Sony Alpha A7R

Sony just announced a real nice mirror less digital camera with interchangeable lenses. Best thing is it is a full frame sensor camera with a 36 megapixel sensor. I want a powerhouse in a small package and it is true that dynamite comes in small packages. This will turn the DSLR world on its head. I will be able to use the A-mount lenses and utilize the auto focus functions and I can also put on hundreds of older good glass for manual work. They will offer 3 new lenses from the beginning but I purchased it with only two adaptors to allow me to use my existing glass. Going to pick up some rigging from Jag35 so I can do a few things I was unable to do in the past. Or at least make it easier. It will be on par with all the major Full Frame DSLR cameras including the Blackmagic Cinema camera and the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema camera. It will be a dynamite camera. I am stoked at being able to purchase it and its going to be perfect. I will be able to make a small but very functional package for taking on the road for doing some interviews of guys with electric car builds. It is something that is needed and since most are not doing it themselves I will provide that needed information. Part time of course and all on my dime.

The camera will do uncompressed raw as well as a few other codecs if you want and I can couple it to my Blackmagic Hyperdeck Shuttle 2 for a whopping 480 gigs of storage and either uncompressed or Apple Prores 422 HQ codec from the Shuttle. Photos are raw or jpg. I plan on all raw photos and uncompressed or Apple Prores 422 HQ.

I chose this one over either the Blackmagic Cinema or Pocket Cinema camera and this is a full frame sensor which neither of the Blackmagic  cameras provide. I can utilize the entire industry of 35mm glass that is for a full frame size sensor and utilize many and still have autofocus functionality. Many will be plain manual but that is good as well. This is one kick ass camera. Should have it in my hands by the end of November and I will do a full review.

Pete :)


The XGA OLED Tru-Finder is the camera's very high resolution eye-level electronic viewfinder. It which features OLED improvements and the same 3-lens optical system used in the flagship A99. Sony claims it will display three times the contrast of the A99. High-end features like 100% frame coverage and a wide viewing angle are also provided.

The tiltable 3-inch (1,229k dot resolution) Xtra Fine™ LCD Display makes it easy to photograph over crowds or low to capture pets eye to eye by swinging up approx. 84° and down approx. 45°.Sony says images will be dramatically more visible in bright daylight on this monitor.

Connectivity with smartphones for One-touch sharing/One-touch remote has been simplified with Wi-Fi®/NFC control.  In addition to Wi-Fi support for connecting to smartphones, α7R also supports NFC (near field communication) providing “one touch connection” convenience when transferring images to Android™ smartphones and tablets. (Sorry, no iPhones or iPads...yet.) Users need only touch devices to connect. When using Smart Remote Control — a feature that allows shutter release to be controlled by a smartphone — connection to the smartphone can be established by simply touching compatible devices.

The A7R outputs 14-bit RAW image data which Sony says fully preserves the rich detail generated by the image sensor during the 14-bit A/D conversion process. When developed with Sony’s Image Data Converter RAW development software, these images deliver the superb photographic expression and rich gradation that only 14-bit data can offer.

Video capture is full 1920 x 1080 HD uncompressed clean-screen video in 60p and 60i frame-rates.  Selectable in-camera AVCHD codec frames rates include super-smooth 60p, standard 60i or cinematic 24p. MP4 codec is also available for smaller files for easier upload to the web.

The Sony Alpha A7R will be available body only for $2,299.99.

DC Generator

Well I finally got my initial setup done with my little Diesel engine and my little starter/generator. The generator is quite modest in size but was built to last. My goal has been to couple the two together and get about 36 or so volts and some pretty decent amperage out of the little generator to use as a stationary  DC source for charging my small pack of LiFePO4 cells using my Synkromotive controller as the charger. The initial test is to see if I can even get a decent voltage from the little generator. Well, I did. I did not get what I was wanting but with a bit of tweaking I am sure I can get a bit closer. I did a video but for some reason the volume is terrible low. I must have mucked with a setting or two and forgot about it. So I will do another video tomorrow after work. In the mean time here are some photos of the setup. I only wanted to do a general setup because if the unit did not work as expected there really is no use in building a nice frame to hold the two together. But now that the initial testing is looking good I may start to plan on a nice frame that I can carry if needed. It would also be mounted on a small trailer and enclosed to reduce the noise from the Diesel. One nice thing is that this little diesel is California Emission Compliant. That is a big deal. I can also if I want, run BioDiesel. I may just do that too. But for tonight here are the pics of the setup I did. Works pretty good too.

Pete :)

A little headway

I went to the Bearing and Chain store in town and picked up two pulleys and taper lock bushings for my small Diesel engine and DC starter/generator for my DC generator project. I got both the pulleys installed and ready to go. Now all I need to do is bust out the TIG welder and sawzall and build a frame for both components. One pulley is 6" and the other is 4". I wanted to do a 2 to 1 but the small pulley was too fat to allow good grip on the motor shaft so I went with a taller pulley and narrower one that will allow full grip on the motor shaft. I should have enough grip to at least make a test to see how well this system will work. If it produces good power I may even try to see how well the motor runs with this connected directly and use the clutch and throttle of the generator to adjust speed. I will need to provide good cooling for the little DC generator. It is mostly for doing stationary DC charging for my VW Roadster setup. I am truly hoping for good results since my controller can do any DC source. I can use the throttle for the engine to regulate the generator and keep it at a constant speed. DC motor should pump out 36 volts and up to 400 amps of oomph.

Pete :)

I'll get some pictures tomorrow when I get home. I'll also get my welder and supplies ready for the frame build. Pics are always good. I'll need to build a way to hold the motor steady too. Should be pretty easy. I have pretty crude tools here so don't expect super clean looking stuff. I'd do thick aluminum but don't have any of that so I must use square steel stock and flat plate for the adjustable base. The electric motor will be on the adjustable base. Diesel will not.

CALB SE

Looks like I found some more CALB SE cells for my VW Roadster build. This will be a welcome find. I plan on using 60 100 AH Cells to give me 192 volt nominal system. I will run the voltage at 156 volts and my motor amps at 800 and my battery amps at 500 amps. This will give me a voltage sag pad and I should get a solid 156 volts even under load. I may have to limit the voltage to 144 or even 120 volts. But I will be able to utilize my controller as a charger and if I use a dedicated 120 volt 200 amp circuit I can plug in and do some fast charging. I will need a nice inductor but I now have that and should get up to 75 amp charging from that into the cells and 215 volts for charging. Before I do that I will do a charge setup for DC charging to see if my Diesel DC generator will work for 120 volt charging and 100 amp current levels to charge in short order. I do expect some heat.

I do have my funds for my AC-75 for the Porsche 914. Soon.

Pete :)

914 Lives

After getting my tires I took my car to work and back. The car ran like total crap. Had to work it with toe and heel to keep the idle up. It sucked way too much gas for the drive then after I got home I just could not get it going again. So another week and a half mucking and futzing around with the car it finally started again but still ran like crap. I now have my book and I kept looking at what I have done and everything else and just could not figure out what was wrong. There are a set of points specific for the fuel injection and I decided to take out the distributor to have a look. These points are not the regular points for the spark plugs. But when I got the distributor off I noticed that the points were nearly closed at the cam high point on the distributor. I also noted that they were badly pitted and OLD. I dug through my box of old VW parts and found an old Performance 009 Distributor that had a nearly new set of points. My luck it was a perfect match. Not so lucky actually because it is after all a VW engine. A Type IV pancake engine. I set my points to .015. The book says .016. After setting all the stuff back to original I only had to bump things a tiny bit to smooth it out and the beastie now runs smooth and idles as it should. Took it out for a spin and it runs great.

I still have that annoying blinking light on my dash. It is actually a bad switch on the E Brake handle. The switch is actually on the body in a very difficult place to get to but it is for sure a busted switch. It is a common switch so should be easy to find a new replacement with all my VW parts. This type of switch is used for trunk lights and engine compartment lights when you open them in the dark. I need to fish out the wires and then connect in a new switch and it should be just perfect.

All the lights work except the low head light on the drivers side. I figured it was a minor issue until I got the rest of the problems ironed out.

Looks like things are shaping up nicely.

Pete :)

Toyo Versado Eco Tires

Got my Toyo Versado Eco Tires mounted today. Drove in with a nasty low idle issue but it made the trip. Runs great above idle. Car is very responsive and handles well. Ooops. after leaving the tire shop I noticed a nasty front shimmy that was not there before. Seems like they screwed up on the balance job. On heavy acceleration and around 65 mph I get the shimmy. While its shimmying the car still tracks straight and true. So it leads me to think a crappy balancing job. Other than that the tires are great so far. Quiet and smooth. But when it starts to shimmy it sucks. I got most of my light issues fixed. Most but not all. When I turn on the key I have a blinker light on the dash blinking all the time even when the blinker is not on. When I turn the blinker on for the left side it works great but not on the right. Head lights work except one is burnt out on the low light. Easy fix. I have a spare. Running lights all work. Horn works. Radio works. Reverse lights work. Brake lights work. The guy had a single filament light in a dual filament socket. Ouch. Now both brake lights work.

Still figuring out my idle issue too. Replaced some old crappy hoses in hopes of fixing the issue but still no go. They needed replaced anyway so it would have been done sooner or later. Now is good.

Here is a video of the Toyo Versado Eco Tires.

914 is

Hey, my 914 is now legal. Went to the DMV today after work. Dang, I should have gone to the DMV 30 minutes before closing before. Got through in less than 20 minutes. Amazing, because it was a walk in thing. I then stopped at the insurance company and put it on my insurance.

Fixed the brake pedal dust boot. Checked brakes and blinkers. Well, I guess all my electrical is not up to snuff. I am now getting a blinking light on my dash when I turn on the power. No brake lights and only one side has proper blinkers. Drivers side has the blinker blinking the wrong light and its not even blinking brightly.

Going to track down the problem so I can drive. Mostly I need the brake lights to work. Will check the switch tomorrow. Easy enough to do. Fuses are all good. Some wires some where must be out of whack. Gotta track them down. Sucks.

Anyway I found a nice little video that is a three day highlight of the past EVCCON 2013. So if you have not seen it, here it is.