Update: We won a runner-up prize! Thanks to all who thought this was a worthwhile project.

- posted by Leigh @ 02:38 z 1 comments

I found a stash of old Lambda linear regulated power supplies. They were so old, the regulator IC was in a round metal can with 8 gold wire legs coming about 1/2" long, and the circuit board was all wavy, hand-drawn lines. Still, I wanted to make at least one of them work. So I cranked it up from 12v to 13.2V and put it in a Radio Shack case, fused in and out, with an EMI filtered IEC connector from Halted and a red/green LED switch.

Now I have a 13.2V/5A linear supply, which I guess I can use for charging my LiFePO4 batteries (which need about that).

Why did I do this? One of my favorite science fiction authors, Stanislaw Lem, offers a glimpse: In the introduction to Lem's book "Mortal Engines," Michael Kandel quotes Lem:

In his autobiographical essay The High Castle, [Lem] writes: "I used to be a philanthropist to old spark plugs, I would buy parts of incomprehensible gadgets, I would turn some crank or other to give it pleasure, then put it away with solicitude. . . To this day I have a special feeling for all sorts of broken bells, alarm clocks, old coils, telephone speakers."

- posted by Leigh @ 04:56 z 0 comments