Thread: Guess my project...

Could it be this you already posted about?

Bah, just a little scratch.......

On other topics, yesterday was one of the few days each year when the ISS transmits SSTV (slow scan TV) images on the 2 metre amateur band. Reception of these images depends of course on whether the ISS has a visible pass over your location. For me in Laos, the only pass was far too low in the sky to receive any images. But my receiving system did manage to receive some signals from the ISS, which bodes well for reception of future images perhaps next year.

Finally, since I have time on my hands, I spent yesterday building a horn antenna that I plan to use to receive 'hydrogen line' signals on 1420 MHz (hydrogen atoms from stars release a small amount of energy as they flip, and this can be received with suitable equipment). The 1420 MHz frequency is slightly different for hotter stars, and differs in the opposite direction for colder stars. By pointing the antenna at specific stars, one can obtain a map the galaxy.

Drat - I forgot that I had posted those photos.... I'll have to try another project that I haven't posted about.

Project 2:

Take a old saucepan lid, 4 hacksaw blades, 2 metal tins of best Lao tea and some nuts/bolts and glue. Stick them all together as shown (1 more tea tin to be attached...)

^ prototype for the replacement of the Arecibo Observatory?

Part of a diy weather station?

Loop antenna?

Originally Posted by lom

Part of a diy weather station?

We have a winner!

A homemade anemometer.....

Originally Posted by Simon43

We have a winner!

A homemade anemometer.....

Everyone needs one of these esoteric items around the property.
Well done, Simon!

Kudos for the effort and intentions.

Originally Posted by HuangLao

Everyone needs one of these esoteric items around the property.
Well done, Simon!

It would be a decent bet that your "esoteric" item might be more along this line.

Originally Posted by aging one

It would be a decent bet that your "esoteric" item might be more along this line.

Actually, there are a couple of reasons why I do these kinds of projects:

1 - I'm barking mad and rather eccentric. From my earliest days, I tinkered with radio, science and software projects. Notable events in my youth include having survived a 1,600 volt electric shock from a valve radio transmitter that I built and was testing in my bedroom when I was 14 years old; being chased across open fields by officers from the post office detection service after said transmitter was used (on many occasions) to broadcast pirate radio in Leicester; being arrested by the Dutch police after coming ashore from an offshore pirate radio ship after I sorted out their transmitter etc. (There are many more 'wonderful' events!).

2 - I teach science online to more than 100 young, private students in many different countries. These kids (boys AND girls) are captivated by 'real' science, as opposed to the dull text in their science books. So I build projects that they can relate to this real world.

3 - I have plenty of spare time, 'cos there is only me and Candi (my sex doll...). Only some old haggard woman would give me a second glance

There is a list of projects that I'm working on. I'm waiting for a low noise amplifier for my radio astronomy antenna, and same for a geo-stationary weather satellite antenna that I'm using to receive images from a Korean satellite. As for the anemometer, this is just the hardware part. I need to work out how to detect each revolution of the blades, and then write the Arduino C++ code to translate this into wind speed.

Well, if it don't work as an anemometer, I'm safe from 5G............

Originally Posted by Simon43

Well, if it don't work as an anemometer, I'm safe from 5G............

I think you are 1 G short of half a dozen.

Here's yer Halloween costume for next year.




sorted

Testing of the anemometer hardware.


The vanes rotate freely in the wind. There is a CD of Kylie Minogue hits glued to the bottom of the centre unit. (It seemed to be the best use for this CD...)


Actually, that CD fits perfectly to present a flat face for the ultrasonic distance sensors that will sense the number of revolutions of the vanes, and then pass this data to my Arduino computer and software.

Originally Posted by Simon43

Testing of the anemometer hardware.


The vanes rotate freely in the wind. There is a CD of Kylie Minogue hits glued to the bottom of the centre unit. (It seemed to be the best use for this CD...)


Actually, that CD fits perfectly to present a flat face for the ultrasonic distance sensors that will sense the number of revolutions of the vanes, and then pass this data to my Arduino computer and software.

Wont your wife miss the toiled bowl plunger and her Tupperware bowls ?

Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai

Wont your wife miss the toiled bowl plunger and her Tupperware bowls ?

Actually, it's a small saucepan lid in the middle, 4 metal hacksaw blades and 2 square metal tins of best Lao tea leaves that I've cut in half.... Oh, and the Kylie Minogue CD

Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai

Wont your wife

His blow up doll would be more accurate.

Originally Posted by aging one

His blow up doll would be more accurate.

She never kicks up a fuss...... and she is best-quality silicone!

Here's a view of the underside of the anemometer. There are 4 foam pieces glued to Kylie Minogue.... I thought about how I can detect the revolutions of this 'windmill', and looking in my junk box, I found an Arduino ultrasonic transmitter/receiver assembly. So my idea is to mount that under the anemometer, and detect the distance that the ultrasonic signal is reflected from. It will be further when reflected from the CD, and a few cms less when reflected from the foam. So I can write some code to detect this difference (I don't need to measure the actual distance, just detect when it changes significantly). Then 1 revolution will equal 4 changes of state ('cos there are 4 foam pieces - I used 4 to keep the assembly mechanically-balanced, although the foam is very light actually).

Here's another project that I've just completed. It's a radio antenna again, but for what purpose? You can gauge the physical size from comparing it with the 30cm floor tiles. Oh, it's made of some old metal coat-hangers and the PVC water pipe again.