It’s Full of Stars

17 responses to “It’s Full of Stars”

1. 

   brian Braun

   Mar 4, 2009 at 2:19 am

   this is your office?

   Reply
2. 

   jurvetson

   Mar 4, 2009 at 2:22 am

   yes, looking especially festive…

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3. 

   angry shock

   Mar 4, 2009 at 3:04 am

   Super!!!

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4. 

   Vanita

   Mar 4, 2009 at 3:44 am

   The Lone Star State sends you happy birthday wishes, as do I.
   ‘-}

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5. 

   Doug_Dirac_Delta

   Mar 4, 2009 at 5:50 am

   Quoting Arthur C. Clarke, I take it.

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6. 

   Leino88

   Mar 4, 2009 at 5:54 am

   curious: what’s the glass cylinder with the coil running through it, between the shelves and the left window? at first it reminded me of those algae bio-processing systems, but a closer look has me stumped.

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7. 

   !MimosaMicheMichelle!

   Mar 4, 2009 at 7:28 am

   Yippee! Chocolate cupcakes for your birthday!

   Stars are most appropriate for a space-loving man. Cool birthday gift to find when you come to work!

   Reply
8. 

   The Rocketeer

   Mar 4, 2009 at 1:20 pm

   It’s nice to see your office, Steve. I imagine a lot of heavy thinking goes on in here…

   The glass cylinder that Leino88 referenced… does it have LEDs around the cylinder at intervals? Is that a fuselage for another rocket?

   Great title, btw…

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9. 

   Kaets Ebut

   Mar 4, 2009 at 5:54 pm

   Mmmm…cupcakes!

   What’s with the Cornell box full of 9-pin tubes?

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10. 

    !MimosaMicheMichelle!

    Mar 5, 2009 at 2:22 am

    Kevin, perhaps you missed this view of the office 2 years ago.

    40th

    Reply
11. 

    jurvetson

    Mar 5, 2009 at 2:35 am

    Thanks y’all. The Lone Star has friends now.

    Kaets – It’s a Tektronix module from The Lab

    Leino, Rocketeer – The vertical tube reacts to sound with a rotary cascade of blinking LEDs.

    But your guesses are good ones as I have a custom rocket in development that is a wider version of that, with many more lumens and manic blinky patterns that change on launch detect. It’s a 5.5” diameter, 70” tall night rocket. Perfect for the K805 Green Mojave motor, it will sport:

    Three microprocessor controlled sequencers
    G– switch for launch detect (changes the blinking pattern at launch)
    64 high output 5000 lumen white LEDs (forward and aft bands)
    48 high output RGB LEDs (center panels)
    9 high output 1watt green LEDs (fluorescing ribs)
    2 3300mha NiMH battery packs

    It’s a custom scale up of:

    

    Reply
12. 

    BenODen

    Mar 5, 2009 at 3:53 am

    Hah, rockets and more rockets! Don’t stop dreaming!

    Reply
13. 

    msamaclean ©

    Mar 5, 2009 at 9:04 pm

    Wouldn’t it be great to have a birthday party in space!!!

    Reply
14. 

    Kaets Ebut

    Mar 6, 2009 at 3:01 am

    > Kaets – It’s a Tektronix module from The Lab

    Ah. My variac, VTVM, and Hickcok mutual conductance tube tester would be right at home there! (That, and my several hundred octal, 7- and 9-pin tubes.)

    Reply
15. 

    Jim Rees

    Mar 7, 2009 at 6:30 pm

    I had an undergrad here at U of Michigan build me a high gain antenna for "long range" (a few meters) scraping of RFID tags. I told him he could use my grid dip meter to tune it. I had to explain to him what a "grid" is, and open up the meter to show him the vacuum tube.

    Reply
16. 

    jurvetson

    Mar 7, 2009 at 7:08 pm

    Ahh… feelin’ nostalgic….

    

    Rocketeer – I just realized that your guess about the green bllnky lights was a premonition… See edit to my prior comment above.

    Reply
17. 

    Kaets Ebut

    Mar 13, 2009 at 8:44 pm

    > Ahh… feelin’ nostalgic….

    What’s nostalgic about a tube tester? I use mine all the time! Made in 1945 for the US Army Signal Corps, never serviced, still works great. It’s just a shame that RCA isn’t still around, making top-quality tubes. Or Mullard, Amperex, Sylvania, Raytheon, GE, Ken-Rad, Tung-Sol, & CBS-Hytron. Those were the golden days! (Ok, now I’m getting nostalgic.)

    Reply