[dms-discuss] A cheery red glow

Tim F davispcug at yahoo.com
Fri Dec 6 00:56:46 PST 2013


December 5, 2013

Hi fellow maker elves --

It feels like winter has finally arrived in Tim Spencer Alley... our little shed is getting kind of cold late at night. The wind blowing outside drowns out the sound of the pizza delivery dudes roaring off with another load of hot cheese and tomato sauce. Late-night visitors are few and far between... even the friendly drunks of summer have gone south.

But if you're volunteering to be at the space for drop-in hours at night (bless your generous soul!) you needn't feel cold and alone, bunky! Here's an easy way to chase away the wintertime blahs:

1) Turn on the white power strip on the floor in the corner next to our filing cabinet;
2) tune in your favorite music on the stereo;
3) crank the volume up...
and
4) ...enjoy the bright red glow of our BRAND-NEW SIX-FREAKING-FOOT-TALL GIANT STEREO VU METERS!!!!! (ahem)

For example, a minute ago the Monkees were harmonizing on The Last Train To Clarksville and it was really kinda fun. And right now, Jimi Hendrix is pumping out "Stone Free" and our space is glowing like an iron foundry.

There's nothing to adjust; simply turn on that white power strip to supply juice to the stereo and the VU meters. Nicholas was kind enough to let me modify his speakers a little, so I've mounted them up high on the walls so that you can hear them better. I've also added a simple FM antenna, so now the stereo does OK picking up FM stereo stations.

I'd like to thank my team-mates Emily and Mick again for their help on this project. I know they'll say that they didn't do much, but the truth is that they really gave me good input, ideas, and feedback, and the project is better because of their efforts. Thanks, makers!

The custom plastic light diffusers on the  meters are a little bit FRAGILE, and the meters are also fairly heavy, so PLEASE, if you are curious about how they work, resist the urge to poke at the meters. Instead, simply ask me, and I'll be more than delighted to answer any of your questions, to show you photos of the guts of the meters, to discourse at length about how the circuits work, to tell you all I know about how to do vacuum thermo-forming, and in general to nerd out about it until your eyes glaze over!

I'll also be updating our wiki's page for this project soon.

I probably won't be at the space this Friday (December 6) evening, and I regret that I will also probably have to miss the December ArtAbout on the 13th. So please, try out the stereo and the giant VU meters; I'd be happy to get your feedback. And of course, if there are any problems, please just turn off that white power strip and send me a message.

Cheers!

-- Tim F





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