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Temp controller for curing box

Curing epoxy mouldings typically requires elevated temperatures (+ 40 to 70 C) for 4-12 h. Previously we have done this in a cardboard box with a car-heater continuously blowing hot air into the box. By adjusting the number and size of holes in the box the temperature can be crudely varied.

Here's an attempt to create a better heater with temperature control.

Temperature controller with display and input buttons on the left. White temperature sensor in the middle. 200 W heater-blower box on the right.
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Helsinki Regatta 2006

Some pictures from the 2006 Helsinki regatta. I was in the boat responsible for the top marks, but we got a few pictures of the start also by the end of the day.

click the pictures for full-screen versions.












First Steps With Brushless Servodrive (Microchip dsPIC + IRF IRAMS)

Today I got the whole motion control chain from EMC2 on the pc through the Mesa m5i20 servo-card, homemade optoisolator card (far right), PWM to analog filter (small board on the right), servodrive (middle), powerstage (middle left, with heatsink), through to the motor (left, a Sanyo P5 1kW servo) working !

This is truly Open Source cnc: EMC is obviously an OpenSource project, but also the FPGA configuration on the m5i20 is published under the GPL, and my servodrive code will be available when it fully works.

The picture might seem messy with a whole lot of wires - but I can assure you that it's all very organized... 🙂

Continue reading First Steps With Brushless Servodrive (Microchip dsPIC + IRF IRAMS)

Helsinki Model-Expo 2006


This years Model Expo was held during 5-7 of May 2006 at the Helsinki fair centre.


The Finnish RC-Sailors exhibited a Noux IOM and a local class boat, the 5.5mrc. Our stand was moderately interesting to the 10000 or so visitors with a handful of people interested in either buying second-hand boats or building a boat from a kit.



These radio yachts caught my camera - both probably too small to sail well in all but drifting conditions... To my annoyment, the importer of the ThundreTiger Voyager continues to market the boat as a 1M, or One Meter, or similar - a boat which of course does not come even close to an IOM, the worldwide premier radio sailing competition class.

Two nicely built still-models of sailboats. I understand the Swan can actually be driven around using an electric motor - unfortunately not sailed !

One of the electric competition boats that were skillfully driven around on the indoor pond. Unfortunately the depth was not enough for us to go sailing... (+we would have needed big fans to generate wind)

The Futaba 2.4GHz system, still not on the market according to the contacts I spoke with. Probably will be during the summer months. If the preliminary price indications are correct the Spektrum DX6 is probably a better buy.

The flying hall hosted all kinds of flying exhibitions with free-flying, rubber-band, or electric helicopters and airplanes. Here a 'freestyle' competition where aerobatic flying is performed to music and judged.

Among the flying modelers, a simulator like this was definitely the thing to have on the stand. Using a video-projector is not a bad idea - maybe something for us to show videos from competitions next year ?

A number of people had set up big slotcar or railway setups.

Cars this year seemed to be either very small, like the micro car above, or very big, 1/5th scale below. Both nitro powered.

A simple hydrocopter-thing...

Two home-built Stirling engines.

Another homebuilt engine

Intricate gear-cutting machinery used by the engine builders.

Cute miniature woodworking machines by Unimat. 'machine-park in a drawer' !

The Model Expo also hosts an annual robowars competition.

More war, a big part of the exhibition hall was set apart for warhammer games. Some kind of mix between a boardgame and a role-game, if I understand correctly.


Still more war. Two examples of the several 'soft-air' vendors at the expo. Distasteful if you ask me, and not a particularly creative hobby for our spes patria...