Someone Once Asked Me…

Why I wanted to save all those parts kits from my EE lab classes.  What parts kits am I talking about exactly?  These, including the others I got from friends who didn’t want them:

IMAG0400

 

You see, I had this ability to know I was going to need them in the future for some sort of awesome project.  Well Joe has been trying to get a project done to gather some info and I finally just said send me the schematic and I’ll build it.  Amazingly when I saw the schematic it all became obvious.  I saw what was being done and how it worked and figured out values that I could actually achieve.  Spent  some time at Radio Shack tonight and picked up parts and now every thing is in a nice clean box.

IMAG0401

At some point I may rebuilt it to use the extra connector that is available for power, currently it is using a 9V battery on the inside.  Currently this device is already on battery number two.  I missed a soldier bridge and didn’t ohm it before hooking it up.  Once I cleaned the bridge I did a full functional test with my ohm meter and it worked exactly as intended.

Now you may be wondering what exactly this little box is for.  I will give you a hint otherwise you’ll have to wait for the video.  The first three terminal blocks will have current flowing through them.  The silver BNC connector on the right is for telemetry.  Remember that this box is supplying the current.  I would give you a schematic but it would become obvious.  Those who already know, don’t spill the beans.  You might also consider who the customer is on this one for an idea of what we’re doing.

I will say off on the side I have 100ft of speaker wire and another 25 feet of coax cable.  Now I just need to put some labels on it and we’ll be done.

I will say when the Radio Shack guy asked me what I was building, I made sure to pay first.  The reception as it usually is though was, “Awesome, take video and send it to me.”

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About TMM

TMM is the owner, editor, and principal author at The Minuteman, a competitive shooter, and staff member for Boomershoot. Even in his free time he’s merging his love and knowledge of computers and technology with his love of firearms. Many know his private name and information however due to the current political climate, many are distancing themselves due to the abandonment of Due Process.

12 Responses to Someone Once Asked Me…

  1. Wolfman says:

    Im imagining it has something to do a fantastic, and THOROUGHLY LEGAL computer controlled pyrotechnic display, administered by a properly licensed and inspected professional.

    • Barron says:

      Nope, detonation will be caused by other means, but creating another box to do that has crossed my mind… Couple that with Ry and his abilities for fireballs, we could make quite a show.

      Good guess though.

  2. Joe Huffman says:

    It looks great!

    Thanks.

  3. Jake says:

    Survey says… Determining (w/o human error) who detonated the first boomer out of a set of three?

    Or…

    Timing how quickly one can set off three boomers.

    The speaker wires from the telemetry box run one pair to each target, and at each target is a terminal with an easily broken connection. Detonation breaks the connection and thus the circuit, the telemetry box notes that and sends a signal the computer can recognize. The computer saves the event and determines detonation order and times to be used for whatever you’re trying to figure out.

    • Barron says:

      Very very close… You’re definitely on the right track. Though that does provide an idea for V2.0.

      • Joe Huffman says:

        The circuitry would be much different however. The existing circuit cannot accomplish this even though from a high level view you would think they are similar enough tasks that it might be made to work.

        • Barron says:

          Note I said V2.0… which has been rolling around in my head after you gave me the schematic. What I have envisioned this would be a walk in the park.

      • Jake says:

        Hmmm… Sounds like it doesn’t differentiate which terminal records the event? So, detonation of any of the 3 boomers it’s linked to causes the computer/receiving-device to trigger a secondary event?

        • Barron says:

          Kind of, imagine all three wires in the same boomer… The external event is sent to a precision timing device to tell is something about the physics of the boomer itself.

  4. North says:

    I’m an active electrical engineer. You want help?

    • Barron says:

      I think we’ve got it figured out. I solved the lessons that we learned last weekend, now I just need to rebuild the project board and we’ll be set.