Hammy and the RC Office Grand Prix

Now these guys are fans and great to see McLaren reward them. Only one more week until the 2009 Championship begins!!!

Oh and congrats to Audi and the R15 on yet another victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

WTD 121

This made me think of Pedwar’s eldest brother. :)

Paperless Paper Airplanes

Maybe I’m stuck in grade 7 Home Economics class with Mrs. Fisher, but Paper Pilot: Battle of the air – SolidWorks is the niftiest little web-based time-waster I’ve found in a while. My best throw you ask? 46.8 metres. Beat that beeyatch!

Update: MX-5 Modification Plan

It has been too long since I posted, but I can explain myself. I’ve been spending all my time surfing forums and websites learning about Mazdaspeed MX-5s, their likes/dis-likes, things that make them go faster, stop harder, corner better… I’ve also (more…)

Mazdaspeed MX-5 Modification Plan

For those who know me well, it will be hard to believe that I don’t have the words to express how much I’m enjoying Ginger. Driving her puts a smile on my face, even when the ambient temperature is just above freezing and the top is down (note to convertible owners: unless there is moisture coming from the sky, the top should be down). However, there is always room for improvement. (more…)

TV Fixed

It was  a finicky job, but efm-7 replaced the cooked ICs and some of the resistors on the convergence board and our Hitachi TV is now working perfectly again. I’ll have to do a manual convergence soon and see how much better I can make the picture. Not all of the resistors were changed, so we’ll see if the system holds up. Thanks efm-7!

TV Problems: Update

Did some more searching last night and managed to find a service manual for our Hitachi 43UWX10B in PDF format, along with other reports of this convergence system failure on other TVs of this type and vintage. This morning, I popped off the back panel and confirmed the following, which should help with ordering the right parts:

  • Model 43UWX10B
  • Chassis: GP14G
  • Manufactured: August 2001
  • IC Model Numbers: STK992-110

Hopefully, over the coming week, I can find all parts, learn how to solder and de-solder, and effect the repair.

Update: Parts ordered! Got two kits with the newer STK992-150 chips for $112.92USD shipped.

TV Problems: Convergence Failing

Over the course of the last few weeks, our Hitachi Rear-Project HDTV has been increasingly mis-focussing its blue gun, resulting in blue and yellow shadows on screen. At 43″ and 153 pounds, we can’t just take it in for service, so the cost of simply getting an estimate could be high, given the need for a tech to make housecall. (more…)

Dynolicious: Coolest iPod App for Petrol Heads

OK, this has got to be the neatest add-on app for the iPhone that I’ve seen yet. (more…)

Upgraded to WordPress 2.6

Having some sinus and breathing difficulties which are keeping me from getting to sleep, so I thought I’d at least get this done. Thankfully, it all went smoothly! Woohoo!