Litecoin Mining Rig - 4 R9 270x GPUs

Litecoin Mining Rig - 4 R9 270x GPUs

Cryptocurrency has been a really hot topic in the news for the past few months. Bitcoin and Litecoin are two of the main currencies currently in use. What's special about cryptocurrencies is that they're completely decentralized. There isn't a single entity or company in control like traditional fiat currencies of the world. Everyone has a copy of every transaction that has ever been sent, referred to as the blockchain. Instead of relying on a central server to store these records and carry out the transactions, cryptocurrencies rely on people to lend their computing power to the network. In return, the cryptocurrency network rewards contributors....

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Homemade Bacon

Homemade Bacon

     After my friend Louis told me about the bacon he used to eat while growing up on a farm, I decided that I wanted to try to make my own. I found it extremely easy to cure and smoke bacon but it does take a lot of waiting around. The four main steps to making  your own bacon are curing, rinsing/soaking, air drying, and smoking. To cure and smoke your own bacon...

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Quadcopter Part 4 - Mounting the Flight Control Board, Connecting the ESCs, and Final Setup

Quadcopter Part 4 - Mounting the Flight Control Board, Connecting the ESCs, and Final Setup

     The two last pieces of hardware that need mounted are the MultiWii flight control board and the Rx. You can order the MultiWii board with the pins soldered. I opted to solder them myself to save a few bucks. Once the pins are soldered, I used a square piece of isolating rubber foam and a zip tie to secure the board to the quadcopter. The MultiWii came with a nice diagram that illustrates the orientation of the flight control board and the motor locations/rotations. I mounted the Rx similar to the MultiWii with foam and a zip tie. 

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Quadcopter Part 3 - Soldering Connectors and PDB Layout/Mounting

Quadcopter Part 3 - Soldering Connectors and PDB Layout/Mounting

  Once the parts came in (2.5 weeks after ordering) I started with the power supply portion of the quadcopter. The power distribution board, or PDB for short, is supplied by a battery with a xt60 connector and distributes the power to the four ESCs. The ESCs then control what percentage of that voltage gets to the motors which in turn controls the speed. The batteries did not have the xt60 connection so a new connector will be soldered to the battery leads. The ESCs and motors will also need connectors. They will use 3.5mm bullet connectors, which match the PDB. The motors will have three male bullet connectors. The ESCs will have three female bullet connectors on one side and two male bullet connectors on the other side. These will then be connected to the PDB.

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Quadcopter Part 2 - The V939 Trainer Copter and Turnigy 9X Transmitter

Quadcopter Part 2 - The V939 Trainer Copter and Turnigy 9X Transmitter

      I decided to purchase a V939 mini quadcopter as a trainer copter to get used to flying. I'm glad I did because if I had crashed the large quadcopter in the sames ways I've crashed this one, I would be out a lot of money. It's taken a beating and keeps on going. Replacement parts, such as batteries and props, are cheap too. The Turnigy 9X transmitter purchased for the main quadcopter can be binded to the V939. This allows you to buy the stand alone quadcopter version (usually comes with a transmitter) and save some money. The Turnigy 9X has multiple profiles or "Modes". I use the first mode for my main quadcopter settings and the second mode for the trainer copter.

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