I have received quite a few emails from people asking what software I used to create the 3D image of my home theater. It's called SketchUp and it's free! Google recently purchased @Last Software in attempts to have people easily design 3D objects for Google Earth. I've never been able to get the hang of other 3D software like Blender, Maya and AutoCad, something about the interface didn't jive with the way I think. SketchUp on the other hand is perfectly made for the way I think... the patented push/pull model works! It's the most intuitive 3D drawing program I have ever used and from now on out everything I make will be first designed in SketchUp. My favorite features are the section view and the sketchy rendering which makes your designs look like you took "sketched" it with a pen. You can download a free version of SketchUp or a trial of the Professional version from here.

I've installed a few Satellite Dishes for friends, family, and myself -- I really hate it. Most of the installs I have done involved setting the Dish up on a roof or far from the receiver, thus rendering the tone and display generated from the Dish Setup screen useless. I have bought all the standard setup tools... the digital compass and inline satellite signal meter, but those tools still don't make it a 15-minute setup job. Solution, use an old Realistic PocketVision 22. I think my pocket TV is circa 1989, but any pocket TV with miniplug antenna port will work -- I've seen these things as cheap as $10 used. Most, if not all, Satellite installs these days require at least a dual LNB, for multiple tuners or multiroom installs. When I built my house I ran six RG-6 cables to the roof, so if you don't have the the extra cables, you'll need to use the cable that is meant for the second tuner (the one connected to the second connector on the dual LNB). Plug that cable into the satellite receiver output labeled, "Out To TV". Be sure to slide the toggle to Channel 3 and also make sure the other end of the cable is not connected to the LNB (wouldn't want to fry something). The "Out To TV" cable will be what you'll plug into the Pocket TV via a F-Connector to Miniplug adaptor. The other cable remains plugged into the "Input From Satellite". Once everything is connected, turn on your regular watching display via S-Video or Composite and set the receiver into Setup Mode (On Dish Networks it's Menu,6,1,1 via the remote). Select the satellite you want to lock on, this screen will give you the tone and the signal strength (the same picture is being output from the modulated Channel 3 output). Now, you can go to Satellite Dish, plug your Pocket TV to the cable from the "Out To TV" output of the receiver, set it to Channel 3 and BAM! You get both setup tone and visual signal strength, right next to you... exact signal the receiver is getting. Now all you do is adjust the dish until you get locked and tighten up all the bolts, plug the second cable back to the second LNB output, plug the output from the second LNB to the second tuner and grab a beer.

Here is a photo from the back of my satellite box, you can see the connections I'm refering too. Post a comment if you have any questions.

This is a great Christmas gift for a kid or even an adult! The Thames & Kosmos Vintage Radio Kit not only looks good, it's a real fully functional vacuum tube radio, like the ones from the 1930

First up, thanks to all of you that wrote in and told me that welding is fun and easy... you were all right! Man, I love it! Once you get the hang of it, it's a piece of cake... however, you all failed to tell me that is the easiest part! Metal is freakin' heavy and dirty! Cutting it is a bitch, but I managed to get perfect cuts with my Hitachi Metal Saw and a custom jig I welded. Now, the main reason why I even entertained the thought of buying metal working tools and a MillerMatic 175 was because I wanted to make a custom staircase railing for my house. It was a simple, clean, industrial design, so I thought I could definately do it. Plus, the bids I got were way to much, and I thought I could do it myself -- I'm starting to think I have control issues!

I took a week off and learned to weld. I'm proud to say it was successful! If I can offer any advise, I'd say it's all about getting comfortable with the MIG gun... when I pulled the trigger for the first time, my intial feeling was to pull straight -- not the best weld. Then I started doing a circular motion, dipping into the previous pool and pulling. That technique yielded me the weld I was looking for (see photo)... I'm sure it's not the best weld, but it's acceptable to me. I ordered some Iron, Steel, and Nickel Blackener which I will apply over the welds and the raw metal to give it a darker look, then a nice satin clearcoat and I'm done with the metal part! Next, comes the wood handrail and the 3/8" thick tempered glass panels. I'll post some photos when I'm all done... then I'm going to build the Mavromatic Chopper -- look out Jesse James!

Oh, and for all of you thinking about getting a welding system... get the best welder you can possibly afford, I highly recommend the MillerMatic 175 and wouldn't have gone with anything else. I looked at the entry-level Lincoln ones, but they seemed cheaply build. The Miller stuff feels and looks good. Also, get the best welders helmet you can afford... I got the Miller Elite, the big viewing windows is great, I even love the auto-dimming feature... doesn't require any flipping up and down.

UPDATE: I’ve been busy learning to welding (read: building my railing), but I had a chance to take a photo (sorry for the bad photo) of my version of the Ingo Maurer Zettel’z 5. I’ll try to post a full HOW-TO soon. I was in the market for a chandelier and my girlfriend suggested the Ingo Maurer Zettel’z 5. Being a DIY’er and seeing one in person, I told Jess that I can make one of those — adding, how hard can it be? The beauty about modern design is the marrying of items that were never meant to put together in a particular way. The Zettel’z 5 marries stainless steel, glass, paper, binder clips and light — the best part, no two will ever be alike, you put your own art or messages and place the rods exactly how you want them — unique to your style. Now, it’s true, the parts alone can be found for very cheap… so one might question the original Zettel’z 5 high price. Check out the Design Within Reach website for more photos and you’ll notice the chandelier will set you back about $1200 — and it’s well worth it. Why? Well, so far I have spent over 30 hours trying to track down all the materials and driving to different industrial supply shops — I felt like Adam and Jamie from the Mythbusters. I visited some places that have some of the coolest salvage machinery I have ever seen. I’ll save that for another post… below is the list of materials I procured… - 80 pieces of 3/64th stainless steel welding rod - 1 piece of 1”x1” aluminum plate - 2 pieces of 3”32” stainless steel welding rod - 6 3/32” Dubro Collars - 1 250w e27 base halogen bulb - 1 75w 30º Par 30 halogen bulb - 2 Leviton ceramic bases (rated at 660w ea) - 8” of fiberglass insulation (to protect cable from 250w bulb) - 5’ of 105ºc black 18/2 cable (round) - 6’ of 1/16” black heat shrink - 1 1” lighting nipple - 17”x14” 10x10 stainless steal mesh - 11” x 110mm borosilicate glass tubing with outside etch - Stainless steel replacement canopy (go to a lighting store, find a light that has the correct finish and mounting method and order as a replacement part) - Dremel with cutoff wheel - 80 mini (1/4”) binder clips (ACCO) — must adjust each clip to fit the rod - 80 sheets of rice paper cut to A5 DIN 148mm x 210mm - Wiring tools - A workshop full of tools I feel like I’m forgetting a bunch of other things… but you get the idea, what looks like an easy task, gets really complex, fast. Ingo Maurer and his team of designers/fabricators have done all the research and thought through all the design elements perfectly. All the parts, including glass (4 pieces — minimum order) ended up costing me about $250 — not bad. Now, putting everything together, however, is the biggest pain and required a lot more labor. I even feel like I have done a few things better. I have a lot of respect for Ingo Maurer… I can surely tell people that the $1200 is well worth it. Now, this hasn’t stopped me from doing my twist on the Zettel’z 5… I’ll call it, the Mavtel’z 5 and it will be completed as soon as I get my glass from the fabricator down in Portland, OR. There are a few big challenges I’ve had to face, particularly the amount of heat the 250w Halogen bulb produces. It’s no match for regular type glass… especially sandblasted glass… the thermal co-efficiency for most glass just can’t deal with that much heat, thus causing potential breakage and safety issues. Solution, locating borosilicate glass tubing from laboratory supply shop and getting it sandblasted. Borosilicate glass (also known as Pyrex glass) can withstand heats above 900º. I know this is a lot to digest, but I hope to have a complete HOWTO for the folks interested in seeing how much labor goes into making one of these beautiful chandeliers. And for the rest of the folks out there that have seen this work of art and thought to themselves, “I can make that”, I hope this post makes you respect the labor Ingo Maurer puts into making each of his Zettel’z 5’s and not question the price. I hope to post the complete HOWTO in a couple weeks… since that’s when I’m expecting delivery of the glass tubing.