Sadly, It's time to bid farewell to the Tune of The Month! I have not had as much response to this as I had hoped, and so after 16 months, it will put to rest.
A special thank you to Jeff W. of Calgary AB, who was able to identify many of the tunes. A super-cool gift will be delivered to you in time for the holidays!
I will move the existing results to the Music page for anyone who enjoys stumbling across this kind of thing. I suspect two things: Either nobody can recognise good classic 60's and 70's rock and roll, or they don't have speakers on their computers. It's been nice but now it's gone. If there is sufficient outcry, I'll bring it back. Until then - it's shelved! Thanks for trying them out!
Applied Skills 8 students have finished their Electronic Flasher projects, and are now working on the Wood project. This year we have added a new project: Marrionnettes! So far we have made a duck, a puppy, and a rhinoceros. Some day I'll get off my butt and finish some new web pages.
Electronics Level 1 students have just finished learning how to breadboard, and learning a simple 4011 CMOS monostable and an astable circuit. This month we start a major project - "The 10-LED Sequencer."
Electronics Level 2 students are putting the final touches on their FM Radio Transmitter projects. This project is great fun, but the circuit is tempermental. A Crystal radio transmitter would be better, but not as inexpensive and simple as this one. The next project we will be doing is the 555 Timer. This chip is the staple chip of many designers. It is used in timing, sound, broadcast, measuring, etc. etc.. Very useful with many application.
Electronics Level 3 students are finishing their power supplies, and will soon begin the robotics component of the course. This is a new unit in Level 3, and I am sure it will be a great one!
Some neat-o things to share with you this month: If you're into Techno, you can download the freeware program HammerHead. It is a great, easy-to-use program where you can sample in your own sounds, then apply them to a rhythm. There are 6 channels with different sounds you can tailor to your likings, and you can modify up to 8 different routines to follow. Very cool!
Also, Udder Insanity is a bizarre on-line game. Explaining it doesn't do it justice. You have to go play it!
The Heinous Honda Page
(or, The Adventures of the Crate that was Trying to Die)
Well, the word is official! I placed 3rd overall in the BCMA Novice Series, out of 143 people! This series was sponsored by BF Goodrich, and the top six drivers of the season win a set of BFG Racing Tires. I ordered a set of P185/60R13 tires, hopefully the older Comp T/A R1's, but will probably get G-Force R1's. Either tire is exceptionally soft, designed for one thing: stick!
Running these tires on stock size rims will free up my one prep point to use for my Lightspeed Racing 1" rear sway bar. These cars respond very well to LOTS of rear roll resistance. We'll see how it goes. I imagine, since with stock suspension I ran a 6 psi spread from front to rear, with a fat bar on the back, I might even get close to equal pressures to keep the car balanced. Whoooo I'm excited!
I have no idea how long it will take for the BFG's to come in, especially now that BFG has pulled the pin on making R tires. Kumho is rumoured to be filling in the gap with more tire size selection, especially in the 13" range. Apparantly the following sizes will be available (keep in mind, I may only be perpetuating a false rumour - rumours are like rocking chairs: they give you something to do, but they don't get you anywhere!):
Anyho, in the mean time, I picked up a set of used P185/60R13 Toyo Proxes RA1 tires (treadwear 40) for a reasonable price. 185/60 is probably a reasonable size for the stock 13x5" rim. It's shorter than the factory 175/70 yet wider, but not too wide. I don't really want a 205/60, as it is pretty tall and I only have 76hp. Shorter tires will improve the gearing for better acceleration. A 215 would be sweet, but you really need at least a 7" rim for them, and I can't get rims to fit 215's under the fender.
Since winter's a-comin' I put on my winter tires. Despite the squishy 70 series sidewall, and big-honkin tread block quirm, they stick almost like my 15" rims and tires! Turns out, with the factory rims back on the car, it is much more predictable and controlable on the road.
My summer rims have much more width and backspacing than the factory rims. The more I mess up my car, the more I'm discovering that Honda really had a pretty good idea what they were doing. That is one of my reasons to go back to the factory rims size for racing. In fact, I may even try to find a set of Civic VX rims, which are apparently super light. Steelies, of course are cheap.
Other repairs to the crate: New right front axle (stops the clicking), new fuel pump (stops the smell).
I didn't purchase the 87 Civic I found. It was a 1300, automatic, 13x4.5", and incredibly rusty. $200. I walked away.