Anvilx.com

Triodes by hand

TomB — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 15:36:45 +0000

Here is a cool video of Claude Paillard making triodes by hand.

Also check out his website: http://paillard.claude.free.fr/ (French).

What you need in your first aid kit

TomB — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 23:41:38 +0000

First aid kits aren’t very interesting or exciting, but lets face it a first aid kit could save your life. For that reason it is important to always have one on hand. No you aren’t required to carry one with you all the time, but you should at least be able to find one quickly. Your work or school should have their own kits so you shouldn’t need to worry about one there, but you need to have a kit for at home and on the go. Here are the basics on what every kit needs, but these aren’t the only thing you should it’s a good idea to tailor you kit to your specific needs and environments.

Small bar of soap
2-inch roller bandage
1-inch roller bandage
1-inch adhesive cloth tape
3-by-3-inch sterile pads
Assorted gauze pads
Adhesive strips or tape
Small thermometer
Scissors
Tweezers
CPR mouth-barrier device
Latex gloves
Adhesive bandages in various sizes
Safety pins
Antiseptic

Here are some examples of situation specific items.

Moleskin for blisters

Aspirin

Space blanket

Lotion

Instant ice pack

Iodine

Goggles

Light

TomB — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:07:41 +0000

Light is a fundamental part of our world. The uses of light are endless, it can be used to transmit data, change the mood of a space, perform surgery, and cook food. Light is the reason we see the world the way we do, but what is light?

History

People have attempted to explain light in many different ways. The earliest idea, held by Ptolemy, Euclid, and Hero, was that, “the rays [of light] originate in the eyes and travel to the object that is seen” (Physics). This was the accepted idea, until the 10th century when Alhazen discovered that, “light rays are emitted by a luminous source and are then reflected by objects into the eyes” (Physics). Seven hundred years after Alhazen, Newton discovered that white light was made of a combination of all the colors. Newton also claimed that light was made up of a “stream of particles” (Physics). This was challenged by Huygens, who said that light was made of waves. Huygens was later proven to be correct by Fresnel.
Radio waves, gamma rays, x-rays, and light are waves that make up the electromagnetic spectrum. Waves are forms of vibrations and are not made of matter. The difference between them is wavelength and frequency. Wavelength is the distance between two crests of the wave, and frequency, measured in hertz, is the number of times the wave oscillates between crests per second. These can be expressed in relation of one another as , where is velocity, is frequency, and is wavelength. Waves are infinitely dispersing. For example a flame of a candle, it radiates waves of light, and from the waves radiates different smaller waves and from those the process continues infinitely.

Color

Light is the visible portion of this spectrum and it ranges from a frequency of 350nm to 800nm. These frequencies correspond to different colors of light ( Figure 1). The bottom end of the visible spectrum starts at violet, which changes to blue, to green, to yellow, to orange, and lastly to red at the upper end.

Figure 1

The visible spectrum
Source: Apollo Design Technology

White light is light made up of every color of light. Colored light is white light that has had certain wave lengths of light removed while leaving only others. This process is called subtractive color mixing and is usually accomplished with a color filter called a gel. In subtractive mixing, the colors cyan, magenta, and yellow are used to form all other colors. Additive color mixing is the opposite of subtractive. Instead of starting with white light and then removing light, it begins at black and different colors of light are added. In additive color mixing with light, the colors red, green, and blue are used to create all other colors. An example of additive color mixing would be mixing two different colored beams of light one green and one red to produce yellow.

Reflection and Refraction

Besides color, another aspect of light is its interaction with other objects. These interactions are called reflection and refraction. Reflection is when “a wave hits the boundary and returns immediately to its original medium” (“Refraction”). Light strikes a material at an angle called the angle of incident. It then bounces off at an angle called the angle of reflection. The angle of reflection and the angle of incident are equal to one another and share a ray perpendicular to the surface of the material (Figure 2).

Figure 2

Snell’s Law

Refraction is the bending of light; this is often achieved with lenses. Refraction is caused by a ray of light going from one material to another. The angle of refraction is explained in Snell’s law, where is the angle of incident, is the angle of refraction, and is the refractive index of its respected material.

Light comes in all sorts of forms for all kinds of functions from data transmission to theatrical lighting. It comes in so many forms because of color, intensity, and focus. Light has uses everywhere from lasers to food preparation, to fiber optics. Light is an integral part of the world today.

Sources

Dijksterhuis, Fokko J. “Light Transmission.” EBSCO. N.p., 2000. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
“Light.” EBSCO. 6th ed. N.p., 1 Oct. 2009. Web. 22 Apr. 2010.
“Light; Colors of the Spectrum.” World Almanac. World Almanac Education Group, 2009. 1152. EBSCO. Web. 27 Apr. 2010.
Physics. Spec. issue of Physics (2006): n. pag. EBSCO. Web. 10 May 2010.
“Reflection.” American Heritage Student Science Dictionary. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009. EBSCO. Web. 10 May 2010.
“Refraction.” American Heritage Student Science Dictionary. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009. EBSCO. Web. 10 May 2010.
“Refraction.” EBSCO. 6th ed. N.p., 1 Oct. 2009. Web. 8 May 2010.

Dowd’s vintage and Antique Tools @ The Ginger Man Pub, June 12 2010

TomB — Mon, 31 May 2010 06:46:56 +0000

Dowd’s Vintage & Antique Tools is coming back to Austin and will be at the Ginger Man on Saturday, June 12. Here’s your chance if you missed the January sale. From woodworkers to craftsmen in general there is something for everyone at this sale. Collectible and quality user hand tools including but not limited to planes, hand saws, edged tools, marking and measuring tools, gadgets and whatsits straight from Texas shops and tool boxes.

Saturday, June 12th, 1:00 til 6:00 p.m. at the Ginger Man Pub – 301 Lavaca – Downtown Austin

For more info contact:
Dowd’s Vintage & Antique Tools
dowdstools@tx.rr.com
(972)-271-8665
http://www.dowdstools.com

Also if you’re in San Antonio, Dowd’s Vintage & Antique Tools, will be at the new Woodcraft store (13719 San Pedro) on Sunday, June 13th from 11:00 – 4:00.

Light Source Mega Clamp at Guitar Center

TomB — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 22:50:28 +0000

I was in Guitar Center today to pick up an audio adapter that I needed at the last-minute for a show. While I was wandering around, I spotted some Light Source Mega clamps. Usually Guitar center only has cheapo American DJ junk, so I was pretty surprised to find these. The markup was only around three dollars so I bought a pair. I am not generally a fan of Guitar center, they have treated me really poorly, but I know where I am going if I need a high quality clamp quickly.

A new look

TomB — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 23:38:45 +0000

You may have noticed that there hasn’t been much new around here lately, for the last few weeks I have focused my attention on the ever pressing issue of not having a semi-decent looking theme for Anvilx. Well today I introduce the new look! Please take a look around and tell me what you think of it in the comments. Tell me what you hate and what you love. Did I overlook a major detail? I want to know about it.

St Patrick's day

TomB — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 06:00:41 +0000

Bust out your green it’s St Paddy’s day.

ETC – Introducing Fire and Ice

TomB — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:15:44 +0000

Fire and Ice, as seen at LDI 2009, are two new color specific LED fixtures offered by ETC. Fire produces reds, oranges and ambers and Ice produces blues, indigos, and greens. ETC touts them as being able to produce extremely intense colors with, “brightness levels that rival or surpass the outputs of tungsten lighting fixtures,” all the while being more energy-efficient than conventional fixtures. They both feature Luxeon Rebel 2.5W LEDs with a rated 50,000 hour LED life. In units longer than 11” every 11 inches has a unique DMX address.

ETC’s Fire and Ice

What’s Going On – Recent News and Other Cool Things

TomB — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 03:05:59 +0000

Google ISP

Google announces that it will begin testing a fiber services, with an incredible speed of 1 Gb/s. Of course everyone and their grandma is going to try to apply their community for testing, but it will be interesting to see which city they pick and the services quality. [Ars Technica]

Esteemed Steampunk Gun

Jonathan Alberico, aka macabre151, shows off his steampunk gun “Doris the Blunderbuss”.[Brass Goggles]

ESTA releases standards drafts

ESTA, The Entertainment Services & Technology Association, releases two drafts of standards for public review, E1.30-1-20xx, EPI 23. Device Identification Subdevice and BSR E1.20 – 201x, Entertainment Technology — Remote Device Management over USITT DMX512. [via Stage Directions]

Arduino updates

Version 0018 fixes several bugs and adds features based on user feedback.

F-100 fogger, James Bond Edition?

TomB — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:59:04 +0000

Barco, High End Systems, releases the FQ-100 an update of the long-standing F-100 fogger. It uses the same 9.5 liter tank as the F-100. It also features, an optoelectronic liquid sensor, an LCD menu, DMX, 3-pin and 5-pin XLR DMX in/out connectors, a fluid level sight gauge, and a safety cable mounting point. Yea, no dip switches or 3 to 5 pin adapters. What are your thoughts on the “Q” ?