Features

In case you've been living under a rock for the last year, everyone is poor. For the most part, we all have the same jobs, make the same amount of money, and inflation hasn't increased the prices of goods too terribly - but somehow we're all still pinching pennies.

Here's a few Christmas related DIY projects to help ease the strain on that old wallet of yours. Wait - wouldn't strain on a wallet be a good thing?

Christmas Tree Projector

Photojojo has some really cool ornament ideas you can make from any old photo you have lying around.

Christmas Light Controller

Ah, we wouldn't leave you hanging! Of course we have to include at least one project that requires you to dust off your soldering iron. This Christmas light controller can be made in 5 minutes ... supposedly.

Christmas Card Star

Got a big pile of Christmas cards on your kitchen table? Well aren't you popular! Put those cards to good use by turning them into a unique star to top your tree with.

Christmas Cards

Be sure your "friends" don't just cut up your christmas card as part of some misguided DIY Christmas Tree Star art project - make it unique! Here's a roundup of several DIY Christmas Card ideas.

Hidden Tree Watering System

Here's a project sure to disappoint - a hidden tree watering system disguised as a wrapped gift! Little Timmy won't know what hit him as he finds a bucket full of water inside the nicely wrapped box instead of that laser eyes super robot he wanted. Then again, if you were planning on giving him a bucket full of water anyway, this project is a great way to hit two birds with one stone!

Snow Globes

If you can make out that image, what you see is someone making their own snow globe out of an old jar. Pretty cool, and a good way to get rid of all those mini city models you have piling up.

Many VoIP systems offer you free inbound calls but then charge you for outbound calls. Although these rates are usually pretty cheap, sometimes you just want things for free. In the guide, we'll show you how to get a phone number and make inbound and outbound VoIP calls using your computer - for free.

We're going to be using two services - Google's Grand Central and Gizmo5. If you don't already have a Grand Central account you might as well head over there now and reserve a number. Their website can tell you more about the service, which you'll probably find is pretty awesome. Once Google blesses you with an account, they'll give you your very own phone number attached to it.

Now head over to Gizmo5. You won't need to wait to get an account there. Gizmo will also give you a free number (with a Nevada area code) and a client program for your computer - just like Skype. Gizmo5 gives you free inbound calls to your Nevada number, but to make outbound calls you have to buy credits. That's where Grand Central comes in.

If you haven't already, download the Gizmo5 client for your computer and open it up. The first time, it will ask you to log in - go ahead and do that.
Go back to Grand Central and log in. Under the settings tab, select Phones. From one of the drop downs, select Gizmo and enter the information for your Gizmo account.

At this point, you can also enter numbers to any other phone you may have and want to use with Grand Central. Take a look around to see what other potential things you could use Grand Central for.

Now hit the address book tab. Here you can import all the numbers from your computer's address book, or just add a few numbers to try out. Go ahead an add the number you would like to dial out to. Once it appears in the list, click the "CALL" button next to it on the list.

Now simply select your gizmo account as the number to place the call from. Your gizmo account will start ringing.

As soon as you answer the call, Grand Central will then call the number you are dialing out to and connect you. Because Grand Central is initiating the call, it appears on your Gizmo account as a free inbound call. The number attached to your Grand Central account will be the one that shows up on caller ID, completely bypassing your Gizmo account number.

The system isn't perfect - as you do have to initiate calls from the web interface - but it works. If you happen to have a Nokia N Series device, some enterprising hacker has put together a Grand Central Dialer application that will save you from the trouble of logging into the website each time. With some work, it could probably be made to run on any *nix system.

So there you have it - as much free calling as you want!

So Lindsey sends us an awesome Theadbanger post:

Newly on Threadheads, the ladies of Compai (which DIY:happy had to look up in the Urban Dictionary) are helping out with a very special viewer request (regarding JACKETS, appropriate for winter), plus they hang out and take a look into their popular DIY book series 99 Ways. So sit back, relax, grab your sewing machine and get comfy.

Sounds awesome.

Alright folks, the moment all you graphic designers, dabblers, photoshophiles, and avatar-makers have been waiting for!

DIY:happy does not have a logo. Some folks think we do (the little TV-looking thing), but we don't. However, we'd like one! We'd even be willing to throw in some incentives, because we're nice and fabulous like that.

Here are the regulations (not rules, for all the Libertarians):

1. The logo has to be a good size. Nothing too small... it has to be made in all kinds of sizes, and we wouldn't want to distort your masterpiece by resizing it, right?

2. It has to be a-okay for us to print it!

3. We'd rather not having anything offensive, mean, rude, terrible, or violence-insighting. 

4. Those things said, anything goes.

 DIY:happy loves you. So, whomever wins the contest will win:

• A $20 GIFT CERTIFICATE, care of the wonderful LadyAda. Good for anything in her online store (linked here), which is a cornucopia of DIY electronics kits, components, and all kinds of fun stuff for hobbyists, electronic engineers, and weekend DIY fans!
• Buttons with the logo YOU designed on them! Good for a resume, especially for designers!
• Every button you sell will have your signature at the bottom, so you don't have to convince anyone. Just point at your sig.
• You'll get three free buttons, as a sample of your work!

The suspense is over, let the games begin!

SUBMIT TO: Kristi@diyhappy.com or TIPS@diyhappy.com!

Projected End Date: September 13th at 11:59 PM (CST).

 UPDATE: 14 SUBMISSIONS AS OF 10:00PM, 08-11-07.

 No, DIY:happy hasn't succumbed to spam hackers, we're actually telling you how to keep your house or life cool without spending a billion hard-earned dollars (or a billion of your parents' hard-earned ones).

30 Ways To Lower Your Heating Bills
The Dollar Stretcher
Ben's Tips To Keep Cool
MSN's 25 Tips
Lifehacker's Reader Tips

15 Instructionals until the contest!

As mentioned before, the Subaru WRX we showed at the Maker Faire features a remote tracking and control system. With this system you can:

• Log in from anywhere in the world and see where the car is
• See engine status, RPMs, speed, GPS info, and a bunch of other stats
• See history of location and statistics
• Unlock or Lock the doors
• Start or stop the engine
• Cut power to the fuel pump
• Control Windows, etc.

It doesn't take much imagination to figure out the possibilities. Imagine a script that checks for upcoming appointments in your computer's calendar. 15 minutes before you leave for the appointment, your script logs in, finds your car's location and pulls the weather for the area. If the temperature is below 40 degrees, the script will send the commands to start your car. You get in 15 minutes later and everything is warm and toasty!

This is one of many possibilities with such a system. Just imagine if the thing got stolen! "Officer, my car was stolen but I have it's GPS coordinates. I will cut the fuel pump as soon as the officers arrive."

You can get such a system off the shelf and installed by a local shop, but in true DIY fashion, we installed our own module from Connect2Car, who was kind enough to sponsor us. The module we used is called the "MFC Anywhere" and will be available soon from their store. We will keep you posted when it becomes available.

The mission was simple. We had only a few short days to get the MFC anywhere and the remote starter installed into the car before the Maker Faire.

See our installation of the MFC Anywhere module after the jump!

We received the MFC unit on the Saturday before the Maker Faire. This combined with the remote start module made for a long couple of days before we left for San Mateo. Here's what came in the package:

Some promotional materials (CD and flyers), a boost mobile phone a cables for internet connectivity, some LEDs that you use for status, the MFC module, and all the wires you're going to need. First thought; "Look at all those wires!" But by taking things one wire at a time, it turns out the install is not too difficult.

These instructions are for a '03 Subaru WRX. Your car may be a little or a lot different. The best I can suggest is to find a forum devoted to your car, and search around and post your questions in car alarm installation forums. You should be able to find equivalent data for your car.

Before attempting something like this on your own car, be sure to disconnect the negative terminal on your car's battery. The last thing you want is to blow some expensive component of your car out because you accidently grounded out some connection.

Here is the wiring diagram I used as a reference during the install.

This shows the wires coming from the MFC
module.

Where to Install the MFC?

The first step is figuring out where to put the module. You want it out of the way, not easy to get to (for security reasons), but close enough to a location where you are going to put the phone. It was decided to install the module under the seat in the back on the driver's side. The cable for the boost phone could then be run behind the seat up to behind the headrest.

This is where the MFC is installed.

I learned afterwards that you want to give plenty of space between the phone and your amplifier, if you have one. Whenever the phone connects to the network, you will hear buzzing in your speakers if it is too close.

Powering the MFC

The first thing you want to do is supply power to the MFC. We tapped directly into the ignition harness for this. On a WRX, this is located right under the steering wheel behind the kick panel. It is a blue plug with 4 wires. Note: The wires are different colors on either side of the plug - if you are looking at a key or a pinout, make sure you're looking at the correct side of the plug!

This is the ignition harness hanging out. You'll actually want
to remove that kick panel to work on it.

Here are the wire locations for the WRX for this part:

(Click for larger)

Now you can start matching up wires. Looking at the colored diagram for the MFC above and this list of wires, you can begin to see where things are going to be. For example, the white wire found at the ignition harness supplies a constant +12 volts. The Red wire coming from the MFC is for a +12V input, so you simply splice the MFC's red wire to the ignition harness's white wire. Easy enough, right?

You're going to need to wire up the power and ground first. This is the red and black wire from the MFC and the white wire from the ignition harness. For ground, just connect the black wire to any good bolt connected to your car's chassis. Make sure it is shiny, not painted. Test possible grounding locations with a multi-meter.

Once you have those two wires hooked up, it's time to do the ignition wire and the starter wire. These are also both located on the ignition harness for a WRX. Here is what it will look like:

Ignition harness wired to the MFC. The splices are the
yellow boxes.

Splicing Wires Together

For the splices, I mostly used a quick splice, which looks like this:

You simply run both wires you are trying to splice together through the obvious tracks in the quick splice. Then use a pair of pliers to smash the metal part down into the wires. The last plastic piece folds over to cover everything up. These are very simple to use, easy to remove, and I swear by them. They are not the cleanest looking thing in the world, but whose going for clean? Nobody is going to be seeing this stuff anyway.

Running Wires

There are usually several ways to get wires from one place to another in your car. In the WRX, as with most cars, there are two channels running down either side of the car. This is where the factory wiring goes. It is very easy to use these channels. First, you should have your back seat taken out and the protective plastic pieces that cover the channel taken off.

The bundle of wires from the MFC, heading up front.

These plastic clips hold the carpet down, but are
very easily removed. Grab the clip (not
the carpet) and pull them up.

Here's the bundle of wires coming out from under the
carpet up front near the steering wheel.

Locking and Unlocking the Doors

Most of the wires you will need to tap into are up here under the steering wheel. After power was taken care of, we tackled power lock/unlock. This is an easy one to work with first, before you go on to something like hooking up the remote starter. Here are the wires you need for lock/unlock.

The integrated module is right there to the right of the fuse box. It has a gray and blue plug going into it. The wires you need are on the gray plug. Splice right in and you're good to go. This is the light blue and blue wires coming from the MFC. I ended up having to reprogram and use the yellow wire because the normal dark blue output on the MFC was not working for some reason. This is when you realize how awesome the MFC is - reprogramming the output took all of two minutes and we were done.

Spliced into lock/unlock

Testing the System
At this point you can test the system. If you haven't activated your boost phone yet, call Connect2Car and have them do it for you (it will save hassles later). They also need to create your account on the website so you can log in and control your car. Until the account is created, you should be able to test the functions straight from the boost phone. When you run the MFC program, a menu will come up with all the controllable options. Hit 1 and 2 to lock and unlock the doors. If it works now, it will most likely work from the website as well. Congratulations, you're well on your way!

Fuel Pump Cut-Off

At this point it was time to wire up to fuel pump cutoff. This is a really easy one to do, and will get your feet wet with relays if you have never used them before. For an explanation of relays, and a couple examples of how to use them, check out this post on scoobymods. Think of relays like a regular on/off switch, but they are controlled by electricity instead of your finger.

So for a fuel pump, we want to wire it up in such a way that the switch is on until we tell it to go off. I found a power wire to my fuel pump right under the same seat where I had mounted the MFC. I cut this wire, and attached it to a relay like this:

Fuel Pump Relay

The red wire coming in from the left and the red wire at the bottom are either end of the cut fuel pump power line. The green wire coming in from the right is the green wire from the MFC assigned to fuel pump shutoff. Notice that the bottom and left pins are bridged.

Here is the relay schematic from the MFC manual:

Notice that this is different that what I did. This schematic didn't work. The way I did it worked. I am including both ways here because one or the other might work for you.

Wiring up the Tachometer

Now it's time to wire up the tachometer. On the MFC, this is a brown wire that comes out with the rest of the wires (there is another brown wire that comes out the side that I will talk about later). This one needs to go down the passenger's side wiring channel instead of the driver's side one. If you've already laid it down the wrong one, don't worry, it should be pretty easy to pull back through.

This wire was short on my MFC, so I had to splice it to a longer wire. The guys at connect2car told me that they are thinking of phasing this wire out all together, but I think it offers some cool features.

The brown wire needs to go to the ECU. On the WRX, this is below the passenger side foot rest. If you pull the carpet back under the glove compartment you will see a kick plate. Remove that and there is your ECU.

The ECU

The red wire coming up on the right side of the ECU is my tach wire. Here is a diagram of the ECU plugs on an '03 WRX.

The tach wire is located at C9. Here it is:

RPM, C9, Green

It may be a good idea to confirm that this is your tach wire. Plug your negative terminal back in (you have it unplugged, right?) and connect that wire to the positive terminal of your multimeter, and touch a ground point with the negative terminal.

Set to a 20Volt scale, you should be able to start the engine and see a couple volts across that wire. Revving the engine will increase the voltage. It should be between 1-6 volts.

Once you're sure you've got the right wire, go ahead an connect it. Connecting this to the MFC let's you know when the engine is on, and roughly what the RPMs are at. This can be helpful information for various reasons, so it's worth doing.

Connecting the Alarm
The MFC has a feature that will send you a text message when your alarm is activated. Realistically, you could hook this feature up to anything (Check engine light, headlights, ignition, etc.), but since you probably only want a text message when your alarm goes off, that's the best place to put it.

The wire we need is a brown wire that connects to the side of the MFC. This connects to a wire in the car that is +12V only when the alarm is activated. I found one next to the emergency brake. The plastic panel there is only clipped in, so it should be easy to take off.

Run the wire under the carpet to that center console. You might need to employ the use of a hanger or something to get that wire through, it can be a tight fit. Once you have it where it needs to be, splice it into the grey (I'm pretty sure it's grey, but you're testing everything with the multimeter anyway, right?) To double check you have the right wire, use the multimeter on that wire and see if you get +12V when the alarm is activated.

Once you're spliced in, you can test the system by activating your alarm. I noticed that if the alarm activates for a second, the system will not be triggered. There seems to be a delay where the alarm has to go off for a couple of seconds before it texts you. This is handy so that you don't get a text if you accidently activate your alarm and immediately turn it off.

Connecting the Remote Start

Now that we've tackled all the easy stuff, it's time to install the remote start unit. This is where I leave you in the capable hands of this thread on NASIOC. This tells you everything you need to know to install your remote starter. Here are a few notes to clarify/correct information on that thread.

• I did not wire up the hood pin. I ran the hood pin wire from my alarm directly into the neutral sense on the ECU. This may be a good or bad idea, depending on who you ask.
• Use diodes. This will protect your ECU should anything happen.
• Starting the car with the OEM alarm activated will trigger the alarm. To avoid this, you need to hook up a relay that will cut power to the alarm module (by the e-brake) when the car is started. You can use the same wire that you did for the clutch override, and similar relay wiring.
• The neutral position switch is located a A8 on your ECU. Test, test, test this with a voltmeter to make sure you got the right wire. Once you've hooked it up, push the clutch in and put your car in gear. Try to remote start. It should fail because it's in gear. Take it out of gear and try again, it should now work.
• Double test the neutral switch! Test it every once in a while to make sure it is still working!

Links and Information

That about wraps things up. Here are some links to help you out and information that I used in this article.

Connect2Car (This is where you get the MFC from)
Ultimate Alarm/Remote Starter Thread
Getting Keyless Entry to Work while the engine is running
Relays for Dummies
Blocking Diodes
'02-'03 WRX ECU Pinout
Remote Starter Manuls (Omega)

I am available to answer any questions you have. Just leave a comment here and I will get it and respond in kind. Also, check out mp3car.com, NASIOC, Scoobymods, and google for tons more information.

There's a post on Wikihow that explains how to celebrate Earth Day, and half of it has to do with the exact same thing we advocate here at DIY:happy. Coincidence? I think NOT, brosephs. 

GO PLANT A TREE,
Recycle your clothes! Make old clothes into new clothes.
Bamboo AGAIN. It's an epidemic at DIY:happy, here's how to grow it yourself.
Live without a car. Or at least try to.
Swap or recycle from others, on Freecycle.
Craigslist has a lot of free stuff, recycle everything!
Dumpster dive! We all love dumpster diving, right?
Become a Freegan (NOT for everyone). If you're hardcore anti-establishment, or anti-capitalism, this is worth a look at. If you don't dig being cold, hungry, unemployed or vegetarian, Freeganism is something to pass up.
Actually recycle when you're getting rid of something!
Become a member of a radical environmental organization?

That's all we can think of right now.
Happy Earth Day!

Any more links? Send them our way!

I've seen a few examples of these on the Internet and decided to give it a try. It turned out great, but I must warn you: Melting plastic creates toxic fumes. Open windows and have a fan running to make sure you don't knock yourself out/grow a third arm.

Ingredients:

- Plastic beads (I used large pony beads, but any size will work, as long as they're plastic)

- Metal bowl, cupcake tin, bread tin, etc

- Oven

- Windows!!! And a fan!

To make it:

1. Line the beads in the bowl/metal object. You can also make patterns and arrangements on cookie sheets, or use a cookie cutter and place them inside. They don't all have to lie flat, but make them only one bead deep. If you're using a bowl, stack the beads taller than you think you want it; when the bowl melts, they will sink down and it will be much shallower.

2. Preheat the oven to around 350 degrees and pop your creations in. I ended up turning up the oven because I'm impatient, and I didn't see any big problems with that, but it definitely smells more.

3. Keep checking the beads. It'll take about 20 minutes or more to melt.

4. When it looks soupy and completely melted, pull the bowl out of the oven and allow the plastic to cool.

5. Flip it over and tap the bottom with a hammer or spoon to dislodge the plastic. It should come out relatively easily.

Here are some other projects I've found made of melted beads:

A vase. Melt the beads in a circular pie tin, then lay the disc flat on a soda can and remelt it.

A windchime. Melt them on a cookie sheet arranged in cookie cutters.

Artwork. Arrange the beads on a cookie sheet to form a picture.

Lampshade. Create a tinfoil mold of a standing plastic lampshade, and arrange the beads in it.

I have spent some time installing a Mac Mini in my car. It's an ongoing project and far from finished - but the results are good enough to be shown to the discerning DIY:happy crowd now. Features include easy touch-screen media control, war-driving tools, mobile internet (1mbps down, 300kbps up according to my tests), GPS, and more.

I have started working on security features as well - remote GPS tracking of the car as well as the ability to remote execute scripts on the computer itself which automatically uploads it's IP address to my server each time it connects to the net. Security systems are independent and redundant.

Check it out in a five part series on my personal blog. 1-4 deal with construction, skip to the last post if you just want to see the results.

Carputer 1 - LCD and front panel
Carputer 2 - A tragic tale of defeat
Carputer 3 - Resolution
Carputer 4 - Installation
Carputer 5 - Final Product

In an effort to create the ultimate DIY toolkit, I have decided to create a list of "DIY essentials." These are items that come in handy in so many projects that it is necessary to keep them on hand at all times. Often these are simple items that just have a ton of modding potential.

DUCT TAPE

Any respectable list of necessary DIY tools would be incomplete without at least mentioning duct tape (AKA gaffa tape). I decided to mention it first because it was the easiest and most obvious choice.

From wallets to prom dresses to bean bags, duct tape has earned it's place at the top of the DIY scene. There have been books written on its many uses and websites devoted to cataloging extensive duct tape projects.

See: A Million Uses for Duct Tape, 101 Uses For Duct Tape, Packing Tape Sculptures, CD Cases Galore.

FILM CANISTERS

Film canisters are another handy item that can be made into all sorts of crafts, bombs, and containers/organizers. The fact that they are readily available to anyone who takes pictures (okay, not so much nowadays with digital cameras and all) makes them even more useful.

See: Remote Camera Trigger, Soldering Wire Holder, Film Canister Rocket.

LEDs

Any project or craft, electronic in nature or not, can be made better by attaching a few LEDs. With their low power consumption, wide availability of colors and styles, and small size, LEDs can be put in almost anything, anywhere for some added aesthetics. They can truly turn any project into an every day DIY to a feature in the next issue of MAKE.

LEDs can be purchased inexpensively or pilfered out of existing electronics. They have a long life and are fairly resilient to the elements.

See: LED Throwies (ghetto version), Wearable Pixels, Pimp Bed, Shake Light, Bright LED Flashlight.

Tip: A great way to find more DIY projects involving any tool like film canisters, duct tape, or LEDs, is to do a google image search. You may be surprised with what you find!

There are many more items that belong on the list. Send us your ideas for DIY essentials part 2 in the comments or at tips@diyhappy.com