LEDs and Cars, what could be more fun?

Here's one of the individual replacement LED "bulbs"

I just finished a quick project that was much easier than I thought it was going to be. All the dash bulbs had burned out in our mini van. The dealer wanted way to much (over $200.00) to replace them. So I decided to do it on my own and now I'm glad I did. Cost: $22.90 in parts (for LED replacement "bulbs") and ~20 minutes of my time. I documented the process as I went along and I just posted it on the Instructables website (here's a tiny url): http://tinyurl.com/led-instructable

Here's the dash, even in daylight the new LEDs shine bright.

Shameless promotion

I'm asking for votes, for my Instructables projects, to get either of them into the upcoming O'Reilly "Best of Instructables" book. All you have to do is just go to either of these Instructables links; Picoo-Z project or Steadicam bike mount project, login and then click the button labeled:

[vote now!]

That's it for now.

Completed Steadicam mount

Here's a quick picture of the completed bicycle steadicam mount. I'm finishing up the instructables project documentation and I want to get a test ride taped (if the rain lets up).

Update on some previous posts

The http://becomeanmm.com site has some updates (or maybe options I didn't notice the first time), so I updated my m&m avatar.




Also, I've been getting some email with questions regarding the updated version of my steadicam bicycle mount. So within the next week or so I should have a new Instructables project posted with all the details plus some of the video that I shot over the summer.



Bicycle training progress. I mentioned before that I've been tracking my indoor cycling (on the trainer) on the POLAR website. Here's my 1st month progress report from their website (click on it for a larger view).

My Picoo-Z Instructables project

I completed the rotor mod project over the weekend and posted it on Instructables a little while ago. http://www.instructables.com/id/ECVKZ75ZVQET9K5TSC/

Getting close to finishing Picoo Z Mod

I should be able to post the Instructables project late tomorrow. I have the helicopter in pieces and have it ready to install the new parts. Here's a couple of preview pictures.

Getting started on the Picoo Z mod

The ball bearings from Precision-HELi came pretty quickly (for ~$8 shipping, I'd hope so). I knew they were going to be 3MM OD (or ~1/8"), but wow, that's really small, it should be an interesting project.

















I'll fully document the project and the results via Instructables. I should have time to get it done this weekend, or post the progress here, if I don't.

TAGS: picoo z helicopter

Google ad targets

It's interesting to see what Adsense picks up on in blog posting when deciding what ad(s) to place. For instance my recent Sci-Fi Friday mentions an exhibit hall, so naturally an ad about exihibit hall displays is posted. Not exactly my target audience, but then it got me thinking, who is my target audience? Some of what I post is biking related, but I don't make it the only topic. I document some of what I do; either at work, hobbies and observations. I like to show my creative side, that's why I like the Instructables site, which by the way is where I need to update or create a new posting for my Steadicam (bike mounted). It's gone through some changes since that first version that I documented, I've added a tripod head at the end of the arm so that I can swivel the miniDV 360 degrees and tilt it +/- ~90 degrees. I'll probably get a picture of it up here before I get the update on Instructables. So, it will be interesting to see what Adsense does with this posting.

Safe riding all -
The Ride Lead

Instructables, bikes and the ungodly heat

I've had some recent postings on the Instructables site, you can search for the username 'fireballxl5'. Two of the postings are for bicycle related projects; a Steadicam mount for a miniDV camera and a universal mounting bracket for a; GPS, bike light or any other small handlebar mounted devices. I've started to use the camera mount to shoot some video of our club rides. This short mix was from a club ride early in July.



Tuesday ride (Aug. 1st): in a word...MUGGY... The heat index was still around 100 F, when we started at 6:00PM. The only saving grace was that it started to get cloudy, so at least we didn't have the sun beating down on us. We did cut the ride short, 27 miles versus 36-40 miles.