dross...
It's been another busy month! I gained another year of age and the controversial local government amalgamations are now (mostly) complete and a fact of life. The weather is still unsettled as the temperature slowly slips into winter ranges.
Work has been busy but interesting and I've continued development of some personal electronics projects. The first to be completed is a 3 channel 240 volt switching circuit driven by a PICAXE microchip. I've learnt the programming syntax and successfully written a few basic programs, so the next step is to create custom circuit boards to integrate the chips with the (very neat) optically isolated solid state relays. All the required chemicals for the developing and etching of the boards have been gathered, now I just have to do it. The process is similar to creating silk screens but the chemicals involved (ammonium persulphate, sodium hydroxide) are nastier. While that's happening I'm also creating a remotely monitored passive infrared motion sensing and smoke detection system - still waiting for some of the parts. There's a Sharp infrared distance sensor on the way too; I have some ideas for creating an interactive artwork based on it.
More updates soon, I promise :)