ThatRaymond.com

Solar guitar amp

December 10, 2010

I have a bunch of old PC speakers laying around and an old 16 port 10/100 switch that is in a cool steel case. I’m thinking of gutting it, putting in the speakers along with 6 x Nicad AAs, a Little Gem circuit and a few small solar panels to make a self sustainable desk amp. I love the Little Gem that I built into a clip-on radio and play it when I’m just messing around, but it’s not very loud with only a single 2″ speaker. With four speakers I would imagine things to get much better. Also, the “pocket amp” that I built really needs to be clipped on you and sometimes that isn’t optimal.

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Biogasoline and Biobutanol

December 8, 2010

The USA has started to introduce copious amounts of Ethanol into our nation’s fuel source. There are many problems with this, the largest being water contamination. Ethanol absorbs water. This means if it is exposed to moisture it will dilute your fuel.

Enter Biogasoline and Biobutanol. Biogasoline is similar to ethanol in the way it is produced, but the outcome is very similar to gasoline. It has almost the exact same energy content per gallon, doesn’t readily mix with water and also has an octane rating in the mid 90s. Biogasoline can be mixed with regular gasoline as well as run straight in pretty much any gasoline engine. Sounds too good to be true? Well, no one knows…at least I don’t. There is very little information on the subject right now. I look forward to seeing more and more of this and less and less ethanol.

Biobutanol is the exact same (chemically) as petrobutanol. Biobutanol is derived from plants instead of fossil fuel. Butanol does not mix with water. As it turns out, almost all gasoline engines can run butanol with no modification. It is very similar to gasoline although does have a slightly lower energy content per gallon – still higher than ethanol however. Butanol can be mixed with gasoline as well.

So, US Government, bring on the REAL bio fuels and stop filling our tanks with ethanol!

**Note**
I actually like ethanol for the most part, it just isn’t a viable solution for all vehicles. Also, in it’s current production here in the US, it is generating less btus than what it takes to produce it – an overall net loss in energy. We need to start using better crops to make ethanol. Ethanol production requires sugar. Corn is not very sugary. We should be using sugar cane or sugar beets.

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2011 Ford Explorer – The Frameless Wonder

December 6, 2010

2011 Ford Explorer, courtesy Ford.com

Ford has released the new 2011 Ford Explorer, an AWD unibody-built vehicle based on the Ford D4 platform used on the Flex. This brings quite a bit of weight savings, and consequently gas savings as well (25mpg highway FWD, up from 20mpg for the old RWD and 23mpg highway AWD up from 19mpg in the old 4WD). Horsepower stays the same 290hp as the old V8 even though now it has shed two cylinders and 1.1 liters of displacement. It does bring down the tow rating considerably, but it can still haul a formidable 5,000 lbs which is more than most Explorer owner would tow anyway.

The most interesting point about this new Explorer are the engine options. Or should I say, “option.” Ford had been planning on offering both the TiVCT 3.5 V6 as well as the all new 2.0 EcoBoost engine, but the latter will have to wait or may never come at all. Either way, fuel economy is up in the new Explorer.

I still want to see a new Ranger. And if we can’t have diesel, maybe we could keep the 2.3 I4 for the base model trucks, and use the 2.0 direct injection I4 EcoBoost as the optional engine. With 230hp and 250tq it would have more hp and tq than the current 4.0 V6 and would bring fuel economy to around 30mpg highway even with a 4×4 5spd SuperCab like my current rig! Come on Ford, make me the truck of my dreams!

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Homebrew Duece

December 1, 2010

For years I have drooled over the concept of getting an M35A2 Duece and a Half.

1975 M35A2 "Duece and a Half"

I figure, yeah, it’s overkill. But, what better way to move 2+ cords of wood at a time than on a Duece? The issue is, they are almost impossible to find and even harder to find parts for. And at a cost of $5,000 or so for a mid 1970’s version, I figured there must be another alternative. Turns out there is. Chevrolet and Ford both made excellent 2 ton rigs in the mid 90s. Both can be had for the same cost (sometimes less) than an M35A2, and parts are plenty abundant. The only down side is they don’t quite have the same “cool factor” and also, almost all of them are 2wd. For me that isn’t a big deal though since I wasn’t planning on doing any offroading with it and with knobby duallys in the rear, any 2 ton truck can go through quite a nasty logging road without much hassle.

So, here are the candidates:

Late 80’s to Mid 90’s Ford F-600:

1989 Ford F-600 Diesel

Mid 90’s Chevrolet C6500:

1995 Chevrolet C6500

Both frequently have dump bodies or dump flat beds. With a few modifications, I would be quite happy with one of these “Deuces”. Here is a list of must haves:

Knobby 9×20 tires.

Custom military style bumper
Custom all steel grill
Steel “cage” around blinkers
8 x 12 flatbed
Stack exhaust
Custom military style paint job

And of course, it will need to be a diesel with a 4spd or 5spd stick and 2 speed rear end.

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Hey Ford – why don’t we get the Courier?

November 24, 2010

I’ve been contemplating vehicles to replace my Ranger when the time comes. I figure it is a 2000 and I have another 8 or so years I should get out of it. That said, since I normally purchase vehicles that are 5+ years old that means I will be looking at stuff that is new now, or will be coming out in the next couple years. As it turns out, the perfect vehicle does exist, it just so happens to be in Mexico and not here.

Enter, the Ford Courier:

It is based off of the Ford Fiesta – vintage 1998 and gets in the mid to upper 30’s for mpg and can haul 1,500lbs in the bed. Perfect for what I need. Oh yeah, also the cost for a 2010 model is all of $11,200 USD right now. Ford, if you are listening, please bring these here! We could use them. I think many, many Americans would purchase these rigs. I want one with a manual transmission. And since this won’t ever happen, I may as well dream, and I want it to have either 4 wheel drive or AWD as an option (they are currently FWD only).