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Fun Stuff => MAKE => Topic started by: Unosuke on 07 Oct 2007, 20:09

Title: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: Unosuke on 07 Oct 2007, 20:09
I got this beginner's soldering kit a while back, and finally got around to putting it together, so here ya go.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v361/Unosuke/diggbutton.jpg)

I also put a little pin on the back to I can put it on my bag

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v361/Unosuke/diggme.jpg)

Here's another one, sorry for the blurriness
 
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v361/Unosuke/diggmeclose.jpg)
Title: Re: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: celticgeek on 08 Oct 2007, 07:13
Of course, electronics counts as a craft.

And that is pretty cool.
Title: Re: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: oblivion on 08 Oct 2007, 07:47
Nice!  Do you get dugg often? 

You've got to love AdaFruit Industries and MakeZine.  My first kit was the miniPOV kit which I hacked into a 'Brain Machine' thanks to MakeZine/Mitch Altman.

MiniPOV in action (http://www.flickr.com/photos/oblivion/1327031378/):
(http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1015/1327031378_013ed40c7a_m.jpg)

The "Brain Machine" (http://www.flickr.com/photos/oblivion/1357063609/):
(http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1036/1357063609_71efbf65e2_m.jpg)
Title: Re: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: Unosuke on 08 Oct 2007, 10:46
I kind of want to make one of those brain machines. Do they really work?

Also, I want to get that POV kit for your bicycle wheels
Title: Re: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: oblivion on 08 Oct 2007, 12:54
If by 'work' you mean 'make funky tones and blinky lights,' yes, they work quite well.  The effect is trippy to varying degrees.  I have some tinnitus, so the base frequencies used in Mitch Altman's instructions were, quite honestly, obnoxious.  I figured out (with his help) how to program lower base freqs which are easier on my ears.  I've also tweaked the order/timing of the brain wave patterns more to my liking.  The default pattern is designed to get you to meditate then bring you back to alertness.  I want something that's going to help me get to sleep since sometimes I just can't turn my brain off.  The beauty of open source hackery is that I can experiment with different patterns to my heart/brain's content.  I haven't settled on the perfect pattern yet, but it works pretty well.

I say order the kit and follow the MakeZine instructions.  Total cost is less than $20 depending on what you have laying around and if nothing else you could put the blinking LEDs in a skeleton cutout and have a funky Halloween decoration :)  Or if the brain machine doesn't work for you, you could always hack it back into the miniPOV kit.

The bicycle POVs look cool, but honestly, I don't ride my bike anymore.  If I thought it could live up to the rigors of being on a motorcycle, I just might try it. :D

What I REALLY want to build is AdaFruit's MIDIsense kit.  Then, of course, there's the x0xb0x. http://www.ladyada.net/make/x0xb0x/ 
Title: Re: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: valley_parade on 09 Oct 2007, 09:49
I still want to build a stompbox or two.
Title: Re: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: carrotosaurus on 09 Oct 2007, 10:51
I've built 4 stompboxes. I'll post pics afte they are painted.
Title: Re: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: Scandanavian War Machine on 09 Oct 2007, 16:48
what the fuck are you guys talking about? it sounds fascinating.

also, what does that thing do, unosuke?
Title: Re: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: Unosuke on 09 Oct 2007, 17:09
its quite simple, you push the button, and that little lcd flashes "dug" and then the number goes up. it can only go to 999.
Title: Re: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: oblivion on 10 Oct 2007, 12:09
I've built 4 stompboxes. I'll post pics afte they are painted.

Badass.   What do they do?  Did you design them yourself, or go from schematics?
Title: Re: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: carrotosaurus on 10 Oct 2007, 12:40
They're all built from kits. I'm thinking about designing my own/pulling some schematics off the web and soldering a blank board, but I'm in the process of moving and need to setup a desk for such projects. My friend and I are thinking about designing some of our own pedals and going into the boutique guitar FX pedal business. It's very lucrative, from what I hear...

I grabbed a couple different kits off http://www.buildyourownclone.com/ and built them. Very good sounding boxes. What I have currently is:
Compressor
Digital Delay
Tremelo
MK II Tonebender

And I'm working on a Lazy Sprocket right now. All of the pedals sound FANTASTIC. I highly recommend them, especially because you'll be able to get some pretty amazing tones on the cheap.
Title: Re: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: roulettescars on 19 Jan 2008, 21:41
Damn, I'm deffinatly going to check into some of those pedals. Are they very difficult for a first time electronics constructor? Or can you recomend anything to practice with that i could probably find lying around the house gathering dust?
Title: Re: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: valley_parade on 21 Jan 2008, 08:35
http://www.buildyourownclone.com/fuzz.html

Holy crap man I want to build a fuzz pedal.
Title: Re: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: Ballard on 24 Jan 2008, 12:11
I've known about that site for a while and they have some cool shit but I haven't really had access to a soldering iron.

There's one at the guitar shop I recently started working at. It might be a cool project.

So far I've just been learning to wire guitars though. Amps and pedals are much more difficult.
Title: Re: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: ledhendrix on 25 Jan 2008, 07:50
I built a compressor, it is really fun making thinks. Also having a soldering iron is so handy if you are prone to breaking leads, i havn't had to buy a lead in ages, you can just buy the lead wire and get some of the jacks and then make up your own leads any length you want.
Title: Re: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: roulettescars on 09 Mar 2008, 20:16
you can get a soldering iron for like 10 bucks at wal mart or radio shack. I've recently developed an interest in circuit bending, which is fun, cause you don't really have to know what you're doing, its all about experimenting.
Title: Re: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: MarkTBSc on 04 Jul 2008, 12:08
When I bought a guitar, rather than shell out for an amp and risk making everyone very very upset at the 'Natasha-like' noise I decided to build my own headphone amp. This was after falling in love with all the gadgets people have put in altoids tins. You can guess what happened next.

(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/richard.townsend1/Amp1.jpg)

(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/richard.townsend1/Amp2.jpg)

Of course I do have the unfair advantage that I do this for a job so have all the tools and parts to hand.
Title: Re: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: Social Bacon on 05 Jul 2008, 16:21
That is the most awesome amp I have ever seen. Just wow.
Title: Re: Electronics can count as a craft can't it?
Post by: MarkTBSc on 06 Jul 2008, 08:07
Thanks, but it's a bit of a mess really. It works but someday I'll have to rebuild it with a tidier circuit-board. The trouble is that etching PCBs requires caustic chemicals I'm not fond of and a UV setup I don't have.

It's on the back burner - next come the Plasma Speakers!!
 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg-9snu8kf0)