Some new pics of the shed

Infra-red Microscopy

I have been playing with my microscope. It is a stereo scope so I decided to see if I could hook up a webcam to it. I know you can buy webcam microscopes but I didnt want to spend any money if I could help it.

I had a web cam with no optics and the infra-red filter ripped out that I had hooked up to a zoom lens, I decided that as I could already see in the visible spectrum I wouldn't put the IR filter back in making it more sensitive to the IR from the incandescent lights in the microscope.

With a bit of mucking around I got the focal lengths for both the visible light side and the IR side set the same, this allows me to use one side of the scope as a wide view area (9.5mm) to centre the location to view in the IR field of view on the other eyepiece. The field of view for the IR is 1mm at 640*480 pixels

Here is the scope.

Field of view on IR. Black lines are mm scale on a micrometer.

Surface Mount LED showing junction.

Crystal on haceduino code AG.

I call this one the gold bar.

Mesh grid in a vacuum tube.

PCB trace lit from top.

PCB trace lit from below, good for finding cracks.

Cinelerra for Grandma

Basic HOWTOs for very beginners

Home Pre-requisites   Installation Compilation   Cinelerra in 30'   Preparing media Adjusting settings   Loading media First editing Second editing Titles Transitions Effects Compositing Colour correction Rendering   Making animations Making a DVD Subtitles Anamorphic video   Troubleshooting Glossary

Compilation Save page as PDF Table of Contents How to compile CinelerraCV from source code on Ubuntu 1. Get the source code 2. Get the dependencies 3. Build Cinelerra 4. Install Cinelerra 5. Run Cinelerra How to uninstall the compiled Cinelerra How to remove useless compilation files Troubleshooting How to compile CinelerraCV from source code on Ubuntu Grandmothers are known to use x86 computers Dear Grandma, compiling Cinelerra means translating her source code (that is text written by the developers in a computer language) into a program you can execute and use. To build Cinelerra from source code you need to use the command line. That is, instead of clicking on icons you are going to talk to your computer writing weird words: commands. To run a command, open a terminal (Applications → Accessories → Terminal), type the suggested command (copy by mouse highlighting and paste by middle mouse button clicking) and press ENTER. Compilation is made in 5 steps: 1. Get the source code The Source Code of Cinelerra CV is a multi-developer project. The Community of developers use GIT, a distributed Version Control System program for managing multiple revisions of the code. The Source Code of Cinelerra CV is in a git repository hosted by a German server. To get a copy of the source code, you first need to install git. In Synaptic go to the menu Settings → Repositories and make sure you have enabled the components called main, universe, restricted, multiverse. Then use this terminal command: sudo apt-get install git-core To fetch the source code type the following command: git clone git://git.cinelerra.org/j6t/cinelerra.git cinelerra-cv This command downloads a copy of the source code of Cinelerra-CV from the German server. It will appear as a folder in your home directory (or your current working directory) named cinelerra-cv. If you already have the source code from the git repository, you only need to update it. Use the following commands: cd cinelerra-cv git pull 2. Get the dependencies a - Install the compilation tools You need some compilation tools installed. Type: sudo apt-get install build-essential autoconf automake1.9 libtool nasm yasm gettext Also knowledgeable grandmas need compilation tools! b - Install the libraries You need also many libraries installed. Cinelerra depends on them. Their names vary depending on distribution. Copy and paste one of the following looooong commands, depending on your distribution: For Maverick 10.10, Lucid 10.04, Karmic 9.10, Jaunty 9.04 and Intrepid 8.10: sudo apt-get install xorg-dev libasound2-dev libogg-dev libvorbis-dev libtheora-dev libopenexr-dev libdv4-dev libpng12-dev libjpeg62-dev libx264-dev uuid-dev mjpegtools libmjpegtools-dev libfftw3-dev liba52-0.7.4-dev libmp3lame0 libmp3lame-dev libsndfile1-dev libfaac-dev libfaad-dev libesd0-dev libavc1394-dev libraw1394-dev libiec61883-dev libtiff4-dev libxxf86vm-dev libglu1-mesa-dev For Hardy 8.04: sudo apt-get install xorg-dev libasound2-dev libogg-dev libvorbis-dev libtheora-dev libopenexr-dev libdv4-dev libpng12-dev libjpeg62-dev libx264-dev uuid-dev mjpegtools libmjpegtools-dev libfftw3-dev liba52-0.7.4-dev liblame-dev libsndfile1-dev libfaac-dev libfaad-dev libesd0-dev libavc1394-dev libraw1394-dev libiec61883-dev libtiff4-dev libxxf86vm-dev 3. Build Cinelerra Enter the cinelerra-cv directory by typing: cd cinelerra-cv Then run: ./autogen.sh and ./configure --with-buildinfo=git/recompile --enable-mmx --without-pic The option --with-buildinfo=git/recompile will add a notice in the Settings→Preferences→About window about the source version. Now run: make This command will make your computer working for a while, giving you the time for a cup of coffee. In the unlikely event of you having a 64-bit system, the configure command must be shortened to: ./configure --with-buildinfo=git/recompile To know if you have a 32-bit or a 64-bit system run this terminal command: file /sbin/init You’ll get ELF 32-bit or ELF 64-bit. 4. Install Cinelerra Type: sudo make install One last command: sudo ldconfig 5. Run Cinelerra To run Cinelerra, go to Applications → Sound & Video and click on Cinelerra. Cinelerra will open with an error message. Ignore it or learn HOWTO approach it. It is considered wiser to run Cinelerra from a terminal because, in the event of troubles, the terminal output can help you understanding the problem. To run Cinelerra from the terminal just type: cinelerra Happy Editing, grandma! How to uninstall the compiled Cinelerra Open a terminal and type: cd cinelerra-cv sudo make uninstall How to remove useless compilation files During compilation the make command creates a lot of files. They are needed to build the program but once you have installed Cinelerra their only purpose is to eat your disk space. You can remove them with the command: cd cinelerra-cv make clean Troubleshooting For problems compiling or running Cinelerra see the Troubleshooting page. Raffaella Traniello -- info [AT] g-raffa.eu Last updated 2010-12-29 02:54:18 CEST

Underwater ROV

I am working on a design for my ROV, here are a couple of pics of my basic design from the front and a pic of the control layout on a PS2 controller.

- Air Cylinder from Soda-stream (Aluminium)
- 12VDC NO Air Valve opens with loss of power to blow ballast.
- EDF electric brushless motor (run immersed in water)
- 2 EDFs in each pod wired together
- Pods are rotatable and reversible for forward/reverse and depth control
- 4 small vector thrusters located on each corner 45 degrees to frame
- 2 roller pumps to change ballest level in main trim tanks
- Camera has pan and tilt
- Arduino Mega for onboard control connected to servo board
- Electronic Compass, Pressure, Leak detection, Battery Voltage
- Weights are washers on all thread
- Frame is drilled to allow water entry
- Dualshock cotroller linked via python to arduino
- All telemetry and control via USB to 50m ethernet cable
- USB hub 4 port- Arduino, Camera A, Camera B
- High RES Still Camera with flash
- Car tyre valves backwards in ballest tanks to allow water to exit

Video of fish tank

Here is a little video of my fishtank, no fish for a few weeks yet.....

CO2 for the fishtank

I added CO2 injection to my fish tank today, this is to help the plants grow. I added 500ml of water to a 2litre softdrink bottle, then added three teaspoons sugar and one teaspoon of bakers yeats. I wanted brewers yeast but the store didn't have any.

Within 15 minutes with it on top of the light on the tank, the warmth had the yeast cranking, I am getting a bubble of CO2 every 1.5 - 2 seconds, I am feeding it in to the pick up tube of the filter pump to disperse it through the tank.

This should help the plants grow quicker..

I got a fish tank for the shack

I found a little 50 liter fishtank at a garage sale on Saturday, it has a Biofilter in the hood and had a heater and light as well. All for the small sum of 15 AUD . Ihave planted it out and have a couple of bits of driftwood.


As yet I havent put any fish in, I am waiting for a month or so to give the plants and bio filter a chance to establish, I put some water from a mates tank in it to get the healthy oranisims for the filter. As there are no fish in there it means no food for the plants so I  have fertilised the tank with seaweed fertiliser. I am hoping this will get algae and plants growing well.

All going well the plants will be enough to control the ammonia when the fish go in, I  havent got any photos yet but once it has settled down and the tank clears up I will take some then.