Tiree Tech Wave #7

Where do I start?  I had a plan!  I actually went to tech wave with a plan.  My plan was to model a fishing boat in clay, cover it in latex to make a mold and then cast it.  Once it was cast and up to my standards I was going to kit it out with a solar panel and some LEDs.  It would charge a battery during the day and at night you could turn the lights on.

I just didn't anticipate the time required.  The boat took me two days and even then it was only as good as I could get done in the plasticine like medium.  I've been adding a coat of latex each day since and will be able to cast on Saturday.

As for the solar panel and wiring...  The solar panel, battery and charging circuit are all from a keyring I got on EBay, £3.50.  The LED's are courtesy of a friendly Tirisdeach as I wasn't really willing to buy 50 of each when I only needed 5 total.

But I did do some soldering!



Our very own graphic designer, Grommitty, bought this little speaker for walks out and about.  but it came with a teeny-tiny little lead that soon broke.  A length of telephone wire (yep, the stuff you have in the walls that is enabling you to read this) and some soldering later, and it had a longer cable and was working great.  One happy designer!

LED-wise the Cardiff crew had brought their accountant who just so happens to make dreadlocks in her spare time.  Combine those with some conductive thread and some LED's and you get:



LEDlocks!  I'm hoping someone will share a photo of them at night, I wasn't there.

On the topic of fibre, Lovefibre started Weave at the Wave.







Two floor looms, three table looms; lots of CD's and wire shapes and LOTS of fibre and other weavables!  It was very popular and lovely to go play when you're tech side is needing a rest.  I'm predicting a few afternoons lost in weaving at LoveFibre's when I have time.

We had both Steves again this wave.  "Hairy" Steve was trying to be sneaky with his camera:


"Tall" Steve had this ginormous photozooker:




He managed to use that to get some photos of Skerryvore that I'm hoping he'll share and I can linky to.

What else?

Alan was demonstrating that he can still do push-ups:




I admit to being slightly cruel in that I asked him to pose for the last photo and his head was getting very red!

The Lancaster Catalyst group were expanding on a workshop they did back in March.  They'd gone away with a load of ideas, made some models and wanted people to expand on it all.  It started with a blank canvas:


By the end that canvas was FULL:


It was a really fascinating thing and interesting to see how different folk look at the same issues.

I think it would be safe to say that all enjoyed.



Although some had more energy reserves than others:


Don't know why I was snapping this photo but I do love how Marie and Alan are making the same gesture:


So that was Tech Wave number 7.  The weather was mostly nice and everyone managed to get home safely.

I'll do a general life update later this week.  In the meantime, enjoy this shot of Tiree night sky taken by Daniel Morrell with his snazzy camera that can do prolonged exposure:

TTFN.