nuxx.net
Making, baking, and (un-)breaking things in Southeast Michigan.

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Tubes for my Ears

August 7, 2007

Getting there…

Well, the Millett Hybrid MAX that I’ve been working on is coming along. I ended up doing a few things to it tonight. First, I removed the tube sockets because I was going to fit new, hollowed out sockets and LEDs beneath the tubes. However, after some calculations I found that the LEDs connect right to the main 27V rail, and thusly the current limiting resistors have to sink a whole bunch of power. For the sake of not putting such a load on the power supply, simplicity, and a few other things I’ve opted not to illuminate the LEDs. (I would have needed something like 2W resistors.) So, new sockets will go back in place.

I also removed a bunch of the transistors. Because I want both sides to be balanced as closely as possible I ordered a lot of 100 of each of two types of transistors which can affect this. I’ll then match them and ensure that they are installed symmetrically.

Finally, I removed the 1/4″ headphone jack, because I decided I wanted a different type. I think I’m also going to put in a 3.5mm jack, just as soon as I have to place another order with Mouser.

I fitted a few of the new parts that came in, specifically some 1/8W resistors I had to purchase, because the exact required value of 1/4 watt weren’t available. 1/8W should be plenty for here, I think. I also fitted three more heatsinks.

Basically, as soon as my Mouser order comes in tomorrow I’ll have everything I need to almost completely finish the amp. Hopefully I can do so over the next couple of days. Sure, I won’t have the 3.5mm jack, but I can use an adapter for the time being.

I realized tonight that I’ll have to cut down the shaft on the really expensive, really nice Alps pot, but I think I can handle that.

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Giant PDFs in <36 Hours

August 6, 2007

Linking Microbial Diversity and Geochemistry
of Uranium-Contaminated Groundwater
(72dpi JPEG · PDF)

Screening and Characterization of Soil Microbes Capable of
Degrading Cellulose from Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)
(72dpi JPEG · PDF)

Remember those layouts I was talking about yesterday? They are done. Finally. Besides work and sleep and showering and pooping I’ve worked on nothing else but these since I woke yesterday morning.

Except for the MAME Cabinet control panels, these are the first poster-size thing I’ve done, and they were done in an extremely short period of time for the scale of work (read: more than a bit rushed), but I’m pretty happy with them. My source material for them was two JPEGs, a word document containing content, and a couple of spreadsheets with unformatted tables and graphs.

These are posters which cover the work Danielle has been doing at ORNL for the past few months. They will be printed at 55″ x 36″ and will be presented sometime this week. Hopefully the presentation will go well.

Now I think I’m going to relax a little. I’ve got a monitor here to test†, but I might push that off until tomorrow.

† I picked up a Westinghouse LCM-22w3 for US$179 at Best Buy. It’s not a great monitor, but it has a DVI input, is huge, and was cheap. I’m debating using it for my MAME Cabinet, but I’m really not sure. If you are interested one, most of the local shops still seem to have them in stock. Here is the Best Buy page for the item.

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Layout Hell

August 5, 2007

So, Danielle’s down at ORNL, right?

Well, she’s needing some last-minute help doing layout on presentations so that they can be done in time to be presented on Wednesday or whatever.

Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal, but there were a lot of graphics I had to redo (they were given to me as low res PNGs), charts and tables I had to move from Excel to something vector-based, flowcharts to make, etc.

I’m only done with the first poster, the second one is about half done. I still have to get all the charts into it, get it flowing better, etc. However, if you want to see them, here they are:

· Linking Microbial Diversity and Geochemistry of Uranium-Contaminated Groundwater (Finished — 2.5 MB)
· Screening and Characterization of Soil Microbes Capable of
Degrading Cellulose from Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) (Incomplete Draft — 4.7 MB)

I feel like a hack for using what’s basically the same layout for both, but I figure that the need for these posters is immediate enough that it’s okay for me to do. If I had two weeks and time to think and reanalyze and such they would be a lot better, but this is some stuff with a very immediate need.

A few minutes ago I just realized that I’ve been working on these for about 12 hours and haven’t showered nor brushed my teeth today. Yay!

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Finished!

August 4, 2007

Metering Power Consumption by two v2.0 RS232 to Eaton Leonard Interfaces
(Click for more photos (photo gallery retired)…)

Well, they are done. I worked for quite a while last night and for a good part of the day today, and all of the first production run of v2.0 RS232 to Eaton Leonard Interfaces is complete. They have all been bagged up and are sealed in a box waiting for me to deliver them in about a week and a half.

If you go to this page (photo gallery retired) you can also see a bunch of images I took of all the boards tiled together. These would be good for the background of product literature or something.

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Thickened Yogurt

August 4, 2007

Placing a bunch of yogurt on a coffee filter and then on a strainer is a good thing. However, I should not have tried to turn this thickened savory dish into sweet with the addition of cinnamon and honey. It’s not bad, but it doesn’t taste very good on an english muffin. :(

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Getting closer…

August 3, 2007

Missing LEDs and Power Connectors Only

Well, these are coming along nicely. All I have left to do tomorrow is install the LEDs and screw terminal power connectors, then I can wash and dry them and begin testing. Hopefully every single one will pass. They should, unless there are bad parts.

If they don’t, I’ve got a few spares of each part, just in case…

I also need to get some exercise tomorrow. I’m not yet sure what I’ll do, though… Maybe roller blading, maybe just a walk in a park. At least tomorrow is forecasted to be fairly nice weather-wise.

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Production Run

August 1, 2007

20 PCBs with Resistors.

Nothing special here, I just fitted all the resistors to the first production run of the v2.0 boards I’ve been working on. I’ve got about 1.5 weeks to get them finished, so I’m probably going to do one step per night. Tonight was resistors, tomorrow ICs, then… well… maybe I’ll do more over the weekend. After ICs will be the caps, then the transistors, then the pin headers and RJ45 jacks, then the LEDs and screw terminals. Then washing, drying, testing, packaging…

…or, something. :) It’ll all get figured out / built / tested in time.

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Culture Club!

August 1, 2007

Cultured butter cooling in the fridge.

Yay! I now have two large ramiken of Butter++† chilling in the fridge.

Here’s how I made it:

1) Put a pint of heavy cream in a clean container.
2) Stir in a large spoonful of fresh, plain yogurt.
3) Cover and let it sit at room temperature for ~24 hours.
4) Put the cultured cream in a water-tight container and shake the container until solid butter forms.
5) Pour the butter / buttermilk mixture into a bowl and work with a spoon until as much buttermilk runs out as possible. Pour the buttermilk off and save it for pancakes.
6) Fill a large bowl with a mixture of ice and water.
7) Spoon the butter into the bowl in clumps.
8) Break the chilling butter into smaller clumps with your fingers.
9) Stir the butter around to wash it.
10) Form golf ball sized clumps of the cold butter with your hands, ring it out, then put it back in the water. Repeat until all the small clumps are in larger clumps and generally rung out.
11) Take a larger clump out of the ice water, shake it off, then squeeze it a few times to remove any remaining water.
12) Pack the cold butter into a ramiken.
13) Invert the ramiken on a pad of paper towel on a place and place in the fridge.
14) As the butter is chilling, occasionally press on the butter to squeeze out more water / buttermilk. Change paper towel if necessary.
15) After the butter has chilled, cover tightly and use lovingly.

I have no idea how long this keeps for, but I figure that it’ll last for about two weeks if tightly covered. If you salt the butter (after step 5) it’ll keep for a bit longer.

Any flavoring (herbs, honey and cinnamon, etc) can be stirred in after step 11. Oh, and Danielle first told me how to culture butter, and since I love making butter I thought I’d give it a go. I also read that washing butter is common in commercial production, so I tried that as well.

† Cultured butter.

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