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By Jason Poel Smith

The Magic 8 Ball is a fun toy that answers yes or no questions in a variety of ways. There are 20 different responses that it can give (10 positive, 5 non-committal, and 5 negative). A different answer is written on each face of a 20 sided die that floats in a blue liquid.

Each time you turn over the 8 ball it randomly displays one of the answers. This can be an amusing way to speculate about life’s many questions, but it lacks versatility. So I decided to augment my Magic 8 Ball with a digital picture keychain. This let me store up to 60 picture responses and I can change them whenever I want. So in this project, I am going to show you how to make a digital picture Magic 8 Ball.

Here’s the build on Make: Projects and Instructables:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Digital-Magic-8-Ball/

In Episode 5 of Maker Hangar, Lucas Weakley teaches us about servos, these are the little motors that move the control surfaces on RC planes. We learn about the different parts of a servo, and what each of them do. We see how to classify servos by their sizes, weights, and strength. Lucas also goes over the different types of linkages and the techniques on hooking up control surfaces.

MAKE and Lucas Weakley have teamed up to bring you Maker Hangar, a 15-episode tutorial series that will teach you everything you need to know to build and fly this custom RC plane, the Maker Trainer.

New installments will air every Tuesday and Thursday through August. Also, be sure to join us on the Maker Hangar Google+ Community page to share your ideas, comments, photos and video and details for your own RC plane project builds.

Lucas Weakley is a 17-year-old Eagle Scout who will be a senior next year in the Engineering and Manufacturing Institute for Technology (EMIT) at Forest High School in Ocala, Fla. Lucas became interested in flight and got his first RC plane for his ninth birthday. Recently he’s been designing and building his own planes and hosts an R/C aircraft YouTube show called BusyBee TV. Lucas also has his own aerial videography company called TopView Aerials.

For more information about the series, as well as archived videos, head to the Maker Hangar page.

In Episode 4 of the Maker Hangar series, Lucas Weakley teaches us about lithium polymer, or li-po, batteries, used in R/C aircraft. Lucas covers the numbers and letters that classify these batteries, how to determine where to place the battery for balancing the plane, charging the batteries, and safety concerns.

MAKE and Lucas Weakley have teamed up to bring you Maker Hangar, a 15-episode tutorial series that will teach you everything you need to know to build and fly this custom RC plane, the Maker Trainer.

New installments will air every Tuesday and Thursday through August. Also, be sure to join us on the Maker Hangar Google+ Community page to share your ideas, comments, photos and video and details for your own RC plane project builds.

Lucas Weakley is a 17-year-old Eagle Scout who will be a senior next year in the Engineering and Manufacturing Institute for Technology (EMIT) at Forest High School in Ocala, Fla. Lucas became interested in flight and got his first RC plane for his ninth birthday. Recently he’s been designing and building his own planes and hosts an R/C aircraft YouTube show called BusyBee TV. Lucas also has his own aerial videography company called TopView Aerials.

For more information about the series, as well as archived videos, head to the Maker Hangar page.

In Episode 3 of the Maker Hangar series, Lucas Weakley breaks down the important role electric speed controllers (ESC) play in RC planes. These components convert DC power into AC power and regulate power to the motor. But it’s important to pair the appropriate ESC to the right motor otherwise you’re headed for a meltdown. In this video, Lucas will also talk about battery elimination circuits (BEC) and what they do.

MAKE and Lucas Weakley have teamed up to bring you Maker Hangar, a 15-episode tutorial series that will teach you everything you need to know to build and fly this custom RC plane, the Maker Trainer.

New installments will air every Tuesday and Thursday through August. Also, be sure to join us on the Maker Hangar Google+ Community page to share your ideas, comments, photos and video and details for your own RC plane project builds.

Lucas Weakley is a 17-year-old Eagle Scout who will be a senior next year in the Engineering and Manufacturing Institute for Technology (EMIT) at Forest High School in Ocala, Fla. Lucas became interested in flight and got his first RC plane for his ninth birthday. Recently he’s been designing and building his own planes and hosts an R/C aircraft YouTube show called BusyBee TV. Lucas also has his own aerial videography company called TopView Aerials.

For more information about the series, as well as archived videos, head to the Maker Hangar page.

By Jason Poel Smith

No feature in a home captures the imagination like a secret compartment or secret passage. But no secret compartment is complete without a secret way to open it.

In this project, I share several ways that you can use a simple hanging candlestick (or anything else) to access a hidden compartment. There are a lot of ways that you can do this. You can use a candlestick to open physical latches and activate electrical circuits. The only limitation is your imagination. So use this as an excuse to have some fun and build a secret compartment in your house.