Shoeless
This blog is attracting a lot of European registrations. Most are just name and email registrations through gmail. It is obvious who they are. A few post inappropriate links that the filters eat. Yum!
I try to understand why but I am at pretty much of a loss. I assume it might be a way to improve standings in the web crawlers, but most seem to be private entries. Maybe it is just a game. Perhaps they just want to belong. If it is marketing, it is way off track. (Old railroad term). It does prove (I think) someone is reading this blog. Ha!
TEDEX was suffering the same flood, so I shut the door.
At TEDEX I first suspected frustrated kiddie hackers who have written or downloaded a program that crawls the web just trying to blindly enter and join open blogs and BBS’s. However, I don’t see how they get past the visual filters. So it must be live people with a lot of time.
Joining here is quick and easy but just permits replies. Not much status there. Most post nothing after joining. Those that do take the form of very strange links. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Maybe they are barefoot like me except when I am in the shop… 🙂
Dan’l
Fading Light
TEDEX may slowly fade into the sunset. It is a web forum I started about five years ago, sharing information about machine shop hobby activities. I had already shared web space in my The Hobbyist’s Machine Shop web site with about eighteen people with projects and equipment they wanted to show off. I figured I could provide a separate forum where everyone could enter their projects and share information.
That is the reason TEDEX was born. Little did I know then that the creeping crud was laying-in-wait to slither into open forum doors. It has been a constant challenge to stay clean and probably the main reason many small forums shut down. For them, the Internet garbage collection just isn’t worth the effort.
I persevered because there were enough active users to justify the cause. That just isn’t the case any longer. I started a blog (two actually) here where I post my personal activities. I am torn to re-post again in TEDEX.
Registration to TEDEX is currently turned off. Registered users can still have full access. Non users can enter but do not see the photos. I dropped about 100 old non-participants from the rolls. The house has been cleaned and the doors locked. There are still a few resident suspects but I will see how they behave. The good guys still have the keys and can share the space.
If there are no postings or knocks at the door I will just let it set for awhile. Then…
It’s the Details
I have ordered a few more parts for the HB2. That sentence may be written many more times as I continue to detail the HB2 build.
This time it is some cable carriers or sometimes called cable chains. They are flexible linked sections of wiring conduit that contains the wiring that is forced to flex as the X/Y axis moves. They really clean up the jumble of system wiring and keep it out of the way.
This constant movement also requires special wiring that can withstand all the flexing. Ordinary wire will fail in several different ways from the constant flex. I have used only this special purpose flexable type wiring in the HB2 design. A little more expensive but the “right stuff” for use in a cable chain.
More about this after I get it all installed. ~ Dan’l
Music To My Ears
My wife is a professional piano teacher but I am swooning over another kind of music. That other kind of music has four speakers and three channels.
What I am hinting at is the HB2 has come alive and is singing it’s stepper pulses. Anyone familiar with stepper motors knows what I am talking about. The steppers actually sing in the audio range as the pulses are being fed to them. The HB2 has four motors (speakers) and three channels (X, Y, Z).
The PS2 Power supply is complete and working as good if not better than expected. I made up all four XLR 5 pin plugs and they are a perfect match to the stepper motor cable I am using. I haven’t done the finish wiring at the motors yet as I plan to test for awhile.
I’ll get some pictures tomorrow and post here. Maybe a video too. I also need to do a write up for the web site. For today I just wanted to mark this milestone that the HB2 is now self powered. I could actually do some cutting if I come up with a hold down.
Dan’l
UPDATEÂ 3/8/09: Pictures of the PS2 are now in the THMS website. Look under SITE TOOLS and What’s New for this entry: 03/08/09 – HB2 Construction Section 6, The PS2 Controller/Power Supply. At last the HB2 gets the power and brains to move on its own!
More HB2PS2
Click on pictures for a large view.
I got a lot of work done on the PS2 Power Supply / Controller this week end. Slight layout change form the first picture a few days ago. I turned the transformer around and put the full bridge diodes on the other side. There was too much going on around the capacitor
I fired it up and got some DC voltage readings (see picture). The transformer is 10 Amps at 24 volts A/C. With full wave rectification and the capacitor it charges up to peak voltage DC. I haven’t powered the board yet as I need a 10 amp fuse. Otherwise it is ready to go.