I could spend a bit of time tinkering, but I’m going to call it a day. There’s still some considerations as to location and some other displays but in the meantime here’s some arty shots.
TARDIS done!
TARDIS- St John’s logo
In my head, I couldn’t really conceive when I started of a point when the TARDIS would be done. Now however, my fortuitous forgetting of the St John’s logo when I had the other signs made up has lent me the signal for completion. I was tossing up whether to actually include it or not but since the design is (mostly) based on the 1963 pilot prop, St John’s logo it had to be.
And so, the crowning moment.
TARDIS Interior
Here’s some final pics of the TARDIS interior. The lighting strips come up quite well and there is a surprising amount of space inside.
TARDIS: Light em up!
The end of time approaches! I had to change my TAFE day due to other commitments and so was quizzed by a teacher as to why I was there a day early. I responded that I was actually here on the correct day but that I’d travelled back in time a day.
Boom. Tish.
The lighting is killing me. I’d finished the soldering last week (no pics as nothing new to show) and discovered that my 24v transformer wasn’t supplying the juice to run 100 Xmas buds as well as the window and sign lights.
Some snipping and re-soldering later showed that my wiring was correct but I didn’t have enough power. On closer inspection (bringing in my trusty multimeter), the Xmas lights ran off a 24vac transformer supplying 12vdc to each string (2 strings of 50 for sparkly patterns) and supplying 600mA which explained the non starter.
Brushing up my high school electronics, I decided for the time and effort it would take (and I am keen to get onto the next project) to abandon the coordinated single string of window sign and lantern lights and to run them separately off their own transformers.
Bright lights! I’m happy that the LED lighting is clearly visible in the bright light of day.
I left it wired up and running to test and then had a chat to teacher Pete about my next project. He asked if the TARDIS was supposed to be flashing to which I answered ‘not deliberately’. I’m channelling Jon Pertwee here with the wires and the flashing and the smoke…
The 24vdc 1.25a regulated power supply I’d sourced from Jaycar turned out to not be supplying enough power for the string of 25 led strips (bright for a while and then flash flash bzzpt and a very hot transformer) so have sourced a higher rated supply.
Will try the higher rated supply next week and see what happens. Meanwhile, have (hopefully) sourced a heap of blackwood for the next project.
Fame in funny places
I was asked if I would mind if TAFE used the TARDIS for a bit of promotion. The journalist did a good job of not making me sound like a nutter.
Solar PV installed
Something I had been considering for a while was to up our solar PV power production. I’d always liked the idea of self sufficiency from an energy point of view, and the excess going to grid use is a bonus. We’d initially installed 1kw in 2005. How times change!
Then it was $13k. After some investigating this time, I came across the good people at Envirogroup. The quote was for the same price for a 4kw system! This is our current (hah, electrical pun!) limit for north facing roof space and to be considered a ‘small’ generator for rebating purposes.
The only alteration we did was to up spec the inverter to a German one, our principle being that it’s the inverter that does the heavy lifting & your should get the best your budget allows, ending us up with a SMA SB4000TL Transformerless Inverter.
It’s an absolute delight to see the meter running backwards (as it were since it’s digital these days).
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Summer Rain
A small amount of rain amounted from this threatening storm. Other than some very pretty clouds and the obligatory rainbow, our south western district somehow completely missed out on the drenching, sometimes deluging rains that the rest of the eastern seaboard seems to be complaining of. Water tank and water body levels dropping. Will probably need to buy water soon.
Black shouldered kite
Sitting down to a lovely evening meal of Chinese dumplings and Newton’s Ridge Pinot Grigio, we soaked up the warm summer evening’s sights and sounds of the approaching dusk.
Casting an eye over at the fallen Cypress, we saw something, scattering bits of fluff on top of the old cracked stem. A juvenile black shouldered kite appeared to be enjoying his meal in the relative quiet atop. Bothered only by butterflys and taking time to spread its wing to let the day’s warmth dissipate.
Comet Lovejoy fading
I would never have made a good milkman. This 4am waking is killing me. Ordinarily I’d stay up to see 4am, but getting up to see it is just crazy talk.
Defeated by clouds, rain & Christmas the past few days, this was my first opportunity to have a look since Christmas Eve. Comet Lovejoy had noticeibly dimmed, perhaps half to one magnitude. It had also shifted where previous observation had put it half a degree or so to the west of the Pointers, it was now slight to the right of them.
A stiff breeze shifted the intermittant clouds past us, so there was some good viewing as well as spotting 2 satellites, the ISS, and a few meteorites. Barry had his trusty 12 inch dob set up and we got crisp viewing of Omega Centauri and Saturn & its moons.
Comet Lovejoy
I’d been vaguely following a few comets this year including the one that got eaten by the sun but only read in last night’s paper that Comet Lovejoy which narrowly missed the sun itself, has put out a lovely tail and is clearly visible in the wee hours.
Here’s the NASA video from the ISS.
So, I thought iI’d give it a go. An hour or so before dawn is what Spaceweather said, I grabbed my trusty D300s, tripod & remote & headed South to see what I could see.
