On Tuesday 4/4 10am PDT I’ll be on NPR’s Weekday at KUOW in Seattle, WA with host Steve Scher talking about more tinkering….Make: Technology on Your Own Time is a new magazine about that drive many people have to make things work just a little better. The tinkerers of the world unite to take the Ipod to the next level, build a mouse inside an Altoids box and maybe even root around inside a car to make a better source of travel. Technology has moved into just about every facet of our lives and right behind it are the tinkerers and technologists who just want to know how these things work and how to make them work better. Some folks also want to see what else they can make these machines do or figure out what kind of information these devices collect. Are you a tinkerer? What have you done with your ideas?
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I very much enjoyed Friday’s show. As a packrat who can seldom throw anything away, I am thrilled to know that there may be some practical use for the items that I have tucked away.
Specifically, is there any way to turn an old auto into a power generator? I live on a country lot, with a well. I would like a back up power source.
Thank you.
Cerainly. Just start the engine and start pulling 13 Volt DC power from the alternator.
Connect up a DC-to-AC inverter to get 120 Volts AC
Lots of cars have 150 Amp alternators now a days.
Not HUGE power, but plenty for the occasional outage.
here’s more of a perma-link:
http://www.kuow.org/weekday.asp?Archive=04-05
is this the same phillip torrone that i met at flash forward in san francisco a few years back and was nice enough to give me a couple flash books, we ate lunch with sam wan and jessica spiegel.
i caught your piece on NPR this morning and loved it, checking out the make magazine website now.
i tinker and build things all the time (already built a wok wifi antenna, saw that on slashdot). currently building a portable power supply out of 12v lead acid batteries complete with solar panel charging inputs and inverter, to have power on the go for bike touring and kayak trips :)
-derrickito, seattle friend up north (the one with girlfriend on crutches at the time)
he might not be that far to the south of you. if it’s the same philip, then you’re in the same town.