Geir Andersen – Rough edges

Not really an idea but…

Feb 2, 2010 Articles, DIY, Digital Photography, Hobby, Learning, Personal, Photography, Science

This isn’t really an idea as I’ve already built one of these, and the other one is not mine.

First: I’ve been into model rocketry almost as long as I’ve been tinkering. Started out with some simple store bought rocket and moved into (of course) making these things myself. Rocket motors are dangerous and when firing you should be a safe distance away. A 9V battery is sufficient to fire the starter but that’s not a decent solution for a maker. I did some searching and thinking and came up with the VERY high voltage circuit from a disposable camera. This thing cranks out about 400V and is VERY DANGEROUS! You should only attempt to make/take apart such a circuit if you have some electronics knowledge.

To make the modified circuit I simply took out the circuit board, got a hobby box and soldered in some wires to extend the trigger. The switch must be rated for high voltage, as there is a lot of “juice” running through it. 30 feet of armature wire was enough for a safe distance for me, and was hooked between the trigger-box and the motor.

I don’t have any images or schematics of the thing availlable but I’ll upload some when I can dig it out.

Second: As you can see from my previous posts, photography is a hobby of mine. I like to capture the unexpected and high speed photography is awesome. It requires some really expensive equipment (or some tinkering and modification). One simple solution I hadn’t considered was this simple little hack (also funnily enough using a disposable camera). WARNING! As with the previous hack, this involves a high voltage circuit and is highly dangerous!

I’m a huge fan of mr. Bre Pettis and his ideas. There’s just something about the way he thinks and presents his ideas that makes you want to make and/or hack stuff.

This was, as seems to be the way I post, a very late night blog. My cat hunkered down in the couch next to me and a movie running on the TV. Can someone please kick me in the behind and whip me until I’m done cleaning out my hobbyroom/workshop? How can I expect to get some of my ideas from my head to paper and even further realized, when I can’t even straighten out a simple little room….?