Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Flame spreader

I’ve wanted a simple flame spreader tip for a propane torch for many years.  I recently got around to looking on Ebay etc, but couldn’t find a cheap one.  It helped when I saw a picture of one that wasn’t … Continue reading

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Custom map via google maps

When I had to make a custom map with locations of many local restaurants marked for a square dance weekend we’re hosting, I got my feet wet with the excellent My Places on Google maps.  It’s easy to use, quite … Continue reading

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Half-frame sunglasses for Prius

I love polarized sunglasses for driving.  Cutting glare from  the road, the rear window of the car in front of you, bodies of water etc is a great thing.  Unfortunately, the instrument displays in my Prius are also polarized, and … Continue reading

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Amber’s PylePro amp repair

When Bobby told me the amp Amber uses for her dance classes was being flaky (often would cut out and needed a couple of whacks to get it playing again) I said I’d take a look at it. The PylePro … Continue reading

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Prius nav DVD replacement

The GPS in the Prius pretty much stopped working recently with an error message about not being able to read the DVD.  I replaced the DVD with another I found in my collection and it seems to work again.  Since … Continue reading

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Oops – bad mulch

I just learned a little lesson about mulching. I’d finally gotten around to seeding the ugly 6′ circle of dirt and wood chips where the stump was ground out after a tree was removed from the front yard last fall.  … Continue reading

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Little electret mic preamp

Russ said he had trouble using a bare electret mic as an input device in his Arduino 201 sensors class.  I hope to help by making up a couple of simple mic preamp boards.  There was an initial prototype, and … Continue reading

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Bluetooth module breakout

This is just a quickie to provide a way to connect to a Bluetooth module for Russ’ chording keyboard.  I found a datasheet and an Eagle lib with the footprint.  Unfortunately the pads didn’t provide enough area outside the “half … Continue reading

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(Re-)Rooting my Nook Color

I got a Nook Color from some deal site (maybe 10/11?) partly as a nice portable book reader for Lauren and partly to be rooted into a general purpose Android tablet for both of us.  I rooted it and it … Continue reading

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3.3 V adapter – oops

With more and more stuff running on 3 V, I decided to make a quickie adapter for the very nice SparkFun 5V-from-an-AA supply that lives on my bench.  Then I’d have which ever voltage I needed right at hand. Just … Continue reading

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