It’s done: It ain’t pretty: It works!
O.K. What am I carrying on about? Each week I seem to be able to get another little project off my punch list toward finishing the new bicycle. This week it was a battery eliminator circuit, (BEC) to power the electronic speed control, (ESC) for the electric assist drive on Golanth, our new bicycle. The BEC was designed with the help of Neil, my Son-In-Law, and is really a dual voltage battery eliminator. I needed 4.8 volts for the speed controller and I also need 3 volts to power the microprocessor and the thumb throttle.

The project was not without some tense moments, however. I was nearly reduced to tears trying to do a simple soldering job. I would get each part lined out on the circuit board and grip it in my special double jointed vice. It used to be simple. Now my shaky hand bounces around splattering solder all over the place. I would then spend fifteen minutes whittling the solder bridges and cleaning up the mess. I finally enlisted Judy to handle the soldering iron and we finished up the project in good order. By the way, the holes in the circuit board are 10 to the inch, the board is just over 3 inches long.
When I tested it one BEC worked fine and gave the required 4.8 volts. The other one was reading 13 volts. After studying the back side of the board with the magnifying lenses I found a very thin bead of solder connecting the main power bus, 13 Volts, to the control pin of the regulator. I whittled away that solder bridge and everything worked perfectly.
By the way, we have changed locations again. We are at the Fort Yamhill State Heritage Area for the next two months. This is a free, day use park; part of the Oregon State Park system. Those of our friends that have campers can visit the nearby Spirit Mountain Casino and use their free camping while they visit. Otherwise if you are on your way to Lincoln City, Tillamook or Pacific City, give yourself an extra hour or two and drop by and let us show you around. Our days off are Monday and Tuesday. On the other days we can spend lots of time showing you around our park anyway because it is part of our job. Beginning on July 14th there will be archeological digs going on in the park and we will be conducting daily tours of these digs.
So as the old song says:
Y’all come; Y’all come
Y’all come to see us by and by

Post Script Blog:
Today is now Monday, July 8th and we are sitting on the shores of Silletz Bay in Lincoln City. The wind is at our backs and the sun is bright and warm over our shoulders. Off in the distance I see two children wading in the water about half way to where a kayaker is paddling; holding his position and it looks like he is fishing. Those kids have to be freezing. We just had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Mo’s.
Gary and Judy