The Halfass Craftsman Blog

We do a damn good job!
C-Band : Harvesting a BUD (Big Ugly Dish)

C-Band : Harvesting a BUD (Big Ugly Dish)

C-Band satellite dishes used to be the thing to have.  In the late 90's, the advent of small DBS (pizza pan) dishes killed them off as they were large, heavy, some say ugly, and required a lot of maintenance. In these next couple posts I will be documenting my first try at setting up a C-band dish or BUD for feed hunting. Quick back story, I was...

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Solar Pool Heater – DIY and Cheap

Solar Pool Heater – DIY and Cheap

Spring is here and the weather is warming up but the pool is not.  It takes until about May in this part of NW FL for the pool to get warm enough for me.  But thats way too far away when its early April currently.  The Half Ass Craftsmen came up with a plan to build a solar pool heater to speed this heating process up.  Now this isn't a...

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Fiber Optic Concrete Stars In The Sidewalk

Fiber Optic Concrete Stars In The Sidewalk

With the advent of LEDs bringing cheap, compact and low energy lights to the world at a rapid pace, I have been trying to find uses for them in less than normal applications.  A recent project, inspired by a trip to Epcot center, found an interesting use for LEDs, fiber optics and concrete.  I have an old satellite dish pole in the yard.  I...

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