Saturday, May 22, 2010

DRC Napier


Here is another photo of the DRC (Dutch Reformed Church) Napier, not far from the southern tip of Africa. It was built in 1838 -- the same year that the Boers crossed the Vaal River. The visibility of the Church is like this by design. Originally, all this land was owned by the Church -- and sold subject to conditions. You may click on the photo to enlarge to VGA.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Did A Deal

I did a deal. For more than a decade, a well known company has been manufacturing my electronic designs -- about ten of them, either as kits or complete -- and I have been collecting royalties. However, in recent years I designed nothing new for them, royalties dwindled, and the payment/collection of royalties became tedious. So I made a proposal that I exchange all present and future royalties for the return of the copyrights. This was accepted today. OBSERVATION: This means that I can put these well proven designs to publishers, and my electronics "career" has a new lease of life.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Presbyterian Interior


This is a photo of the interior of our local Presbyterian Church. I posted a photo of the exterior a few days ago. The occasion is the125th Commemorative Birthday Service of the Cape Town Highlanders on the 9th May 2010. I took this photo from the upper gallery. The photo is in XGA if you click on it (about 160k). You may view various local Churches on this blog by clicking on "Local Churches" at the top left of this page.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Historical Misfortune

The photo on the right shows the sensational "Skuldmonument" ("Debt Monument") outside the Dutch Reformed Church in Nieuwoudtville, about 400km/250mi north of Cape Town. In 1909, the congregation had saved a massive £11,300 to pay the builder -- of which £8,000 mysteriously disappeared. Suspicion fell on the Church treasurer. The congregation raised the required sum again, in three years. The monument states (in Dutch): "To the High God alone all honour. In memory of the unforgettable years 1911-1913, in which this congregation wrestled down its debt of £11,000, incurred largely through misfortune." The names of the elders and deacons of that time follow. In a handout to visitors, the Church states rather cryptically: "It was said that [the treasurer] was buried in Nieuwoudtville, but somebody spotted him in [Namibia]. In his coffin they found a dead pig." OBSERVATION: You may click on the photo to enlarge to 180k.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Presbyterian Church


To further expand the gallery of Churches on this blog, this is St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church at the edge of Cape Town's city centre. The Church was founded in 1828. OBSERVATION: It is possible that this is the only "complete" photo of the Church on the Internet. For a little about the minister, see my post Presbyterian Minister. You may click on the photo to enlarge to VGA.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Elim Interior


On Sunday I posted a photo of the Elim Moravian Church, near the southern tip of Africa. Here is its interior -- taken from the same angle. The spartan pews are arranged around three sides of the pulpit. OBSERVATION: Elim is 16km/10mi east of Baardskeerdersbos, where the Church has similar pews -- except that the Church there is Dutch Reformed, not Moravian (see DR Church B'Bos). The Church in Baardskeerdersbos was built two years earlier. Again, you can enlarge this to VGA.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Highlanders Service


This morning I attended the 125th Commemorative Birthday Service of the Cape Town Highlanders (see photo) at our nearby Presbyterian Church. Some observations: It was a well organised event, well paced, and there was a good atmosphere (apart from the officer who ordered my three-wheeler off the parade ground -- the ultimate low point)! However, it was obvious -- to me anyway -- that in this majority-Xhosa service there was no Xhosa participation and no Xhosa content -- apart from the chaplain's words in Xhosa: "Hello ... I don't speak Xhosa." I found the sermon to be "values driven" rather than "Lord centred". The topic was "Commitment". OBSERVATION: This is unlikely to be a reflection on the Church itself, which hosts this event once a year.

Mother's Day Rose


I attended a neighbouring Church this morning. They gave a rose to every mother in the congregation. After the service, this woman was standing more or less as you see her, even before I asked her for a photo -- clearly pleased with her rose. You may click on the photo to enlarge to VGA.

Elim Church


This is the historic Church of Elim, near the southern tip of Africa -- built in Cape Dutch style. The granite stone between the two windows in the foreground says (in Dutch): "Built to commemorate one hundred years of the existence of Elim 1 August 1824-1924." This is followed by Psalm 103:2. OBSERVATION: I applied some false colours here, to enhance the contours. You may click on the photo to enlarge to VGA.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Conjuring Trick


Over the years, I have designed several electronic conjuring tricks. The most popular was my ESP Conjuring Trick, which has gone into production in at least two versions. However, I have long had in mind a more basic version of this trick. Here it is. It informs the conjurer what is inside a box through (ow!) heat. To describe it simply, the conjurer invites someone to place two objects in a box, or one or the other or none at all -- and to close the box. The conjurer places his or her hands on the box (touching crucial studs), pauses for a while, and announces what is in the box. Here is the vital information (click on the image to enlarge). The trick is activated when two moist (licked) fingers touch both Studs A and B on the outside of the box. S1 and S2 are reed switches which are closed when items (hiding magnets) are inserted into the box. If, when the trick is activated through Studs A and B, both S1 and S2 are closed, R7 heats up after about 15 seconds. If only S1 is closed, about 20 seconds. If only S3 is closed, about 25 seconds. If neither reed switch is closed, R7 never heats up. R7 is the vital part -- a 2W 38R (38 Ohm) resistor. Since the circuit runs off 9V, R7 is slightly underrated, so heats up when TR2 conducts. R7 is closely joined to Stud C on the outside of the box, so that heat flows quickly to the stud, and this is felt by a finger. Note, however, that the characteristics of resistors vary, and the value of R3 may need to be increased or decreased to vary the heat (that is, the time that current flows through R7 may need to be varied), or another 2W resistor may need to be tried for R7 (or even 1.5W or 1W, if the value of R3 is much reduced -- R7 should not be allowed to be hot for more than a second). Some care will be needed in placing studs and in routing wires (note that hinges can be used to conduct current). OBSERVATION: The components in this design can all be replaced by equivalents, but IC1 must be a CMOS version of the 555 timer, or Studs 1 and 2 will fail to function. S3 may be a tilt switch, but it is really shown just as a reminder that the circuit needs to be switched off somehow after use. If the trick is well made, it will be inscrutable. One might think of variations, too, such as an arrow pointing any one of four directions inside the box.

NOTE: For now, I am keeping this design exclusive to this blog -- but feel free to link to it.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Peltier Device


It was a busy day today -- yet in between I experimented briefly with a Peltier device (pictured). These convert power to heat and cold. And the purpose? I was designing a conjuring trick, and was thinking on how objects hidden in a sealed box could be revealed to the conjurer. I had already tried neural signals, successfully. These are relatively data-intensive (in transferring data from inside a box to a conjurer), but a little complex to implement. A Peltier device offered far less data-transfer -- but great simplicity -- and, like neural signals, complete inscrutability. The device communicates of course through tactile sense.