https://avtanski.net/projects/backdrop is a simple tool that lets you pick custom colors and gradients and use your computer monitor as a digital photography backdrop.
Surface waves from a pair of NZ earthquakes
March 4th, 2021 by admin No comments »Today my DIY seismic sensor captured a pair of strong earthquakes off the coast of New Zealand, over 9400 km away. One of the things I like about long-distance earthquakes is the clean surface waves that the sensor records.
Here are the surface waves from a mag 7.4 foreshock:
A few hours later, there was a massive magnitude 8.1 earthquake in the same area. The surface waves from this one look even prettier:
Note the two wave trains – a shorter Love wave train (about 20:07 to 20:11) followed by the Rayleigh wave with longer duration (starting around 20:12).
Note also the different wave frequencies – the Love wave’s main harmonic is at roughly 0.04 Hz (a period of roughly 24 sec) while the Rayleigh wave is at about 0.06 Hz (~ 16s period).
Check the project site for more details.
Mag 6.5 earthquake in Idaho
April 1st, 2020 by admin No comments »A nice recording from my DIY seismic sensor of the magnitude 6.5 Idaho earthquake on March 31st 2020.
Earthquake Sensor
October 24th, 2019 by admin No comments »A simple and easy to build seismic sensor project, based on a PIC 16F690 microcontroller and a Raspberry Pi. The sensor streams data to the web and can be configured to send push notifications when ground shaking is detected.
See project page for details.
LCD/LED Display Generator
June 4th, 2017 by admin No comments »The LCD/LED Display Screenshot Generator has been updated – new simpler interface, support for character matrix displays, 7-segment, 14-segment, and 16-segment displays, custom color schemes, custom display geometries.
It may come handy for electronics projects/devices documentation, websites, etc.
Peltier-Cooled Cloud Chamber
December 11th, 2016 by admin No comments »
Minus 23.6° C!
I finally got to putting up a page for my Peltier-cooled cloud chamber. You can see it in action here (YouTube video).
A cloud chamber is a basic ionizing radiation particle detector. It’s a container with supersaturated vapor. A charged particle passing through will produce ions that act as condensation nuclei, forming a visible trail of droplets. This virtual cloud chamber (click to see) gives you a rough idea of you what you can expect to see in a cloud chamber.
Blind spot mapper
September 7th, 2015 by admin No comments »
A blind-spot map
A tool for mapping the blind spot in one’s visual field. Works best on a desktop/laptop, not suited for mobile devices.
January 7th, 2015 by admin No comments »
A big surprise this morning – checking my magnetometer‘s logs I found that it had recorded the strongest magnetic storm since it was built in December 2011:
The weird thing is that the storm was completely unexpected! It’s like hearing a sunny weather forecast and getting the biggest snowstorm in years instead.
The explanation? Spaceweather.com says:
UNEXPECTED GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A strong G3-class geomagnetic storm erupted during the early hours of Jan. 7th, sparking bright auroras around Earth’s poles. What happened? The interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near our planet tipped south, opening a crack in Earth’s magnetosphere. Solar wind poured in to fuel the strongest magnetic storm since Sept. 2014. NOAA analysts believe the fluctuation in IMF is related to the arrival of a CME originally expected to miss Earth.
CME Impact
December 25th, 2014 by admin No comments »The magnetometer registered a CME impact on Dec 23, 2014, around 11:18 UTC. This is probably the sharpest CME hit I’ve recorded so far:
Solar Wind
December 7th, 2014 by admin No comments »Checking my magnetometer today I found this beautiful record. Last night the Earth entered a fast moving (~700 km/s according to ACE) stream of solar wind. The wind’s buffeting of the magnetosphere is visible as a sudden increase of the noise around 14:40 UTC.
