Sound systems in general

For Christmas, I got an indoor 12" subwoofer.  It sounds nice, but the 200 watts they claim is far-fetched.  In fact, I could pump more through my old homemade 15's that were only designed to handle 130 watts.  But Heidi doesn't like when I blast the tunes, so we're okay.

Last night, Steve and I went to the BYU basketball game at St. Mary's College in Moraga.  It was good chatting with Steve about investment strategies and dentistry.  The arena was about the size of Layton High's, and the sound system was mediocre.  My essay today is about sound systems.

Despite what I may have ranted about BYU, they have the best sound systems in the world.  The Marriott Center's system has been recognized as one of the top five in its class and can deliver 110 dB to every seat.  Charles, my mentor, used to say it's not the wattage that mattered, but the SPL it can produce (30,000 watts was impressive, though).  When I used to work for BYU AVS, I would set up and maintain the sound systems all over campus.  You can hear the football stadium's sound as clear as a bell from over four miles away and they don't skimp on the bass.

Another system I used to operate was called the X-Arrays:  eight fifteen inch woofers in four cabinets and two eighteen inch subwoofers in one cabinet.  I'd set it up in the Wilk and blast the bass.  It pounds your chest from over 200 feet away.

BYU's Varsity theater's system was also amazing.  When I was a first-semester freshman, Dan-o and I went to a movie in the Varsity--a small theater with unimpressive layout.  Then, the bass came in and I was hooked.  We saw Val Kilmer's The Saint and the bass pounded throughout.  We ended up seeing the same movie in some Provo dollar theater and it just wasn't the same. 

Now I'm installing a 12 inch subwoofer in the van and I can't wait. Everyone should have a subwoofer.  But not everyone cares.  Well, I do.  

Sienna subwoofer project, part 4a

This morning, I removed the rear trim and began removing the side panel that covers the subwoofer.  My little plastic upholstery tool from China Freight has proven indispensible.  Also, in the cold, several of the plastic retainers have fractured.  But I was prepared for that and stocked up at the dealership. 

Part 4a includes my plan for how to wire in the high level inputs to the amp.  Here's what I am planning on doing:

Disconnecting the current 8" subwoofer and soldering the leads via access through the door light.  To remove the whole trim panel is too risky.  My current soldering iron is big and clumsy, and I have asked Santa for a fancy, smaller one that would more easily negotiate the cramped access.  Even still, I can use my big soldering iron to do the job. 

I just love my van. 

Regular bashing

The boys and I rode bikes to Heritage for an RC bash.  It was the first time we had been there since my surgery and it was great being back.  E-maxx was making a weird sound and I discovered a cracked  chassis, which must have occurred when Scott and his friends were driving it while I was at work.  Still, E-maxx was driveable and I continued.  Suddenly, the pitmann steering arm broke and that was the end of E-maxx for the day.  Scott and Tyler continued to do jumps for about an hour.

Bandit has a big crack in the rear shock tower, and I might start buying aluminum components because this will be the fourth shock tower on Bandit and the fourth skid plate on E-maxx.

Sienna subwoofer project, part 3

Today I removed the trim in order to string the power, remote, and level cables.  Before starting, I disconnected the ground.  I learned my lesson, you know.  Heidi wrapped presents in the garage and the kids all hung out in the van while I did my thing.  Scott was interested in helping.

Sienna subwoofer project, part 2

Last night, Heidi and the kids hung out in the van while I worked on stringing the power cable.  I was able to go through an existing grommet in the passenger side firewall and I was glad I didn't have to do any drilling.

Next, to prevent the cable from coming all the way through the firewall, I attached it to the battery.  This morning, I was using a hanger to pull the cable behind the dash.  Kira was in the car with me and I looked up and there was all this smoke coming from the dashboard.  I thought, "Kira, what have you done?"  Then, I looked down and saw that my hanger was red hot.  It must have grounded out somewhere, and because of the amount of smoke, I realized I needed to get that hanger out of the way so the whole van didn't burn down.

I reached out and yanked it, but it stayed.  I burned my hand pretty badly, but I ran around to the other side (yes, ran--I got clearance from my MD to go full weight-bearing) and saw that the power cable had detached from the hanger.  Before telling Heidi, I turned on the key and the van started up.  I was surprised for several reasons:

1.  There was tons of smoke
2.   The van easily could have burned down.
3.   No electronics were damaged

I went inside and scrubbed the char off my hand.  I was pretty stressed because the van really smelled, and it was that burnt electronics smell.  I was stressed for most of the day, but when I went to pick up Scott's bike at school, the van didn't smell as bad and I couldn't find anything wrong with it.  I think the van has forgiven me and I can continue with my subwoofer project.

I made a big error.  I knew to disconnect the negative battery cable, but my brain wasn't engaged.  Dumb me.  Oh well.  I bandaged up my hand and was still able to work.

Oh, after work tonight, I put a new battery in my electric toothbrush.  It took a long time and was laborious.  I was about ready to just throw in the towel and buy a new toothbrush, but then I thought, "Now who am I?  I'm freakin Danny McMillan."  And I soldered in another Ni-Cd and it works!  Yesssss!

My work shoes

My vintage shoes failed.  The buckle's elastic separated, which I believe is an easy fix.  In the meantime, I've been wearing my nice shoes.  I asked the girls at work how they liked my nice shoes.  They said they looked the same as my work shoes.  Therefore, I decided it was worth fixing my work shoes because if I wore my nice shoes to work, they wouldn't be my nice shoes anymore.   They would become my work shoes.  Then I might have to get another set, and I don't like shopping for shoes.  Or clothes.

So I dropped the vintage shoes off at the shoe repair store and asked them to give me an estimate before they proceed, just in case the repair is unreasonable for how much I paid for them (free fifty-free).

I like my vintage shoes:  comfortable and durable.

Sienna Subwoofer Project, part 1

I've been wanting a big sub in the swagger wagon for a while now.  After studying a youtube video on how to remove the stereo, I was able to get to this point in about two minutes using a set of plastic upholstery tools from China Freight.

Next, I found a wiring diagram online but the colors didn't exactly match, so I used a light bulb to determine the switched 12 volt lead.  Then, I cut it and soldered in the blue remote lead.  It was tough managing the little wires, and I ended up wrapping a thin copper wire around them to bind them together.  Then I soldered over the bundle and covered it with heat shrink tubing.  

I put the dash all back together and verified function.  Next, I will string the power cable alongside the remote cables. I think I'm going to have to drill through the firewall because I couldn't find any compatible grommets.  vv

Back on

I rode the VFR to UOP today.  She fired right up and I was so pleasantly surprised at the power, despite my getting used to the acceleration of the swagger wagon.  It was a beautiful day in San Francisco even though it was windy, and I was prepared for the cold with my thermals.

Man, I love my bike.  I had to stand up twice because the circulation in my right leg isn't that great, but at nine weeks post-op, it's about the same as my left was after about fourteen weeks.  And the range of motion on the right leg is already better than the left, so that's good.

I've been using a collapsible cane that I can fold up into my backpack. After night clinic, I'm excited for the ride home because the traffic is way better and I can just cruise in sixth gear.  Yar, mateys.