chicken's blog.

wow, long time.	Feb 26 2010 10:41AM 2 comments
Tesla coil has come and gone. Broke it during a New Years eve party at the nerd lab. I'll get it running again someday soon. For now I'm working on building a clock with nixie tubes. Kids are keeping me damn busy. I fear that Facefuck is killing the PZ.
Tesla, bitches!	Aug 24 2009 9:28AM 1 comments
I've started gathering parts for my tesla coil. Hopefully it'll be done in time for Halloween so we can have a 'lightning' show at the party. My transformer only outputs 55o watts, so unless I upgrade before then, I should be able to put out around 2 foot sparks.
quarter shrinker update	Jun 1 2009 4:41PM 1 comments
The quarter shrinker won an editors' choice award at Maker faire and got a writeup at wired.com hawt! http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/05/hackerbotlabs/ More photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/machack/sets/72157618999780397/ update update update: the folks over at intellectual ventures took some high-speed videos of our quarter shrinker in action. pretty cool: http://intellectualventureslab.com/?p=71
belated balloon post	Jun 1 2009 4:36PM 0 comments
long story short: we launched and lost our balloon again. This time our GPS failed at roughly 60k ft, at which time it begain re-transmitting the same location over and over. Last known position was near Cheney, wa at about 58k feet heading ESE at about 60 mph and rising at about 400 ft/min... ffwd to 3 days later and we get a call from a DNR geologist who found our payload (still shreiking) in a clearing in the middle of nowhere about 10 miles outside of Coeur D' Alene, Id. He shipped it back to us and now we finally have pictures from the edge of space! We will be trying to figure out our actual peak altitude and whatever else we can over the coming days, but for now we have space pr0n! http://www.flickr.com/photos/3ricj/3585457281/in/set-72157619100287014/ more pics to come as well as more details...
payloadtracker	Apr 13 2009 9:11PM 1 comments
I'm helping work on an application called PayloadTracker which is designed to map and track APRS beacons. As a side effect, it will map and track GPS data too. If you have a GPS or a radio capable of receiving APRS, check it out: http://code.google.com/p/payloadtracker/
new quarter shrinking video	Mar 1 2009 10:20AM 3 comments
Taken by Xander. This time the quarter and coil were encased in a soda can sized block of epoxy. Big boom + blue fire+ very small quarter + highly toxic smoke = awesome! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c54bGUQbuM More info posted at hackerbotlabs: http://www.hackerbotlabs.com/2009/03/coin-shrinker/
nerd++	Feb 11 2009 3:46PM 0 comments
We're gearing up for another balloon launch in May. This time we're just keeping it simple in the hopes that it'll increase our chances of recovering the payload. Just sending up a camera to take pictures this time. I'm going to puyallup in early march to the HAM radio swap meet to pick up a tranceiver for the truck and a handheld. I also will be taking the test to get certified to operate on the HAM bands. My nerdage is increasing...
small change	Feb 2 2009 8:21PM 1 comments
We've been shrinking quarters down at the n3rd lab. I'll post some pictures soon. Here's some other guy's site who describes how he does it. Our rig is very similar, but more powerful. http://teslamania.delete.org/frames/shrinkergallery.html . ........................................................................................................................................ UPDATE: 1 pic here: http://flickr.com/photos/lindes/3251957442/ This is a quarter that I shrunk. I have an even smaller one too, pic soon.
Baby!	Dec 29 2008 1:56PM 2 comments
ROSALIE JEAN CAMPBELL Born 12/28/08 8:16pm PST 7lbs 8 oz 20 inches. Here's pics! http://76.22.99.53/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=1694&g2_page=6
video	Nov 12 2008 11:18AM 0 comments
of halloween. Give it 5 stars, bitches http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9RUjVoEkro
Thanks	Nov 4 2008 5:17PM 6 comments
Big ups to everybody who came out for halloween. I for one had an awesome time. We need to work on our keg killing skills though. I feel like such an ass returning a 2/3 full keg. Better luck next year!
shocking moments in monster making	Oct 30 2008 9:59AM 0 comments
After burning up 2 trim pots and a wall wart trying to run the motor for the fling crank ghost (skeleton version), I finally decided to power the thing with an ATX power supply. I had an old one that I tried once upon a time to convert into a bench power supply. I brought it out, plugged it in, and proceeded to give myself the shock of my short life. I screamed like a little girl and had to take my pulse to make sure I wasn't dead. Gotta stop doing that. Needless to say, I chucked that supply and ripped another one out of an extra computer I had laying around. hooked it up, and it's working again! Pictures soon, I swear.
Graveyard	Oct 27 2008 1:42PM 0 comments
Chad came by yesterday and helped knock out the rest of the tombstones. He also dropped off a fresh lot of halloween props and decorations. We set up the Axworthy system too. By this afternoon, I have most of the kinks worked out and it has been running for about an hour without a derailment or other failure. Looking good! Hopefully I won't have to spend the entire party mantaining it. Lots still left to do. I'll be working on it in the evenings all this week, so stop by if you want to have a beer and lend a hand.
party coming up	Oct 23 2008 10:34AM 0 comments
gotta get crackin' on finishing tombstones, ghosts, and monsters. Not to mention things like picking up the keg and booze and cleaning up the house/hiding the bodies. http://www.punchingzoo.com/random/halloween/party.html
2 more scarecrows	Oct 13 2008 3:28PM 0 comments
put up a couple more scarecrows and set up some lights and tombstones in the yard: http://76.28.156.113/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=1237&g2_page=2 Neighbors are starting to give strange looks. Bought a bottle of this on a whim too: http://crystalheadvodka.com it probably sux, but the bottle will look good on the bar.
fog	Oct 2 2008 9:54AM 4 comments
Spent 4 hours building a fog timer circuit last night. Well, actually the circuit could time anything, but I'm planning on using it for the fog machines. It's still not working quite right, but I'm close. 1000 watt Fog machine should arrive UPS today. That ought to be big enough to fog up the neighborhood. Update: fixed the problem. In my fatigue late last night I forgot to solder one pin on the opto-coupler chip. It works now!
Scarecrow #1	Sep 29 2008 10:06AM 2 comments
Finished the first scarecrow this weekend. Any name suggestions? http://76.28.156.113/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=1237
lightning	Sep 25 2008 11:34AM 0 comments
Parts came in via UPS today. I've got the stuff to build fog timers now. Whipped together a little circuit last night that takes speaker-level input and switches a 120v circuit on/off according to the input level. Plug a strobe light into it and hook it up to a stereo playing thunder sounds and voila: instant simulated thunderstorm! The "lightning" coincides with the thunder crashes instead pf preceding it, but that's a mere technicality. I could actually fix it by splitting the thunder audio into two tracks and using left channel to trigger the light and right channel to play the sounds. maybe next year... I think I can use the same circuit to switch other stuff on/off like pneumatic valves, etc. Not sure if I'll have the time or resources to finish a pneumatic prop this year. Maybe.
Laser vortex, etc.	Sep 18 2008 9:51AM 4 comments
Built a cool laser vortex effect using a PC fan, a piece of mirror and a laser pointer. It'll be pretty cool if I can control the fog. 1000 watt fog machine and parts for fog timers on order. Picked up a load of scrap wood that'll either become coffins or boarded-up windows. Bought some cheap blow-molded skeletons. They suck pretty bad, but I think I can use the skulls for the Axworthy ghosts and the rest I can figure out where to stick 'em so they won't look too fake. Things are starting to take shape... Here's a video of a laser vortex in action. Once again, not mine, but it illustrates the idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uz49tvL3XI
Axworthy test success	Sep 15 2008 9:23AM 0 comments
Built and tested the prototype for my Axworthy Flying ghost rig this weekend. It has a few kinks to be worked out, but I'd call it a success. Here's a video of what it does, although this one isn't mine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiIiEg0oux4
Halloween is coming	Sep 3 2008 10:26AM 1 comments
Having a party this year since halloween is on a friday. Come over. I'm starting to work on monsters and soundtrack. Made this last night, let me know what you think. Be careful if you get scared easily. http://www.punchingzoo.com/random/halloween/sounds/the%20voices.mp3
The Dark Knight	Sep 2 2008 12:17PM 0 comments
Finally saw it. Braved the bumbershoot crowd to see it at the Imax. I didn't realize that movie was 2.5 hours long. holy crap. Worth it though.
Camping	Aug 25 2008 9:34AM 3 comments
was amazing! Thanks to everybody who made it out to the angry, angry river. We survived the hot sun, the angry river, and the fire walking. The 5 hour trip home was a bit on the suckass side, but all's well, as they say.
S.S. Flounder	Aug 13 2008 8:37AM 3 comments
My dad bought a fishing boat! Spent last saturday in Naselle roofing. Thought it would take all weekend, but we finished in one day so we had time on Sunday to take the boat out on it's maiden (to us) voyage. It was also the last day of King season. We didn't catch any Kings, but we did catch about 87 flounder.
logs bug, runs home	Aug 2 2008 8:07AM 2 comments
I bet they hate it when you log a really juicy (and very widespread) bug at 4:30 on a friday afternoon, then catch the 5:30 bus.
they're multiplying	Jul 29 2008 8:16PM 0 comments
Found out today what pronoun we can use when referring to "new kid". That's right, another girl is on the way! Seems like everybody I know is having girls lately. Maybe we're headed for an era of peace. Peace on earth, that is. Not peace for the dads of all these girls.
Hackers+fire+meat+more fire	Jul 6 2008 4:35PM 1 comments
Went down to the n3rd area for HBL last night. The n3rds were throwing a BBQ and getting creative with fireworks. In use that night: electronic ignition system for the larger ordinance, mortar shells, some kind of 'pest control' explosives which were used to unstuff stuffed toys, a propane powered cannon, sparklers, etc. I brought down some home made booze, which was a hit with those brave enough to drink it after smelling it. Neat stuff, it's a beverage AND a fuel! PICTURES: http://weak.org/gallery/places/pna/lab_07_05_08/IMG_5069.JPG http://weak.org/gallery/places/pna/lab_07_05_08/IMG_5070.JPG?width=640 http://www.flickr.com/photos/26582121@N07/sets/72157606033389918/
Independant	Jul 2 2008 2:45PM 0 comments
Back to Bremerton for the 4th this year. My uncle's roasting a pig, 'cause that's how we roll...
Dustin' off the gear	Jun 11 2008 9:23PM 5 comments
It's camping season again. Looking forward to taking the GPS and exploring some of the lesser known lakes out in the Olympic National Forest. Maybe we'll hit upon the next 'secret spot' (I hit your mom's secret spot).
eip=41414141	Jun 3 2008 4:14PM 0 comments
Auditing unmanaged applications is more fun than I might have thought.
San Fran	May 26 2008 7:41PM 0 comments
Flying to San Francisco tomorrow. Depart 9:30 am. Arrive San Fran 12:00 pm. Meeting from 1-5 pm. Catch flight back 8:45 pm, arrive seattle 10:30 pm. Somebody owes me some damn carbon offset credits.
glider test flight scheduled for sunday 5/25	May 21 2008 10:40AM 0 comments
Assuming the last minute code-a-thon completes in time, we are going to attempt a tethered balloon drop of the UAV glider in Redmond on Sunday. If anybody's interested let me know and I'll get you directions and more info.
the secret is out...	May 20 2008 10:38AM 0 comments
...so the zoo might as well know that baby #2 is on the way. Due in December. I'm both excited and wondering what the hell I am going to do with another rug rat. No names picked out yet, so we're just calling him/her "new kid" for now. cheers.
the balloon saga continues	May 20 2008 10:36AM 0 comments
So long story short: we drove out to eastern washington, and launched one of the three payloads twice. Of the two launches, we successfully retrieved the payload once. We never launched the other two payloads due to various factors, and the second time we launched the third payload, we never retrieved it. Last we saw, it was at 85,000 feet and headed for Spokane (watch out Mike!). More details at http://www.hackerbotlabs.com
dim vbs	May 6 2008 11:17PM 0 comments
vbs = "suck" 'spent most of the day writing a .vbs script to parse APRS data. Shouldn't have taken that long, but I wrote the whole thing before I realized that vbs supports regular expressions, so then I wrote it again. It seems to work ok, now the trick will be actually using it. I also built a console for my truck that holds my laptop, a HAM radio, and a 400 watt power inverter. I am such a nerd...
APRS software = suck;	May 4 2008 7:10PM 0 comments
'nuff said.
flight test = fail;	May 4 2008 7:10PM 0 comments
went to 60 acres park in redmond today to do some flight testing of the glider. Just about everything went wrong. Still sorting out the mess. One thing's for sure, we're going to have to overnight a new glider fuselage. The nose section is surprisingly flimsy for something which should be able to withstand a reasonable amount of crashing.
processing	May 3 2008 11:44AM 0 comments
The new IDE I mentioned in the last post is called processing. It's not that new, but it's new to me. Built on java, which is less than perfect to code in, but cross-platform support is nice sometimes. Check it out if you want a nice little package to whip up some frothy code: http://processing.org/
ramping up	May 3 2008 11:40AM 0 comments
The REHAB/HABIT project is really starting to ramp up. I've been spending my nights and early mornings down at the lab trying to help in any way I can. So far this has included learning a new programming language and IDE, trying to figure out GPS/APRS mapping software, troubleshooting faulty usb/serial adapters, supergluing my fingers, huffing PVC cement, cutting carbon-fiber tubes, soldering, and etching circuit boards. Still a week until launch and I'm starting to wonder how it's all going to get done in time. http://www.hackerbotlabs.com/
alone.	May 1 2008 8:18PM 0 comments
Dropped Abomb and Ruby off at the airport this morning. They'll be gone for 5 days. I've got so much shiz going on for the next two weeks, hopefully I'll stay busy enough to not miss them too much. It's definitely going to be weird. On the other hand, I'll get to watch what I want on tv.
toorcon	Apr 19 2008 10:01AM 0 comments
Toorcon Seattle http://seattle.toorcon.org/ is this weekend. So far so good. I was waylayed (way late) and missed the lighning talks last night, but I'm looking forward to the talks today.
back to work	Apr 16 2008 9:25AM 0 comments
back to work today. have to commute to redmond for this gig, but I'm actually looking forward to it. funny how a month of no paychecks will do that to you.
jacob's ladder	Apr 15 2008 12:17PM 0 comments
I built a jacob's ladder from a small neon sign transformer that I had laying around. It ain't pretty and the video sux, but it's still cooler than your jacob's ladder, bitches. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKjgdq6_oI8
Olympic Peninsula	Apr 9 2008 12:40PM 0 comments
Spent the weekend on the coast at copalis and then drove the 101 loop clockwise to get home. Visited Ruby Beach and hiked a bit in the Hoh. It rained, of course, but it was nice to get away for a few days.
Balloons: not just for kids anymore	Apr 3 2008 11:58PM 0 comments
The high altitude balloon redux (REHAB) project is furiously underway down at the PNA ( http://www.hackerbotlabs.com ). Launch trip scheduled for may 9-11. I signed up to haul 1200 lbs of helium tanks to eastern washington and to lead the filling and weighing project. Sounds like Mike might have the fat hookup for GPS maps and whatnot. Should be a good time.
idle hands are the devil's playground	Apr 3 2008 10:03AM 0 comments
no work and no pay makes chicken a cranky boy.
mp3 me baby	Mar 27 2008 8:44AM 2 comments
I bought one of these for 40-some bucks off woot the other day:http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Item(1940)-SDMX4-4096-A70-Sansa_e260_MP3_Player_4GB.aspx It got here yesterday and I loaded rockbox (http://www.rockbox.org ) on it. I might be late to the party on the rockbox thing, but it rocks! It's got Doom!