Pat Clements

Feb 8, 2010 -

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Camera is Ready to Upgrade, Which One?

I guess readers can see that I've gotten pretty big into photography. It's another good way to combine my favorite sports and activities with yet another challenge. I've carried my DSLR across Iowa on my bike in my handlebar bag. I've hiked miles deep into Walls of Jericho with all my lenses and my full size tripod (what was I thinking on that one?) I have a waterproof case so I can take it canoeing or kayaking. So many times, I've taken beautifully composed pictures Keep reading [...]

Nov 29, 2009 -

Electronics

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Motorola Droid Review

As a Verizon customer for years, I was a little reluctant to switch to AT&T just for an iPhone. I mean really - your smart phone has to first work properly as a phone, and I know from observation that the Verizon network is better almost everywhere. I'm a little miffed about the rumor mill, suggesting that the iPhone will come to Verizon. I doubt that will ever happen. So, finally a contender arrived - the Motorola Droid. I upgraded my 4-year old Motorola Razr, got Keep reading [...]

Jan 5, 2009 -

Electronics

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Strange but Interesting Electronics

When browsing around for electronics information on Arduinos and other miscellaneous stuff, I found this guy.
http://screwdecaf.cx/forearm-ruler.html
He has some really interesting projects, but most of all I like that he’s a nerdy tinkerer at heart, has dreads and he does crazy stuff like tattoo’ing a ruler on his arm. Come on, the dude is seriously nuts!

Jan 5, 2009 -

Electronics

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DIY Bicycle Light Update

OK, so I finally finished my DIY LED bike light using the 3-LED Cree XR-E design from www.bikeled.org. I rode with it last Tuesday night on the Natchez Trace ride with some HBC members. In summary, it's impolitely bright. Running at 1000mA, it's very much like car headlights, and even brighter than some of the headlights of cars that passed us. Most of the time, I rode with it dimmed down to 500mA or 350mA modes. Other comments - I bought the Cree XR-E star boards from DealExtreme. The parts Keep reading [...]

Dec 2, 2008 -

Electronics

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Refoamed Speaker Surrounds

My Advent Prodigy II speakers were completely rotten around the outside. It makes sense since I bought them in 1992! The foam had rotted completely out and the crumbled remains were laying on the floor. So, I began searching and I came across lots of speakers, including some AP-II's that had been "refoamed." So, after a few Google searches, I figured out what "refoamed" meant and I found lots of information on how to do it. So, another ebay search, I found a kit that Keep reading [...]

Nov 29, 2008 -

Electronics

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Craving for Arduino

I have an itch to tinker with Arduino processor boards. www.arduino.cc. I think I’ll try a sprinkler controller or something like that. www.sparkfun.com has some interesting looking stuff to interface to it. Controlling LED’s is a good thing to experiment with, but I want to play with analog signals that cause digital things to happen – maybe an accelerometer or a gyroscope application. More later.

Oct 16, 2008 -

Electronics

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DIY Bicycle Light Resources

I've always been toying with the idea of a homemade bicycle light. I haven't done it yet, but here are some resources to make it happen.Some guy's site that explains what Cree is, how to pick lenses and a few sources:http://www.bikeled.org/A forum site that has tons of information for homemade bike light building addicts. They use a lot of lingo, and assume everyone knows what a Q5 LED is, or what a Buckpuck is.http://www.candlepower.org/A good source for LED's and other parts.http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.917http://www.dealextreme.com/Microprocessor Keep reading [...]