I used Google Sketchup to design the outside look and layout the inside and back features. The trailer started out as a pre-built 5′ X 8′ trailer with no floor from Northern Tool. I added some strengthening square tube to it because it seemed more flexible than I wanted. There are a few things like the cabinet doors and some trim work that are not finished in the pictures. It ended up weighing around 800 pounds when done. The aluminum on the roof is .05 inch thick. It was put over the top of the ribs and screwed down on the edges using trim from the local RV dealer. I used Styrofoam sheathing in the roof for sound and temperature insulation. I converted the lights inside to use LEDs so the battery lasts longer. The bulbs the lights came with used 1.3 amps, the LEDs used 0.2 amps. I found the radio at the thrift store for $6. It has AM, FM, weather band, and a line in. It is only outputs for 2 speakers which is perfect for this. I used a set of 4 inch Infinity speakers. The inside floor has two different types of foam mattress toppers as padding to sleep on. The bottom layer is a denser foam and the top is an egg carton type memory foam. We were able to get out and use it twice before it got cold outside. It turned out pretty nice for designing and building it on the fly.

If you’re interested in building one, check out this forum http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/

A video from my old Nikon L4 mounted on the front of my kayak. This was taken while kayaking the mainland sea caves of the Mawikwe Bay, Lake Superior.

The video is from a keychain camera stuck to the front of my Dynam Hawk Sky RC plane.

My 5th ever RC flight.

The landing wasn’t perfect but it survived without a scratch.

I also wanted to make a gift box to put them in. At Michael’s craft store you can buy plain wooden boxes for around $2. I broke off the handle that was on it because it was crooked and didn’t really fit with my idea.  I sanded the corners and edges to make it feel nicer. And for fun, burned the schematic for the tubes heating element into the top.

Then I cut and fit some foam using my homemade hot wire cutter. Someone else on another forum has instructions if anyone is interested in making one.

I stained and polyurethaned the wood box. And covered the foam with orange crushed velvet (they didn’t have teal). I hope she likes it!

I designed the base of the tricopter using Google Sketchup then exported it to SVG for Inkscape. Using the Inkscape files I had the design laser cut and shipped to me by Ponoko.com. You can get your own cut out of various materials from my Ponoko showroom. The total to have it cut and shipped was $28.53 for 5mm birch plywood.
For control Ill be using a Spectrum DX7 radio and a KK Multicopter controller.

The design is based on this one from rcexplorer.se

I updated the pictures showing some progress. It will fly but I haven taken it outside yet because of the weather. Snow and the electronics don’t mix if it crashes. Until the weather improves, a couple inches off the ground in the living room will have to do. I still need to mount the battery better, isolate the board from vibration, and balance it it out for best performance.

My Yamaha XS650 after some work.

A couple years ago I bought a beat up Yamaha XS650 from a scrap collector on craigslist. The bike looked like it was a hacked up project someone else gave up on. I bought it as a not running bike with no title. The first step was to get a title. No point in putting money into it if the state wont let you call it yours. I went to the Minnesota DMV in Roseville and the guy said “Nope we cant get a title for it”. So I went to a different DMV in Circle Pines. They said all I need to do is fill out a “statement of facts” and the title application. I Did all that then started ripping it apart while I waited for the state to say anything about the title. About a month later I got the title in the mail. That was easier than I thought it would be.

I built the whole bike with basic hand tools, a mig welder and a cheap paint sprayer. The engine ran ok after going through the carbs but it leaked oil out of the side of the head and the cam chain was loose enough to make noise. I rode it like that for a season and took it apart the next spring.  I was surprised how little wear was on the engine. I have no idea what kind of mileage was on it because it didn’t come with the gauges. Very low low from the looks of the internals and brake disks. I cleaned all the carbon off the pistons and the head. Honed the cylinders, new cam chain, new rings, new gaskets, and some new all brass head bolt washers instead of the rubber ones from the factory. The rubber ones are the cause of the oil leaks all XS650s have, had, or will have. Now it runs like new and rides like an old classic.

Heres some build photos.

Click for more photos.

My first rc flight. The video is from an 808 keychain camera.

Eagle Files and data sheets

This is the working prototype. The eagle files have some minor changes made to it. Fixed some mistakes and re-positioned a few parts.
 

This one is for the phreakers of the past.
A simple Arduino shield to decode DTMF tones using an audio input.
It can easily be hooked up to a cell phone or radio.
The shield uses an MT8870 to decode the audio and outputs BCD to
a 74LS145 BCD to Decimal chip. It also uses a CD4543 BCD to 7 segment
to display the number. The 74LS145 gives a logic low on one of
the ten output pins depending on what number is decoded.
The board also gives output pins for BCD that can be wired direct to the arduino
for more options. The idea came from the desire to use a ham radio to control an
arduino. Some searching led me to razorconcepts.net and my discovery of the MT8870.
I built the first version of the board and had to fix some mistakes I made.
It works great. Now I gotta get a video of it.
You can download the Eagle Files and data sheets