Barnyard BBS

9/9/2008 - First Pregnancy Report

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:10:00 GMT

I realize that I've been unusally quiet in the past few months. Things have changed in our lives quite a bit. The rapid growth of the photography business leaves me with very little free time. I often find myself working late into the night, as I want to maintain a very high standard of quality. Needless to say, it's had quite an impact on my ability to pursue other projects; like maintaining the site.

However, we have an announcement to make... Wick is pregnant. It's been a tough few years, but we're confirmed as pregnant at this point. What's more, it's not just single-pregnant. We're double-pregnant. Twins. Two of them. More than one.

This is our first ultrasound. I'm far from an expert at reading these things, but even I'm cable of counting the dots. There seems to be some debate as to the correct pluralization. Fetuses seems more popular. Feti seems more based in the Latin roots. Grammar aside, there are two babies cooking.

I've posted higher resolution scans in the family photo gallery.

7/19/2008 - July 2008 Followup

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:34:00 GMT

I realize that I have not posted updates to the site in what seems an eternity. I've been distraced by my many side projects, and have been unable to devote much time to Barnyard. Most of this is due to the recent demands of the photography business. We've become much more successful that I originally anticipated. It's taking more time than I expected, and we're growing more quickly than I imagined.

Additionally, Jessawick and I have celebrated our third anniversary. My family has an interesting tradition, which was continued this year...

At our wedding, the cake was really, really good. In fact, it was so good that the entire cake was demolished before we got very much of it. For our first anniversary, my mother got the idea to get us a baby-sized version of the original. Ever since, it's been tradition. Here's this year's installment:

Secondarily... We went to Red Square for our anniversary. Red Square is easily the best restaurant that we've ever visited. We've been there twice, and each time the experience was impeccable. I can't say enough nice about them.

3/12/2008 - Our Experiences with Reproductive Associates of Delaware

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 23:48:00 GMT

As some of you may know, we've been seeing a fertility specialist for the last few months, as pregnancy has mysteriously eluded us. Our regular doctor, Molly McBride has always treated us well. Molly is excellent at what she does, and we can only give positive feedback about our treatment by both her, and her practice "The Womens' Place". They're good people. Additionally, Molly really did an excellent job on the outpatient surgery that Jessawick needed (a few months ago).

A few months ago, Molly realized that our complications might be beyond the scope of her practice (she's an OB/GYN, not a fertility specialist), and she referred us to the Reproductive Associates of Delaware. We've been seeing them for a few months now, with limited success.

A few weeks ago, we received a letter from the Reproductive Associates of Delaware regarding a dispute with Delaware Blue Cross. The letter advised us that they may discontinue accepting Delaware Blue Cross (our medical insurance) within a few months. I can't speak for anyone beyond ourselves, but continuity is an important part of fertility care. Should Jessawick become pregnant, we're going to need continuing follow up care. Since the possibility existed that they would abandon our medical insurance, we were forced to seek out another doctor.

We've just had our first visit with the new doctor (Dr. Jefferey Russell). It was quite informative. He told us about new techniques that will really get us some answers. He was both a great comfort and great help. We're looking forward to working with him, and it's looking like we'll finally get some success. He has a systematic plan for us, which should give us an answer in the near term. Additionally, he provided some insights that (in retrospect) are quite obvious, but had not previously come to light. Additionally, he told us in no uncertain terms, that he is not quarreling with Blue Cross Delaware. That's a relief.

It was a stark contrast with the previous care we received. This made me realize a few things about our previous treatment at Reproductive Associates of Delaware...

I don't specifically fault our doctor at Reproductive Associates of Delaware. However, I do place much of the fault on the office staff. The front desk was consistently rude, and was rarely attentive to our concerns. During our entire time with Reproductive Associates of Delaware, we didn't receive any real answers. We had a ton of testing performed, but all the results were "normal". In retrospect, I've started to think that many of the tests may not have been as necessary as I originally believed. We got lots of testing (and lots of costly office visits), but really didn't get any answers. On the whole, I cannot recommend Reproductive Associates of Delaware. I hope that our case is unique, but I have doubts.

05/16/2008 Followup:

Since we've switched to Dr. Jefferey Russell, we've had a great breakthrough. He performed a surgery which he initially beleived to be exploratory... However, it turned to be much more. It turns out that Jessawick's fallopian tubes weren't in the correct "position" for the egg to travel properly. He performed a quick repair during the surgery, and we should be able to conceive pretty soon.

This has just driven home the point about Reproductive Associates of Delaware... I feel that they were taking the shortest path directly to IVF, rather than providing the best path for conception. We've got nothing but praise for Dr. Jefferey Russell. If you're in Delaware, we'd recommend looking him up. Once Jessawick is fully healed-up, we'll start a new cycle.

2/28/2008 - Credit Card Fraud - TWX*IIA AIM CALL OUT

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:09:00 GMT

For the first time in my life, I've had to cancel a credit card. I've always been quite careful with my privacy, and I've never had a problem in the past. Today I noticed a transaction on my credit card from "TWX*IIA AIM CALL OUT". I didn't recognize it. I decided to call my credit card provider (Chase) to see if they had any additional information. The team at Chase was quite helpful. They told me that TWX is affiliated with AOL. Apparently they deal in magazines and internet phone services. As far as I'm concerned, it's all a scam.

Strangely enough, the team from Chase also told me that I had pending charges from iTunes. That's interesting, as I don't use iTunes. One charge could be a coincidence, two is fraud.

The gracious folks at Chase cancelled my card, and a new one is on the way. I'm just posting this in the hopes that Google will index it, and it might be of help to someone else.

2/27/2008 - Happy Birthday Faraday

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:11:00 GMT

Our little girl has just turned two years old. She's such a nice little wiener-dog. Here's her birthday photo (she was sitting in Jessawick's knitting basket):

If anyone is interested, we adoped Faraday from HamDachs. They're a family that raises mini dachshunds out in Illinois. They really did a good job with Faraday. You can really tell when a dog has been handled and treated well as a puppy. When she came to us, she was very friendly and not afraid of anything. For the record, she's still not afraid of anything. She's a big important little wiener dog, and she knows it.

2/16/2008 - Delaware Conceal and Carry Laws

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 17:42:00 GMT

I'm in the middle applying for my Delaware Conceal and Carry License (concealed firearms license). Since laws regarding concealed weapons can vary wildly between states, I wanted to do my homework before actually starting to carry.

I got a lot of conflicting information from many sources. A particular point of concern was the "School Zone" question. I had been told by several people (including my CCW instructor) that you were forbidden to carry a concealed weapon within 1000 feet of a school or college. Needless to say, this concerned me quite a bit. I live within 1000 feet of a school. I also work within 1000 feet of a school. This "law" could put a severe cramp in my right to carry.

I started researching. I am not a lawyer. This does not constitute legal advice.

Here's what I've found:

There's a federal law, called the Gun Free School Zone Act of 1990. It has important exceptions built into it. It does not apply to private property within the "radius". Additionally, it provides a special exception for anyone with a "state issued permit". This means that Delaware CCW holders are except. This becomes important later.
There is a Delaware law, Possession of a weapon in a Safe School and Recreation Zone. This law doesn't really introduce any new restrictions. It just "amps up" the severity of the punishment, should you be convicted of another crime while on school grounds. For example, the regular charge of Carrying a concealed deadly weapon "upgrades" from a class G felony to a class E felony.

My analysis:

If you have a Delaware (or Delaware-recognized) CCW permit, you can carry within the 1000 foot perimeter. In fact, if you happen to be a college student (that happens to be of age to acquire a CCW) you could even legally carry on campus. Furthermore, from my reading of the law, a teacher could legally carry while at work.

However:

Just because these are established as legal, that doesn't mean that it's permissible by the entity in question. For example, the University of Delaware has a policy against weapons. Legally speaking, they can expel / fire you. That's their call. It's their house and their rules. However, that's a private matter. It's not a crime.

The same is true of the teacher's example. The hypothetical teacher could be fired for breaking policy, but not arrested.

Remember, this is a strict legal interpretation. There are lots of "dumb" situations that you could cause, if you aren't careful. Even with a CCW permit, you can't brandish your weapon. Intimidation is still legally menacing. Keep it legal; keep it concealed.

Final thoughts:

This isn't just my interpretation. I've had two other individuals review my research. Both of them agreed with my interpretation. Both also commented on "keeping it out of sight", in order to avoid a menacing charge.

Both have requested that I not publish their names, as they don't want any liability pointed in their direction. That's probably wise on their part. Regardless, if either of you two are reading this: thanks for your help.

For that matter, I don't want any liability in my direction either. This isn't legal advice, just my opinion on the law as it is written.

If you would like more information about conceal and carry laws (in relation to colleges / universities), I recommend you check out Concealed Campus. Concealed Campus is anon-profit "student's right to carry" advocacy group.

I hope this helps.

2/14/2008 - Happy Valentine's Day

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 18:09:00 GMT

Normally, I'm not one to endorse Hallmark-promoted holidays. However, my dear Jessawick sent me a greeting card that warranted sharing. It's the first Chamelo-gram that I've ever received:

Happy Valentines Day, everyone.

1/17/2008 - New Castle County Jury Duty 2008: Time Served

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 08:49:00 GMT

My recent experience with jury duty in New Castle County has come to a close. Although I didn't get a chance to do very much, I learned a lot about the process. For those of you living in New Castle County, Delaware, here is an overview of the jury duty process:

You receive a sternly-worded notice in the mail. This notice contains a demand that you report and a questionnaire about your background.
Next, you are expected to reply with the questionnaire. Optionally, you are able to cite reasons why you are unable to attend.
If you elected to cite reasons for being unable to attend, you should expect a strongly-worded "REQUEST DENIED" postcard to arrive in about 7 days. The county makes it very clear that they place no value on your time whatsoever; and that "they" get to call the shots.
On the day of your service, you report to the courthouse. Generally, you are to report at 8:30 AM. I'd recommend arriving at the parking garage around 8:00 AM. Expect traffic, as it's in the center of the city.
Expect to go through the intrusive "security" screening. Remember to leave you cell phone in the car. Additionally, the court prohibits PDA's, iPods, and nearly anything electronic that isn't a laptop.
Next, you will check in at "Suite 1800", the jury duty "holding tank". It's a big room which seats at least 300 people.
Shortly after check-in, you'll be shown a movie about how lucky you were to be chosen.
Now you wait. I hope you remembered to bring a book (or perhaps a laptop). No internet access is available for laptops, but there are a few heavily-restricted web terminals in the side room. There are five of them. You may have trouble securing one. Note: This room also contains more comfortable chairs than anywhere else in the courthouse.
It's possible that you may be called to audition for a jury, but the odds aren't very good. In our group of about 200, only about 40 were called to even audition. Most of us just sat around until the trials concluded.

I apologize if I sound critical of the experience. Truthfully, I have no objections to serving on a jury. However, I do have objections to how the process is administered. It seems very silly to me that of 32 scheduled jury cases on 01/16/2008, only a single case required a jury. This could easily have been settled without requiring 200 people to lose a day of work. Additionally, the court really needs to learn some manners. I would have been in a much more favorable mood, had I not been treated like a criminal at every step.

Regardless, I'm off the hook for at least two years. Behold my glorious certificate:

1/1/2008 - Official Debut of HydroponicsTuesday.com

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 08:38:00 GMT

It's been a long time in development, but I'm proud to announce that Hydroponics Tuesday has finally moved into it's new home. For those of you that have read the Hydroponics Tuesday column on BarnyardBBS, you'll now find that Hydroponics Tuesday has grown up, and has a dedicate website of it's own... HydroponicsTuesday.com.

The new dedicated website offers new opportunities for the column to grow, and to explore new directions. For example, the new website features some new sections, like articles and reviews. I realized a few months ago that with the recent growth in readership, Hydroponics Tuesday needed to expand beyond a weekly column. The new sections of the website will let us share more detailed writeups on specific topics, which can be more easily navigated. Many of the topics in the articles have been mentioned previously in the blog, but serve a common interest by being expanded into full articles.

I'm writing more frequently now, and more content will be appearing often.

This will be the last post that is carried on BarnyardBBS.com. From now forward, all new material will be posted directly to our new home at HydroponicsTuesday.com.

Ok, now to cover some actual news about my pet projects...

The experimental homemade aeroponic unit has been running "wet" for about two weeks now. She's perfectly watertight. We've just waiting on the new eggplants to mature enough to join the party.

At this point, I'm pretty happy with the stage of the new aeroponic unit. However, only time will tell.

Additionally, we have two new additions to the growing room, they just aren't set up yet. I gave Jess a new EcoGrower for Christmas, as she wanted to try a drip system. She also got a drip-ring WaterFarm, which we're thinking about using for a pomegranate tree (don't ask which variety yet, we're still researching).

Actually, I'm looking forward to using the EcoGrower for an experiment. I'd like to do a head-to-head competition between a drip system and an aeroponic system. Although I'm quite sure that the aeroponic system produces faster growth, I'd like some objective evidence to support my opinion. We're growing two "Black Beauty" eggplant seedlings; hopefully they'll be a fair comparison.

Here's a photo of the new batch of strawberries. They've just emerged as sproutlings. They're living in the MegaGarden, and they'll remain there for a while. For those of you not familiar with our growing setup: We use an Ebb & Flow system called a MegaGarden as our "nursery" for baby plants. It's lighted by a 125W Compact Fluorescent system, and the nutrient mix is formulated for vegetative-stage plants. When the plants are mature enough, they're moved out of the MegaGarden, into their final homes.

Also, here's a photo of the baby eggplants that have recently emerged. They're living in the MegaGarden as well.

This week's overview photo:

Plant	Type	Status
#01	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#02	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#03	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#04	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#05	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#06	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#07	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#08	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#09	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	This fellow is always partially covered by the eggplant, and is not as large as the other strawberries.
#12	Bambino Baby Eggplant	Lots of flowers and fruit. We're regularly getting fruit and frequently trimming back the leaves in order to give the strawberries more light.
#18	Black Beauty Eggplant	Recently emerged as seedling. Appears healthy. Living in the MegaGarden.
#19	Black Beauty Eggplant	Recently emerged as seedling. Appears healthy. Living in the MegaGarden.
#20	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Recently emerged as seedling. Appears healthy. Living in the MegaGarden.
#21	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Recently emerged as seedling. Appears healthy. Living in the MegaGarden.
#22	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Recently emerged as seedling. Appears healthy. Living in the MegaGarden.
#23	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Recently emerged as seedling. Appears healthy. Living in the MegaGarden.
#24	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Recently emerged as seedling. Appears healthy. Living in the MegaGarden.
#25	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Recently emerged as seedling. Appears healthy. Living in the MegaGarden.

12/18/2007 - Hydroponics Tuesday: Building Your Own Aeroponic System, Attempt #1

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 18:33:00 GMT

I've been thinking about building an aeroponic system from scratch for a while, and this week I gave it a first attempt.

The garden has been largely dominated by the massive eggplant lately. The eggplant itself is quite healthy, but it's a bad neighbor to everything else in the TurboGarden. It's simultaneously crowding it's neighbors and shading them under it's large canopy.

As far as I've researched, nobody is producing a single-site aeroponic unit. I thought it was time to make one.

I spend a long time thinking about how to assemble an aeroponic unit from scratch... I came to a few basic parts that would be necessary, then expanded on the idea:

A reservoir is needed for the water. The reservoir should be some type of opaque material, to prevent algae growth. Ideally, the reservoir should be easy to monitor and service.
In order to be an aeroponic system, you need to have sprayers. These sprayers need to take water from the reservoir and deliver it to the roots of the plant.
The plant needs to be supported, and it needs to be kept safe from damage during water changes and maintenance.

I started looking for my reservoir first. I considered lots of containers, from the simple Home Depot bucket to more exotic containers. I ended up choosing a dog-food container. Take a look at the photo below, and I'll start to explain why I decided on it.

I found a 40-pound size Vittles Vault, made by Gamma Plastics. It's intended to be an air-tight container for pet foods, but I had other ideas in mind. I liked the large water-tight door, the generous capacity for water, and the flat top of the container. It's naturally good at holding water, and is not prone to leaks.

You're probably noticing that there's a bucket on top... That's intentional. I decided to separate the reservoir from the plant's "chamber". The bucket has been fitted to hold a 6" net pot. The plant lives entirely in the bucket. Since the reservoir can be seperated from the bucket easily, I can clean the reservoir without disturbing the delicate roots.

How are they connected? Well, I wanted to make a system with as few points of failure as possible. Water likes to obey gravity, so in the chance of total failure, the water can fall safely back into the reservoir. It's the path of least resistance.

The bucket has a hole drilled through the bottom. The reservoir has a matching hole drilled through the top. Take a look, and it will make more sense:

That's actually a "through-hull" fitting, it's used in boating. It's a sealed "pass through" that leads directly down into the reservoir. This serves as our water-return. The holes in both the reservoir and the bucket were drawn using a simple compass, and were rough-cut using a Dremel tool. They were then sanded using a small drum-sander to achieve proper size and roundness.

Once the unit was dry-fit properly, I sealed the "through-hull" fitting with aquarium sealant, to ensure that it was totally water-tight.

The lid of the bucket has been cut to accommodate a large (6") net pot. The lid supports the weight of the plant, and the roots are able to hang freely inside the bucket. Here's a top view of the bucket's lit (and pot) for perspective:

Before we continue with construction, let's stop and talk about aeroponics for a moment. Aeroponics describes a special breed of hydroponics, where the roots of a plant are sprayed with an aerated nutrient solution. To make a spray, we force water through small jets. Luckily, these jets are pretty easy to obtain. I bought a handful of them at my local hydroponics shop. In case you don't have access quite as readily as I do, here's a link where you can buy them (please note, I have not done business with this merchant, and as such, cannot make any promises).

The small microjets are threaded, and usually screwed directly into PVC fittings of your choosing. Since nobody online seemed to know quite what size they are, here's the final answer: The microjets are threaded to fit a 10-32 machine thread hole. It's easy to make them fit into PVC. Simply drill a hole of appropriate size, then cut the threads with a 10-32 tap. 10-32 is a standard size (it's the fine-thread version of a #10 machine screw). You should be able to buy a 10-32 tap quite inexpensively at nearly any hardware store. Personally, I really like the Craftsman TapDriver. It's a screwdriver-shaped handle that stores taps internally. It's very convenient. Sadly, Sears does not have a good photo on the website, so I've got no link to share.

You're able to construct the supply lines for the microjets by simply using 1/2" PVC and fittings. It's easy to cut and glue PVC, and it doesn't require a lot of special tools.

Now that we know how we intend to supply the water; we need to know how we're going to get it there... We need a pump.

Here's an important advisory for you about pumps. Don't just think you can buy an off-the-shelf aquarium pump. I tried that. It didn't work.

Although these pumps look convenient, they lack sufficient power to make the jets work. A crappy pump will make your jets "dribble". You'll need a proper pump to get them to the critical pressure.

After some searching and testing, I wholeheartedly recommend an ActiveAqua PU250. The ActiveAqua brand is represented by Hydrofarm, and their pumps are just what you need. Shockingly, the ActiveAqua pump actually cost me less than the far-inferior pet-store variety.

Speaking of pumps, the ActiveAqua PU 250 (and larger) pumps offer an important and convenient feature. They have a pipe-thread connection to the pump. Many brands of pump simply have a tubing "slip fit" connection. I don't like "slip fit". It's not strong, and it's not reliable. Threaded connections are much stronger, and they'll make your life a lot easier. In this case, the PU250 has a 1/2" pipe thread connection for the "outbound" water. Here's a photo with the thread visible:

Ok... Now we've got all the ingredients together... Let's make it work.

I wanted as simple a connection as possible, so I got an idea early in the project: If I made the "return hole" in the bucket large enough, I could pass the supply line for the jets through the middle of it (meaning that I only have one hole to worry about instead of two). This leads me to my sprayer system.

It's a very simple setup. The pump shoots the water straight up a length of PVC pipe. This pipe is capped at the top, and the only way for the water to escape is through three microjets at the top. Here's a closeup of the jets at the top of the pipe:

The cap is just a regular 1/2" PVC cap. It's been drilled and threaded for three 10-32 sprayers, which screw into it nicely. The PVC cap is solvent-wended to the pipe to prevent leaks.

The pump rests inside the reservoir, with the sprayer-pipe extending vertically. The sprayer-pipe travels through the large "through-hull" fitting that connect the bucket and reservoir, and stops just below the plant's basket. Here's a photo of the whole thing assembled:

Also, just so you can see it from the top, here's another angle:

I like this design a lot, as it's pretty simple. The water shoots out of the sprayers, and is carried back to the reservoir by gravity. The pump is always sitting in water. The whole system is designed to be as leak-resistant as possible, while allowing for easy cleaning.

The big "door" on the reservoir allows for easy access when you're testing and adjusting your water. Additionally, you can completely disconnect the bucket from the reservoir, should you want to do more extensive cleaning. Since the plant never leaves the bucket, it's always shielded from damage and accidents.

The last part of the project was allowing the pump's cord to exit the reservoir. I put the hole both as high as possible and as far from the the "return" as possible, to minimize leak concerns. It's pretty simple. I drilled a 1" hole through the reservoir using a hole-saw, and fitted it with a large electrical grommet for a finished look.

Here's a rough estimate of the costs involved in building this aeroponic system:

Small bucket and lid, $4
Gamma Vittles Vault, $35
ActiveAqua PU250 Pump, $15
1 1/2" through-hull fitting, $7
Microjets, $2
6" net pot, $1
PVC pipe and fittings, $3

Total materials cost: Roughly $67. That's not bad, based on the costs of commercial units. I bought all the parts for this project locally,. The bucket and PVC were from Home Depot. The through-hull fitting was from a boating store. The pump, microjets, and net pot came from my local hydroponics shop. The Vittles Vault came from Petco.

You could certainly lower the cost by replacing the expensive Vittles Vault. Honestly, I just loved the easy access of the big watertight door, and was willing to incur the expense for a nicer maintenance experience in the future.

Admittedly, this was an experiment to build a "large plant, single site" unit. In my next experiment, I'll be looking at building a unit meant for several smaller (strawberry) plants. If you have comments or questions about how this was constructed, just let me know. If you have an improvement on the design, make sure to share it with the group.

On to the weekly writeup:

Bambino eggplants are tasty. I'm planning on growing several plants during the next grow cycle (that's a big part of why I built the new aeroponic system). The eggplants are appearing regularly.

Additionally, small strawberries are appearing all over the place. Thus far, we've eaten two of them, but they were early bloomers. The majority of them are just growing now.

We've started some new seeds. This time, it's Black Beauty eggplants and more of the Alexandria Alpine strawberries. Once the existing Bambino eggplant finishes it's lifecycle, I'll replace it (and the remaining sites) with baby strawberry plants. The new eggplants are destined for the newly constructed aeroponic system (and for Jessawick's secret Christmas present, another hydro system).

This week's overview photo:

Plant	Type	Status
#01	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#02	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#03	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#04	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#05	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#06	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#07	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#08	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#09	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	This fellow is always partially covered by the eggplant, and is not as large as the other strawberries.
#10	Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Heirloom Tomato	Removed on 11/18/2007.
#11	Delicious Heirloom Tomato	Previously killed through personal stupidity.
#12	Bambino Baby Eggplant	Lots of flowers and fruit. The largest fruits have a diameter of 1.75" We're starting to pick them now, as they finish ripening.
#13	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Removed
#14	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Removed
#15	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Removed
#16	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Tasty. Eaten on 09/29/2007.
#17	Lime Basil	Gone to seed. Removed
#18	Black Beauty Eggplant	New addition. Has not yet germinated. Seed placed into rockwool on 12/16/2007.
#19	Black Beauty Eggplant	New addition. Has not yet germinated. Seed placed into rockwool on 12/16/2007.
#20	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	New addition. Has not yet germinated. Seed placed into rockwool on 12/16/2007.
#21	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	New addition. Has not yet germinated. Seed placed into rockwool on 12/16/2007.
#22	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	New addition. Has not yet germinated. Seed placed into rockwool on 12/16/2007.
#23	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	New addition. Has not yet germinated. Seed placed into rockwool on 12/16/2007.
#24	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	New addition. Has not yet germinated. Seed placed into rockwool on 12/16/2007.
#25	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	New addition. Has not yet germinated. Seed placed into rockwool on 12/16/2007.

12/11/2007 - Hydroponics Tuesday: Full-Sized Baby Eggplants

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 07:33:00 GMT

I'd like to start this week by posting a correction regarding some of my previous comments...

Last week, I expressed puzzlement regarding our eggplant fruits, and why they weren't growing any larger. Now I know better. The Bambino Baby Eggplant is only expected to grow to a diameter of approximately 1.5". Our little guys are fully mature, and nothing is wrong.

Actually, I'm very much looking forward to cooking the little Bambinos. I'm thinking that I can skewer them whole, and grill an entire bunch of them on a kabob. In theory, if they cook with the skin on, they should retain all their moisture.

Here's a photo of the first (and largest) of the Bambinos. It's the same one featured in previous posts:

We're planning some new experiments in the near future. I've started to purchase the items to construct an aeroponic unit from scratch. Thus far, we've acquired a bunch of the Microjet sprayers (the little water sprayers inside an aeroponic unit), some 3" and 6" net pots, and some bulkhead connectors (used for passing a pipe through the wall or floor of a container). We'd like to build a single-site aeroponic unit, specifically for larger plants, such as the eggplant. Although our eggplant has been a success, it's really been a bad neighbor to the other plants in the TurboGarden. I haven't found any other units to our liking, so we'll be building our own.

We've looked into a few types of materials. At the moment, we're leaning toward making some custom plexi-glass "lids" for some planters. One of the goals for this projects is to create an aeroponic unit with less expense than a commercially built unit.

This week's overview photo:

Plant	Type	Status
#01	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#02	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#03	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#04	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#05	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#06	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#07	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#08	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#09	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	This fellow is always partially covered by the eggplant, and is not as large as the other strawberries.
#10	Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Heirloom Tomato	Removed on 11/18/2007.
#11	Delicious Heirloom Tomato	Previously killed through personal stupidity.
#12	Bambino Baby Eggplant	Lots of flowers and fruit. The largest fruits have a diameter of 1.75" We're starting to pick them now, as they finish ripening.
#13	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Removed
#14	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Removed
#15	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Removed
#16	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Tasty. Eaten on 09/29/2007.
#17	Lime Basil	Gone to seed. Removed
#18	Delicious Heirloom Tomato	Killed off as of 11/13/2007. It wasn't doing well, and we ended its run.

12/4/2007 - Hydroponics Tuesday: Filtered Water and Slow Progress

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 18:54:00 GMT

This week we performed our first water change using the new Hydro-Logic Small Boy filter. All said, it worked out pretty well. Here are our quick observations on it:

It does filter chlorine and chloramine pretty quickly. It keeps equal output pressure as input pressure, but it does decrease your flow rate. We fill our hydro systems from a high grade (potable water) hose, which runs at standard household pressure. We've put the filter in-line with the hose. The filter uses 1/4" tube for it's inlets and outlets, which is a big reduction compared to the straight hose. Admittedly, it does decrease flow rate, but I'm unaware of anything that operates any faster. Secondarily, it's "fast enough" for our needs, so no harm done.
We really don't have any way to evaluate it's filtering effectiveness, as we don't have the special tools required. I'm considering taking a sample to a water place for a proper analysis.
Here's an odd item about the Small Boy filter: It includes a hose-thread to 1/4" tubing adapter. This adapter is very helpful, and we use it. The odd part is that they include only one... I built a second one from plumbing fittings at Home Depot.
We've hooked the filter up with a set of our quick connectors, and it's connected in-line with the fill line. The water comes from the tap, connects (optionally) to the filter, then to the hose. We can remove the filter from the chain at any time. Why remove the filter? Because we empty our tanks in the exact opposite of how we fill them... We use the pumps to pump the water "back out" the fill hose (and down the drain). We don't want the pump in place when dealing with waste water.

Things are moving slowly in the aeroponic TurboGarden. The eggplants are growing, but not as rapidly as before. We've added several more support strings to the eggplant, as the fruits are really weighing down the branches. I'm glad we have the large and sturdy lightstand.

We've picked our first strawberry, and lots more are forming. We're getting lots of flowers and lots of baby berries.

This week's overview photo:

Plant	Type	Status
#01	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly. First strawberry picked.
#02	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#03	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#04	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#05	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#06	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#07	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#08	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly.
#09	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	This fellow is always partially covered by the eggplant, and is not as large as the other strawberries.
#10	Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Heirloom Tomato	Removed on 11/18/2007.
#11	Delicious Heirloom Tomato	Previously killed through personal stupidity.
#12	Bambino Baby Eggplant	Lots of flowers and fruit. The largest fruits have a diameter of 1.75"
#13	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Removed
#14	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Removed
#15	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Removed
#16	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Tasty. Eaten on 09/29/2007.
#17	Lime Basil	Gone to seed. Removed
#18	Delicious Heirloom Tomato	Killed off as of 11/13/2007. It wasn't doing well, and we ended its run.

11/27/2007 - Hydroponics Tuesday: Chlorine

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 07:11:00 GMT

Another week, another lesson... We've been learning a lot more about water in recent weeks. We've just purchased a new water filter for the plants. Here's why:

Many of the supplements that we frequently use contain beneficial organisms that are helpful to the plants. Until now, we've always used normal, unfiltered, city water for our hydroponics. Our results have been pretty good, but we think that there's room for improvement. Why filter? Our city water contains chlorine. It also contains chloramine. There are a few differences between the two...

Standard "chlorine" isn't really the clean chemical chorline, it's actually HOCl (chloric acid). It's used all over the place for water treatment. This will kill biologicals in your water, that's why it's there. However, there's an upside: It's got a relatively short "half life" in your water. It evaporates out in about 48 hours.

Chloramine are a different breed, It's a more stable compound, and it won't evaporate out of your water at all. It's formula is NH₂Cl, and it's quite tricky to remove from your water.

Hence our new purchase.

We've bought a Hydro-Logic Small Boy filter. It's capable of running in-line with our fill line for the tanks, it's pretty small, and the price was reasonable. We did a lot of reading, and it was the best deal for a chloramine-capable filter.

Sadly we haven't used it yet. We've got a water change next week, so it will see some action. Note: It's got attachments to run hose-thread. That's a plus.

This week's eggplant photo:

And the overview photo:

Plant	Type	Status
#01	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly. Some leaf "crinkling" is visible, but I feel it's a holdover from earlier troubles.
#02	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly. Some leaf "crinkling" is visible, but I feel it's a holdover from earlier troubles.
#03	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly. Some leaf "crinkling" is visible, but I feel it's a holdover from earlier troubles.
#04	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly. Some leaf "crinkling" is visible, but I feel it's a holdover from earlier troubles.
#05	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly. Some leaf "crinkling" is visible, but I feel it's a holdover from earlier troubles.
#06	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly. Some leaf "crinkling" is visible, but I feel it's a holdover from earlier troubles.
#07	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly. Some leaf "crinkling" is visible, but I feel it's a holdover from earlier troubles.
#08	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly. Some leaf "crinkling" is visible, but I feel it's a holdover from earlier troubles.
#09	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	We've cut back the eggplant to give it more light, as it was really under the canopy. It's obviously not as developed as the others, but it's healthy.
#10	Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Heirloom Tomato	Removed on 11/18/2007. It wasn't doing very well.
#11	Delicious Heirloom Tomato	Previously killed through personal stupidity.
#12	Bambino Baby Eggplant	Lots of flowers and fruit. The largest fruits have a diameter of 1.5", and are growing fast.
#13	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Removed
#14	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Removed
#15	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Removed
#16	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Tasty. Eaten on 09/29/2007.
#17	Lime Basil	Gone to seed. Removed
#18	Delicious Heirloom Tomato	Killed off as of 11/13/2007. It wasn't doing well, and we ended its run.

11/20/2007 - Hydroponics Tuesday: Advancements

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 20:54:00 GMT

We've made lots of advancements this week. Some are technical, some are procedural, and some are just plain practical...

I briefly mentioned our new EC/PPM meter last week. We'd just gotten it, so I didn't have much to say at the time. Now that we've had some time with it, I can comment in a more intelligent manner. On the advice of someone much wiser than ourselves, we bought a BlueLab Truncheon. Although we haven't had it for a long time yet, we really do love it. It's very ergonomic, self-calibrating, and very easy to use. No complaints whatsoever. It's really a winner. Not to mention, it's pheonominal for stirring a nutrient solution.

Additionally, we're still quite happy with our relatively new pH meter (an Oakton pHTestr Basic). It's still great. It's really nice to have a pH tester that actually works right.

Also, we've kindly been provided a CO2 Boost sample, from the folks at CO2Boost.com. It's a small carbon dioxide generator for the plants. I'll freely admit that we don't have a lot of experience regarding CO2 supplementation, but we're considering the implications of adding it permanently. We're looking into CO2 measurement, so we can have some idea about the condition of our environment. Initial reactions to the CO2Boost: It's easy to set up, quiet, simple, and doesn't take up a lot of space. We've got it venting over top of the aeroponic unit. Thus far, we like it quite a bit.

It's getting cold around here lately, and I was getting tired of using the hose to fill the hydroponic tanks. We've got a a new solution for our water-filling needs. It's working quite well for us, and it may be of use to you as well...

We have a detachable shower head that can be used with the hose. The hose connects to the shower head via plastic pipe thread (1/2"). This is important, as it gives us a lot of options. Here's a photo of what we did:

We found that Home Depot sells Melnor Quick Connectors (for garden hoses). They are a lot like pneumatic quick-connectors, but built for water. We adapted the hose to mate with the quick connectors, so our shower head is now easily removable. Why is this important? We can remove the shower head, and quickly connect our fill-hose for the tanks. It's very convenient to fill the tanks this way, and it didn't require us to do any strange modifications to our existing plumbing. Since we're like most home gardeners, we don't have a dedicated source of water in our growing room; this offers a great alternative.

Ok, time to talk about the plants:

We've ripped out both of the tomato plants, as they just weren't doing well. Additionally, we've finished off the lettuces. Lastly, the basil is gone as well. It was fully mature, and it didn't have anywhere to go but down.

The eggplant is doing very well. We've got lots of fruit growing now. There's about the size of golf balls at the moment, and they are growing quickly. We ran a Clearex cycle during the last water change, so the nutrient uptake should be greatly improved.

Take a look at this eggplant (photo is larger than life, it's actually about 1.25" diameter):

Here's the overview photo. We've done a bunch of trimming this week:

Plant	Type	Status
#01	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly. Some leaf "crinkling" is visible, but I feel it's a holdover from earlier troubles.
#02	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly. Some leaf "crinkling" is visible, but I feel it's a holdover from earlier troubles.
#03	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly. Some leaf "crinkling" is visible, but I feel it's a holdover from earlier troubles.
#04	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly. Some leaf "crinkling" is visible, but I feel it's a holdover from earlier troubles.
#05	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly. Some leaf "crinkling" is visible, but I feel it's a holdover from earlier troubles.
#06	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly. Some leaf "crinkling" is visible, but I feel it's a holdover from earlier troubles.
#07	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly. Some leaf "crinkling" is visible, but I feel it's a holdover from earlier troubles.
#08	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small fruit and flowers are appearing regularly. Some leaf "crinkling" is visible, but I feel it's a holdover from earlier troubles.
#09	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	We've cut back the eggplant to give it more light, as it was really under the canopy. It's obviously not as developed as the others, but it's healthy.
#10	Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Heirloom Tomato	Removed on 11/18/2007. It wasn't doing very well.
#11	Delicious Heirloom Tomato	Previously killed through personal stupidity.
#12	Bambino Baby Eggplant	Lots of flowers and fruit. The largest fruits have a diameter of 1.25", and are growing fast.
#13	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Removed
#14	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Removed
#15	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Removed
#16	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Tasty. Eaten on 09/29/2007.
#17	Lime Basil	Gone to seed. Removed
#18	Delicious Heirloom Tomato	Killed off as of 11/13/2007. It wasn't doing well, and we ended its run.

11/13/2007 - Hydroponics Tuesday: The Errors of Our Ways

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 20:49:00 GMT

This week has been a busy one, as far as hydroponics are concerned. We just got back from vacation in Orlando, FL. On the last day of our trip, we managed to catch the Maximum Yield Indoor Gardening Expo. The expo was spectacular. We got a chance to speak with lots of the manufacturers, and we learned a lot in a short amount of time.

For the record, I would like to restate: We're just writing from our own experiences. We're not botanists. Do not take our experiences as fact, as we're always learning ourselves.

We received lots of samples of new products. Overviews and reviews will be appearing in the the future. We're obtained samples of many new types of nutrients and supplements. In fact, we'll be putting together an additional ebb & flow, just so we can do comparative testing. Here's a preliminary list of some of the new samples we've obtained:

Grotek: Bloom (4-9-8), Grow (8-4-11), MM2000 (Stress Reliever), VitaMax Plus (1-1-2)
Technaflora: Recipe for Success Kit (BC Grow, BC Bloom, BC Boost, Rootech Cloning Gel, Sugar Daddy, Root 66, Thrive Alive, MagiCal, and Awesome Blossoms)
Growth Technology:Orchid Focus (specific nutrition mix for orchids), Root Riot (foam planting medium / rockwool competitor)
Liquid Earth: Grow, Bloom, Vigor, Essential Elements, Flourish, and Organic Activator
Van Der Zwaan: Aqua Flakes A, Aqua Flakes B, Multi-Enzyme, Drip Clean, Magic Green, Bud XL, and Top Booster
STG (Sure to Grow): Numerous Mats & Planting Mediums
DNF: Everything but the kitchen sink... Green (3-2-0), Gold (1-2-1), GRO (Seedling & Cutting Formula), Enhance (4-1-1), Clear, Bloom (3-0-3), Organic GRO (8-2-3), Black (Phosphate & Nirtrate), CarboLogic (Sweetener), Veg Fortifier, and Bloom Fortifier
New Age Gardening: FytoCell (planting medium)
Grodan: AgroWool (rockwool fibers, looks like loose insulation), Cococan Crutons (chunks), Cococan Growing Mix)

Also, we got a chance to preview a lot of new products. Personally, I'm quite interested in the Indoor Sun line of LED-based lighting. They didn't have any units that I could obtain at the convention, or I would have purchased one. I can not yet offer any opinion on whether or not they're any good. However, I do hold out some hope. LED lighting has traditionally had many shortcomings; but if they work, I'd be ecstatic. Here's what I know thus far... They use AC power directly, without the use of a power brick (transformer), so they must have some type of voltage stepping internally. They offer a very narrow spectrum of light, either in the vegetative or bloom spectrum (they sell two different versions). Since the spectrum is so limited, the plants look a bit odd to the human eye (we're used to seeing things under fuller-spectrum light).

They've got my contact info, and I plan on purchasing one just as an experiment. I'll post my results when I'm able to obtain one. If they work, they could cut power usage dramatically. I'd love to cut down on the electrical draw (and resultant heat).

Additionally, after returning from our trip, we had a chance to talk to a local hydro-shop owner. He's given me quite a bit of advice. We're in the middle of implementing it now, so I'll need to post the results at a later time. Here are the changes that are in the works at the moment:

We've ripped out the smaller tomato (#18). It just wasn't doing well, and we'll shortly replace it with a strawberry.
We've severely cut back the larger tomato (#10), in an attempt to get it to consolidate.
We're changing the pH mixture in our main aeroponic system. We were trying to keep the pH between 6.5 and 7.0. It turns out that those numbers weren't the right environment for our plants. Our new target is 5.5 - 6.0. We're lowering the pH slowly, as to avoid a shock to the plants.
We'll soon be ripping out the lime basil (#17). It's gone to seed, and it's reaching the end of it's life cycle.
Additionally, we'll soon be eating / killing off the remaining lettuce (in the ebb & flow). We let some of the lettuce go to seed, as an experiment. You'd be surprised what lettuce looks like when it gets fully mature. It grows vertically, almost like the shoots of a small tree. Eat it before it gets that old, as the taste becomes bitter. Live and learn.
We're also trying out a new idea regarding the aeroponic TurboGarden. For a while now, I've needed to continually add pH increaser to the water. We've been told that this may be caused by the presence of an acid producing bacteria. We've added some 35% hydrogen peroxide to the water. In theory, this should kill the bacteria, and we shouldn't need to fidget with the pH as often.

We've also made some changes to our gear:

We'd been having problems with our 400W HPS light causing burning and curling on our plants. We think we've isolated the cause, and we're in the transitional period. We think that the reflector hood that we had was far too small for the powerful 400W bulb. Our current thinking is that the small hood was focusing the heat directly downward, causing the burn. The new hood is much larger (almost double the area), and it contains the heat much more than the smaller one. The new one is just a larger model HydroFarm RD series. We didn't make any changes to the bulb or ballast, just moved them over. We're going to start lowering the hood a bit each evening, in an attempt to get more lumens to the plants. We've been told that our strawberries have taken an excessively long time to flower, possibly due to light limits.
Good News: We've finally found a pH meter that works! I'm proud to announce that we've found a real winner. It's the Oakton pHTestr Basic. It's accurate, easy to use, and actually works. If you're read the previous posts, you already know about our multiple failures with pH meters from Milwaukee. Don't buy a Milwaukee, buy an Oakton.
More Good News: We've finally obtained a TDS meter as well. TDS meters are used to measure the amount of Total Dissolved Solids in your water, as a measure of nutrient availability and consumption. Up until this point, we've run entirely without one; but I think this can help to raise our game to a more scientific level.

We've lowered the main tank to about pH 6.4; and we'll keep dropping a bit longer.

Take a look at the new (much larger) lighting hood. It's doing a much better job with the heat distribution.

Here's the weekly overview photo:

Plant	Type	Status
#01	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small flowers have appeared. Some "crinkling" on the leaves, possibly due to pH troubles.
#02	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Some "crinkling" on the leaves, possibly due to pH troubles. Otherwise healthy and growing.
#03	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small flowers have appeared. Some "crinkling" on the leaves, possibly due to pH troubles.
#04	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Some "crinkling" on the leaves, possibly due to pH troubles. Otherwise healthy and growing.
#05	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small flowers have appeared. Some "crinkling" on the leaves, possibly due to pH troubles.
#06	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Some "crinkling" on the leaves, possibly due to pH troubles. Otherwise healthy and growing.
#07	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small flowers have appeared. Some "crinkling" on the leaves, possibly due to pH troubles.
#08	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Small flowers have appeared. Some "crinkling" on the leaves, possibly due to pH troubles.
#09	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	We've cut back the eggplant to give it more light, as it was really under the canopy.
#10	Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Heirloom Tomato	We've cut it back pretty severly, in an effort to get it more consolidated and strong.
#11	Delicious Heirloom Tomato	Previously killed through personal stupidity.
#12	Bambino Baby Eggplant	Monsterously large. We've cut back numerous leaves to give some of the other plants a chance. It's got several small eggplants growing now, probably at least ten. It's the healthiest and strongest thing in the aero.
#13	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Regrowing.
#14	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Regrowing.
#15	Monet's Garden Lettuce	It's gone to seed, and it starting to resemble a small sapling, going almost totally vertical. We're going to rip it out soon.
#16	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Tasty. Eaten on 09/29/2007.
#17	Lime Basil	Gone to seed. It's fully mature, and will soon be removed from the aero.
#18	Delicious Heirloom Tomato	Killed off as of 11/13/2007. It wasn't doing well, and we ended its run.

11/10/2007 - Florida Vacation 2007, Day 8: Convention and Departure

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 22:30:00 GMT

The final day in Orlando... Our morning was fairly uneventful. We checked out of the Caribe Royale around 10:30 AM. We headed out in search of the hydroponics convention, which was only about one mile away.

Although it took a while to get going, the convention was completely worthwhile. We got to meet lots of different vendors in the industry, and we picked up massive amounts of samples. I'll post a manifest of everything upon returning home, and hopefully we'll be able to do some reviews of all the new nutrients that we acquired.

Several new items and techniques caught our interest. Personally, I'm pretty interested in the Indoor Sun line of LED lights. At this point, I'm thinking that they're too good to be true, but the concept has me very interested.

The crew at the Grodan booth was great. I loved the "tomato in rockwool" costume. Great roots.

Also, I'm looking forward to trying out the C02 Boost generator. It's a natural generator, which works something like fermentation. It's all natural, and quite self-contained. I want to give it a shot.

We've stopped for the night just north of Savannah. Tomorrow we'll meet up with Sutko and Outta somewhere near Raleigh, NC.

11/9/2007 - Florida Vacation 2007, Day 7: Sea World Encore

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 21:09:00 GMT

Today, we made an encore trip to SeaWorld. I had better luck getting high quality photos, as I already knew the course that the shows would follow. Also, we finally had the chance to get good pictures of the polar bears. They're not always in a visible area, so we were lucky this time.

Additionally, we got better pictures at a number of different places. Here are a few of the Orcas:

The Orca show was different this time. I managed to catch a double-jump with the camera:

Also, the Orca show included a mother and baby Orca... The baby was just learning, but it made for a great photo:

Also, I finally managed to get a good picture of a "Leafy Sea Dragon". It's far-and-away the strangest fish that I've ever seen. It's in the seahorse family, and it remarkably resembles a plant. Take a look:

Another new trick... I figured out how to shoot photos through the glass of the underwater viewing windows:

Dinner was at Ming Court. We heard that the food was good, so we decided to give it a try. Jessawick liked it. I was pretty indifferent. It wasn't bad; it just didn't stand out as especially good. After dinner, we stopped in at the local grocery store. We wanted to get some "real" food, and try to get back to eating a more normal diet.

Tomorrow is the hydroponics convention.

11/8/2007 - Florida Vacation 2007, Day 6: Assorted Randomness

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 23:22:00 GMT

Today was a combination of randomness. Since we had limited items left on our Orlando agenda, we bounced around more than a little. Our morning started with a trip to "Old Town" Orlando. "Old Town" was highly recommended to us (incidentally, by the same fellow who recommended Arabian Nights). Also, it's the location of the Haunted Grimm House. Here's our joint assessment of "Old Town": It's a hopelessly inept tourist trap. There is nothing there that offers any type of redeeming value. It's consists of a few faux "streets" filled with shops and "attractions". Most of them are peddling junk. The typical stuff mostly... martial arts "supplies" (also known as the "dragons and swords shop"), the discount gift shop (stuff so hideous that you're embarrassed to even consider buying it), the bars and restaurants that serve downright bizarre food, and caricature "artists" by the boatload.

We originally planned on visiting the Grimm House, but on seeing it in person, we thought better of it. It's pretty lame.

There's a short version of all this: AVOID OLD TOWN, ORLANDO.

Having met with disappointment in Old Town, we decided to spend a while "finishing out" Universal's Islands of Adventure (the more ride-based of the parks). Since it was getting on towards lunch time, we called ahead for reservations at Mytho's (the restaurant in the "Lost Continent" section of the park). Supposedly, it's won a lot of awards for excellent food. The place is beautiful. We took pictures both inside and outside. Additionally, we'd both say that the food was far better than expected. The food was very well made, and the restaurant was really a cut above "theme park food". It's reputation is deserved. I'm glad we ate there.

We caught a few of the rides for an encore round. "Poseidon's Fury" really is well planned and executed. We didn't get any photos during the performance, but we got plenty of the exterior.

After roaming all about the Islands of Adventure, we came back to the hotel for a bit. We like the hot tub.

We had reservations at Fulton's Crab House this evening. Yes, the Fulton's in Downtown Disney. We missed it on the last trip, and figured we'd give it a shot. I'd heard that it was pricey, but I really had no idea... When we looked at the menu, we found that most entrees were over $45. I like good food just a much as the next guy, but even Red Square isn't *that* expensive. I'd estimate that a bill for two people would be near $180. We decided it was ridiculous, and went to Raglan Road (the Irish Pub) instead. Raglan Road always has great food, and the house band is always entertaining. The only negative about our visit this evening was our seating... We were directly in front of a speaker, and they like to run the whole show pretty loudly. On the whole, we'd always recommend Raglan Road. They were the highlight of the Disney Dining Plan from our trip last year. They're reasonably priced on a cash basis as well (like tonight).

I got a few pictures of the Irish dancing this time.

Ok, it's late now. I miss Lightroom. Must get better laptop.

11/7/2007 - Florida Vacation 2007, Day 5: Universal Studios & Blue Man Group

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 23:12:00 GMT

Today, we spent most of the day at Universal Studios, and the remainder at the adjacent Islands of Adventure (the Universal "ride" park).

I'd say that the highlight of Universal Studios is the "Mummy's Revenge" ride. It's actually quite unique, as it's partially roller-coaster and partially thrill ride. In many ways, it's similar to "Expedition Everest" at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Also, the Monster Makeup show is quite good. It's partially informative, but mostly just very funny.

I rather like the Islands of Adventure. Admittedly, we haven't been completely through them yet; but thus far, they're pretty good.

Tonight, dinner was at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Although I normally don't like to eat at chain restaurants named for fictional characters, tonight was an exception. We had tickets to the Blue Man Group, and it was decidedly convenient. In fairness, the food was much better than I expected. I was pleased.

The final event of the day was the Blue Man Group. Jessawick got us tickets a few days ago. The show was absolutely fantastic. It's really difficult to describe. It's somewhere between an interactive concert and performance art. My description is sorely inadequate. For a comparison... I really like Cirque du Soleil, but Blue Man is better. Given the choice, I'd see Blue Man. They didn't allow photos, so I have nothing good to include. If you ever get the chance to see them, take it. At this point, Blue Man and Discovery Cove are the best items of the entire vacation.

11/6/2007 - Florida Vacation 2007, Day 4: Time Shares & Sea World

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 21:24:00 GMT

We should have known better, but our curiosity got the better of us early this morning. The concierge desk offered us breakfast and $75 cash if we would sit through a presentation about time shares. Since it started at 07:30 AM, and was only to last 90 minutes, we'd figured that it would be over by the time the SeaW orld opened. We were clearly mistaken.

Firstly, I'll skip most of the boring details. Here's the lowdown on what they offered:

The "cheap" version of the time share was about $20k. The one they were pushing hard was about $25k. Each one had an annual maintenance and association commitment of over $1k. In exchange, you would get one week per year use of the property. They offered a decent "exchange" program, where you could obtain use of outside properties.

We just didn't see the value in it. Secondarily, lots of their business policies were very questionable. They were pushing a 15.9% interest rate. They weren't prepared for any difficult questions either, such as "what's the historical rate of maintenance fee increases?" Eventually, they just got tired of me asking intelligent questions, and became quite unpleasant to be around. We ended up wasting an extra 40 minutes, but gained the knowledge to never get roped into such a diversion ever again.

Our next stop was Sea World. Although Sea World is a different park than Discovery Cove, they share common ownership. Jessawick had a blast feeding the sea lions, dolphins, and sting rays.

Obviously, we had to go see the Shamu show. That's one large black-and-white beast. I was glad that I lugged around the huge 70-200 f/2.8 lens all day. I miss having Lightroom handy. My laptop is almost six years old, and it's just not possible to make it work in any practical manner. I'll need to do lots of photo processing when we get home.

The walruses (walri?) were amusing. They're larger than one would expect.

The Walrus and Sea Lion show is great. Here's a photo of their stadium:

Also, Sea World has a section for penguins and polar bears. Here's a good one of a penguin:

We had dinner at a carribbean restaurant. The food was pretty good. Orlando has this strange obsession with the Anheuser-Busch company. Although they appears to be a great corporate citizen; I just can't will myself to like their beer. It's such a shame that it's just so bad.

11/6/2007 - Hydroponics Tuesday: Nothing To See Here

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:00:00 GMT

We're on vacation this week, so I'm afraid that I have no new hydroponics information to report...

Our frield Danielle is attending to the plants this week, so they have company while we're away.

For any of you who happen to be visiting the Maximum Yield Indoor Gardening Expo, we'll be there on Saturday the 10th. If you'd like to meet up, send me an email through the site.

Hydroponics Tuesday will resume normally next week. See you then.

-Ben

11/5/2007 - Florida Vacation 2007, Day 3: Discovery Cove & Taverna Opa

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 21:07:00 GMT

Today was the trip to Discovery Cove... In theory, it's the central point of the whole trip. The morning started pretty early, around 7:00 AM. Before leaving the hotel, we (Jessawick mostly) stopped off at the concierge desk to see about tickets to the Blue Man Group. We've got tickets for Wednesday. Since the Blue Man Group is located in Universal Studios anyway; we're going to make Wednesday the Universal day.

We arrived at Discovery Cove around 8:00 AM. I really like the way that Discovery Cove is managed, and the all-inclusive nature of the visits. For example, Discovery Cove is the only attraction thus far that has offered free parking. We signed in, and got our assignments for the dolphin session. We were scheduled for 9:55 AM.

After check-in, we wanted to check out something that we'd read in the literature... Supposedly, Discovery Cove offered free use of prescription diving masks. The rumor is true. I've got to say, the prescription diving mask really made the day much more enjoyable for both of us. It was really nice to be able to see.

But I digress... 08:58 AM. Disaster call from work. Remarkably, I hadn't ditched my cell phone yet, so I was able to take the call. Although I have not yet verified it myself, it sounds as if we had total failure on one of our main routers. That's never a good thing, as from the sound of it, it put most of the office out of commission. More on the work disaster later.

Since we had some time before the dolphin swim, we sought out breakfast. Remember, Discovery Cove is all-inclusive. The food was very good. Admittedly, breakfast was fairly simple, but the food is plentiful and of excellent quality. Following breakfast, we checked out the coral reef. The reef is really quite impressive. I also learned something about swimming goggles... Things are closer than they appear. I learned something else too. Don't kick really hard when you're swimming, if you can whack your foot on something painful.

Ok, back to the reef. It has depths of varying degree, with 14 ft. being about the deepest. It's salt water, with hundreds of species contained in it. They've got Stingrays that have got an 10-12 ft. "wingspan". They're ginormous. In the words of one of the staff: "They're like Mini Coopers that swim".

At just before 10:00 AM, we had our "appointment" with the dolphin. The facility has three different dolphin pools, and they run three separate groups at one time. Our dolphin was quite friendly and sociable. We got one of the younger dolphins at the park, "Coral". From what they told us, she was the first of the babies that was born at Discovery Cove. You could see that she'd spent lots of time around people, and she was great at her "job".

The dolphins and the trainers had worked it all out, and it ran very smoothly. Although I should have probably known better, the sheer size of the dolphins surprised me. They're about 8 ft. long, and they weigh about 650 lbs. They're a big honking sea creature.

The dolphin swim session ended with getting a ride around the cove. Coral towed us around, while we held on to her fin.

I'll admit that after the dolphin swim was over, I called back to the office to hear about their dilemma. It makes perfect sense, if I leave; we have a critical failure. From what I heard from the office, it sounds as if they were able to secure a replacement part, and get operations running again, even if in a limited fashion. I think they're ok at this point; or at least ok enough to continue for a few days. I felt better immediately. I realize that I take work too seriously; but I do; and that isn't likely to change.

I decided that it was time to get dry and warm. I like being dry and warm. Once again, I've got to mention how nice the whole Discovery Cove experience was... Their facilities were great. Private showers and changing areas, quality shampoo right at hand. Very pleasant experience. They really run a good operation. I spent an hour or so shooting photos of the dolphins from the shore.

Lunch was of excellent quality. They offered at least 8 different selections, and the results were great. As mentioned before, it was all included in the price of admission.

Around 1:30 PM, we took the horticulture tour of the facility. They really have a lot of interesting plants. They've managed to create a tropical jungle in a very short time. Good tour.

We spend the rest of the day between the Stingray Pool, the Lazy River, the Reef, the Aviary, and more dolphin photos.

We departed Discovery Cove around 5:30. I'd heard that there was a Taverna Opa in the area; so we went to investigate. Greek food is great, and Taverna Opa is a blast. I've visited the one in Miami before. This was a first for the Orlando branch. Just like Miami, the food was exceptional and the meal was a lot of fun. I highly recommend you visit a Taverna Opa, should you encounter one. Greek yogurt rocks, as does the entertainment.

11/4/2007 - Florida Vacation 2007, Day 1

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 00:11:00 GMT

Although we got a bit of a late start, due to my last photo class at DCAD, we're officially on vacation now. We've been on the road since 1 PM, and we've seen lots of I-95.

It's a little after midnight, but we've made it to our first destination. Wild and exciting Ridgeland, SC. Truthfully, Ridgeland isn't much of a destination, but it was a good stopping point; and it puts us within easy reach of Orlando for tomorrow.

10/30/2007 - Hydroponics Tuesday: Eggplant Flowers by the Pound

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 20:42:00 GMT

Just as last week, the eggplant is the biggest feature in the garden. It's sprouted tons of little flowers, probably 30-40 at this point. If every one of them turns into an eggplant, I'll be my own farmers' market...

Although I make no claims of being a subject expert on the topic of eggplants, here's what I've been doing. Much like the strawberries from previous batches, I do the pollenation manually. I keep a paint brush near the plants. When I see flowers, I brush the inside of them with the paint brush. Truthfully, I don't know if an eggplant needs this treatment; but I'm doing it anyway. It's always given good results with the strawberries, and I'm not enough of a botanist to question it.

Although the plants seem pretty happy, I do notice some unexpected downward curling in the leaves of the strawberries, tomatoes, and basil. I'm not sure the cause, but I'm suspecting that I haven't been adding enough of the Mag Pro supplement. I have recently changed the water, and I'm thinking that the plants were running low.

Here's this week's overview photo:

Please Note: I will *not* be writing a Hydroponics Tuesday next week. I'm going to be on vacation, and I won't be here to tend the plants. Our pet sitter Danielle will be taking care of the garden for me. I'll resume the normal schedule when I return from our trip to Orlando.

For any of you who happen to be visiting the Maximum Yield Indoor Gardening Expo, we'll be there on Saturday the 10th. If you'd like to meet up, send me an email through the site.

Plant	Type	Status
#01	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Roughly 12" long (longest leaf). No burning. Looking good.
#02	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Roughly 12" long (longest leaf). No burning. Looking good.
#03	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Roughly 13" long (longest leaf). No burning. Looking good.
#04	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Roughly 11" long (longest leaf). No burning. Looking good.
#05	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Roughly 11" long (longest leaf). No burning. Looking good.
#06	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Roughly 12" long (longest leaf). No burning. Looking good.
#07	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Roughly 10" long (longest leaf). No burning. Looking good.
#08	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Roughly 12" long (longest leaf). No burning. Looking good.
#09	Alexandria Alpine Strawberries	Roughly 12" long (longest leaf). It's leaves are visibly "reaching" for the light outside the massive "eggplant canopy". It's not getting as much light as it's relatives, but it's healthy.
#10	Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Heirloom Tomato	Approximately 4' long (supported by the lightstand). It's beginning to recover from it's previous rough week.
#11	Delicious Heirloom Tomato	Previously killed through personal stupidity.
#12	Bambino Baby Eggplant	Monsterously large. It's at least 30 inches tall and 30 inches wide. It's supported by twine anchored to the light stand. At least 30-40 flowers visible.
#13	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Regrowing.
#14	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Regrowing.
#15	Monet's Garden Lettuce	This fellow has become a bit of an experiment. Since it was the strongest of the letti, we're attempting to let it go to seed. It's starting to look more like a lettuce "vine" than a "head".
#16	Monet's Garden Lettuce	Tasty. Eaten on 09/29/2007.
#17	Lime Basil	Roughly 22" tall. Several flowers are visible. Additionally, there seems to be some downward curling in some of the leaves.
#18	Delicious Heirloom Tomato	Still not terribly strong, but looking better than last week. New leaves are beginning to grow.

10/28/2007 - Halloween Pregame 2007: Decorations, Props, Animatronics, & Remote Controls

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 21:37:00 GMT

The time has come for the big Halloween post of the year... As some of you may know, we spend way too much time and money preparing for Halloween. It's a big deal, and it's a lot of fun for us.

This year, we've got a new array of decorations and props, including a number of animated ones. Additionally, for the first time ever, we'll be introducing remote-control into the equation.

First things first, here's the front yard at the moment:

We've added a number of new features to the yard this year. For starters, we've got a new fence for our cemetery. We found a closeout on steel fencing earlier this year, and we thought it would look great in our graveyard. We had to visit seven different Home Depots to round up enough parts; but it really looks great.

Just for reference, larger photos are available in the photo gallery.

we spend a while in the woodshop manufacturing new tombstones for the front yard. The new tombstones are made of solid wood (much stronger than their foam predecessors), and are anchored into the ground with tent stakes (the don't blow in the wind anymore). I did the woodwork, Jessawick did the artwork. We're really pleased with the results. Also, since the new tombstones were finished properly, they are much more water resistant than their predecessors. Everyone in the family gets a tombstone... Myself, Jessawick, Pica (dog), Ion (dog), Faraday (dog), and even Sandy Earth (skink). We know that Sandy passed away a few years ago, but she gets her own tombstone anyway.

Our tombstones, with the creepy red floodlight effect. All the markings are routed, then painted. We cut the "damage" on the scroll saw, and finished it with the Dremel, for realistic weathering. Jessawick did a great job on the painting and finishing. She used black washes to create the "old" streaking effects; and even added green lichen on the face of each tombstone.

This is a wide-shot of Sandy, Ion, and Pica's tombstones. They're a bit smaller than ours, but are made in a very similar way. The designs are routed into the face of the wood. Jessawick did a great job with Sandy's especially, a lizard is a complex shape to rout in the woodshop.

Faraday's tombstone has a striking resemblance. Faraday is our baby dachshund. She's not very tall, but she's very lengthy... just like her tombstone.

A better angle for Ion and Pica's tombstones. The weathered finish looks great (it's actually layering of various stone paint textures). The designs are routed, and the marking at the top is a bit of moulding, for a full 3D look.

Next, we move on the rest of the yard. This is our family scarecrow. This fellow's got some history. I don't know when he was first introduced, but he predates me by a few years. My mother originally made him, back on the family farm. His head is a recent addition, as it became misplaced somewhere along the way. He's survived a long time. Scarecrow: we salute you.

The skeleton and the coffin return for another year. This year, we've added some mood lighting into the mix. Actually, the lighting situation is pretty interesting this year. We've integrated spotlights and floodlights into some of the animated props. We've refitted several of the low-voltage landscape lights with high effeciency LED's to save power. More on that later.

Additionally, don't forget the venerable family farm bell. It dates back to my great-great grandfather, Holland Shaffer. Through the years, the bell has passed into my possession. It proudly stands in the front yard, even during the fall, when it's flanked with cornstalks and straw bales.

Here's a closer look at our hanging skeletal friend. We built the coffin to fit him, when we picked him up a few years back. He doesn't seem to mind the weather, as he has yet to complain.

We've got one last new addition to the front yard... We've boarded up the windows on our "abadoned" house. I'm actually really proud of this little prop. Although it doesn't look like it; it's actually made almost entirely of pink insulation foam. The whole thing is foam on a light pine frame. The "boards" are just carefully cut and painted, they aren't boards at all.

The whole thing was done using a scroll saw and a hot glue gun. It's supported by a very small pine frame, and all the "board" are just carefully cut foam. The entire fellow weighs only about two pounds. It's very light, and you're about to see why...

Since I really didn't want to put holes into the house, it's hung in a very interesting way... The whole thing is hung like a large picture. It's supported entirely by suction cups on the window glass. We thought that if we made is light enough, we could get away with only suction cups for support. Thus far, it's worked out spectacularly. It really adds a nice dimension to the yard. I like it a lot.

Part 2: The Props

Now that we've seen the front yard, let's discuss all the parts of the Halloween setup that aren't visible just yet...

We've spent quite a lot of time this year on props for Halloween night. We always go overboard to make Halloween fun for the neighborhood children, and this year is no exception. We've got 600 glowsticks ready, 40 pounds of candy, and an army of custom made props.

Jessawick made an amazing spirit ball for her witches' table this year. It's actually made from several different items, and the effect is great. She started with a base made of insulation foam, cut on the scroll saw. It was shaped into a "cone" form. Next, we got it wired up as a 110V light fixture. The whole thing is basically a candle-bulb under a frosted light globe. After the electrical part was finished, she finished it by covering it with bones and moss. We scored a bunch of reject bones from the medical school skeleton factory (yes, there is a medical school skeleton factory, and most of their rejects go to the Halloween industry!). She carefully covered it over, and the results look amazing:

Also, this year the Reaper is making a return appearance. We originally got him last year (and rigged him with an air cannon). This year, he'll be returning, and he'll be tooled-up with a new and improved air cannon. The new cannon triggers differently, and is much more potent than the previous incarnation.

After last Halloween, I started working on a remote control system for our props. Originally, I was just planning to have some remote controlled air cannons (to scare the kids with a blast compressed air). Last November, I completed the first of our remote control units. Here's a photo from last year, when I finished the first one:

The big black box contains a custom relay circuit board. Here's how it works: The remote control works by RF (radio) control. I decided to use RF rather than IR (infrared), as RF doesn't need line-of-sight, and we can trigger is covertly. Each of the control boxes needs a 12V power supply to operate. Since I want the props to be covert (and not look "wired"), I power them off packs of 8 AA batteries.

Since I need 12V power to make the remote relay boards work; I got an idea... Why not use 12V control systems, and power it all off the same battery? Here's how things work: The fellows at the bottom of the photo are solenoid valves (electrically triggered valves). These valves basically turn an air compressor (like you'd use for air tools) into an air cannon. When the valve is triggered, air suddenly passes through, and a forceful "blast" of air hits an unsuspecting guest.

Each control box has two independent channels, so you can trigger two props off each remote. I've tied the outputs to positive 12V, which results in a convenient little package. Each control box output is basically just a remote-switched 12V power supply. This allows you to turn innocent solenoid valves into much more interesing air cannons.

Here's a closeup of the circuit board that I use to make things work:

I've got great news for anyone who would like to try this at home... My whole control system is made from standard and inexpensive parts. The circuit board in the photo is an HD2RX (two channel RF relay board), that can be purchased from Carl's Electronics for just under $30 (includes remote too). I just mounted it into a housing and added some modular connectors to make it more friendly. I use an N-type power connector (Radio Shack) for the 12V supply, and simple RCA jacks for the switched outputs. Why RCAs? They're cheap and plentiful. Why go exotic when you can go standard? The housing is just a cheap Radio Shack project enclosure. Shockingly, the only soldering required was on the connectors in the project housing.

If you've ever worked with relays, you know that they aren't particularly energy efficient... How can I run this thing off batteries? Well, you'd be surprised what you can get away with. Think about Halloween props... They are triggered for an instant, and stay dormant for most of the night. I've done the math on the battery pack's rating vs. the relays (and the draw from the solenoid valve too, as it's just another relay). Here's the short answer: You'll get about 25 minutes of "burn time" on a set of 8 AA's. However, remember, you aren't going to have a cannon on "full blast" for 25 solid minutes all night long.

At this point, you're also probably wondering why I used AA's... I've got an answer for that too. They're cheap. Other types of battery may be better suited for the application, but AA's offer two things that are helpful in the case. Firstly, they're very inexpensive. I can buy 30 of them for under $10. Secondly, they're easy to get. I don't need exotic chargers, and I can easily swap them in a hurry.

I'll admit though, I use a converted power supply from a dead external hard-drive in the workshop. I don't want wires in the field, but a plug-in power supply is convenient in the workshop. Note to Al: Thanks for letting me take that power brick about 6 months ago. It's powered my props in the workshop ever since.

Since we've got remote controls now, we decided to branch out into other air-powered props. We've made two remote controlled tombstones (which aren't out in the yard yet). They contain a bit of electrical giblets, so we don't want them exposed to the weather. Here are some photos of them on the back table. They're the same size as the others, and they shouldn't raise any suspicions when they "appear" on Halloween night.

Both of these "head popper" tombstones are built using solenoid valves (to trigger air flow from the compressor) and pneumatic cylinders (a air-powered moving rod). I scored the parts from Doug at FrightProps. Doug is a great guy, and can be quite helpful in your haunting projects.

Although they are both air-powered, the two tombstones are quite different in construction... The first one (Orange / Skull) is directly driven off the cylinder. The skull has a threaded receiver for the cylinder, and it rides directly on the rod. Additionally, the skull has been fitted with glowing red eyes, that I wired into the voltage that drives the solenoid valve. It's a nice touch.

Below is the second tombstone, which is actually a bit more complicated in construction:

The second tombstone is made with an actual mannequin head. Since it's fully life-sized, it can wear regular masks, and they can be interchanged at any time. The mannequin head is much larger than the skull, and requires a different mounting system. This tombstone actually works a lot like a "vertical drawer". The head is mounted on a platform, which slides up and down on drawer slides (mounted to the inside walls of the tombstone). The cylinder pushes the drawer "up" when air is applied, and gravity brings is back down when the solenoid valve is released (I got away with just using 3-way valves, as I didn't need a "powered" return). The return is forced by gravity, and regulated by a flow restrictor on the exhaust.

Important safety note: All my props have flow restrictors built into them. A flow restrictor limits air flow, to control the speed of a prop. This also adds a level of safety, should other components in the system fail. Do not ever try to "get away" just using the regulator on your air compressor. Buy restrictors. Additionally, they're convenient for setting your "down" speed, when they're used on your exhaust ports.

Also, the mannequin head is fitted with glowing red "eyes". I picked up some indicator bulbs at Radio Shack, and wired them into the switched voltage that drives the solenoid valve. It's a really creepy effect.

Although I don't have a picture of it, I've got another interesting gadget for this season... I've made up a remote-adapter for the fog machine. I found that you can simply replace the corded switch of the fog machine with one of your own design. The 400W fog machine that we own is triggered by an IEC C14 (the female version of a standard computer power cord). The wired trigger just closes the contacts on two of the connectors. With just a relay and a cord to butcher, I made an interface to let our remote control boxes take control of the fogger. Sweet.

Ok, on to the main event... We've built ourselves monster. The monster is our biggest, baddest, and most intimidating prop this year. Just tell me this dude isn't intimidating:

Here's the idea... The monster is actually a specially made prop frame (steel frame that moves under air-power). When the remote control triggers the monster, he leaps up and forward, striking fear into anyone nearby. It's actually quite intimidating. He stands at over 7 feet tall, and he moves quickly. He's outfitted with the same glowing red eyes, and he's really quite scary.

The whole motion is controlled by a single pneumatic cylinder. We used an 8 inch long cylinder, with a 1.5 inch bore. He's controlled by a single 3-way valve, triggered by our standard control boxes. The steel frame pivots up and down, depending on the position of the air cylinder, and it "jumps" to full height in a single controlled motion. The frame is counter-weighted with springs, so the cylinder actually isn't moving all that much weight. The monster doesn't require as much air as you'd expect. We're easily able to run him off a pathetically small "1 gallon" compressor with a tiny motor.

We've bolted the frame to a big piece of plywood (painted black). This allows of a bigger "footprint", and also lets us stack plate weights on the back, for counterbalance (he tends to jump forward with each firing otherwise). Also, his body isn't as solid as it seems. He's mostly just a large black cape (Jessawick made it for him) that's suspended on a steel frame. This lets him fold down very small when he's "hiding".

Here are a few photos of him in the daytime, as he stands up. He's much scarier in the dark.

I've shot some video of the props in motion. I'll be the first to admit that I am woefully inequipped for video work, but here are the results anyway (shot with a craptastic point-and-shoot in video mode!):

Well, that sure was the longest blog posting ever...