Thanks to
Made By Monkeys for highlighting this one - involving a dual-purpose torch / bicycle-light that was eating NiMH cells pretty fast...
Blogger
'Le Magicien' got to work, modding the device. He writes:
I like this torch a lot but... the incandescent bulb eats the NiMH cells pretty fast and the blinking leds... who needs them? So the idea was.. why do not replace the rear red leds with white ones? There's only one problem - white leds do not work with less than 3.2 volts - therefore some kind of voltage booster was needed.
You can
read the circuit schematics used in the modified waterproof solar torch, plus some detailed photos of the modification work.
Continue reading "LED lighting and voltage boosting" »
Thanks to Steve Bush, our Technology Editor, for flagging this one - a self-built passive infra-red detector, to help protect electronic equipment from the effects of static in violent storms of thunder and lightning.
The inventor, Jeff, lived in Majorca and felt the vulnerability of devices that had to be attached to mains electricity supply or the telephone lines.
The problems of static-intensive storms were compounded, he
writes, by overhead electricity and telephone networks coursing with the very high voltages. He looked to build his own solution - a P.I.R. (passive infra-red) Detector....
Continue reading "Stormbringer coming - Defend against the static!" »
It's time for the next Gadget Master competition, and we are taking inspiration from Joel Young's recent
Weird & Wireless post -
Does unplugging all your wall-warts really matter?The prize to be won this month is the
Plug-In Power and Energy Monitor Meter.
Measuring voltage, amps, watts, volt-amps, frequency and power, this clever little unit lets you check just how much power your home appliances are using, or wasting. It is potentially a very good way to help keep electricity bills down.
The prize question
Continue reading "Power and Energy Monitor Meter competition" »
Subscribe to this blog's feed
Recent Comments
Matt Wilmshurst on A Steampunk fax machine?: I may be exposing my ignorance but that fax machine loo
Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on Washing Machine + Arduino == Laundrino: Good one, Pete - you sound like the perfect reader for
Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on Musical GPS guides cyclists on their way: Interesting LJ - could you please email me the title of
Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on Washing Machine + Arduino == Laundrino: 'Laundrino particle'? I like it - it would explain so m
Anonymous on Washing Machine + Arduino == Laundrino: Surely the Laundrino is what individual socks turn into
LJ on Musical GPS guides cyclists on their way: I already have an android gps program that vibrates dep
Pete on Washing Machine + Arduino == Laundrino: Long before home computing, I installed a moving coil a
Chris on Projects to Make with a Dead Computer: Oh, and it's £8.99 on Amazon, not £6.99 :-(
Chris on Projects to Make with a Dead Computer: Apart from the howler on p7 (DC depicted as sinusoidal)