A Nice Picture and A Few Links

I took this picture of Felice for an upcoming blog feature (details later if it materializes). I think it came out well. She’s really hard to photograph as she usually starts cracking up by the second or third picture.

Some Links:

• Neverball, which is sort of an heir to Marble Madness. It’s free and somewhat fun but not nearly as sinister.


• Learn Python The Hard Way, a free (the HTML version) set of somewhat harsh and uncompromising lessons in the Python computer language.


• The Wikipedia entry on the TRS connector (AKA that thingy at the end of your headphones you plug into the thing the music comes out of.)


• Sorting algorithms as folk dances. Watch them all and try and tell me you’re not a nerd.


• Soldering Is Easy (PDF). It’s not that easy.

Soldering Iron Stand

It became apparent that I needed a better soldering iron stand. Rather than buying one for around $5.00 I decided to waste the better part of an hour and probably $5.00 in materials making one.

A small tapered mandrel held in the vise

Wrapping some 12 gauge brass wire around the mandrel. Felice uses this wire to make brass shawl pins so I stole some from our large supply.

The springy thingy.

I set up the mill with a piece of scrap aluminum.

Milling a pocket for the sponge.

Almost done.

A piece of sponge fitted.

Drilling the hole for the springy thingy.Testing.

Testing.

Drilling a hole in the end of the stand.

Tapping #10-32 threads.

Cleaning up all the surfaces. This could have been done first but I didn’t think I ‘d care about how it looked when the project began. Then I did.

The setscrew locks the springy thingy in place.

Now I can solder more easily and worry less about the iron rolling off of the bench. I might tweak the angle of the coil to the base, not sure yet.

Repairing a Targus Laptop Cooler

I was visiting with our friends Amy and Ryan the other day and noticed a laptop cooler in their garage (a Targus Lap Chill Mat). I asked whether it was any good (as I’m considering getting one for my laptop) and Ryan said that it was but the cord was broken. He was going to repair it eventually (as he’s certainly qualified) but hadn’t found the time. So I took it home to see if I could repair it.

The laptop cooler.

The broken cord, right at the grommet junction. The Amazon reviews show that some people have this problem.


The screws for the cooler grill are inside the case…


Ryan had started to pry it apart but experience led me to believe this was the wrong way to start.


The cover seems to just be a round sleeve.


So I tentatively started peeling it up. The adhesive was not strong.


I was particularly careful when peeling the narrow bits.


The top and bottom pieces that tuck under the grill have a toothed piece attached.


All peeled up.


The USB cable goes through this notched piece that slips around the grommet.


Naked cooler. There are two rows of four screws top and bottom.


Top row.


The screws removed and the fan housing exposed. It is held by 5 screws.


The USB cord strain relief at bottom. 5 screws removed from the housing.


Two dirty fans.


Untangling the cord from the various strain relief posts and tabs.


The fans are liberated.


The grommet doesn’t seem to move on the cable, so I snipped it off at both ends of the grommet.


Done.


I drilled out the bit of cable left, it seemed to pop out.


Slid the grommet onto the USB plug end. Notice the fans have been cleaned…


Stripped the cable ends. This is a power cable so it only had two conductors. There was annoying nylon stranding with the copper that I had to separate and cut off.

Twisted together and ready for soldering.

Testing!


I insulated the soldered wires with little pieces of electrical tape. I need to buy some tiny shrink tubing.


I used shrink tubing over the whole length of the splice.


I reassembled (in the reverse order of disassembly) and massaged the cover back into position.

All done. It works.

Philomath Classic Car Show 2011

Time for the Philomath Classic Car Show! I can’t really add anything to the pictures with text, so just enjoy the sights. That’s what we did.

After the show we went over to Amy & Ryan’s for Lauren’s fifth birthday party. Henry took a ride on the zip line.