Wobblycogs Workshop

Month: February 2024

  • All About Compost

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    Doozer
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    I tried the no dig method of vegetable gardening a few years ago and I was immediately sold on (most of) it. Laying a fresh lot of compost on the ground is far less work than digging it and as far as weed control goes I couldn’t ask for more. The downside of no dig…

  • What We’re Growing in 2024

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    Doozer
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    We’re growing much more this year than we have in previous years thanks to some extra ground becoming available to us. I was trying to keep everything in my head but it quickly became apparent that wasn’t going to work… so I made a spreadsheet. The table below is an extract from that spreadsheet. Totalling…

  • Growing Sweet Potatoes in the UK

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    Doozer
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    I’ve decided this year (2024) I’ll have a crack at growing sweet potatoes. From what I’ve read it should be possible to get a crop as long as they are started early enough and we have a reasonable summer. They are a tropical plant so they are a bit marginal in the UK. I’ve decided…

  • LED Array Lamp Part 5

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    Doozer
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    In the previous a part of this series I gave an overview of the lamp. In this part I’ll get to the point where it’s possible to write to the LED’s. This won’t be the final form of the LED but it’ll be good for testing that it’s electrically correct. Installing Additional Software The plan…

  • LED Array Lamp Part 4

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    Doozer
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    I’m going to start this article with photographs of the built lamp as there’s no way I’m taking it apart again for continuity. I think it’s also useful to see that it’s almost identical to what I showed at the end of the previous part. These are the interesting bits, towards the bottom left there’s…

  • LED Array Lamp Part 3

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    Doozer
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    In part 2 I got just a handful of LED’s running directly from the Raspberry Pi. That’s a little bit risky so in this article I’ll look at some other options for powering the LED’s. Firstly… It bugged me that the pixels would keep displaying the last state when I shut the application down (killed…

  • LED Array Lamp Part 2

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    Doozer
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    As I mentioned at the end of the last part of this series I got the lamp to the point where it was built and I’d started testing but then gave up on the project. At this point I can’t even remember how to light one of the LED’s from the Pi so it’s time…

  • Yeti – Electrical Terms

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    Doozer
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    While designing the electictrical system for Yeti I came across a whole host of thing that I didn’t understand from pull-up resitor to PNP. Guessing I probably wasn’t alone in this I thought I’d document at least some of them here. Keep in mind that I’m not an electrical engineer so this may not be…

  • Router Table Electrics and Wiring a Contactor

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    Doozer
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    Now that the frame of the router table is built it’s time to start plumbing in the electrics. As with the rest of this build I’ve gone a little bit over the top and installed an industrial sized contactor. Over all I’m mostly happy with the finished product but read on for details.

  • Build a Game Steering Wheel Using an Arduino – Part 3

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    Doozer
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    In part 2 of this series I built the circuit that I’ll be using for my controller based around an Arduino Pro Micro. In this part I’ll configure the driving simulation game Dirt 3 so that it works with the controller.

  • Build a Game Steering Wheel Using an Arduino – Part 2

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    Doozer
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    In part 1 of this series on building a gaming steering wheel from an Arduino I installed and tested the library that I’ll be using. In this part I build and test the circuit that the controller will use. I’m quite new to electronics and I thought this would be a challenge but it turned…

  • Build a Game Steering Wheel Using an Arduino – Part 1

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    Doozer
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    Since I was a boy (which was a depressingly long time ago now) I’ve wanted to play a racing game using a steering wheel. I’ve played using a keyboard, mouse, joystick and game controller and they range from terrible to awful as controllers for driving. None have the control and accuracy that a steering wheel…

  • Building Sash Windows – Part 1

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    Doozer
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    Materials Paint On my first batch of windows I used Johnstone’s Flexible Primer Undercoat and Johnstone’s Flexible Gloss. It’s not cheap but it came highly recommended by people who have used it and I would be happy agree with them and say this is good stuff. The data sheet claims an 8 year life time…

  • Workshop Lighting – Cable

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    Doozer
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    Understanding Cable Markings Cable from a laptop power supply supplying 12Vdc at 2A over 1 meter. Text on the cable: E157914 PRIMAX RU AWM 1185 80 degC 300V VW-1 CSA LL110529 AWM I A/B 80 degC 300V 18AWG FT1 LM The text on the cable tells us a lot about the cable but most of…

  • Workshop Lighting – Power

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    Doozer
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    Powering your LED lights is as simple as attaching a 12V power source and basking in their cold white glow. Powering your LED lights and getting the most out of them is a little harder though and will require some calculations and experimentation.