Wayne Ryan's blog: iPad

Saturday, 26 January 2013

Australia Day 2013

Happy Australia Day, the official national day of Australia commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove, New South Wales in 1788 and the proclamation at that time of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia. We get together as families, friends and also as a nation to celebrate what's great about Australia and being Australian.

Indigenouse Australians may view this day as Invasion Day so I would like to show my respect and acknowledge all the traditional custodians of this land, those peoples and elders past and present, in Western Australia the Nyoogar, in Queensland the Murri, in South Australia the Nungah, in Tasmania the Palawa, in the Northern Territory the Yolngu, and in New South Wales and Victoria the Koori, where this celebration takes place.

The Australian National Flag has the Union Jack (maybe for too long) occupying the upper quarter of it and 5 white stars representing the Southern Cross (CRUX). Crux is a distinctive constellation who's name is Latin means cross, and it is dominated by a cross-shaped asterism that is commonly known as the Southern Cross. The large white star Commonwealth Star – a 7 pointed star representing the 6 States of Australia and the Territories, Alpha Crucis – a 7 pointed star, Beta Crucis – 7 pointed star, Gamma Crucis – a 7 pointed star, Delta Crucis – 7 pointed star and finaly Epsilon Crucis – a 5 pointed star.

Our Flag

Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200 2.8 @ ISO 200, 110mm f8, 1/800 sec

Click on photo for larger image view

The Southern Cross (Crux)

Sourced Image from iPad app Star Walk HD

Australia Day BBQ

iPhone Click on photo for larger image view

Wednesday, 29 August 2012

Maker Faire (DIY)

Maker Faire is an event created by Make magazine (USA) to "celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset" I wanted to have a backup power source for my iPhone and iPad that was independent of other power sources and sustainable and renewable. The reason being that when I'm in a remote area I have an unlimited and renewable power from something that packs away small and is easily transportable.

So off to the local Jaycar I went with my design and collected the parts I would need.

1 x 5 Watt solar panel is about 10 inches or about 25 centimetres square.

1 x solar power regulator

1 x 12v rechargeable sealed battery (as small as capacity required will allow)

1 x 12 v power socket

So with soldering iron, wire and a hot glue gun I set about this little DIY project. I lay out the parts inside the back cavity of the solar panel, hot glue them in, wire it together. The battery forms a great stand and balances the panel nicely. The guy in the store, more familiar with Ohm's Law and voltage calculations than me did the maths for me and I believe:

The solar panel will charge the battery from flat in about 8 hours (if sunny).

The battery must put out at least 10 Watts to charge the iPad (iPhone needs 5 Watts)

The battery is more than sufficient to charge a flat iPad x 3 times.

Topping up the battery each day with the solar panel will keep the battery at full capacity and keep me with ample power.

Test one insert a volt meter to see if there is power? yes.

Test two connect the iPad with 12 v car connection plug and USB cable? yes

All works fine and for less than a $100 and fits in a laptop bag or similar. Hmmm maybe I could use a fuse in there somewhere???