Engram Enterprises Projects

Current Projects

None of these projects are very current.

Intergraph InterAct 220 dual-monitor CAD workstation

This white elephant has been collecting rainwater in my driveway for four years. For a pretty picture of an identical beast, click here.

Sony BVH-1100 1" Hi-Band VTR & BVT-2000 Time Base Corrector

Thinkin' 'bout selling these on eBay.

Super-8 TeleCine Projector

Went so far as to make up a template for a five-bladed shutter, then decided a digital film scanner would be a better idea.

3/4" U-Matic cuts-only editing suite

Assembled a complete rig, two Panasonic NV-9600 decks and matching edit controller. Only problem: missing proprietary 33-pin control cables. Attempted to retrofit equipment with 34-pin Centronics connectors, achieved mixed results--possibly botched the pinout. Reckon non-linear editing is the wave of the future anyway; should've left these cranky, fragile monsters on the auction block. Sony U-Matic decks still rule, though.

nView ViewFrame II+2, Spectra, and Spectra Plus LCD overhead projection panels
Here's the pinout these devices use, reverse engineered by yours truly, along with standard PC and Macintosh pinouts for reference. These panels work well, in spite of their age and relatively low 640x480 resolution. First-person killing games are a completely different experience, especially when the sound is routed through a real stereo system. The only problem lies with my ancient grade-school surplus overhead projector, which overheats the panel and causes the LCD to wash out after several minutes.

The Red Menace
1981 Ford E150 Compressed Natural Gas Conversion
Conversion complete! Nearly 1,000 miles driven on clean-burning methane. Now, making it run right is a whole different story. Lots of pics that haven't been scanned yet will be uploaded eventually; for now, follow the link for a diagram of the CNG fuel control module hookup. Maybe you'll get more out of it than I have, since closed loop operation ain't working for me yet. The van project has been on hold while I turn my attention to more immediately gratifying electronics stuff.

Vicious Old Lady Vehicular Onslaught
Information about Volvo 240 automobiles
Painstakingly gathered via massive expenditure of blood, sweat and tears.

Vacuum Tube Theremin
From an original schematic by Doug Forbes
To the left is a picture of my primitive prototype, which has since been torn apart so that other circuits may live. It was at least partly successful, despite defiance of all sane RF parts placement conventions. A more considered approach is in the works.

Thor's Hammer
Analog modular drum synthesizer and sequencer
Boom, tss. Boom, tss. Have bass and snare boards prototyped. Next step is a sequencer. Don't follow the link 'cuz there's nothing there yet.