DIY video camera slider

Posted by on March 20th, 2012  •  4 responses  •  Full Article

DIY video camera slider

I’ve spent the last week tinkering out in the garage with a video camera slider. They are also called glide tracks. This is version two. I made my first version from copper pipe, but that was a disaster. This one is a copy of something I have only seen in you tube videos. If you buy it from him, you get a finished, very professional product. It is totally worth the money to buy it pre-made from the guy who invented this concept…you do NOT want to spend 3 long days out in the garage making all the mistakes I made to come up with a poor copy of his amazing invention.

Still, it was a fun way to spend time, and I learned a lot. If you do insist on building this, you will need a good drill press, a hack saw and some aluminum, plus $90 worth of stainless steel rod. I got the metal at http://www.metalsupermarkets.com/

camera slider

camera slider

I’ve not yet filmed any good footage with this. My camera and I are still getting to know each other. When I get some good slider footage I will post it here.

camera slider

DIY ham radio antenna mount for Toyota Tacoma

Posted by on March 17th, 2012  •  0 Comments  •  Full Article

These are pictures of my DIY ham radio Tarheel antenna mount for a 2004 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck.

I built this from steel bar purchased at Home Depot. The bolts are stainless steel one quarter twenty. I did not do a good job of painting it. Ideally it would have been made from stainless steel, but that is a bit harder to find. I have recently discovered http://www.metalsupermarkets.com/. They are an amazing chain of stores that sell all kinds of metal in small quantities for home inventors.

Notice the bare unpainted metal. I kept all the contact surfaces free of paint so there would be an electrical ground to the car body, from the antenna.

Here are the holes I drilled in my Tacoma pickup. I made a dummy out of cardboard to get the measurements right before I started cutting metal. When this antenna was mounted, I had scraped off all the paint where the antenna was mounted on the truck for electrical ground. I have since removed the mount and repainted the truck. No holes show from the outside of the truck.

If I remount this in the future, I will use a better paint. I hurried the paint job, and it peeled as you can see in the photos. I took my Tarheel antenna off because I got bored with ham radio. I sold all my ham gear and put the money toward my new hobby: DSLR cinematography.

 

Had better weekends

Posted by on March 12th, 2012  •  0 Comments  •  Full Article

I’ve been working on a glidecam/steadicam system for walking with a DSLR video camera. I’m getting close, but my machinist skills are holding me back. I’ve also started working on a DIY glide track slide cam. This last DIY project is coming together faster, though his copper rails seem weak.

I was standing at the Seattle gym Sunday. Marty fell and landed on top of me from about 15 feet up. It wasn’t really L’s fault. There is a lot of rope stretch on high top ropes, and I shouldn’t have been standing under Marty, I know better. I felt a bunch of cracking and popping in my neck as his rear collided with the top of my head. He said it was a glancing blow. He was already coming tight on L’s belay when he hit me, so it could have been much worse. But my neck is not real happy right  now.

Even worse, my son was skiing the trees at Baker Saturday. He had over tightened his bindings for jumping, it was the last run of the day, his partner had already quit, and he was feeling cocky, skiing carelessly through the trees. He hooked a tip in a tree, which stopped him fast since the overtightened binding didn’t release. He tore a bunch of ligaments in his knee, though we won’t know just how bad until he sees an ortho guy tomorrow.

Like I said, we’ve had better weekends. I can tell it’s getting towards the end of the quarter. A few days off will be very nice. I’m looking forward to capturing a lot of video.

Scam artist working fraud on craigslist

Posted by on March 4th, 2012  •  2 responses  •  Full Article

I had a close call with a scam artist on Craiglist.

Canon 50D for sale

Canon 50D for sale

I’m going to post in the email exchange for your dining entertainment. I had listed my Canon 50D, body only, for sale for $670. I am new to craigslist.org, and made all the classic mistakes. However, the one thing I did right was to check directly with PayPal, instead of trusting that I had a live one on the line. The Nigeria address was my first clue that a craiglist scam artist was at work.

Here is the email trail, her letters to me are in blue:

———————–
Monica Smith; mstone.smith@gmail.com; via craigslist.org
Mar 1 (2 days ago)

** CRAIGSLIST ADVISORY — AVOID SCAMS BY DEALING LOCALLY
** Avoid: wiring money, cross-border deals, work-at-home
** Beware: cashier checks, money orders, escrow, shipping
** More Info: http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Hi Seller,It good to come across your item and i have interest on purchase
it.
—————

Mark Webster
Mar 1 (2 days ago)

to Monica:
Sure, give me a call at 253-123-4578.
thanks for your interest,
-Mark
—————-
I appreciate the prompt response to my inquiry,am much satisfied with
the condition and price of the item and i would like to make an out
right purchase immediately so i will advice that you withdraw the
advert from the web because I’m ready to purchase it and my form of
payment will be by paying you through pay pal email account,and i will
add shipping fee,was the item in good condition or is there any
scratch
– Monika
—————

To Monika:

There are two minor spots where the paint has worn off. Did you click the link in the ad to see the detailed photos? I will pull the ad when I see the funds in Paypal. Send Paypal funds to (email address) . I will ship to your address. Please add shipping cost.
– Mark
—————–
to Mark:

i will process with the payment shortly and i will get back to you as
soon as the funds is transfer..

– Monica
——————
Email Title:
Payment Made::::::::::::Re: Canon 50D body only – $670

On Thu, Mar 1, 2012 at 7:41 PM, Monica Smith <mstone3893@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Mate,
Am glad to get back to you in regards to the payment for the
item,this is to inform you that i had made the payment via paypal and
your money has been deducted from my account, which i believe you
will be contacted shortly.Moreover,i included the shipping cost of the
item to the payment. As soon as you received the payment confirmation
i want you to get the item shipped and make sure the item is shipped
via POST OFFICE, USPS Global Express Mail(EMS).My Son’s address
information is here below…..So here is my Son’s shipping address

Name :Michael O
Address : No 30 Olanipekun Str,Ososami road,
City : Ibadan,
State : Oyo- State,
Country : Nigeria,
Zip Code : 23402.

That’s is the shipping address and i want you to get back to me as
soon as you shipped out the item…

Thanks for the concept of the business.
– Monika
—————————-

Email title:
service@paypal.com© Payment Confirmation from PayPal

Dear mark@email.com,

This message is originated from PayPal regarding the payment of $820.00 USD which our Verified Buyer Monica Smith made into your account.The payment has been approved and confirmed by our accounting department.All necessary protocols has been cross checked through his account and found legit.We urge you to get the item mailed out to the provisional address and do get back to us with the shipment tracking number for proof of postage and quick accreditation of your funds into your account.

Thanks for using PayPal.
PayPal accounting department
———————

Email title:
service@paypal.com© About Your Fund : PayPal Safety Measures Agains Online Fraud

Protect Yourself From Fake Emails
PayPal is your partner against fraudulent emails.
Learn how to identify and avoid fraudulent—or spoof—emails and websites in PayPal’s Identity Theft Protection Resource area.

Dear mark@email.com ,

We have received an order from one of our customer to make an instant payment of $820.00 USD to your PayPal account. The payment has been made successfully and the money has been credited to your PayPal account but you will not have access to it. However, since this money is meant for a purchase or a service that involve a Shipping Company.We have to receive a confirmation that you have shipped the Canon 50D body only before the money will be available for spending. This is due to the large increase in the rate of the online scams recorded last year (2010). We have changed some of our rules and regulation to make sure our clients, are safe from scam, PayPal in conjunction with The FBI and The IFCC has invented certain preventive measure to ensure the safety of our customers.

Such measure are:

1. Once a payment is made, A confirmation Email will be sent to the seller that the payment has been made to state the transaction details which has been sent to you. Also a confirmation is sent to the buyer that the money has been deducted from his or her account. So once you get this mail,You should take necessary action and get back to us with the confirmation that you have sent Canon 50D body only. Once we have confirmed the information provided with the shipping company, the money will be available instantly.

2. Once a payment is made and it has been approved by PayPal, such transaction is Sealed (because both seller and buyer must have come to a conclusion before payment is made by the buyer) so therefore neither the buyer or seller can cancel this transaction or ask for the returned to the buyer’s account. Also, this is where we generate our income, because the more transaction made through PayPal, the more we generate our Income.

3. Failure to abide by these laid down safety measures by PayPal may leads to suspension from PayPal and further more invitation to an interrogation with the F.B.I

So can you see we are very considerate about the safety of both buyer and seller.

Note: The shipment tracking number most be provide.

Thank you for using PayPal!

Help Center – Contact Us

Help by Email

Our Customer Service team is specially trained to address all account inquiries. Send us an email and
we will reply promptly. Contact Customer Service fundsalertonline@accountant.com.

——————

Mark Webster
Mar 1 (2 days ago)

to Monica:
I’ve not seen the money in my account. Also, I just checked shipping
costs and it will cost $320 to ship to Nigeria. I’m sorry, I don’t
trust you.

I’m going to change the add so that it reads, local sale only. I want
to meet my buyer face to face, I will not ship.

Thanks for your interest.
– Mark
————
Monica Smith mstone3893@gmail.com
Mar 1 (2 days ago)

to Mark:
what do you mean after i made the payment and the funds has been
deducted from my pay pal account and you are tell all this…i will
mail pay pal now..

—————-

Mark Webster
Mar 1 (2 days ago)

to Monica:
I don’t see the money in Paypal. If it does show up, I will have them
send it back to you. Frankly, I think you are running some kind of a
scam.

If you are honest, you will get your money back. Did you send it to
the correct address?
– Mark
————-

Lessons Learned:

Never ship at craigslist. Always deal face to face in a safe public place, like a starbucks, and accept only cash. Bring a friend with you for safety. If you see misspelled words in your email responses, this is a clue that you may be working with a scam artist. If they won’t call you, and prefer email…another clue.

If you got this far, you will understand that I am exaggerating a little for poetic effect in the following paragraph. YMMV [Your mileage may vary]  🙂

If craigslist customers come to your house, and this is sometimes unavoidable…it might be wise to invite Uncle Vern and a couple of his hunting buddies over. Have them clean their bear hunting bows on the kitchen table.

“Oh, yeah, this is my Uncle Vern…don’t worry about him, he’s harmless…so, did you want to look at the sofa?”