John's Journal

[KeithTarpley]

Greetings,,,

So the wire is your arch enemy.   

Making me want to change to a few arches here and there... maybe... next year....

Keith

[ThaiWay]

PicKit 2 / PC Saga

The PicKit 2 I ordered from MicrochipDirect worked just great last season, in spite of it arriving with a noticeable rattle inside.  Then come this past June when I pulled it out again and plugged it in, I got the "PicKit 2 not found" dialogue... clicking <Tools><Check Communication> just locked up the program.  Emails to Microchip Support netted me a new PicKit 2, but I still experienced the same problem.  I think this was about the time that the copy of Windows XP started informing me that it did not pass "Genuine" inspection, which I ignored.  It had been installed gratis by the rep who sold me the PC.

A week ago, frustrated by not being able to flash my newly built LE's with current firmware, I called the PC company.  One of the selling points for me had been that it came with a three year warranty and five "service@home" coupons.  After an unanswered email requesting service, several phone calls and an email insisting that the PC was out of warranty, I blew my top and demanded that a service guy come to my house the next day, which he did.

Turns out the S/N sticker on the side of the box states that it had a three year warranty... only problem was that it was written in Thai and I can't read it!  Testing eliminated the hardware inside as the problem and proved - to the tech, at least - that it was a problem with XP corruption.  Of course the software is not covered by the warranty - the box came with none loaded - but the tech could come back "after hours" and do a fresh install of XP for 500 baht... about $15. 

He came back at 6:30pm and two hours later, plugging the PicKit 2 in gave me the familiar Windows "connection detection" chime and all is well. 

Sure makes me glad I use Macs for everything else.

[ThaiWay]

So the wire is your arch enemy.   

It takes me a while sometimes Keith... I'm not always the sharpest tool in the shed!

Now why doesn't this "rolling eyes" smiley work for me?   

[KeithTarpley]

Greetings,,,

Some of the smilees don't work properly.  Kinda like my jokes.... 

 

Keith

[ThaiWay]

Wrapping arches is fun, but there are priorities...

The angle iron I put up a year ago is rusting despite its powder coat.  So last weekend I took it all down and apart... at least the parts that I didn't have to climb over the third floor roof to get to.  Monday, completely trashed a wire brush roughing it all up, and prepped for red oxide corrosion-resistant primer... and even got a third of it coated by 1 am.  Tuesday I vegged.  Today, it's all primed.

Even though last weekend marked the end of Buddhist Lent, signaling the end of the Rainy Season, it's still thundering and pouring down at least once a day.  Setting up to paint in the carpark is out of the question.  Besides, where would I park the car?  And hauling it up three flights to the guest bedroom/workshop would seriously cramp the girl dogs' style, as well as my legs.  So the dining room is temporarily commissioned as a paint stall.  I have to carry the boy dogs to their crates in the corner for beddy-bye time unless I want red paw pads and/or noses.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

With any luck it'll all be shiny black Rustoleum-ized tomorrow...

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

...and then I can reconstruct it and get back to wrapping.

[ThaiWay]

Needed some bolts/nuts/washers after weekend work on the giant "erector set," so off I went to Klong Tom to replenish.  There's one little shophouse that has just about every screw or nut you could imagine, and they even had the special NC#6-32 nylon nut for the LE heatsinks.  I got one in my parts bag that was a #8, and I thought OMG I'll never find that here.  Wrong!  Also scored a 100-meter roll of SPT/half (about 23 AWG) for just over $10... 16 gauge lampcord is unheard of in TH.  I was scouring the alleys too for used 14/3 3-prong power cords for my LE's but no luck.  That'll be a trip to the IT shopping mall another day.

Then to the audio/electronics shops at Baan Mor... for 50 Baht ($1.50) a "repair" man determined that my solder station was fine, but the solder pencil was defective.  A tout - probably his son - saw me walking around with my shopping bag and instinctively knew I was looking for technical assistance.  He grabbed my arm and led me half a block down the soi to the folding table and plastic stools set up on the sidewalk with tools and a volt meter for just such a purpose.   Fortunately, back at the shop where I bought it, a quick phone call by the clerk brought a pretty young girl a-running from who knows where with a new one in hand... and I am $5 poorer but able to solder again!

I should've snapped some pics of today's adventures and productivity, but I did remember to pull out my Nokia and get these, which may be of some interest.  Those LED light strips?  1.2m for $6 for the not so bright ones... and almost $8 for the 1m square type bright ones... not a bargain in my book, but maybe I was quoted the "foreigner" price.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

And for those who look for SSR4 heatsinks, I was amazed at the selection I stumbled upon in one shop starting at 15 cents.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

[ThaiWay]

Busy week, and in addition to getting started on some 220VAC SSR4+DMX's, I reconstructed the newly painted erector set and stretched 75% Shade Cloth over the new frame.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

[wbuehler]

Cool

[Greg]

Cool

Or at least cooler.   

[ThaiWay]

Now that it's cool - er, ah, cooler - to work in the carpark, I've been frightfully busy on the latest project.  Care to venture a guess as to what it is?

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

...and no, it's not a new avatar for Bill!

[KeithTarpley]

Greetings,,,

I'm Batman!

(Well, it does look like the Bat Signal...)

Keith

[vairmoose]

The Ghostly Cheshire cat  ....     (my what rotten teeth you have) 

Larry

[ThaiWay]

Tee hee tee hee... all will be revealed in due time!

John

[ThaiWay]

Progress at dusk...

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

A few additions and adjustments are yet to be made, but barring more thunderstorms I could be done tonight.  I can't wait until Nov 1st when High Season begins and the spigot is turned off.

[edit for better photo]

[ThaiWay]

Three days of frustration... One of the 50-meter rolls of 2-wire white LED Rope Light I bought a year ago is of horribly inferior quality.  (Most of the other one went into snowflakes.)  The solder joints at the cut points break with even moderate bending.  So, after numerous attempts to do a DIY fix on it yesterday afternoon, I gave up completely... I was just wasting too much time. 

This morning I took the broken segments and the rest of the roll back to the shop, hoping I'd get at least some satisfaction... after all, it's been a year!  Lucky me... it's the Prince's fifth birthday and a holiday so there was no traffic for the $2.70 taxi ride.  I explained the problem - lots of hand signals - to Miss Bee, who speaks even less English than I do Thai.  To my amazement she replaced the 40 meters with a much better product - even brighter! - no questions asked.  I guess being a good repeat customer helps... and sometimes you just luck out.

Back home, back to work, some tweaking, and here's the result.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Now to attach the frame and somehow winch it up to the third floor balcony tomorrow.  Wish me more luck!