Intro:
      Behold! The KCC, Krill's Camping Companion, the very latest in Camp Site Location Recovery Equipment!






About:
      This particular revision is cappable of reaching a max height of 18 feet (4 feet when telescoped),
runs entirely off 12v for easy connectivity to a cigarette lighter jack or directly off a car battery.
It's equiped with a 4 channel 1mile ranged transmit/receiver pair for long range remote operation.
It has 2 ultra mega bright lamps, one aimed down for flood lighting your camp site, and the other aimed
up and linked to a 1sec-on/1sec-off blink circuit to provide a visual beacon for finding your way back
to the site at night, and because it's blinking there's no mistaking that this is your site.



Raise/Lower Features:
      There are bolts on the draw line that make contact with the safty sensors so when the tower reaches
max/min hight, the motors stop. The Sensors also send a signal to the 'one-shot' circuit which breifly
cuts power to the receiver so that the latched relays that made it go up/down in the first place are
reset. This way you don't have to press the button on your handheld remote again after the towers
transition is complete.






Transmitter:

The 4 buttons on the Transmitter are:       D = Tower Down       C = Tower Up       A = Flood Lamps       B = Beacon

Other Images:

All the electrical components are gently fit into this hard yet durable plastic pipet housing. I get these things by the boatload from Khine's lab, who throws several out daily.

The One-shot driver. This is the circuit responsible for resetting the receiver once the tower is at the minimum or maximum height. Otherwise you would have to press the button again once the raise/lower action is complete.

This is the Beacon driver. A compact little circuit similar to a cars turn signal that allows the beacon lamp to blink.

Schematic:
      Here is my final drawing used for the prototyping plans.



Related Videos:



Closing Remark:
      So if you've strayed too far from your camp site deep in the woods, or forgot to take note where your tent
is in the sea of other tents at a music festival, you'd have nothing to worry about if you had this, The KCC!

Viewer Comments

Name: Shane Time: 07:25 AM Date: April 17, 2009 Comment:     Nice, Dan. Wish I were coming to help field test this baby. :(

Name: km Time: 10:37 AM Date: April 17, 2009 Comment:     Encase the lower half of it in a black metal box and it'll all be ready to be sold!

Name: Em Time: 06:44 AM Date: April 23, 2009 Comment:     So the question remains, when are you coming to PA to go camping and test her out?

Name: Time: 09:55 PM Date: July 04, 2012 Comment:     http://gizmodo.com/5923167/glowing-beacon-ensures-youll-never-get-lost-in-a-sea-of-tents-again

Leave A Comment

	NAME:	REMARK: