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Being a retired science teacher, we like to have the latest technology such as
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The Aranet 4 Home Wireless Air Quality Monitor will tell you how fresh your air is (the lower CO2 the better) and will give you an idea of when a high CO2 level will reduce your mental alertness. It is expensive, at $250, but is really cool. The phone app keeps records and gives you graphs. The Aranet 4 Home is portable and the two AA batteries last 2.8 years with a 5-minute sampling interval (1.2 years with a 2-minute sampling interval).
- The first cell phone screen shot shows from bedtime (759ppm) to bedtime (869ppm) in my house. The 2:20am (511ppm) dip occurred when I aired out the house. The 6:20pm dip (440ppm) occurred when I put the monitor out on my back patio for a while.
- The second cell phone screen shot shows three days with the monitor on my dresser. The shorter red spikes (1230ppm and 1168ppm) occurred while I was panting at my dresser and recording my exercycle ride. The high (2826ppm) spike occurred when I was exhaling directly into the monitor. Here is the Data Sheet
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The iOttie Easy One Touch 5 dash-mount cell phone holder is slick, and everything that I could hope for with firm one-handed operation.
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Garmin G-1000 Glass Cockpit:
In 2004 the old round airplane gauges (first picture) can be replaced by the Garmin G1000 (second picture) as a glass cockpit
for small general aviation airplanes. It presents a multitude of information replacing the traditional analog gauges.
Below are: 11-minute video introducing the controls, 11 minute video on communication controls, the audio panel, 2-minute video of transponder controls and a one hour tutorial of very well organized more detailed instruction. It is a little technical, but very interesting.
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UV Light Adjustable Lenses are an amazing invention. These by RxSight were the first and only ones available when I had my cataract surgery in December, 2020. The result was the best vision I have ever had.
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The Oura Ring is an amazing device that fits on your finger, tracking a host of things, including your sleep and activities and making recommendations by monitoring your body temperature, pulse, motion etc. etc. Graphs and information are available on OuraRing's smart phone app. As you can see, one night we forgot to wear the ring.
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A dash cam is a MUST nowadays - and so inexpensive. We found this $50 Old Shark Dash Cam, 1080P HD with G-Sensor, Loop Recording, WDR and Parking Guard to give the biggest bang for the buck.
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The GeoOrbital Wheel. will not only knock your socks off, but will allow you to convert your regular bicycle to an electric one in 60 seconds by replacing the front wheel... and the center of the new wheel does not even turn!
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A Reiner Speed i Jet 798 is probably the coolest and most expensive date printer you'll even have - an ink jet. You press the button and swipe it across the surface for the time, date, numbers and/or messages (in all caps up to 40 characters total). You don't even have to have it against the surface (porous only). Three inches from the surface makes the characters a little fuzzy. Five inches just sprays a bunch of random black specks. Slant it just right for italics. You do need a PC to set up the clock and printing.
- Ink cartridges will cost you from $26-$35 from Reiner or ther suppliers,
$14.89 (HP 51604A) from Amazon, or $5.57 (no shipping charge) for compatible cartridges.
- To the right are my first experiments with the printer: 1) Trying to start print at the vertical line etc; 2) Different distances from the paper results.
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Electronic Dymo DateMark, always stamps correct date, time, etc. Very convenient and cool, but unfortunately no longer manufactured, supported or available. (Added to web page Aug 2009)
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The Dymo 280 has almost everything we wanted in a label maker. You can use it portable or do all your work on your PC or Mac and simply use the 280 as a label printer.
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This Bushnell Headlamp has about everything you could want: five modes from a BRIGHT spotlight to a red night-vision light.
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Finger print padlocks are fast and secure, although not always structurally the strongest. Mine (like the smaller one) can be programmed with two administrator finger prints plus 18 others, enough for dry digits, wet hands, friends and family. When you open the lock, the lock's LED normally flashes green and then the lock opens. When the battery is getting low the LED flashes red twice before it flashes green and the lock opens. When the battery is too low, the lock springs back open when you try to close it. The battery in my little lock lasts a little over four months before needing to be recharged with its micro-USB connector.
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After watching this 15-minute video you'll probably know more than you wanted about padlocks. A line-up padlocks from least to most secure is from 2:37 to 2:58 in the video. More secure locks come later in the video. For a really good one, plan on spending about $100.
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The Master Lock 1500iD Speed Dial is the coolest combination padlock we've ever seen. With its shift knob instead of numbers, you can program a code of an unlimited number of strokes. We open ours easily without our glasses on, without looking at the lock, with the lock in awkward positions and even in the dark! We got ours at Home Depot for a reasonable price. Look at this review.
How does it work? Moving the button different directions rotates certain three of the four internal wheels different amounts and different directions. When all four wheels are in position the lock can be opened. You may be able to see it in action on the Internet.
Our first, white one, lasted about six years. We never found another one that worked well. We quit using the 1500iD when we had to have one cut off because it would not open.
| Strokes | Chance |
|---|---|
| 1 | 4 |
| 2 | 16 |
| 3 | 64 |
| 4 | 256 |
| 5 | 1,024 |
| 6 | 4,096 |
| 7 | 16,384 |
| 8 | 65,536 |
| 9 | 262,144 |
| 10 | 1,048,576 |
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A group of MIT researchers have found a new way to create arrays of conical micron-scale surface nanotextures to produce glass that is self-cleaning, non-glare, dust repelling and non-fogging (video).
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We installed this GE Model # 15088 automatic digital shutoff timer for our garage light, which we have a tendency to leave on. Pressing one of the five buttons turns the light on/off or sets the light to automatically turn off after 10, 20, 30 or 60 minutes.
(Added to web page Jan, 2010)
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The Plantronics Voyager Pro is the best bluetooth headset I have ever owned. The audio is excellent and the noise canceling is phenomenal. When I am driving 70 mph and call my brother he says it sounds as good as when I am sitting in my office at home. It gives six hours of talk time on a charge, gives conditions and driving directions reports in a female voice and has a host of other features that I do not even use. Google "Plantronics Pro" and save some money.
- Here it is compared to the Voyager Legend to which I upgraded in 2014.
- Unfortunately the audio-out eventually deterearities with these Plantronics units.
(Added to web page Sep, 2012)
Plantronics Explorer 100 series, to which we added a blue ear hook, being charged with a micro USB cable. This unit is so small and secure you don't even know you're wearing it. It also has pretty good sound. (Added to web page Nov, 2020)
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When we bought it in early 2013, the Samsung Galaxy S II was billed as the top smart phone. It was unlocked (without a contract) and probably the most expensive. Some of its features are quad band world phone, GPS, spoken turn-by-turn directions, Voice Command, Voice Search, Voice Talk, dual core high-speed processor, up to 32g micro SD card, WiFi hotspot creation, android Gingerbread OS, automatic wireless synchronizing of our calendar and contacts with Google, our laptop and our netbook etc. etc. If we say, "Navigate to Circuit Specialists in Gilbert," it will find it, plot a course and tell us how to get there from our present location. The screen is the brightest of all. Our HTC Touch diamond smart phone quit working properly, so we went for the gusto.
Compare sizes of phones. (Added to web page Mar, 2016)
Find My Phone rings your android device, even if its ringer volume is turned all the way down, the phone is on vibrate or if set on Do Not Disturb (Added to web page Dec, 2023)
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Back in February, 2011 this Kindle was our reward for getting to bed by 9:30 every night for a month: big challenge (for us) and big reward. We no longer have to worry about a "book" flopping closed on us, reading in the crease of the page, stressing our arms holding a heavy book, having a dictionary handy for looking up words, worrying about a highlighter, going to the store to buy books or finding the instruction manual for one of our gadgets. The Kindle has it all. (Added to web page Feb, 2011)
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This Kindle Touch 3G was our upgrade, 15 months later, and it is super! We particularly like touching a word and having the definition instantly pop up. Like the Kindle above, this unit also reads to you with a male or female Text-to-Speech voice. (Added to web page Feb, 2015)
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housebattery would distort the turn on/off voltages of an automatic version. Tests determined that the van's charging system will work with the
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The Granite all-in-one battery charger/maintainer/tester/alarm does not have quite the output of the Cteck (below), but costs less and includes several additional features like the digital display. The Granite also includes an ammeter, deep cycle and battery rejuvenator among its additional features.
(Added to web page Nov, 2010)
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The CTEK MULTI US 7002 is an eight-phase electronic charger for 12v batteries used in autos, motorhomes, and boats. It does special cold-weather charging, is suited for both starter and deep-cycle batteries, charges AGM batteries (like the Optima), is supposed to recover deeply discharged flooded-cell batteries, corrects stratified acid conditions, revives lightly sulfated batteries (breaks down lead sulfate crystals), serves as a 13.6v power supply and goes into pulse mode for indefinate battery maintenance without damage.
CETEK has good information here about various chargers from their lineup.
We got our 7002 from SJ Discount Tools.com. CTEK also makes excellent less pricy and less capable chargers such as their MULTI US 3300 12-Volt Universal Battery Charger w/ Pulse Maintenance.
(Added to web page Oct, 2010)
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Button Battery Chart - excellent and exhaustive
Battery Types, sizes, voltages, capacities & uses, with good charts
Disposable Batteries explained and compared: Excellent information about Alkaline, Lithium, Heavy Duty, General Purpose and Oxyride cells.
Rechargeable Batteries explained and compared: Excellent information about NiMH, NiZn, Li-ion, NiCd and Rechargeable Alkaline cells.
Voltages and approximate state of charge (SOC). Let battery sit with
an open circuit for 1-2 hours before measuring (24 hours for more accuracy). First chart is for Lead Acid. Second chart is for LiFePO4.
(Added to web page Feb 2016)
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| AR Drone Quadracopter |
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Watch Sonny Thaper tipping his iPhone to maneuver EdAz's AR Drone quadracopter around the big room at Gangplank and see if he hits the rafters. The quadracopter is stabilized by accelerometers, gyrometers, an ultrasonic altimeter and a ground-facing video camera. It also has a forward-facing video camera. Both cameras are viewable on the controlling iPhone or iPad. (Added to web page Oct, 2010)
Take a look at this unbelievable video of aggressive maneuvers for autonomous quadrocopters. (Uploaded to YouTube May, 2010)
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HeliCase #2, put into service January, 2015, is smaller than #1 (below) but boasts built-in power for the iCharger, a control panel, a light etc. Details HERE. (Added to web page Jan 2015)
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Flying weather:
8 Swashplate types and other excellent information (Added to web page Nov, 2013)
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in Seattle. The Manual is quite complete.
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- In late 2018 we got rid of almost all our RC toys; sold 'em to our nephew, Shane.
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Our next one was not thisBlade mSRx that is about the same size as the Trex 100x, but supposedly easier to fly, more stable, more sophisticated and no fly bar. Look at this impressive REVIEW. (Added to web page May, 2012)
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Our next helicopter, the radio controlled Align TRex 100X, uses RPMs in place of collective, but otherwise flies like a real helicopter, and, with its cyclic control can fly sideways. It is about 8.5 inches long and is easy to crash until one becomes a more proficient pilot. Get spare parts from Heli Pal or RC Car Max for better shipping options. The remote controls operate as is standard for the larger RC helicopters. (Added to web page June, 2012)
My nephew has a slightly larger heli: the Blade mCP x/2 helicopter without a flybar and with micro collective pitch which allows aerobatics and inverted flight.
Learn to fly with Wacky Hobby's 14 lessons. We found this series of 19 YouTube videos very helpful.
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Our first RC helicopter - an infrared-controlled toy that is a lot of fun, very stable, has a vertical tail fan, is cheap and shoots missiles. (Added to web page Dec 2011)
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Bill Hemple showing off - a professional RC pilot and one of the world's best!
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Giant Planes: Sizes of some of the largest airplanes in the sky. (Added to web page Jun 2017)
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This Shadowbox ($500 ) is a GPS unit that attaches to your kiteboard and records everything from your speed and acceleration to jump height and degree of rotation then plays in back in stunning 3-D detail, using gyros, accelerometers, magnetometers and GPS to determine position. (Added to web page May 2010)
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This solar-powerd walk light was a rare, pure impulse purchase, but for only $3.88. All the electronics are contained in the hocky puck cap, and the single white LED actually makes enough light to see the walkway. (Added to web page Jun 2010)
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Different light sources put out light of different wavelengths, some of which we can not see. Above are a couple of interesting charts. (Added to web page Dec, 2014)
D-65 (6500° K) is considered neutral white and is used for the bias light behind TVs. A bias light should be set at 10% of the TV's brightest point, to avoid eye fatigue.
| Lumens (Brightness) | LED Watts (Viribright) | CFL Watts | Incandescent Watts |
| 400 500 | 6 7W | 8 12W | 40W |
| 650 850 | 7 10W | 13 18W | 60W |
| 1000 1400 | 12 13W | 18 22W | 75W |
| 1450-1700+ | 14 20W | 23 – 30W | 100W |
| 2700+ | 25 28W | 30 55W | 150W |
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This Windtronic is our mainstay for handheld wind measurements. It is sort of expensive but records current, average and peak gust in any of four units, is omnidirectional and comes with a 2-year warranty. (Added to web page Oct 2012)
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The Vaavud wind meter for smartphones not only tells you the wind in various units, but also graphs it. This robust anemometer operates magnetically with no electrical connection or even physical contact. It is not good in low wind, as it does not begin registering until 3mph.
You do not even need the Vaavud if your friend has one. Just download the free software for your Android or Apple smart phone and hold your phone near your friend's spinning anemometer.
(Added to web page Sep 2013)
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The Garmin Foretrex 201 is our preferred kiteboarding GPS receiver as of April 25, 2011, when we deposited our Foretrex 401 at the bottom of Laguna Madre.
The 201 lacks a few features compared to the 401 (below), but has a major advantage: It is really sealed and waterproof with its built-in Li battery. Also it is a little thinner. Although the 401 has the same waterproof rating (IEC Standard 60529 IPX7) its battery door tends to leak, saltwater gets in and the connections rust. The 201 recharges and transfers data with with pogo pins so needs no battery door. Recharging it is not much of a problem since it charges from a 5 Volt source, which matches a computer's USB output. Also the 201 costs less. Unfortunately, as of 7/2014, the 201 is no longer available. (Added to web page May 2011)
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We bought a couple of these to donate for charity drawings. The Garmin Nuvi 200 is inexpensive ($108 from Walmart.com) and pretty cool. Here is the instruction manual for this basic unit, which is for you if you are on a tight budget and don't have a turn-by-turn GPS. We're savin' up for a Garmin with all the bells and whistles.
| Acute DS-1202 USB Virtual Oscilloscope screen shsot: Channel 1 = 1000kHz calibration signal; Channel 2 = 60Hz body-induced AC |
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One of our latest toys is this digital storage Virtual Oscilloscope. Regular oscilloscopes are bulky, have a small screen and lots of knobs and controls. This little unit gives you a BIG screen with your computer and is ideal for the Van Life. (Added to web page Oct 2009)
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We bought one of these cool Kill-a-Watt power monitors that tells all sorts of things about electrical consumption - cost $20. First uses: check out X-10 idle power usage, our little post fan and good old refrigerator. Then our van refrigerator, computers etc. etc. Fun, fun, fun! (Added to web page Sep 2009)
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Our JetBoil efficiently boils water faster than an electric range accoording to our tests. (Added to web page Jun 2010)
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This digital meat thermometer has a porbe and an alarm. It allows our JetBoil to heat water using very little fuel: 108 degrees to soak a foot, 119 degrees for sipping and 160 degrees to pour over oatmeal. (Added to web page Jun 2010)
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High-tech understanding of the equipment we all respect - found on a Phoenix Ham Radio Outlet toilet wall. (Added to web page Jun 2012)
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Vibram Five
Fingers are the most unusual shoes/booties you've ever seen. The people who like them love them. We found the fit interesting. (Added to web page Jul 2010)
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This two-button, wireless, optical SMK-LINK Ultra Mini Mouse has a clickable scroll wheel, is a little pricey but is the only way to go if you have a small space for your stuff, as we do in our van. (Added to web page May 2012)
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Which computer to buy? We developed a spreadsheet for the
Features we wanted
and another spreadsheet to
Compare Features
of 20 computers and ended up buying this Sony Vaio Duo 11 in 2013, which doubles as a tablet and ultrabook computer. This is the Four Finalists Printout we took to the stores and a list of some of their FEATURES we liked. (Added to web page Aug, 2013)
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The IRIScan Book 3 scanner is compact and fits well in our office - van or at home. We use it only to scan B&W or color images to PDF or JPG format files to its micro SD card, although it has the capability to scan directly to your smart phone or computer, a feature we have never used. The second one we bought is a little larger but has a 1" colored LED screen and rechargeable LI battery (Added to web page June, 2016 and updated Mar, 2024)
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FILL: Most 3D printed objects are somewhat hollow inside to save weight, material and printing time. Here are some fill patterns and percentages.
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Linux Micro Gadget Computer from Bug Labs (Added to web page Dec 2008)
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cameras.We savd a couple hundred dollars by getting ours from Climate Doctors.
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Plug this Vello ShutterBoss wireless timer/remote into your camera's electronic shutter release jack (our Panasonic DMC-FZ150 required an optional cable) and get ready to take pictures without touching your camera.
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WiFi for Almost Any Digital Camera in an up to 32g SD card from eye.fi (Added to web page Dec 2008)
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In case you're curious. Pay attention to #7 and #4 (informaton above from B&H Photo)
Interoperability of host devices and cards are shown below.
| Type | Capacity | Format | Notes |
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| SD | 2GB Max | FAT12 & FAT16 | Original SD Cards |
| SDHC | 2-32GB | FAT32 | Secure Digital High Capacity; Max file size = 4GB results in "chaptering" of long videos |
| SDXC | 2GB - 2TB | exFAT | Secure Digital eXtended Capacity; in 2022 max size available was 1TB |
| SDUC | 2-128TB | exFAT | Secure Digital Ultra Capacity (not yet in use in 2022) |
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dead catand put it inside the cage, which had zip-tie hinges and a magnetic latch. (Added to web page May, 2015)
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Our new (as of 2012) Panasonic
DMC-FZ150 Digital Camera is the result of a lot of research and has about everything one could hope for. It has:
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This Canon PowerShot SX20IS, which we bought for the St Lucia trip, has almost everything we wanted in a camera: 12.1mp, fast 20x zoom, wide angle/macro lens with optical image stabilized 2.5-inch articulating LCD monitor, runs on 4AA cells, takes good video and a non-interchangeable lens, which means it should do better in harsh kiteboarding environments with blowing sand. Features that make us want a better camera: slow burst rate; shutter lag; electronic viewfinder that blanks out during exposures making it difficult to follow action; rather than a power switch it has a button that is easy to accidentally press and run down the batteries. (Added to web page Jan 2010)
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We record many of our comedy shows. In late 2022 we started using these Sony HDR CX405 camcorders. They are light weight, small, have easy-to-navigate menus, have good 4K resolution, wide zoom range, high dynamic range, fairly good low light performance and, importantly, each can record an entire show as one file. Four of these on two tripods give us a good set of videos for our multicam productions. We made the aluminum bracket for each top camera (second picture).
- These camcorders replace two older, heavier camcorders and two cell phone camcorders.
(Added to web page Oct 2022)
- In early 2024 we added a fifth camcorder on a third tripod for a third view of the audience. The third picture is testing the media rates for audio synchronization with the Sony ICD-UX560 digital voice recorders (lower right in the background) that I use as body mics for my shows.
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Waterproof Sanyo camcorder down to 4.5' for an hour. That means it should also be sand proof - important with kiteboarding. All you do is wash it in a bowl of water and dry it when you are through. (Added to web page Apr 2009)
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We bought this Corner Office ATC-139 Programmable Graphing Scientific Calculator from Walgreens back in Phoenix for $15. It does about everything you can imagine. However the print of the 57-page instruction manual is too small for a normal human to read, so we have enlarged it as a PDF Manual (10 megabytes); our x-brother-en-law, Harold, made an enlargement of the keyboard and we were keeping notes as we read the manual until we hit a brick wall. The calculator would not save programs the way the instruction manual declared. (Added to web page May 2010)
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