G5 comes, it’s not going to fit on my shelf. Because of this I wanted to make a shelf for the G5, so it’ll sit nicely and look all pretty and stuff. My first choice was a nice 1/2″ thick piece of glass, but that ended up being too pricey; almost $70. Next, I consulted lowcostmetals.com after hearing about them from a friend. Turns out that I was able to get a appropriate sized piece of aluminum for $32, shipped. Not bad at all…

Anyway, the aluminum slab is a little scratched and was rather worn, so I decided to give it the most appropriate finish I could think of: brushed metal. Well, tonight I filed all the edges to nice 45°, put the wire wheel in my drill, and gave all the surfaces a fairly decent brush job, removing all but a couple of scratches. I think it looks pretty good…

As I was in the middle of finishing off the slab of aluminum, I remembered something I read online when reading the 6061 Aluminum Material Property Data Sheet. It seems that if one wishes to artificially age 6061 aluminum, it requires “350°F for 8 hours followed by air cooling” to reach T6 temper. Poking around Google, I found that T6 is a pretty hard temper, and I figured that it would be good to temper this stand, just to hopefully cut down on any more scratches.

So, in the oven it went. Seeing as this is a decent sized slab of metal, I’m going to give it 10 hours in a pre-heated oven. That means come 10:00am, I’m going to wake up, turn off the oven, and let the slab cool. Woo! Before placing the slab on the rack in the oven I made sure to wipe it down with isopropyl alcohol while wearing latex gloves. Hopefully that’ll eliminate any heat-assisted oxidation that may occur. If it does, I’ll just steel wool it off.

After the oven treatment I’m going to throw a number of coats of satin urethane (yes, the same stuff I used in my furniture) on the slab and call it done. Hopefully it’ll look nice… My tests with this urethane on various computer parts and metal pieces seemed to give a nice overall dulling, yet smoothing, effect, which is just what I’m looking for… So, we’ll see what happens. :)

Oh, maybe some pictures…

Slab at beginning of heat treatment.
Click for more pics…

Well, just one, but that’s all right. I also put together the new table saw tonight, but I didn’t cut anything, so that part wasn’t as industrial as it could be… Woo! Italics…

Anyway, I think I’m done for tonight. I also slapped together some extra-low-cost shelves from Target to give me a place to put my vinyl and books in my office. Those worked out really well… Pics will be forthcoming, most likely after I get the office all put together. Finishing that will entail about two hours on my back, tying cables up above my head… Sort of the way I hurt my chest before. Sort of.

computers making things moved from livejournal

!

October 2, 2003

Yay! I stopped at Sears Hardware on the way home and I *finally* have a Vernier caliper. With me being as anal as I am about things being accurate, I can’t believe that I never had one. Now I can finally measure things accurately. No more silly tape measure trying to determine if something is 7/16″ or 3/4″. Heh.

acquired things making things moved from livejournal