Articles by t0m
Hack-O-Tronic Incubator
After a fox attack I found myself with an empty coop and decided to hatch out a new brood. As a first timer to incubating, I would never have found the information that I needed if it wasn't for BYC! All of your hatching stories and pictures gave me the crazy idea that...
Hack-O-Tronic Thermostat
I am no electronics whizz. I may look like I never see sunlight, but honestly I really am not one of those subterranean experts -- It's just that I live in England. But I did hack together a functional thermostat by adapting the design from a Velleman Kit. It needed a...
Microwave Incubator Build
Step 2. Egg turner
Principle of the rolling egg turner, from the Brinsea Incubation Handbook:
Honeycomb egg cage made from 68 mm PVC down pipe. "Legs" made from longer sections split lengthwise. Microwave plate covered in anti-slip mat.
Parts list...
*** Under Construction ***
Microwave Incubator Build
Step 5. Final touches
Checked over the electrics one last time. Made sure the ground wire was connected to the chassis. Checked that live mains wire was connected through fuse. Checked value of fuse.
Put back the microswitch assembly so...
Microwave Incubator Build
Step 4. Thermostat, lights, and fan
I've already documented the electronic thermostat that I built for my little polystyrene forced air 'bator. My original plan was to borrow it, along with the 12 V 10 W halogen lamps, light fitting, and fan, and put the whole lot...
Microwave Incubator
A brief outline for a homemade, autoturning incubator that can be left over long periods (say if I go away for the weekend). In practice I suspect pretty low hatch rates will result from all of the bumping about that the eggs are subjected to.
MICROWAVE OVENS ARE HIGH...
Microwave Incubator Build
DISCLAIMER
Careless repair or modification of a microwave oven can result in death or worse. Experienced technicians have met their maker as a result of a momentary lapse of judgement while testing an oven with the cover removed. Microwave ovens are without...
Microwave Incubator Build
Step 3. Timer
I borrowed the concept for the electronic timer from here -- refer to this webpage for a description of how the circuit works. I made the following substitutions:
Not having the CD4060B chip I substituted a 74HC4060 (U1). This necessitated a 5 V...
*** Under Construction ***
Microwave Incubator Build
Step 6. Prepare to incubate
Located the repurposed oven somewhere suitable. Adjusted the heating and/or humidity in the room. Wrapped the incubator in further thermal cladding. Put in thermometers/hygrometers, water sponges/diapers...