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The Junior Mad Scientists Club Met Tonight
Feb. 8th, 2012 11:08 pmIn attendance:
Second Igor, a/k/a Boofy, age 4
First Igor, a/k/a Princess, age 7
Head Mad Scientist In Charge, a/k/a Grandpa, age fifty-something
I let my igors help me drill the holes in the front panel of the power supply I'm working on. Oh, they didn't drill the holes. That's mad scientist work. Instead they held the faceplate steady while I drilled. The result is . . .
Well, it's a little disappointing. I had hoped the rows of power posts would be straighter than they ended up being.
But only a little, and it looks pretty good considering how little I've done in the field of do-it-yourself electronics. Especially the kind that doesn't come from a kit.
We have a ways to go yet. Tomorrow I need to do the wiring (which hasn't really started yet). This will involve solder, LEDs, resistors and probably more solder. Once all that's done I can attach the box in the picture to the power supply proper and it should be ready to test and run.
I want to get this done by Friday for two reasons:
1. The new radio is coming on Saturday! I want to have this ready so I can hook up the antenna and go, albeit I'll only be able to transmit on 2 meters for a while until the new antenna goes up.
2. This will power not only the new radio but an old Radio Shack handheld that I plan to refurbish. (It needs a new battery, but the old one is soldered in, somewhere in the middle of the radio.)
The kids had a blast helping me with this. We all wore surgical-style masks, which for some reason they had been trying to get me to let them do ever since I bought them. Good thing too. There was plenty of plastic dust flying around.
I doubt there's any chance I'll be able to get out of letting them help tomorrow, even though solder will be involved. It'll be great.
Second Igor, a/k/a Boofy, age 4
First Igor, a/k/a Princess, age 7
Head Mad Scientist In Charge, a/k/a Grandpa, age fifty-something
I let my igors help me drill the holes in the front panel of the power supply I'm working on. Oh, they didn't drill the holes. That's mad scientist work. Instead they held the faceplate steady while I drilled. The result is . . .
Well, it's a little disappointing. I had hoped the rows of power posts would be straighter than they ended up being.
But only a little, and it looks pretty good considering how little I've done in the field of do-it-yourself electronics. Especially the kind that doesn't come from a kit.
We have a ways to go yet. Tomorrow I need to do the wiring (which hasn't really started yet). This will involve solder, LEDs, resistors and probably more solder. Once all that's done I can attach the box in the picture to the power supply proper and it should be ready to test and run.
I want to get this done by Friday for two reasons:
1. The new radio is coming on Saturday! I want to have this ready so I can hook up the antenna and go, albeit I'll only be able to transmit on 2 meters for a while until the new antenna goes up.
2. This will power not only the new radio but an old Radio Shack handheld that I plan to refurbish. (It needs a new battery, but the old one is soldered in, somewhere in the middle of the radio.)
The kids had a blast helping me with this. We all wore surgical-style masks, which for some reason they had been trying to get me to let them do ever since I bought them. Good thing too. There was plenty of plastic dust flying around.
I doubt there's any chance I'll be able to get out of letting them help tomorrow, even though solder will be involved. It'll be great.
