After a year in containers, it’s time to put some of the plants we got last year into the ground.
After making some plans, changing some plans, getting suggestions from friends, we decided to try the raised bed route so I built some boxes. Gardener Scott has some great YouTube videos covering raised bed gardening.
A trip to the nearby big box home improvement store (and a call to the wife after I discovered the boards I just bought wouldn’t all fit into the car) got me what I needed to build two 8 foot x 4 foot boxes for the raised beds.
We’ll dig up the grass down to the “dirt” (heavy clay stuff) underneath and fill up the boxes with other dirt that the plants will hopefully like. Haven’t figured out where the new dirt is coming from yet. It will either be lots and lots of bags and several trips from the nearby big box hardware store, or maybe get a few cubic yards of dirt dumped on the driveway from somewhere.
The plan is to eventually have six raised bed boxes (three on either side of the tree). Four of them we’ll use for the blueberry and raspberry plants that are in pots right now. The other two we’ll use to try our hand at growing some veggies.
About a year ago, we purchased a CNC mill (SainSmart Genmitsu PROVerXL 4030) from the local Makerspace, who had received it as a donation. It sat in the garage for most of last year as we had a lot of other things going on.
SainSmart Genmitsu PROVerXL 4030 CNC machineSainSmart Genmitsu PROVerXL 4030 CNC machineGenmitsu PROVerXL 4030 side viewGenmitsu PROVerXL 4030 control box and off-line controllerGenmitsu PROVerXL 4030 CNC machine
Now I’m finally getting around to checking it out, learning about how they work, and how to use them.
So far, I’ve gathered that the basic workflow goes something like this:
Use some kind of design software, such as Easel, Carveco, Inkscape or some other CAD software, to create the object to mill.
Send the G-Code to the CNC controller (using Candle or the off-line controller).
???
Profit!
I’ve turned the 4030 on, and managed to send it to a home position. It’s a bit on the loud side. The 4030 appears to be pretty much fully assembled and seems to be working. There was only one bit that came with the machine, so I’ll need to get a set of end mill bits. Whoever originally owned it also upgraded the 4030 with the aluminum T-slot spoilboard, so I’ll need to get a set of clamps that fit the T-slots. Fortunately I’ve also got the original MDF spoilboard that I can put back on in a pinch.
I’ve got a number of power supplies that I can use to supply power to the various projects that I’ve got on the workbench.
There’s the obvious wall power and a variety of wall warts of different voltages and current ratings. I’ve got wall warts and power supplies ranging from 5V all the way up to big chunky 28V power supplies.
A power strip mounted to the side of a bookshelf with a 5V wall wart power supply and flashlight plugged in
For projects that require a beefier power supply I’ve got an unregulated power supply that gives me up to 30VDC or 25VAC. It doesn’t get used too often, but comes in handy when it’s needed. There are also a few 13.8V power supplies that I can steal from the radios in a pinch.
Power supply offering unregulated 0-30V DC and 0-25V AC
Most of my projects don’t have big current draws though, so more often than not, I’m just using batteries to power my projects. One that I use most often is a 12V battery pack made by wiring 2 quad C-cell battery holders together and putting a standard 3.5mm DC barrel connector on it.
A battery pack of 8 C-cells connected to a Sparkfun RedBoard
DC barrel connectors can be easily attached to those snap connectors used for 9V batteries providing another power source (here’s one from Sparkfun if you don’t want to make one).
A 9V battery connected to a Sparkfun RedBoard
Some battery holders I have also use those snap connectors, so I can have battery power sources ranging from 3V to practically as high as I need.
Batteries in a variety of battery holders
I’m often using mostly used batteries pulled out of other things like TV remotes, smoke detectors, etc. Usually they still have plenty of juice left to power my smaller projects.
While charging up some old sealed lead acid (SLA) batteries pulled from my battery backup UPSs, I got to thinking about how I could put them to use as an additional power source. I’ve got plenty of three terminal voltage regulators that would provide the voltages that I’d need.
I sketched out block diagrams for a couple of possible concepts. One would switch between several different voltages but provide just a single output, while the second would provide multiple outputs and have toggle switches turn to each one on or off.
Block diagram for a potential battery powered power supply with a variety of switched voltages
Block diagram for a potential battery powered power supply providing multiple voltages
Probably wouldn’t do 3.3V, but the others would definitely be feasible. 12V would probably be just a direct connection to the battery rather than going through a voltage regulator. Since I’ve got 2 SLA batteries, I could even put them in series for a 24V source and give myself a wider range of regulated voltages.
Still in the concept stage for this and haven’t started building anything yet. Seems like it could be a fun project.
A radiograph of my new Pixel 6 phone. The Pixel 6 is a big chunky phone with a lot of stuff in it.
X-ray image of a Pixel 6 smartphone. 80 kV, 1 mAs
This one was acquired using a portable x-ray unit at 80 kV, 1 mAs, and the small focal spot. It’s raised up about 25 cm above the image receptor for a bit of magnification (about 1.3x) and cropped in from the original image.
Managed to catch the SpaceX launch of more Starlink satellites this morning.
Also participating in the show were four planets in the early morning sky: Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn.
Four planets in the sky. From lower left to upper right: Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn
A couple minutes or so after the launch, we spotted the Falcon 9 plume.
SpaceX Falcon 9 exhaust plume
This was shortly after the second stage separation and fairing separation. The two small specks of light close to each other are the two fairing halves. The third speck of light just behind and below the other two is the booster stage on its way back to the barge off the South Carolina coast. The speck of light above the rocket plume is Mars.
Falcon 9 rocket plume. Faintly visible are the two fairing halves and the first stage booster. Mars is in the background above the plume.
This shows the fairing halves and first stage booster a little better (lower right). Also visible are Venus and Jupiter in the lower left of the image. The larger blob of light above and to the left of the second stage rocket is just internal reflection of a street light across the street.
Falcon 9 second stage rocket. Visible in the lower right are the two fairing halves and the first stage booster. Venus and Jupiter are toward the lower left.
