Hello

[Edhope]

Hello,
I've been coming to a few Wednesday meetings over the last couple of months and have met some interesting members like Dan, and Dan, and David and David and John and John and who could forget Ben and Eric and many other Wednesday night creators and dreamers. Time to step out and introduce myself. My name is Ed Hope. I've always had a project to work on and always another one that I want to work on, often times working on another before finishing the current one. I'm finishing details on a complete rebuild of a Model T speedster. It has a 1920 engine with a Frontenac overhead valve conversion. This increased the horsepower from 22 to about 40. Frontenac speed equipment was made by Louis Chevrolet before he put his name on cars. I'm a member of the Spokane Model T Club and a member of the Northwest Vintage Speedster Club, http://www.nwvs.org. The big event of the year will be a 200 mile rally here in the Spokane area over Labor Day weekend in September. Anyone interested in being a navigator?

The next/current project I have is creating a set of chimes that will be on the wall above my fireplace. The plan is to use aluminum bar to make two octaves, fifteen notes. The longest bar will be four or five feet in length, depending on where I can tune it for a good predominant C note. The others will be tuned from the first. I plan on having resonators behind each bar to amplify the sound. Resonators will be made out of walnut and maple. They will be a long narrow chamber with a one inch hole. The striking mechanism will be with electromagnets pulling a hammer. I want to operate this wirelessly from a keyboard using Arduino and then to a receiving Arduino on the instrument. I've worked out a little pilot project with the help of a few folks on Wednesday nights. Made the electromagnets, separated the power supply from the Arduino, and worked out a few issues. The key part is using MIDI. This should be pretty straight forward, and there are a lot of examples on websites and YouTube. I'm familiar with basic programming and electronics but this would be a steep learning curve for me. Rather than embark on a lonely pursuit, I'm thinking this project would make a great group project. A chance to work/play with others. MIDI is useful in other applications as well, controlling lighting and other devices for example. I'm thinking that if a project like this were well documented and well done, it would make a good class with instructional material. If you're younger, and on the career ladder, this is an opportunity to pad your résumé with; "Worked with a team that used microcontrollers to communicate wirelessly using a subset of C language using MIDI protocol to activate electromagnets/solenoids." I'm looking for three or four creative types that would like to meet up and pursue this with me. Looking forward to meeting all of you.
Ed

[lvictorlucas]

Hi Ed,
I'm Vic Lucas and attend most Wednesday evenings. I am very interested in your Model T but I hope to move back onto a sailboat in Fl this summer. I would like to talk to you about your project this Wednesday.
-Vic