Angela brought home 3 vacuum pumps from the college that weren't working.  These are rotary vane type pumps, and this is the second time I have worked on two of them.  I had a fairly good idea why they weren't working, and when I took them apart, I found I was right - the insides were badly corroded, causing the motors to bind up.  This is usually ( Read more... )

It seems that, every time I fix one noise that the Jeep is making, it lets me hear another, quieter noise that also needs fixing.  For instance, a few months ago I finally got tired of the wind noise from the driver's door - the hinge bushings were worn out, and the door was sagging to the point that it would not close right.  This allowed air to ( Read more... )

So the real-time analyzer I bought after last MuseCon turned out to have an awful hum in the output.  I finally got around to opening it up to see what was in there ( Read more... )

but just as good, in its own way ( Read more... )

Just finished fixing 5 more video projectors (2 at work and 3 for home/con use).  I ended up re-capping 3 power supplies, changing out 2 LCD/crystal units, and replacing a couple of diachroic filters that had gotten light-burned.  The 3 for home/con use are PROXIMA DP8200x units (matches one I already have and use for the cons) - this now gives me ( Read more... )

Well, that was a con! Lots of work, but not much stress (and very little drama, thank Ghu!). I took over Equipment/AV this year (Burnadette, who used to do it, wanted a break, so they asked me if I would take it on).  I was busy, but not uncomfortably so.  tollers did a fantastic job as Filk Head - the performers were outstanding, the music was great, and ( Read more... )

I tried some more popcorn for my crew at work, only this time I used the 'pre-measured' packets for the 8 oz. kettle. (Includes the proper amounts of red coconut oil (which is actually more of a hard paste at room temp), popcorn, and seasoned salt.) I was surprised at what a difference it makes - popcorn made this way looks, smells, and tastes ( Read more... )

• Use about 30% to 50% more oil (if using liquid oil and not bars) than the machine instructions recommend. It makes the corn pop faster and more completely.
• Even using the extra oil, the popped corn was not greasy at all. If anything, it was about as non-greasy as most air-popped corn I have tried.
• 1 cup of kernels makes a lot of popped corn.
• The ( Read more... )

I'm now the proud owner of a movie-theater-style popcorn popper; a small commercial unit - 8 oz. kettle with motorized stirrer, warming deck and light, and even a removable cart. And, best of all, I got it for a fraction of what it would cost new. Add this to Dwayne's slushie machine and the MuseCon parties are gonna' rock bigtime as far as ( Read more... )

• I need a bigger projection screen if I ever supply equipment for Christian Ready again. The projector was plenty bright (6000 lumens, for Ghu's sake), but the images would look a whole lot better on a much bigger screen than the portable ones I have.
• One of my homebuilt VotT speakers has a blown 12" driver. This would explain why we had so many ( Read more... )