What do you do when you have some Cedar and a Miter Saw? Make a Christmas tree.

In the last image you can see I’ve glued in the 10mm LEDs. I used Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Pink, and a White one as the star on top. I’ll probably drive them with a simple CMOS chip (maybe a 4017 decade counter or a 4060 divider). It’s not really worth using the A6276 LED Driver, as I don’t want to use a microcontroller to drive it. Instead, it will flash the LEDs in a pseudo random fashion.

The build is easy as can be. Just cut 45 miters at the end of each board, alternating the cuts (left one side, right the other). I used 1×4 lumber and offset each level about 2″ or so. It was all pretty much by-eye, resulting in a tree that’s around 3 feet tall and old a couple of inches deep (due to the stand). The boards are then screwed to a 1×4 “trunk” using 1″ drywall screws.

The base is pretty simple, again using some scraps. I “thickened” the bottom of the trunk with some scraps, then screwed in two trapezoids to keep it stable front-to-back.

LEDs are held in place with Liquid Nails (clear). I also used some PowerGrab construction adhesive (white) on the back (just to be safe). Once that stuff has dried overnight I’ll start the wiring.

Evelyn and I have had a pretty busy week and weren’t in the mood for a big complicated meal today. Instead of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, I went with something simple: A Japanese Curry mix.

These are boxes of sauce mix that you can buy at Asian markets. To them you add meat and vegetables, simmer for a bit, then serve over some rice. Here is what you start with:

It’s really pretty simple: take two large onions, two medium potatoes, and about 4 medium-small carrots. (I weigh everything, according to the box, since sizes vary.) You clean the veggies and chop into bite sized pieces. Do the same for the meat, ending up with about a pound of bite-sized chicken breast.

Take a large skillet and saute everything in some oil/butter until browned a bit. Then you pour in about three cups of water, cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes (until carrots and potatoes are soft–the onions will have softened during the browning process).

Once the veggies are softened, the magic begins. There are two packets of curry mix in the box, individually portioned. I use 1/2 a box (one packet) for the above amount of veggies and meat. You break the curry into pieces (it’s already scored) and stir it in. After about 10 minutes on low heat the sauce will be thickened and you’ll have a delicious curry smell in the house.

The box indicates using the above quantities of veggies and meat with one whole box of curry mix and 5 cups of water. I modified this so that I use the full box quantity of veggies and meat, but about half the water and 1/2 box of the curry mix. This gives a good curry to veggie/meat ratio and a meal for four people (or two meals for 2).

The end result is a big skillet full of warm delicious stew-like smooth curry:

Again, remember that I do a full batch of veggies. This means that you need to do this is a large 12-14″ skillet. It almost overflows my pan (and I have a large commercial 12″ which is a true 12″ across the bottom). If in doubt, cook everything in a Dutch oven, where the chances of overflowing will disappear.

Everything comes together very quickly. If you put your rice in the cooker when you start you’ll have the rice and curry done at the same time (about an hour, including cutting). The curry reheats well. We end up having at least two meals out of the 1/2 box of mix.

A note about the heat level: We have tried the “Medium Hot” and the “Hot”. Unless our taste buds are burned out, we found that neither is hot at all. I couldn’t tell any difference at all between the two heat levels and would consider it mild.

I’d recommend this dish to someone who wants a little variety in their dinner meal, but doesn’t want to go too far off the deep end. Picky traditional people will like it’s stew-like presentation (served over rice). People looking for a new flavor will enjoy the mild curry flavor. Well worth trying out.

Recently Ron sent me a notice about contest given by Lady Ada Limor. This contest is to design her an “Ask an Engineer” banner.

I took a look at her requirements here and came up with this design:

I notice on her forum there were no animated ones so I took on the challenge to make an animated banner. It took me awhile to get the look and feel but I think that it turned out quite nice. I hope she likes it.

I’m often on the lookout for train books and ephemera. The books are the easy part. The transitory objects (like tickets, passes, etc) are a bit harder to find.

A while back we were in a local antique shop when I came across a small bag of assorted railway trinkets. In there was a bit of Texas history.

Conductor Certificate

Above is a Conductor Certificate for the Southern Pacific Lines (Texas and Louisiana). It’s dated May 1, 1924 and is for “R. S. Roberts (T&P)”.

This is to Certify that on this date R. S. Roberts (T&P) was examined on the rules and regulations of the transportation department and was found to be competent to perform his duties of Conductor.

Texas And Pacific Railway Pass

Also in the pack was a 1931 railway pass for the same R.S. Roberts and his family:

The pass lists the family information:

Mr. R.S. Roberts, wife, Sons Bob (16) & Jack (8) & Dtrs. [daughters] Jewell (14), Marguerite (11) & Louise (9).

Interestingly, the “e” in Louise was marked out with a pencil. I wonder if it should have been “Louis” instead? The card also notes that Mr. Roberts had “Over 15 years service” at the time of the card (1931) and was good for “Stations on Fr. Worth Divn”.

The back of the card is signed, with an address of “Longview, Tex” [Texas].

The Research

I did a bit of searching but couldn’t find much of anything on R.S. Roberts. It looked like some of the daughters might have died more recently, but the birth dates I found didn’t seem to line up. Either they were different people, or the dates are off. Unfortunately, only the daughters had more unique names (Marguerite and Jewell), but being daughters they were more likely to give up their maiden name, making my search more difficult.

The one clear mention I did find of Mr. Roberts was in a legal document regarding his mother. It seems that Mr. Andrew J. Roberts (his father) died on February 27, 1908. The father was a Civil War veteran (Confederate) and so his wife was eligible for his pension (after a law change in 1909). Mrs. Mary O. Roberts (his mother) was 72 at the time of the petition (May 28, 1913).

Later in the documents was information on Mary Roberts’ death, on February 26, 1933 — 25 years after her husbands death — at the age of 97 (if my math is correct).

The original request for petition was done by a Mr. F. F. Roberts, identified as her son. So, I would assume that my Mr. R.S. Roberts had a brother F.F. (I sure wish I knew why the sons kept abbreviating their names. It’s made my search that more difficult.) Looks like F.F. lived in Wills Point, Texas and was in the Spanish American War. R.S. and his mother appeared to have lived in Longview all their lives.

You can read more about the pension here: Confederate Pension Petition for Mrs. Mary O. Roberts

If there are any surviving family members who know more about this story, please let me know.

I finally enabled the dead-simple WordPress Mobile plugin, so now all of the blogs are mobile / phone friendly. Meaning they should load pretty quickly and be appropriately formatted. I don’t access much from my phone (mainly because my Blackberry has a dead battery and stays attached to a wall), but it seemed to work okay. If it doesn’t work, all I can say is “sorry”, because I don’t know how the plug-in works.

This covers Austin Antics (sybarite.us), Sixty Second Shop (sixtysecondshop.com), and Austin Kontore (kontore.net).

Ever wanted to pretend to be a Roman Legionnaire? Need a lightweight but really kick-ass little axe? Then take a look at the Fox Roman-style Hunter’s Axe.

It weighs only about a pound and is a little over a foot long, making it an ideal little axe for your yard work (or building fortified camps). It’s made in Northern Italy using Swedish steel and is of very high quality.

What do I like most about this axe? Well, it looks really cool for one. And it has a wonderfully shaped blade. But the one thing that I find most impressive is the handle design.

The handle is a marvel in wood shaping. You grasp the axe from the bottom end of the handle and it fits perfectly into your clasped hand. It’s such a natural position that the axe becomes and extension of your arm. The grip is so perfect that it feels magical in your hand — it’s that good.

In the USA you can get the Fox Roman Hunters Axe at A.G. Russell for about $70. (Russell is a reputable dealer, based out of Arkansas. I’ve bought a number of things from them.)

Here is the link: Fox Knives Roman Style Hunters Axe

When working with digital electronics it’s often helpful to see what you are doing. Unfortunately our eyes don’t have the ability to see data flowing through a copper wire. Instead, being the smart animals we are, we come up with tools to help us.

One such tool is the Logic Analyzer. It’s a device that can monitor and display the bits of ons and offs that are flowing through the circuits we’ve designed.  Unfortunately, while these tools are very helpful for the professional and dedicated amateur, they often have a price tag that quickly bankrupt you (a low-end Tek portable 32 channel starts at $10,000).

Fortunately, a lot of the analysis part can be passed off to desktop computers. This allows the fancy Intel Core i7 in your desktop to crunch the bits, leaving data collection to a (relatively) inexpensive USB-connected device. This is where tools just as the Saleae Logic come in.

This tiny device (the small black box of anodized aluminum) connects to your computer via a USB mini cable and has 8 protected inputs (the rainbow of flexible wires). In the above photo we have it connected to the Arduino data lines feeding the A6276 LED driver. In this configuration we can see how the micrcontroller is talking to the driver, making debugging and understanding much easier.

Once you have done a sample run, you can see the results in the Logic’s software:

The above is a simulation run, so the data are all over the place.

In our programs, we look for things like single data streams, clocks, and latches. It’s actually easier to understand than it sounds. You “latch” the driver — basically tell it “hey, wake up, I’m talking to you!” Then you give it a clock, saying “hey, what I’m about to say now is important”. Then you give it the data, “here’s what I want you to do.”

Now the Saleae Logic isn’t going to beat those wonderful Tek and Agilent devices — but not many amateurs need such expensive (and complicated) devices. Heck, I’d wager that many professional engineers just need a quick way to check on plain-old data streams, and the Saleae does this wonderfully. (The Logic screams “field tech tool” — it’s tiny, light, and plugs into a laptop.)

The software is not complicated, and sometimes feels too sparse, but that is by design. It wasn’t developed to be a kitchen sink device. It was designed to allow you to quickly look at digital signals without a lot of pain. The software is currently available for Windows, though the developer is working hard on a Mac and Linux version.

Don’t let the simplicity of the implementation make you think that this is a “cheap” device. Included are top-notch USA-made probes, high-quality flexible leads, a sturdy metal device, and a nice case. Very professionally done and something that will have have other electrical engineers asking “what’s that?” quickly followed by “I want one!”

I know what you are going to say: A tape measure? What the heck is so exciting about a tape measure?

Well, it’s exciting when it’s a Komelon Self Lock tape measure.

Why? Because of the utter simplicity of the implementation. You pull the tape out and it auto-locks. Always. No buttons, no levers, no switches. Pull the tape and the tape stays. Period. To retract, press the big green button on top. Easy as that.

I can’t tell you how much such a feature makes things easier in the shop. I can’t understand why all tape measures don’t work this way.

Like a lot of tools, tape measures also seem to have an inferiority complex. Longer must be better, right? No way. Honestly, how often do you measure 25′ spans in your shop work? I’d guess: Never, unless you are building a house/deck. I’d much rather lug around an 8′ or 12′ model than some 25′ beast.

For my shop, I keep shorter measures wherever I’m likely to need them: the miter saw, the tool bucket, one at each work bench, etc. Better to have a couple of them about than always be looking to see where you left your only measure. Return them to their designated space after use, so you don’t waste time looking for them.

You can pick up a 12′ Komelon Self Lock for about $8 at Lowe’s or Amazon.

Komelon SL2812 Self Lock 12-Foot Power Tape

Make sure to get the Self Lock version. I’m sure their other stuff is great, but I dig the ease of use.

I’ve owned a Craftsman 19.2 V drill for a while now. I love cordless drills, but I’ve come to the conclusion that these devices are the SUVs of tools. Meaning, if the Ford Escape is good, then the Explorer must be better! It’s a cold war of battery voltages and the loser is you.

Why? Because they just become heavier and heavier. Our chicken coops use hundreds of screws, and after a day of lugging around a +19V tool you feel like your arm is about to fall off. Sure, that 24 V beast might look manly, but try holding it over your head for half the day. No fun at all.

Instead, I highly recommend taking a look at the new lines of lower voltage Lithium Ion powered tools. The set that I own is from Makita.

Makita LCT203W 10.8-Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Two-Piece Combo Kit

The set I got (about $150 from Amazon) comes with a drill/driver (left) and an impact driver (right). As you can see, I use my screwdriver bits in the drill/driver and usually have a 1/8″ drill bit in the impact driver. (It’s kinda a waste of the impact, but it’s just for pre-drilling purposes.) Included are two batteries (one for each) and a charger. It all comes in a very spiffy metal hard case.

To give you some perspective on size, here is what the drill looks like next to my “normal sized” Craftsman drill:

As you can see, the whole Makita unit is less than the size of the Craftsman battery and handle! It’s also, obviously, far lighter. It’s a perfect all-day driver.

Some stand-out features that I like:

• Very light weight.
• Powerful for their size.
• Quick charging.
• LED helper light that STAYS ON once the driver stops. This is a feature that should be on all drills. When you start/stop the drill, the white LED stays on for about 15 seconds. I can’t tell you how helpful this simple feature is when you are working in dark spaces.
• Quality build. They don’t feel like cheap tools.

Some things I wish were improved:

• Replacement / extra batteries are too expensive.
• Not as much torque as the big drills, but that’s not really a design failure — if I have a heavy job, I use the bigger drill.
• This set only accepts HEX bits. These are much more expensive than regular drill bits, and harder to find in a variety of sizes. For me, no big deal, since most of my pre-drilling is with an 1/8th bit.

Makita does make a regular chucked version of the drill, but the sucky part is that it’s most of the cost of this set! I spent the $30 or so more and got two tools.

If you are doing a lot of in-place drilling and fastening, I highly recommend that you have the pair of tools. It saves a LOT of time as you aren’t swapping bits all the time. In my case, the drill has my screwdriver bit and the impact the drill bit. (Their drill/driver has better speed control than the impact, and it has a torque setting so you don’t over fasten.)

If you are in the market for a new lightweight drill, take a look at the Makita 10.8V line. I’ve put some good hours on them and have not been disappointed in my purchase.

Things have been mostly quiet in our area. With the holidays coming up, our coop work has slowed down. We’re running though a couple of possible holiday ideas, but it might be too late to implement them. We’ll see.

The last couple of days have been spent reorganizing our spaces. Basically better configuring the shop area, for both electronics and wood working. A lot of bits and pieces have piled up over the last 6 months, and the garage needed an overhaul.

Our current open projects are more electronic in nature. Here are a couple:

• Controllable light bar. We developed a simpler (two color) version of this for Halloween. Now we’ve moved to a more advanced model, with 5 colors (red, yellow, blue, green, and white). These are mounted on a board which can be mounted near our front window. The idea is to have some stencil-like projections at the front window. For example, have cutouts of fall leaves, and then back-light with red and yellow. (Similar to Evelyn’s fall art piece.)
• The audio Memory / Concentration game, which I’ve already written something about. I built a base for it and now need to wire up the Arduino with the Wave Shield and the buttons. Then then the boring (for me) process of coding begins. I really used to enjoy coding, but not so much anymore.
• HP 2382A “dumb” terminal as a Facebook display. I’m always looking for new ways to use this ancient piece of equipment. Perhaps as a Twitter or Facebook display? It can display any sort of text on its screen, and will get the information from a “base” computer (communicating using ZigBee — no wires). Any ideas of what I should display? News? Weather? Stocks?
• I still have my MAME Arcade / Kiosk project sitting here. It’s waiting on me to re-wire an old keyboard for button & joystick interfacing. This project, unfortunately, has been pending for too long. I need to get back to it.

That’s about it for active projects, though I did run across an ion detector in the garage the other day. (The case was used for my Atom Amp electric guitar amplifier project.) I’m going to try connecting it to some sensors and see if it will pick up any activity. Unfortunately, from what I’ve read, there would have to be a massive influx of ions for it to pick up much (so much that I’d probably be dead anyway). Something to tinker with, as I don’t want to throw it away.

As for the shop, I’m looking for a way to make the Licence Plate Toolbox easier to manufacture. I’d like to make this available as a kit, but the cuts are (currently) too time consuming to make (adding to the cost of the kit). Might be easier with a table saw and stacked dado blade, but I have neither nor the funds to purchase.

Other than that, the product brainstorming continues.