Heck, I find most things north and south of LA to be pretty great, just skip 100 miles on each side as a sort of quarantine, and California becomes a lot nicer place.... ...Los Angeles is...ummm...Hmm. Gommorrah? Okay maybe that's a LITTLE overboard, but you get the sense of my feelings about that fine metropolis. I'd miss Cali if it fell into the ocean, LA not so much.
For anyone having never been to California, focalist has summed up the situation as precisely as a well written Arduino sketch. California has amazing almost unlimited diversity and things you will not see anywhere else in the world (I love giant Redwood trees) but by no means should the lure of Disney Land or Universal studios sucker you into visiting LaLa land.
We have the Pats... The Bruins.. The Celtics and of course the Red Sox.
Nothing beats Fenway and a cold beer. It'll cost a fortune these days, but it's worth it once a year.
They don't always win (but often do)- but NOTHING on this PLANET is quite a New England sports fan. You guys like your teams, people LIVE AND DIE for who is on the ice for a B's game any given night. It's plain bizarre.
To be honest, the pretty new england winter gets old around the second of january, on either side is four months where sports is a reasonably good option as a timekiller to prevent cabin fever during blizzards..
focalist:
You become a master of Duct Tape, PVC pipe (both for plumbing and for building lightweight frames and supports), Epoxies of every flavor, goops and sealants, and eventually even how to do some things right. I plumbed in our kitchen sink, all the way to the outflow including cleanouts.. and it has one of those nice pull-out-kinda-thing spouts and all that, a Boiling Water tap (neato toy I got as a gift), as well as garbage disposal and dishwasher... not a single leak in five years.. The thing is a deep-bowl double sided monster.. made of Black synthetic granite. More durable and lighter, kinda like Corian, but I forget the name. DuPont polymer something or other. Looks pretty snappy.
This is the truth. I don't live on a fixed income (and if something breaks beyond my ability, I call in a pro - depending on the need, it will either be a contractor I've hired in the past, or it will be someone via my TotalProtect plan), but I have done tons of my own little home plumbing and electrical jobs. One repair or another, indoors or out. I also have a large supply of goops and sealants (favorite two: Permatex Copper silicone gasket, and JB Weld - the Permatex is great for all kinds of gaskets, whether your car or your home - and JB Weld is the same way - provided you want it as nearly permanent as possible). I've got a few lawn sprinklers I need to fix, and I have to install a new mister system in our back yard. At some point my wife and I need to replace the bathroom sinks (that may turn into a "call the expert" thing, depending on how difficult it is to remove and replace the current sink and backsplash; they're almost 40 years old now).
Part of me loves being a homeowner, another part of me wonders if it's really worth it (glad to have my shop, though!).
Heck, I find most things north and south of LA to be pretty great, just skip 100 miles on each side as a sort of quarantine, and California becomes a lot nicer place.... ...Los Angeles is...ummm...Hmm. Gommorrah? Okay maybe that's a LITTLE overboard, but you get the sense of my feelings about that fine metropolis. I'd miss Cali if it fell into the ocean, LA not so much.
For anyone having never been to California, focalist has summed up the situation as precisely as a well written Arduino sketch. California has amazing almost unlimited diversity and things you will not see anywhere else in the world (I love giant Redwood trees) but by no means should the lure of Disney Land or Universal studios sucker you into visiting LaLa land.
Lefty
Northern California seems to be the saner end of Cali. California's basically nice if you avoid the southern end (though I do like the area around San Diego up thru Santa Barbara) and the middle valley area. I just wish the gun laws were more like Arizona's (well, except for the whole concealed carry into a bar - that's just a ticking time bomb, there).
The only real problem with California (if you discount the middle valley section) is how expensive it is to live there...
The only real problem with California (if you discount the middle valley section) is how expensive it is to live there...
That and our dysfunctional state government. Sometime starting in the 70s the government decided they would never be able to run out of spending other people's money. Probably something they learned back in D.C.
True that. Kids sent off to their rooms/neutral corners and they both have something to keep them busy, so we're going over to a neighbor's house for a cool one.
Have a "thing" tomorrow, only good part is that it's on the water down the Cape Cod way for a few hours, and I might see something worth pointing a camera at. The Cape and Martha's Vineyard really are gems that few outside of New England know about-- but it's where the Presidents go on their summer vacations- guess that says SOMETHING...
The Cape and Martha's Vineyard really are gems that few outside of New England know about-- but it's where the Presidents go on their summer vacations- guess that says SOMETHING...
In the early 90s I took my wife and mother in law on a 10 day trip down to the cap, and then north, off for the fall colors all the way to upper NY and returned in a big circle route. The Mane coast remined me alot of parts of our north coast here.
The fall colors were everything they say about them. We may have bigger trees out here but you make up for it in quanity and colors in late fall. That is not a visit to miss if you haven't seen it or live there.
I do flat water kayaking when I can.. local state park lake and a meandering local river. I've made it out for paddles twice now during the "Foliage Season", a Maple in full regalia arching over a riverbank.. I'll see if I can find one of my photos. It really can be beautiful.
Maine, especially the North Coast is stunning. My wife has family up that way, outside of Bar Harbor. Last year we actually went camping for a few days in Acadia National Park, which is is on "Mount Desert Island". I am not kidding. The point is, Acadia includes Mount Cadillac, which is a huge mass of granite (leftover volcano so I am told) right on the coast. 1500 feet of pink granite in like a distance of five miles from the water, all of national park. http://www.acadiamagic.com/CadillacMountain.html
I've never posted/shown the photos I took of it anywhere publicly, but when I was there, it was bathed in fog which burned off like wisps of fire as the rising sun hit it. Not shabby shots. Several I think are superior to the ones the travel and tour companies use, in my own humble opinion The top of Mount Cadillac is the first place in the USA to see the sun every day.
I guess I should post a few of those too... I really want terribly to have even a single day of shooting in Yellowstone.... Big Sur also has that stunning scenery you'll see nowhere else. Last time I was there, I was in grade school. Having a camera just gives me an excuse to walk around and stare at nothing all day and look legitimate doing it.
I would like to thank every body for helping me you all just literally saved my life but i have one more quick question so do i use schematic by cr0tch and if i do do i need the diode? also based on the schematic i don't need to give the motors(4 of them) their own 9v battery?. also im going to go to radio shack so can i get the final schematic on wether to use the diode or not? also for the programming want to control the speed of motors so can i get the programming on that based on the PWM pin nine on the arduino duimilanove ATMEGA328.
thank you very much for your help
jjmuteteke:
I would like to thank every body for helping me you all just literally saved my life but i have one more quick question so do i use schematic by cr0tch and if i do do i need the diode?
You should use the diode if you want the transistor to live for any reasonable amount of time. This diode prevents what's called "flyback voltage" (caused by the collapse of a magnetic field in a coil - as in the case of a motor) from back propagating through the transistor, which can break it. The voltage generated is generally much, much larger than the supply voltage. IIRC, the 1n4001 is good for about 50 volts, which is well within the range of what your are working with (if you want to be "doubly sure", sub in a 1n4004, which is good up to 400 volts).
jjmuteteke:
also based on the schematic i don't need to give the motors(4 of them) their own 9v battery?
Well, technically no - you only need one 9 VDC source. With that said, four of those motors running off a single PP3 9 volt battery is going to run that battery down to nothing in no time flat. You really want to use a better source for the entire project (something based on AA cells, minimum - if sticking with alkaline/NiCd/NiMH - otherwise you are looking at having to use a lithium-based battery, and all the potential recharging hassle/expense that can entail).
jjmuteteke:
also im going to go to radio shack so can i get the final schematic on wether to use the diode or not? also for the programming want to control the speed of motors so can i get the programming on that based on the PWM pin nine on the arduino duimilanove ATMEGA328.
I hope I've answered the question; but you are free to wait for any second opinions, of course (I'm certainly not one for thinking I'm the last word on any topic).
As far as the PWM control is concerned, just hook the circuit to the pin for the PWM control, and use the analogWrite() function to control it (see the Fade sample code/tutorial - or any other of the myriad tutorials for motor speed control using PWM for the Arduino out there).
so i guess i can add one more motor to the schematic and other then that thank you very much for your help and i will let yall know if i have any more questions
thank you very much for your help
+----[Motor1]-----+
| |
+------------+----[Motor2]-----+---- 9 VDC
| | | (i used a nine volt connector clip so i connected + to motors and - to THE GND WERE THE EMITTER IS CONNECTED TO)
|
| | |
| +-------->|-------+
| Flyback Diode ( i used a 1n4004 )
|
/ Collector
Base /
Arduino Digital Pin 8 --------////--------[NPN transistor]
1k resistor \ (i used the TIP120 DARLINGTON TRASNSISTOR)
(i used a 1K resistor 1/2 watts 5% tolerance) \ Emitter
|
|
|
+---------------- GND
HERES THE PROGRAM I USED #define LED 8
