Maker Faire Exhibit was a Big Success!
I had a blast at the Maker Faire!
As this was my first attempt at getting out there in the physical world – I haven’t done a trade show or seminar or anything like that – I didn’t know what to expect.
But what a turn out! So many people came by, saw my stuff and gave me positive comments. I loved it. Many people also bought my kits. Sorry for not having enough kits available (sold out most of them).
If you are a maker/creator I’d say Make Faire is a great place to get involved.
Thank you so much for those who came by at my booth!
(Now I need a better picture…)
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Joule Thief Kit
I’ve created this Joule Thief design back in September 2011. Now sadly I found that there’s a knock-off of my design being sold by Eastern Voltage Research. Although their kit doesn’t have a light sensor (has a switch instead), the “look & feel” of the physical design is strikingly similar to mine.
While I did not invent the circuit, I did work hard to come up with a one piece design that integrates the battery holder. I also worked hard to make it look nice.
- I’d love to know what you think of this. Please leave comments. -
To be honest I feel cheated. Things of this nature is not good for the creative community. We all strive to create something great, and when you come up with something that people like or love, one should deserve the recognition. My contacting the company failed to produce a positive result. They neither deny or acknowledge the possibility of referencing my design. Even though there are few unexplainable identicality in our designs;
- two holes at the end of the PCBs to accomodate the hook up of paper clip battery holder (The photos on their site is now photoshopped to hide these)
- The two transistors on their PCB are named Q2 & Q3, mysteriously skipping Q1, which is the ambient light sensor amp transistor in my design replaced by a switch in theirs.
Hours after contacting them, photos on their website were retouched to hide the obvious clues (mentioned above), and the manual was revised. I can only see this as acknowledgement of them copying my design. (and an effort to avoid possible legal issues…)
This isn’t about money, but it’s about giving credit where it’s due…
Aurora 9×18 and Aurora 18×18 pre-order deals
*** These pre-order deals have ended on midnight(EST) of April 8th (Sun).
Please refer to the current pricing here. ***
I have finalized the designs of new Aurora 9×18 mk2 and Aurora 18×18. Developing these things takes a lot of effort, time and of course, money.
I really want to make those Aurora’s available as kits, however I need a small capital to do so quickly. Otherwise I’d have to wait.
So here’s the deal, I will offer those kits at 20% discount until I have them shipping. Once the kits are in, the final prices will be $179 for Aurora 9×18, and $289 for Aurora 18×18. (At the worst case where I could not deliver those kits, your money will be refunded. PayPal will offer protection against non-delivery, so rest assured.)
I’m really hoping that with your help, these kits will be shipping within 4 weeks.
IMPORTANT: Like all other kits I sell, PIC microcontrollers are not preprogrammed. You need a compatible PIC programmer such as PICkit 3, ICD2/3, etc. to program the PIC. (PICkit 2 does not support the newer PICs used on those Aurora’s.) This is due to the fact that surface mount PIC need to be soldered to a PCB before being programmed.
Thank you so much – I won the LED contest!
Big thanks to all of you! After the long agonizing wait, the winners were announced. I won the Instructable LED contest!!!
http://www.instructables.com/contest/led2011/?show=WINNERS
Thank you so much!
Please vote for me – Aurora 9×18 is in the LED contest!
http://www.instructables.com/contest/led2011/?show=ENTRIES&sort=RATING
Aurora 9×18 on Instructables
Aurora 9×18 is now on Instructables! Which means you can learn how to build one of those yourself!
