you're right that 120vac is more dangerous, but what I was referencing was using off the shelf components with minimal wiring (I'm pretty adept at a soldering iron and an arduino, just looking to simplify) to replace the "lack of power work-arounds" that most people have questions regarding. For exa...

Figjam, I've been following this thread since the day you posted it... I think you might win the ePlaya! Quick question now, there are 72 freaking pages! I've read the last 20, and I have a slightly unique question. our camp is renting a very large generator, so I actually will have a 10 amp (ish) 1...

Thanks Canoe, Looking at those pics, it looks fine, no? I don't see anyone sinking in dust, I see no significant dunes... Look at their boots, doesn't look like they're trudging around in 3 inches of loose dust, right? Hell, it looks like the opposite of what they're saying the conditions are like.....

Logistics this year are making our camp truck pretty space-tight, and frankly as much as I love my playa bike if I'm genuinely not going to be able to use it I'd much rather leave the half-dozen bicycles out this year (and save on tubes, tires, patches, chains, locks, lights, baskets, and lube. Well...

ok, then, so lets say I have a magic generator that puts out a perfect sine wave of pure AC power at 120v, and say 10000 watts of power. Basically, lets say I'm plugging this into a household electrical system. If I understand it right, the voltage drop over 100 ft (that voltage has got to be going ...

maybe I didn't make myself clear, but I'm not just wildly guessing at cables. I'm asking exactly what is the problem with using a cable rated to say, 1350 watts with an 1000 watt appliance. Whats the usual "safe" extra overhead with appliances like this? And apparently the heat isn't going to affect...

will this one work?



it's half the cost and free prime shipping

Just realized that the AC I plan to hook up to our generator might overload the extension cord I bought for it. Its a 100ft 10 amp outdoor extension cord, but i was concerned that the heat might degrade its ability to pull that much current. any ideas?

ok, if you have a flight that you MUST make, then you have to take certain measures to get there. #1: break down your entire camp and be ready to leave BEFORE the burn. BEFORE the burn. BEFORE the burn. Get it? BEFORE THE BURN. You WILL NOT SUCCESSFULLY BREAK CAMP AT 3 AM AFTER THE BURN. NO POSSIBLE...

Does anyone know if Verizon specifically is working out there? I know att Iphones had 5 bars last year, but I never turned my phone on to see if there was a signal

as doing a full scale test of a revolutionary energy source requires that all variables be controlled for as much as possible, I fully understand the desire to ensure final project testing operate concurrently with the annual batshit crazy arts festival. I bet they're going to use this new power sup...

Ha, this will probably be the last time in my life I'll be able to refer to "my virgin parents"

:D

I'm bringing my parents this year, and they're incredibly excited. Being older and "responsible," my father WILL have to make at least 1 15 minute phone call sometime during the week to check in with the office and whatnot. I know, I know. We all have verizon phones, which may or may not work. he's ...

if you're that worried about the voltage, just attach a voltage regulator (get em at radio shack). They take a higher DC voltage (say, 12 volts, 24 volts, etc) and turn it into a steady-ish 5 volts DC, or whatever its designed for. I always try to make sure that the input voltage is 3-4 volts higher...

I've had a few types of MREs in the past, some decent and some terrible. Any suggestions on meals and brands to try?

For those of you lurkers without much electrical experience, what’s being discussed here is actually pretty simple. A switch makes and breaks a physical electrical connection (meaning that a piece of metal is sliding around, generally). A relay is basically a glorified switch. You solder it inline...

I've heard so much about the springbar canvas tents, that I'm looking for something similar. I've never used one of these external frame canvas deals before, and I'm curious if they're all built to withstand wind. some of these look like they don't have much tension to keep them up. Take a look at t...

The guy who owns the altervision lounge (what was at the decomp) is a friend of mine. I'll ask him what they did, but from what I remember the biggest problem are the glasses. They're relatively expensive and have the tendency to wander off more often than not. They took it to burning man once or tw...

How dust proof are the carports? The reason I mentioned the comforters is I'd like something that's dark, insulated, and (assuming I stitch the ends together well and tie em down) fairly dust proof. I'll be building one of Figjam's swamp coolers in the next couple weeks, and I thought it'd be nice t...

I'm trying to think of an "alternative" housing structure this year... Looking at hexayurts, but with the difficulties in finding the thermax HD and the expense of the tape, I'm thinking it's a no go. I've thought about those wigwam/teepee tents that have one center pole, but unless super tied down ...

I'm young enough that for the majority of my adult life I've had my wireless connection to the world. I'm always amazed at stories from the past though, with no phones, internet, texts, etc. How do you go out for a night on the town if you can't keep track of everyone you could possibly run in to al...

Thanks Cap'n! You have no idea how good it feels to be vindicated w that pic I'm with the Yearbook at 7:15 and center camp, stop by for the drink I owe you. And Playa and Sticky, if y'all could get me any more information on who's behind this, I'd definitely appreciate it. Hell, I'll go grab a Goodw...

SOMEWHERE near 6 and E in 07 was a fairly large art car that cruised by 3 or 4 times that I haven't been able to track down. additionally, it managed to pull a harvey (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheHarvey) and no one else ever saw it. it was a large, ~15 person boardroom table with o...

haha, I'm not talking about a full on regional burn, but just a gathering of some sort :)


just curious if there were any neat ideas to get fun people to come out and party. I've heard people talk about full moon parties, etc, but I don't know what really happens.

Hey, I've been to BM once, seen the man burn twice. Now I find myself, due to the economy, temporarily located in west Texas for work. We have plenty of open land here, and I'm very interested (eg bored) in getting some people together once or twice a month to just do something, well, playa-esque. T...