While perusing the interwebs for a quote about the New Year, I stumbled upon the above words from Alfred, Lord Tennyson. While the actual reference is included in the poem “Ring Out, Wild Bells”, I felt it was applicable to the situation at hand. Namely, yet another iteration of the Bent-Tronics website.

I have operated Bent-Tronics since 2005 and in those years the site has changed forms a few times. From an online electronics components store, to almost non-existent, to a blog with a light color theme, then to the obligatory green and black circuit board theme.

Over the past few weeks, I have migrated the site to a WordPress “content management system,” as the kids call it these days. The hope is to have a more responsive and visually pleasing website that is also more flexible than the “locked down” options from GoDaddy, and then Blogger, that I had been using for well over a decade. I’ll probably always be tweaking a few things here and there with the site, but I feel it’s pretty solid right now.

Please have a look around, tell me in the comments what you think. Also, be sure to check out the new home page for my 555 Timer book.

I hope 2019 brings you all that you need, and I look forward to posting new projects and content throughout the new year!

Cheers,

Jesse Rutherford

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Back in 2006 I scored some major deals when Radio Shack shut down about 500 of their stores. Now Forbes says the retailer is shutting down 1100 stores. I made sure to find out which locations near me were closing and wait until the “normal” going out of business sales were over. Meaning, the longer you wait, they more the prices will drop. I don’t think I paid more than 50% of normal price and some items were much less, and they were selling everything at that point – shelving, display racks, etc. I was able to pick up a lot of items like audio transformers, midi cables, transistors, and other items that are just nice to have on hand and build up your circuit bending junk box.

February 2015:
Here is a list of the 1,784 stores closing and a Google map of their locations.

The post REPOST: Be on the lookout for Sales! Radio Shack closing 1100 stores. (now 1,784 stores with complete list and map!) appeared first on Bent-Tronics.

The meet will include:

• Modular, Old & New
• Hardware/Software
• Analog/Digital
• Do It Yourself
• Controllers
• Guitar Pedals
• Manufacturers 
• Demos

The post Denver Synth Meet 2015! appeared first on Bent-Tronics.

In the video, seen here, the live reaction to watching the in-game scene develop is in the upper right hand corner. It’s a little dark, but you can still see their special moment. Maybe I should have asked my wife to marry me via Speak & Spell…

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Top is off! Now fill with what ever you need to grind. Pepper, salt, custom blends of spices, etc.!

After filling, place top on and turn over. Press down on the bottom of the bottle and the lip of the glass portion should slip into the plastic top. Not much force is needed.

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Here’s my parts list:
plastic storage bin
2 desk lamps
construction paper
tape

Make sure the bin is translucent, not transparent, or opaque. This is for proper diffusion of the light. This can be hard to find. Mine has transparent middles near the handles, but it still works fine. Alternately you could line a transparent bin with white tissue paper to make it translucent, or use diffusers on your lights.

I used tape to keep the construction paper in place.

I set this up on the edge of my kitchen table so I could use a regular size tripod and not have to buy one of those mini tripods.

When you’re done, everything can be stored in the box!

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So I decided to make my own. I bought a blank LED style key from the hardware store for less than $4 w/tax, and filed down the top edge to be mildly sharp (use some common sense).

I’ve carried it on my key chain for a couple months now, with no holes in my pockets, cut fingers, etc., and used it to open boxes, mail, cut/strip wire, light my way in the dark (it’s surprisingly bright), etc.

You could do this for less than $2 without the LED, but I figured I might as well have a 2-in-1 tool. Also, you might be able to cut out a bottle opener shape on the under side, or file the tip flat to have a screw driver?

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