| jalopnik +1 ? |
[Oct. 2nd, 2009|05:44 pm] |
leaving late for work, I was backing the car out of the driveway, driving through a view from the driver-side mirror around a wind-overturned empty trash container, when I heard a crunch and felt the car lurch. I had backed the passenger-side mirror into a lodge pole pine tree trunk that sorta delineated forest from driveway...
the side rear-view assembly was shattered into about nine pieces, well, more, obviously, since there are gaps for the pieces I failed to locate...
glue gun repair. this 98 civic is starting to look like a casualty... haste makes waste.
Well, amazingly, the mirror-adjusting mechanism still works. The leftmost 1/3rd of the rear view mirror isn't shattered, and so, I basically still have the most useful part of the mirror available for checking what's going on in the next lane.
I'm pretty deep in a financial triage situation with my 202000-mile civic. I am going to need to buy a set of four winter tires in a few weeks ($450, +/-, mounted on wheels and an alignment), and I am probably going to be forced to replace the windshield-washer-fluid reservoir/pump assembly ($?) after some bad washer fluid and a freeze back in April broke the pump somehow. (It runs, nothing comes out). Then there's the engine thermometer, which seems to be stuck in the 'circulate to radiator' position. Then there's the air conditioner compressor belt-clutch. Then the vent blower current regulator only working for 'off' and 'highest'. And a slew of more minor problems I've been ignoring.
Hey, it's a Honda: at least the powertrain is working, for now. Oh yeah, it's time for an oil change... |
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| first snow, pt III |
[Sep. 21st, 2009|07:29 pm] |
this storm dropped way more than a) was forecast and b) I was expecting.
I would never have driven into work, had I realized...
as it is, I'm home now. with more of the same tomorrow, I doubt I'll so much as start the car tomorrow...
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| first snow, pt II |
[Sep. 21st, 2009|07:26 pm] |
my drive home from the office was either very interesting, or nasty, depending , I suppose, upon one's sense of adventure.
easily the worst driving conditions in recent memory, the relative warmth of the day during this storm, combined with the GVT not prepared in terms of number of plows to keep the foothill highways clear, and last years (worn) M/S tires made things bad, probably in my tip 5 "bad commutes" of all time...
still, I at least managed not to hit anything the two times I slid off the road at 10 mph, completely without control. (this community is awesome; both times, I was assisted back onto the road by a passing truck driver.
the hariest moment was driving down black mountain road already in 1st gear, but unable to slow; I'd apply brakes, the front tires would lock, the engine stalled, and then lose steering until I could get the engine restarted and the tranny re-engaged... o_o ( also how I ran off the road my second time of the commute!)
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| first snow |
[Sep. 21st, 2009|09:48 am] |
I figured I would see first frost by Sept 15th, but the first freeze came a week later in the form of slushy snow!
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| two milestones |
[Aug. 7th, 2009|12:45 pm] |
1) This morning, I took my first shower ever in my home's second bathroom. That bathroom is once again functional...
2) Rolled my Honda Civic's odometer over 200,000 miles during the drive into work. |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 5th, 2009|10:07 am] |
Data visualization. This is about as ghetto as it gets, but the command-line gnuplot can accept arbitrary ASCII time-domain datasets and plot them, and so I threw this visualization together:
Mostly, I'll be using this to balance the system. The SAT and RAT sensors have already been useful; the furnace is spec'd for a air temperature rise of 30-70'F while heating, but this unit was exceeding that by nearly 20'F because of the furnace air filter I had installed in July. I replaced that MERV 11 filter with a MERV 8 filter. (Higher MERV ratings essentially filter more, with MERV 16 approaching that of HEPA ratings). Anyway, slightly reduced air filtration, but the temp rise was reduced to a within-range 60-65'F temperature delta while the gas furnace burns.
Anyway, there'll be more temperature sensors in the habitable space soon, but I'll need to wait for weather more closely approximating a design degree day (e.g.: cold outside) before I'll really be able to balance the system... |
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| Home Automation Hardware |
[Aug. 2nd, 2009|04:44 pm] |
Here's the corner in my basement where I've been fitting most of my home automation hardware. There are analog, relay, and digital devices throughout the house converging on this spot, where they hit digital interfaces: RS-232, X10, and 1wire.
Peripheral devices are largely sensors: temperature, humidity, PIR motion, etc. Data is frequently sampled, and in some cases averaged and summarized. Some events trigger scripts, other scripts are time-scheduled and respond to sensor conditions.
At this stage, I'm mostly getting my hands dirty with automation concepts and evaluating reliability. Like some of the hardware on the board, the system as a whole is a prototype... The wiring and sensor installation should still be valuable even if the centralized control interfaces are all scrapped and replaced with commercial turnkey systems down the road.
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| adcbox update |
[Aug. 1st, 2009|07:08 pm] |
Experimentally tried to interface a LCD module, however, the module appears to be non-responsive. Added max232cpe-dip TTL<->RS232 driver IC, and so now this unit functions independent of the stk500 development board.
As I add on more devices to the Atmel atmega16, the wires multiply. I've been using solid-conductor Cat5 leads (which I think is 22-gauge copper) for hookup wire. DB9 PCB connectors use an offset pin pattern that mirrors the spacing of the DB9 port pins, requiring an etched+drilled PCB to match. Some vendors sell small DB9 to standard perfboard spacing boards, one of which I used here.
Almost all of the soldering is done on the back side of the board. The large bus-like solder pattern visible on the left is a separately regulated DC bus for powering thermistors or sensors.
Plausible extensions:
* 1-wire bus device support (e.g.: DS18B20)
* single-ended on/off DC voltage inputs
* serial-port configurability/commands
* 5VDC relay outputs
* make LCD work (if I feel like it)
In practice, I really just need it to convert analog voltages to digital values so I can read sensor voltages from some 10K thermistors, differential pressure transducers, and AC current transducers (and whatever else I can think of, I suppose).
The serial output of the microcontroller is currently of the format:
/adcbox 0.2 2009-07-23
/ADCx, raw, VDC, ohms, 10K thermistor temp'F
/
ADC0, 121, 2.34, 11074, 74.6
ADC1, 205, 3.97, 2439, 142.8
ADC2, 193, 3.74, 3212, 129.3
ADC3, 184, 3.56, 3859, 120.6
ADC4, 180, 3.49, 4167, 117.0
ADC5, 181, 3.51, 4088, 117.9
ADC6, 179, 3.47, 4246, 116.2
ADC7, 184, 3.56, 3859, 120.6
\
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| microcontroller project: adcbox |
[Jul. 23rd, 2009|12:01 pm] |
Based on an atmel atmega16l i had lying around, this is a dirt-dead simple project to use the microcontroller's built-in 8-ch 10-bit ADC to measure 0-5VDC single-ended inputs and output the readings in a rs232 serial stream. I generally plan to use it with 10K thermistors and some AC current transducers. There's a thermistor voltage divider bridge on the 1st ADC channel input now, if you look at the board on the lower left.
The blue box is an AVRISP-MkII ISP. This is the first project I've done where I created a prototype board with in-situ programmability, but I wish I had done this long ago rather than trying to prototype directly on the stk500 without breakout boards. When I'm finished, I will have a fully-functioning and independent prototype.
The project as it stands now isn't using much of the atmega16's i/o capabilities, and so I may add some digital i/o functionality later on (which could interface with dallas semiconductor 1-wire devices, for example, or simply detect on/off voltage or drive external relays.
I'll be using it to monitor supply and return duct air temperatures on my central gas forced-air furnace, as well as temperature monitoring at strategic points in the house (e.g.: every room with force air outlet, so I can balance the thermal output of the heat system for heatload/CFM).
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|04:31 pm] |
Wow, its been eleven weeks since the last time I posted an update here. So, life goes on; mushi is well, and due for a routine check-up and dental at the vet. I need to get around to that...
I'm taking the summertime months as an opportunity to modify my home's forced-air furnace and duct distribution system. It was installed by a previous owner, I think around 2004, when the utility company buried residential natural gas service lines on the street. Prior to that, the house was probably strictly pellet, wood, and baseboard electric heat.
Anyway, when they installed the gas furnace, they put in a reasonably-efficient 92% AFUE 50,000BTU (46kBTU output) unit. It was set up as a single zone system, with diffuser outlets in the floor of the entrance room, kitchen, living room, and (post-facto) basement. Unfortunately, as I observed this past winter, because there's no circulation to any of the upstairs rooms, they tended to become uncomfortable and cold if their door was left closed. I'm sure the last owner simply used the baseboard electric heaters in each room as aux heat, but it's hideously expensive (and inefficient) to heat with resistive electric heat at all. I use some small 200-300 watt underfloor heaters in my bathrooms on a programmable thermostat, and have a baseboard electric set up as emergency heat if the house drops to 40'F. Otherwise, I avoid resistive electric heat.
The last week, I've been working on running a galvanized steel 8" round trunk duct from the air handler in the basement to key rooms on the second floor. As you can imagine, this has been tricky work through tight spaces, though I'm pleased to say I've all but finished the main truck and now simply need to install branch ducts and floor or wall registers in the three upstairs bedrooms. When this is complete, I'll need to then balance the system to deliver appropriate CFM rates through each diffuser. And then there's the whole return air plenum system, with its own baggage. I'm sure it'll take a while to get things fine-tuned, so perhaps it's just as well I live alone. c_c
Once I'm finished, the bedrooms should hopefully be maintained at a reasonable temperature in the winter, even with their doors closed. Additionally, when not heating, the system air handler can still be run as a ventilator, distributing filtered return air plus mixed outside air to improve the indoor air quality more evenly throughout the home.
Obviously, there's a lot more I'd like to do, particularly the installation of what's known as a HRV, or Heat Recovery Ventilator, a unit that introduced fresh outdoor air and exhausts stale indoor air, while recapturing otherwise wasted heat. Old homes were leaky and had defacto decent indoor air quality at the expense of efficiency and sometimes even comfort. 70s and particularly 80s houses aimed for efficiency by sealing the building envelope up tight. This led to the build up of indoor air contaminates like particulate stuff, volatile organic compounds, and even radon. HRV/ERV systems are the solution; maintain modern building envelope tightness for efficiency, do energy recovery outdoor air exchange for indoor air quality. These aren't cheap, and I don't have a good sense of return on investment (RoI), so I haven't bought one, but it may be on the medium-term list of stuff. (Clearly, upgrading wall and window R-values will provide the most immediate benefit in the short-term.)
My natural gas bill was insightful into the energy needed over winter '08-'09, but it is difficult to comprehend the immediate effect of lowering the heating setpoint temperature or a particularly sunny, cloudy, warm, or cold day. I love telemetry, so I'm starting to retrofit my furnace with data-gathering capability. Right now, it've got a simple command relay that's passing along whether or not the thermostat is calling for heat. It keeps track of the number of seconds the furnace is run and the number of times the call for heat was made, and summarizes on a daily basis in a log file on my building automation linux host. Another part I've ordered will allow me to operate the central unit's air circulation blower from linux, independent of the wall thermostat. Using that, I can automate circulation, or at least set it up to run on a recurring timer. (Some thermostats admittedly can do all that too).
Eventually, I might also monitor things like return and supply air temperatures and system ESP. I'd also love to monitor other central systems, like the well pump, or the whole-house electrical consumption, again the key being the monitoring is available to the building automation host computer, which can do things like send out control signals or even scream for help to my cell phone.
Eventually, building integration leads to fun stuff, like, I go out on the front porch, lock the door, and then hit a button on a keychain remote. The door sensors and passive infrared sensors all arm and all the thermostats automatically reset to an 'unoccupied' energy-saving setpoint. If something unexpected happens, the system calls for outside help via SMS message, e-mail, or even phone call.
The key, I suppose, is designing a cool automation system that is still simple enough it won't become a liability to the next owner in fifteen years or whatever. For now, the building automation controller is more about monitoring than controlling key systems. Those systems thereby retain their simplicity/servicability and don't require specialist contractors who grok building central automation network systems. |
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| A new lease on life |
[Apr. 24th, 2009|05:37 pm] |
A new lease on life, or maybe just a stay of execution. My repaired "total loss" 1998 Honda civic cx hatchback. $650 to put it back on the road, plus $300 in misc extras like a new windshield.
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| grid power restored, other misc stuff |
[Apr. 21st, 2009|04:14 pm] |
I lost electricity on Friday at 6:15pm, and it was restored on Tuesday at 2:40pm. I definitely have found the experience insightful into the home's off-grid survivability, and my preparedness for same.
Here are some iPhone photos, including some panoramic shots taken and reconstructed using the iTunes app store app 'Pano.'
A-ha! So now I understand why the floor in the 2nd bedroom is bowed toward the center and flexes somewhat alarmingly. What on earth inspired a previous owner / framer to cut out a two-foot wide chunk of two adjacent second-floor beams is completely beyond me, but the way they undid it, with these funky sistered brace boards, is slipshod at best. Looks like I've got another project-- par for course with every hidden space I expose, I find something... interesting.
This attempts to illustrate the depth of the snow; the shovel's blade is about one foot tall...
My first attempt at an iPhone panoramic shot, taken from behind the rental car two days after the snowstorm passed.
Another panoramic shot experiment, this time taken on the county-maintained road outside my house.
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| spring storm |
[Apr. 19th, 2009|11:37 pm] |
It's been a wild weekend in the Rocky Mountain front ranges west of Denver this weekend, with about 36" falling in 36 hours, give or take. My electricity was spotty on Friday until it went out at 6:15pm, hasn't been back on since, giving me reason to make use of my generator, and woodstove/pelletstove/kerosene heat. Shoveling the driveway was a multiple-day effort that started Friday and finished this morning...
Unfortunately, I presently don't have the technology to run the well pump or hot water heater without grid power, so I haven't enjoyed a shower since Thursday morning... IREA, my electric co-op, says they expect they should have power restored Monday ... or Tuesday. Apparently they lost part of a substation, and perhaps as many snow-snapped pines on or fallen through high-tension lines as Xcel Energy had coming in from the other direction.
Irritatingly, even when I operate my network on generator or battery power, the Qwest.net RDSLAM is dependent on grid power, with only a short-term UPS at best. This is mitigated somewhat by the fact that it's just across the border in xcel energy territory, though that was no help this weekend, where power was out for both providers. Xcel managed to restore power this afternoon, and so I can at least get online when my generator is up. Qwest apparently pulled in trailer APUs, and was just beginning to work their way down the line of RDSLAMs, but Xcel's linemen put the subdivision grids back up first.
Qwest: you absolutely need APUs on your mountain community RDSLAMs. This isn't just about web sites, although that was a good way to find out from IREA where things were at (iPhone / ATT 2G, at least worked), but beyond that, people rely on their Internet connections for local phone service these days. Our national security is far more brittle than it should be when our telecom infrastructure drops out from under us within hours of a general utility grid power outage. There outta be a law, if there isn't, that requires a reasonable effort for at least 72 hours of auxilary power at unpowered RDSLAMs and cell tower sites. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 10th, 2009|01:39 am] |
Queen Mary Photos, authorized and unauthorized.
Largest ship I've set foot on to date. There's a lot I could say and describe, having spent about 4-4.5 hours wandering public and closed-off sections of the ship. Fleeting impressions: parts of the lower decks smell like sewage due to an open sewage bilge; large swaths of belowdecks have been turned into a cheesy local-carnival grade house-of-horrors type attraction. From what they say, though, most people visiting the ship don't care about the history, they just want to see the SPOOKY PARANORMAL crap. I saw a ton of motion sensors, strobes, foggers, speakers, and projectors, all aimed at the singular purpose of demeaning this once-graceful oceanliner. c_c
But keeping things positive, it's an absolutely stunning-amazing piece of 1930s engineering and luxury. |
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| Roof access |
[Apr. 8th, 2009|10:32 pm] |
Locked up tight, alas
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| Funkyhotel |
[Apr. 8th, 2009|10:31 pm] |
Holiday inn, long beach, ca
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| Pacific shore, long beach, ca |
[Apr. 8th, 2009|09:49 pm] |
If I lived here, I'd walk here at night. Dark with soothing wind and wave ambience, and a sense of solitude in a major metro.
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| Front passenger side |
[Mar. 30th, 2009|01:42 pm] |
This is what can happen if you slide on ice into a curb right where there's a gutter, exactly like I did on my commute this morning. I'm fine, waiting for tow & insurance process. Getting a rental. More news as events warrent.
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