Most recent update anywhere in this site other than notes of progress in linked sites 11/26/2008.
Most recent noted update on linked sites elsewhere noted here to have come into existence 10/11/2008. Linked sites are likely to get updates before I next note them.
Look here for helpful hints and ideas for electronic hobbyists, as well as some lighting related info that you might find useful or at least interesting.
You may want to come back here every few months. This site is always under construction!
The most efficient and the brightest LEDs and where to get
them!
(updated 11/26/2008)
I have an LED Main Page. (updated 11/26/2008, some external links noted as updated 10/11/2008 and some may be updated since then.)
Don's Lighting Info Center, go here to see lots of
information related to many forms of lighting.
Here you can find basic and advanced theory, and other wisdom including
troubleshooting and repair hints. Lots of info on incandescent, halogen,
fluorescent, compact fluorescent, and also HID lamps such as mercury,
metal halide, high pressure sodium, and short arc lamps!
Also info on neon, low-pressure-sodium, oddballs such as green neon lamps, etc.
Even a bit on various UV lamps, night lights, lightbulbs lasting a century,
electronic ballasts including schematics and links to more, and carbon arcs
also. Also better "poop" on electric lamps for growing plants.
Even a few brand-specific reviews/recommendations for many compact fluorescent
lamps are offered here!
(new document 11/19/2007, most recent update 11/26/2008.)
Don's Laser Top Page.
A few places to get working diode laser pointers and modules, and how to get
laser diodes to work (maybe), and why to get a complete pointer or a module
rather than trying to get a laser diode working. NEW - ways to hack some cheap
laser pointers to obtain boosted power (7, maybe 10 mW) that makes them
dangerous and illegal to use as toys! Links to where to get dangerous 15
to 190 milliwatt green laser pointers as visible as 60-800 mW red lasers
would be! NEW - orangish-yellow laser pointers, blue ones, violet ones!
Also stuff on He-Ne lasers and more.
(most recent update unrelated to Sam's laser FAQ 8/18/2008, links to V. 8.75
of Sam's Laser FAQ and Craig Johnson's laser stuff 1/24/2007)
Straight to Sam Goldwasser's mother lode of laser
info. (MUST READ!) Don Klipstein's speed-cleaned version (mainly cleaner
.gif files) of V. 8.75 as of 1/24/2007. For links to unmodified official
versions, V. 8.75 as of 12/21/2006 to 1/24/2007 as well as the .zip
version, go to my above Laser Page.
(approx. 10 meg of good stuff, plus over 350 GIFs and JPEGs as of V. 8.75!)
Don's Tesla Coil page!
Includes some nice stuff on Tesla coils in general and on solid state Tesla
coils. Submitted to the Tesla Coil Web Ring 10/17/99. New page added 8/27/2001
and this section had a major update on 9/22/2008 (first in 2 years)! Progress
continues slowly on one of a few previously noted largish solid state Tesla
coils. Links added to other sites with working coils and working schematics
7/5/2005!
Don's Xenon Flash and Strobe Page!
Lots of schematics, helpful hints, precautions, xenon flash basics, parts
sources, mad ideas, etc. Large strobe stuff, inverter schematics, a
blacklight strobe idea (tested), xenon arc lamp stuff, more! Many files
linked from here!
(Updated 7/22/2008.)
Some people ask all kinds of questions trying to get infrared filters.
Check out the Infrared Filter Page for a bit
of info. Now you can make your flashlight or floodlight visible to security
cameras and not easily seen by the guilty nor the innocent!
(Last minor
update 3/18/2007, last update before that 11/3/1996.)
Check out my High Voltage Generator Page for a few
circuits to get thousands of volts from low voltage DC. (This area is in
the earlier stages of construction and will not be complete for a while.)
(Latest update a minor one 9/23/2008.)
Even more things now, like Jacobs ladders, plasma spheres, neon lamp oscillators, etc. To find out how these work and how to make these, go here! (Latest update a minor one 9/23/2008)
Spectra online! Visible line spectra of various elements and a few common light sources. (Still under construction. 15 spectra plus a wavelength scale as of 7/4/99, link added to another site 7/4/2005.)
Now lighting and color as far as stars are concerned is here. Although for
now concentrating on Gliese 581, and specifically
theoretically on that red dwarf's recently discovered "earthlike" planet.
NEW Updated 10/1/2007.
NEW! Hints to make your PC run faster.
Includes Dan Barclay's patch to blazingly improve math coprocessor usage
by Quick Basic 4.5 and other Microsoft programming languages. Also how
to get higher math speed by compromising the math coprocessor precision in
some C compilers! Also simple stuff like better hard drives and more
memory.
(updated slightly 10/16/2005)
Download Dan Barclay's math coprocessor patch from here to greatly speed math coprocessor usage by some Microsoft programming languages, especially Basics (such as Quick Basic 4.5 and Basic 7 / QBX and possibly some versions of Quick C and maybe Visual Basic and maybe possibly some other C and C++ products) and executables produced by these programming languages. This is a zip file with the patch, and lots of usage instructions and hints by the patch author and also by me. Math speed is usually doubled to tripled even when slowdown factors such as EMM386.EXE and Windows are not running. EMM386.EXE and Windows slowdowns are 99.5 percent eliminated in addition, so math coprocessor speed with EMM386.EXE and/or Windows running can be improved by a factor of 10-20.
There is now loudspeaker stuff here, and more is
coming (but slowly). Already here: Plans to get big sound from a cheap
5-inch fullrange, and amazing lower bass from a Radio Shack 10 inch
woofer at home or in a car with a trunk. Also: Plans for really
cost-effective bass bins, also how to make piezo tweeters sound more
natural. Just added: Mad ideas based on the unimportance of frequencies
below 800 Hz to the intelligibility of the human voice. Get more apparent
voice PA power with 70 percent less amplifier power!
(Update and more new stuff added 7/7/2008 but progress here is slow.)
Fellow Electronics Experimenters and Mad Scientists - MAD SCIENTIST CENTRAL - this page is new 8/20/2001, updated 10/12/2008. Links to fellow mad hobbyists (especially electrical) with homepages. Many web resources good for adventurous tinkerers.
Freeware (here now) and shareware (requesting payment - not here yet).
As of now, DOS executables are available for all programs available here and BASIC source code is posted for all freeware available here. Future source codes may be in C or x86 assembler. Shareware programs may be proprietary and available only as DOS executables. Requirements will usually be a version of DOS absolutely minimum of 2.1 to 2.3, preferably 3.0 or higher, normally available under Microsoft Windows 3.anything, 95 and 98. Windows XP "Command Prompt" will at least generally work with these. Some programs require VGA or compatible diaplsy (usual in the USA nowadays).
Number of programs available as of 5/14/2008: 2 freeware, 0 shareware.
Sam Goldwasser's site at repairfaq.org!
The laser, strobe, and fluorescent lamp documents that are mainly of his
authorship can be found there as well as here. Also tons of other
electronics repair and electronics stuff!
Filip G.'s site, http://www.repairfaq.org/~filipg has lots of stuff including Sam's stuff - but with fancier HTML while maintaining high compatibility with the best and worst of web browsers.
Techlib.com's circuit library, supersedes Wenzel, including some interesting ones for hobbyists. Circuits are in PDF format. Link updated 1/28/2008.
A mad gift that I gave one of my brothers for Christmas 2004... (New file added late 12/26/2004)
Willem-Jan Markerink's extensive and nicely technical photography site! Includes extensive IR photography info.
An interesting site of one of my friends, Harry Sklar. This site is nice and bright and cheerful and full of various graphics that you are free to download for noncommercial use on your own web site! Also, links to most search engines.