Making a Solar Panel, Of Sorts.

I got a deal on some old solar lawn lights. Solar lighted tires really. They had what appeared to be new nicd batteries in them. I recharged them and replaced them in the solar lawn ornaments and surprisingly they worked. Worked is rather misleading. Yes they made light but they illuminated nothing. No path could be lit by their upward shining 3 yellow leds. Anyway, their uselessness to me was enough to justify salvage. I could see 8 solar cells in each of the 4 solar tires and the idea that they charged their 2 AA batteries was enought to convince me that maybee at worst they could serve as battery chargers (That and the suggestion by Pete to do that).

Disassembly consisted of prying of the glued on "lense". Fortunately the attempt by the manufacturer to make it non servicable was betrayed by their choice of a adhesive that easily succumbed to a screwdrivers prying ability. Once the lid was off the rest broke down with 3 screws that mounted the so called reflector to the body.

The most interesting part was that the solar cells were glued down. Fortunately age and cheap glue made them easy to remove, the glue was barely sticking and the solar cells popped off easily.

Using hot glue to hold them in place I reinstalled the solar cells into 3 CD jewel cases. I am rather proud of myself for figuring out how to enclose them with what is basically a waste product in our society at this point.

Two of the jewel cases output roughly 6 volts. I did this for two reasons, the first is that they fit really nice in the jewel case, and second I could put them in series for a 12volt supply (really somthing like 13.6volts) to charge a 12 volt lead acid battery or for use with some item I have not decided on yet that needs 12 volts. The 3rd is the same 8 cells as on the original solar tire, I am going to try it as a 2 AA cell charger.

What I really want is a dirt cheap, and/or easy to make from salvaged parts charge controller that can handle any kind of battery charging task.






A

The Eye

  

Dragonflys and Damselflies

Nathan caught this Dragonfly. It was pretty patient, probably because it was sort of cool out that day. The Damselfly was hanging around within camera shot.

 
 
 
  

Microscope Photography

I made a attachement for my Canon A620 to attach it to the ocular of my fisher stereo microscope. The first pic is the eye of a dried fish, the second is Jackson's eye, the eagle from a $20 and, Lincoln from a $5.



 
 
 
  

More Pictures of the Camera

Here are some more pictures, everything seems pretty nice on the camera. So far I am pretty pleased.




 
 
 
  

My Cool New Camera

Here are a few pics of my cool new (old) camera.

 
 
 
  

Tripods

This is my new spiffy (really old, TS find) tripod, it stands almost 7 feet extended.

 
 
  

Blood Sucking Mosquito

This is my bloodsucking mosquito video.

Tag Sale Season In Full Swing

The tag sale season is in full swing. This has been a great year so far. This weekend was pretty good.

I got a old but good binocular compound microscope, a Busch Pressman Model "D" bellows camera, a Lane Cedar Chest and a LCD Monitor, just this weekend.

John's Demo

This is my third attempt at putting a video up, I really think it is going to work this time!

Variety in Eggs

Sometimes you get way too many eggs from your chickens, and this happens. Still it is better than going to the store! There are Bantam eggs, Arucana (sp?) eggs, and Wyanadotte(sp?) eggs. I think that cover it.

  

Bugs and the Cannon A620

I thought it was pretty neat that the Cannon A620 I got could do this.
Basically I took a pic of this beetle that Nathan and Sarah captured and took a macro pic in 7.1 megapixel size. Within the pic I can zoom right down to the hairs on it's legs!


 
 
  

Got The Juke

Got the Juki LU-563 Saturday Morning, it was heavy. I think it is complete but I have to go over it. I should be very nice when it it is running again. It was used for making canvas awnings.


 
 
 
  

Pond Life - Beaver

We found a beaver taking residence in our pond this weekend, the dog took particular interest, and jumped right it to thwart off the tresspasser. The dog chased and the beaver swam and after a bit the dog would get too close for comfort and the beaver would dive while slapping it's tail on the water.



 
 
 
  


This is a movie of the Beaver and Dog.

Frog Dug From Ground!

This is a frog Marie dug up while planting her raspberry bushes. Imagine her surprise and the frog's! Imagine my surprise when Nathan runs upstairs clutching something in his fist whilst exclaiming "look what I found!"

Don't worry, the frog was released no worse for the experience. Well no worse than your average "Alien Abductee".