Black and Decker's PlantSmart plant sensor. Taking the guesswork out of gardening.

Fish Finders, to those who don’t know, are these electronic mechanisms that either assist greatly in not having to stop by the fish shop on the way home or are a blasphemy on the sacrosanct sport of fishing. Depends on who you talk to.

Electronic gardening equipment quite possibly could be seen in the same context…except by me.  Frankly, I’ll take all the help I can get.  Black and Decker does what the Farmer’s Almanac is too smug to do:  puts gardening into terms even I can understand.

Yes.  I, too, thumbed my way pathetically through every gardening manual only to wind up with spindly flowers, weak shrubs, bug eaten vegetables but a bumper crop of weeds.  So what if Martha Stewart featured dandelion pancakes on the cover of one of her magazines. (Oh yes she did!).  I’ve been schooled practically from birth to view dandelions as an enemy to be eradicated.  And despite RoundUp’s best efforts, apparently a bowlful of weeds is considered “House Salad” by the Rachel Ray set but who said Hollywood made any sense?

Black and Decker understands the Green Thumb Challenged and to that end, they’ve developed the PlantSmart PCS10 digital plant sensor.  The digital sensor is attached to a USB connector.  At the top of the connector is a sunlight sensor.  Inserted into the soil for at least 24 hours, PlantSmart takes into account everything happening in the soil surrounding your plant be it indoors in a container or outdoors in the ground or outdoors in a container.   After 24 hours, you detach the USB, plug it into your computer and you will get an hour by hour read out actual temperature conditions, soil moisture and sunlight exposure. By registering your plants online (http://plantsmart.easybloom.com/myplantsmart?key=1807ef0216e6dc09a0233a79a0fce27b) you can build a library of the plants, trees, shrubs, flowers, and vegetables in your garden.  You can track the moisture and sunlight levels in various parts of your garden and whether your indoor plants are receiving the conditions they need to thrive.

Instead of trying to determine your growing zone from color coded maps (and if you’re like me, your region falls on the cusp of two regions) you plug in your zip code and PlantSmart gives you  top recommendations of those vegetables, shrubs, trees and flowers that will thrive the best in your zone.

Everything that is included with the plant sensor: soil sensor, USB plug, USB cord, instructions, warranty card, flower shield, bag to store everything in.

What You Get:

Digital Plant Sensor
Flower shaped shield
USB Plug with sunlight sensor
AAA battery
USB computer cord
Instructions
Warranty
Store it all in a waterproof bag.

What You Do With It

Put it together (obviously) and pick your plant. Activate your sensor. Stick your sensor in the soil. (Sorry, I can’t think of a more graceful way to write it.) Wait 24 hours.  When time is up, go online, set up your profile and start viewing the conditions under which your plant lives.

Black and Decker's PlantSmart PCS 10 Digital Sensor gathering information from an indoor Zonal Geranium.

Now What?

I tested PlantSmart on three types of soil for three types of plants:  Blueberry bush, Delicious Apple tree and inside Zonal Geranium.

In all three test cases, the PlantSensor moisture levels were off of the charts.  Not surprising.  These tests were run in the final days of April in central Indiana where we’ve been experiencing more rain than Seattle so it’s pretty much a “Well duh!” moment.  The inside Zonal Geranium registered as over watered as well because I’d placed the plant outdoors at one point and brought it inside to run the indoor tests before the soil had a chance to dry.

The Sunlight Data chart above was taken outdoor in the soil where a two year old Red Delicious Apple tree is planted on Saturday, April 3o, a day of rare sunshine.

Temperature Graph for Zonal Geranium Indoor

The temperature graph to the left shows a steady temperature for the Zonal Geranium which was placed inside.  Temperature graphs for the apple tree and blueberry bush showed far more diverse temperature increases and decreases due to their soil exposure.   It’s one thing to follow the instructions on the tag that comes with your plant, it’s another to know exactly if you are correctly following those instructions.

In the case of the Geranium, the soil was far too wet and I need to increase the plant’s exposure to sunlight.

And that’s what PlantSmart helps you do.  In reading some of the consumer reviews on other websites and my own experiences with the PlantSmart forum, (oh yeah, there’s a forum to ask questions), it occurs to me that PlantSmart is both a very useful and perhaps misunderstood tool.   The sensor takes readings of the soil and measures four components: sunlight exposure, moisture, temperature and fertility.   If you’re like me, you’re not always sure that the spot you planted something or put a container is getting the proper amount of sunlight despite the fact that you think that spot gets all the sunlight possible which could lend itself to soil temperature but not necessarily so.  My geraniumwas placed in a westernmost window and my readings tell me that this plant is not getting the amount of sunlight it needs to get yet the soil temperature is steady.

A word about fertilization. The geranium, blueberry and apple plants were all planted in different soils.   The geranium was planted in a container, the apple tree in the hollow area in my front yard where a white oak once stood and the blueberry bush was planted in soil bought from a local vendor when I filled my raised beds in my backyard.  I took fertilization readings on all three and only the blueberry bush’s soil has the proper amount of nutrition in the soil.   Where I thought I had an issue was that the fertilization reading on the apple tree and the geranium was merely reported as ” Soil is lacking in proper nutrients.”   My first inclination was to ask, “Well ok, what fertilizer does this need?”   That’s up to the plant and what the plant’s tag says the fertilizer should be.  What is good for apple trees (soil that is light on salts) might not work on the geranium.   As in many cases, the plant’s tag gets lost.  PlantSmart’s library of plants, trees, shrubs, fruits and vegetables expands every day so you can look up the needs of your particular plant.  The PlantSmart forum is where I asked my question regarding the fertilization question being as how this reading comes at an additional fee. ($3.00 a month or $25.00 a year)

PlantSmart does take a lot of the guesswork out of what to do to ensure the best condition for your plant.  Where I see PlantSmart being misunderstood is that the device does exactly what it is reported to do.  I’ve read many reviews where the reviewer was disappointed that PlantSmart was not more forthcoming in more specific, detailed advice.  But the device was never advertised to do everything for you, just take the guesswork out of key components and provide precise recommendations for plants based on the customer’s zone.    And it does that.

I love plants.  I kill most of them unintentionally.  But I still love pretty trees and flowers and things that bloom and attract honeybees and hummingbirds.  But what I like might not grow unless I do my homework.  Books, articles, gardening magazines, these things all help.  But they do not address the immediate questions I have that PlantSmart does.

Black and Decker’s PlantSmart website also boasts a forum for troubleshooting problems with the device, questions about the readings and general discussions from other gardeners sharing tips and anecdotes.

At the end of the day ( or this review) the PlantSmart PCS10 will run you about $50.00 although you can purchase it at Amazon.com for about $47.99.  It’s worth it.  I have a sketchy background in gardening and little patience for soil testing kits found in hardware stores.  What I need to know, PlantSmart helps me find out.

Filed in categories: Home Tech, Outdoor Gear, Reviews

Tagged: digital sensor, gardening, Outdoor, plantsmart, Tools, USB

Black and Decker’s PlantSmart PCS10 Plant Sensor Review: The Gardener’s Fish Finder originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 18, 2011 at 2:15 pm.

If you have a dog, you have stood in the rain with him while he does his business. No big deal for you, if you have an umbrella, but what about Fido? If you want to avoid wet dog smell, get your pooch his own umbrella – the Dogbrella. It’s a 29″ diameter canopy (think inverted umbrella) with a short leash connected in the center. It’s designed for dogs up to 15 lbs. and less than 24″ long and costs $29.95. I bet Rihanna has one for her dog!

[Via Likecool]

Filed in categories: News, Outdoor Gear, Pet Gadgets

Tagged: Outdoor, Pets, Spotlight Gadgets

Fido can stand under my Dogbrella ella ella ay ay ay originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 25, 2011 at 8:30 am.

LEDs aren’t just for flashlights in your pocket or lightbulbs in your home. They can also be an easy way to add some flare to your garden without having to run wires or even use electricity to power them. Today we are going to take a look at 3 different solar powered LED garden lights from Britta Products.

Hanging Solar Garden Light

We’ve all seen outdoor LED accent lights that are designed to stick in the ground, but here’s one that you can hang from a tree, deck railing, etc.

These frosted plastic cone shaped lights come in a set of 3. Don’t they remind you of a Christmas ornament?

This light is made of two parts. The opaque cone and the solar cell / battery / LED housing. As you can see, there’s also a plastic coated cord that is used to hang the light.

The battery / solar cell housing pulls out of the cone so that you can turn the light on and off for storage. You can see the LED bulb in the center of the housing.

Because these lights are solar powered, you have to charge the internal batteries with the sun. The instructions that are included with the lights suggest at least 5 hrs of direct sunlight. So that’s what I did.

After the charging time was complete, I hung the lights from the roof of my covered porch and waited for night to fall. All of these lights have circuitry that only turns on the LEDs when it’s dark outside.

Once night fell, the lights started glowing. Sorry for the crummy image. It’s difficult to take pictures in the dark.

These lights don’t put out a lot of light, so don’t expect to be able to read with them. They are just accent lights.

I was able to get 3 nights of enjoyment from them before the internal batteries were completely drained. Since the lights were hanging under the roof line, they did not get any direct sunlight during the day to keep the batteries charged. That’s something to consider before buying them. Hanging lights are very unique, but the fact that you have to make sure they get a few hours of direct sunlight, might make them more trouble than they are worth if you have to take them down every few days to recharge them.

They are available from Amazon in a set of 3 for $39.95.

Solar Ray Garden Path Light

These light are more traditional as far as how they are located in your garden. They stick into the ground. That’s were the traditional design ends, because they look very futuristic.

The lights have two parts. The light itself and then metal and plastic stake that sticks in the ground.

I call this the cobra light because it looks like the head of the poisonous snake. Their design / style probably isn’t for everyone. The person I live with says they are hideous

The light head is made of Black plastic, with the large solar cell on top.

These lights are larger than most that I’ve seen before, but they are light weight.

Behind the stake post, there is an on / off switch.

Like the cone shaped light, this one also needs to be charged before it can be used. These lights are easier to manage as long as you locate them in an area where they can get a few hours of direct sunlight each day. You can click the image above to see how I arranged them next to my side walk.

Here they are in the dark along with the multi-colored lights that I’ll talk about next.

I haven’t had any issues with these lights and I do like that they turn on at dusk instead of when it’s pitch black out.  That said, I’m not really a fan of the way they look. They look too modern for my rustic setting / style. But that’s just me.

They are available from Amazon in a set of 4 for $39.95.

Solar Multi-Colored Garden Path Light

I saved the best for last… These lights are my favorites because they don’t just glow white (you can switch them to white only though), they have a cool color cycling feature.

They are one piece with a metal wrapped stake and a snowflake glass light housing. These lights feel much more robust than the other two.

There’s a switch on the underside of the solar cell that controls power and the white vs. color cycling feature.

After you charge the solar cell in the sunlight for several hours, you can enjoy the unique color feature of these lights, that cycles red, blue, green and all the colors in between.

See it in Action

Like I mentioned above, these are my favorite of the 3 lights reviewed here. The only thing I don’t like about them is that they don’t come on till it’s very dark outside. Other than that, they are unique and add a cool touch to your garden.

They are available from Amazon in a set of 2 for $19.95.

Filed in categories: Outdoor Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Outdoor, Solar

Britta LED Solar Garden Lights Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 9, 2010 at 11:39 am.

The HomeRight Iconic Clean Washing System is a large blue canister that takes your tap water and turns it into de-ionized (DI) water. The canister has a 20 foot hose with a soft bristle brush attached, and a three way (Off – Bypass – DI) switch on the end. You’re supposed to be able to wash windows, cars, boats, and other similar surfaces with the system and water only. Having just spent a weekend scrubbing windows “the old way” (soap, water, elbow grease) I was pretty skeptical. I was also interested to see if it could best my results. I am pleasantly surprised to report that for the most part, it works exactly as advertised.

Parts Parts Parts

The Ionic Clean comes in a long box that (at least for my review unit) didn’t fully protect it during shipping. Once you dig out the parts you’ll have the following spread out on your floor:

The initial setup involves connecting the 20′ hose to the wand, attaching the wand to the brush, and putting the hose attachment onto the bottom of the canister. You can just see the small pile of plastic bits in the photo – that’s what’s left of the on/off valve the UPS guy managed to kill:

Fortunately for me, this is an inexpensive part (a few bucks at the local home center) or it can be unscrewed from the wand and then you  simply use the OFF position on the canister itself. In either case, I proceeded to put it all together. Then, I had a go at getting the end-cap off to see what the filter looked like, and how hard it is to replace:

I’m no body builder, but I do hit the gym nearly every day. Let’s just say you want someone strong to help you with getting that end cap off! After a bit of struggling, I got it to release. You can see in the photo the orange stuff in the middle. That’s the ionic filter that does the magic of converting tap water into de-ionized water. It’s also the only down-side to this whole thing. Those filters have a run-life of MINUTES. If you have really hard water, just 35 minutes. Most people’s city water comes in around 200ppm, so you should get 70 minutes or so out of a filter. The filters cost $50 each, so you’ll want to pay attention to that… washing a car and using 5-10 minutes of rinse is the same as $3.50-$7.00. Washing windows, where you spend a minute or two per window rinsing, is 75 cents per window.

The Test Subjects

Sadly, there is no way to review this product without first showing some of the dirt. So, for your pleasure, I give you some shots of a dirty garden window (which is truly a pain in the back to wash) and my neglected car:

Garden Window… yuck. This is only a few weeks after washing it by hand, with soap…

You can almost see through that glass!

This is the rear window of my car.

This is the passenger side window of my car.

That’s the roof.

For this test I just followed the directions. First I scrubbed (gently) with the brush and the canister on Bypass. That got rid of most of the dirt, but if left alone at that point the result would be a spotty mess. After the scrub, I flipped it to the DI setting and gave a few scrub/rinse passes. Then I left it alone.

Action Photos

Here’s a few shots of the ionic rinse. It’s very noticeable when you are in DI mode – the water just sheets right off of any surface. I found the 20 foot hose to be long enough that I could leave the canister on the ground nearby the car or window, and the telescoping wand/brush was long enough to reach across the car window, or up and over the top of the garden window. So other then keeping an eye on the clock when in DI mode, the whole thing was a breeze:

Weird sheeting action of DI water…

Long reach of the wand…

Closeup of DI water sheeting action.

Results. Wow.

Like I said, I was prepared to be disappointed, but in fact it worked exceptionally well. With no soap at all, just a pre-rinse with regular water and then a quick rinse with the DI water, both the garden window and the car came out sparkling clean. The glass results rivaled those you get after a lot of windex and a pile of rags. The car finish sparkled, and all the grime was gone.

Garden window, nearly perfectly spotless.

Two drops… that’s all that I could find on the glass after the rinse.

Windshield… clear, spotless, and shiny. This is with no wipe-down.

The same side window as before, only now you can see reflections.

Yes, there are still a few spots. But this is about as bad as it gets, and the car was filthy before.

Rear glass. You can see a few spot-trails, but again with no wipe down, and no soap at all, that’s pretty good.

The new shine.

Conclusion

I’m a believer. The whole process went very quickly, since there isn’t much more cleanup then re-capping the canister (or letting it drain out for a while) and then putting it away. The actual cleaning process was done in minutes – a scrub pass and then a DI rinse pass, and you’re done. The only lingering doubt I have is the cost over time of the filters. My guess is I wasn’t as efficient as possible since I was doing this for a review and was pausing for photos – even though I was turning off the canister I expect I used a few more minutes of filter time then I otherwise would have. Still, washing a window and a couple cars, I used at least 10 minutes of filter time. So I could see needing a new filter after washing all the windows in your house twice, or washing your cars once a week for a couple months. On the up side, the Ionic Clean system is very gentle on your car, or whatever is under your windows!

Filed in categories: Car Gear, Miscellaneous, Reviews

Tagged: Car, Outdoor

Ionic Clean Washing System Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 26, 2010 at 10:28 am.

If skateboards, inline skates and bicycles no longer excite you, combine all their elements and check out the Magic One Wheel from Brando. I’d probably break my neck trying it out, but it looks like it would be a lot of fun. The price is a little spendy though at $222.00.

Filed in categories: News, Outdoor Gear

Tagged: Outdoor, Spotlight Gadgets

Bicycle + Skateboard = Magic One Wheel originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 22, 2010 at 9:00 am.

AltusLumen has just launched their latest LED product: the LightGear Gre. It’s an 18-in-1 LED light with built-in survival tools that make it handy for campers, hikers, travelers and other outdoor enthusiasts. The flashlight has 4 LEDs that output 80 lux. The tools include an aluminum whistle, a storage compartment for storing items like needles & thread, fish hooks & string or surgical blades. Also included is a detachable 10 in 1 stainless steel survival tool that has a can opener, knife, screwdriver, saw, cap opener, wrench, butterfly screw wrench, 2 position wrench, ruler and direction indicator. Price: $29.90

Filed in categories: Gear, News

Tagged: LED, Outdoor, Spotlight Gadgets

Camp with confidence with the AltusLumen LightGear Gre originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 3, 2010 at 8:03 am.

The Exotac MATCHCAP is a waterproof aluminum match holder can carry all sizes of matches from standard kitchen matches to NATO lifeboat matches and even the extended length matches sold by REI. It has a dual-striker design so that you can use safety matches, strike-anywhere matches, or a combination of two. An O-ring keeps both the matches and the red phosphorus (strike-on-the-box) striker dry. You can get one for your next camping trip for $24.95. They make a cool collapsible ferrocerium fire-starter too.

Filed in categories: Gear, News

Tagged: Outdoor, Spotlight Gadgets

The Exotac MATCHCAP keeps your matches dry originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 20, 2009 at 11:29 am.

Not too long ago Julie posted a news spotlight on Sanyo’s Eneloop Kairo hand warmer.  I love the beauty of winter but hate the cold.  I always enjoy going outside with my big coat with many pockets to keep my gadgets in, but my hands are always cold even with gloves!  So I went out in search of hand warmers.  I have tried one-time use chemical warms but those are true to their marketing of being “one time use” only.  I also tried reusable chemical warmers that you can “recharge” by boiling them.  But those too were one time use only when I’m out in the city without easy access to boiling water.  Plus both of these chemical hand warmers are only warm for 30 to 45 minutes at a time.  What if there was a hand warmer that can last the day in the city?  That’s where Sanyo’s Eneloop Kairo comes in.

The hand warmer that I got was a bit different from Julie’s news spotlight since it was a 2 sided version (Model # KIR-SL2SS).  I got it imported from Japan so everything is in Japanese.

Inside the small box are the Japanese instructions, the Kairo hand warmer, 2 AA eneloop pre-charged rechargeable batteries, power adapter, mini-USB cord, mini-USB to power tip converter, and the carrying pouch.

The Japanese instructions weren’t needed since it was pretty much self explanatory on how to set the hand warmer up.

1) Remove the top.
2) Put batteries in.
3) Close top.
4) Push button to turn on.
5)  Enjoy being warm!

This hand warmer provides 2 heat settings.  Push button once for 102˚F.  Push it again for 115˚F.  On tests, the Eneloop Kairo runs for 3 hours on low and 2 hours on high.  The temperature is very comfortable and does provide warmth for a much longer time compared to the chemical warmers.

The best thing with the Eneloop Kairo is that you can always pop in fresh batteries when it runs out.  And carrying an extra set of AA batteries in the winter coat isn’t so bad.  Priced at $44.99, it is a bit pricier than chemical warmers but its reusability and longer warmth is well worth it.

Filed in categories: Miscellaneous, Reviews

Tagged: Health, Outdoor

Sanyo Eneloop Kairo Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 15, 2009 at 8:58 am.

Orbitwheels are an interesting cross between inline skates and a skateboard. Just flip out the foot platform, step in and away you go. They look a bit awkward to use since you can only roll sideways, but what do I know, I can’t even skate using regular roller blades Orbitwheels are available for $99.95.

Filed in categories: Miscellaneous, News

Tagged: Outdoor, Spotlight Gadgets

Orbitwheel skates originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 6, 2009 at 4:29 pm.

How about a rolling beverage cooler that you can control with a handheld remote control? Is this the product for obese tailgate party attendants or brilliant geeky party hosts? Either way, it’s a fun product that has room for 12 cans or bottles with ice. It can roll up to 40 feet from the host at the controls who can move it forward, backward, and left or right. It’s available at Hammacher Schlemmer for $69.95.

Filed in categories: Miscellaneous, News, Reviews

Tagged: Beverage, Outdoor

Further proof that Americans are lazy or brilliant – Remote Controlled Rolling Cooler originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 3, 2009 at 12:18 pm.

Sanyo’s eneloop Kairo (‘eneloop’ = ‘energy’ + ‘loop’ and ‘kairo’ = ‘pocket heat’ (translated from Japanese) may sound like a weird name for a product, but your hands won’t care. They will love this small rechargeable hand warmer that is great for indoors or outdoors. It has high and low settings at 38˚C (102˚F) and 42˚C (109˚F) and can be completely recharged in 3hrs. Too bad it won’t be available until 2010 – it would have made a great stocking stuff for our own Robin Cox.

[via Gizmag]

Filed in categories: Miscellaneous, News

Tagged: Outdoor, Spotlight Gadgets

Sanyo can warm your heart and hands – eneloop Kairo originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 25, 2009 at 8:47 am.

This morning I was taking a shower when I noticed a drop in the water pressure.  We have an old house, and this always happens when someone turns on the water somewhere else in the house – but no one else was using any water.  After a couple of minutes, the water pressure returned to normal.  I insisted someone was using water, so I sent my husband out to check the outdoor faucets.  The one in the front of the house was dry, but the one in the back was dripping.  Someone was stealing our water.  No wonder our water bills have been higher in the past couple of months.  An internet search and some digging on Amazon uncovered something that may solve our problem.  The FaucetLock from Flow Security Systems is designed to keep unauthorized people from using your outdoor water faucets.

The FaucetLock is a solid brass device that screws onto your outdoor faucets, and it cannot be removed without a special key.  It requires no tools to install – you just screw it into place.  Once you lock it, it just turns freely and can’t be removed unless you have a key.  If you order directly from Flow Security Systems, you can request that all your FaucetLocks be keyed alike.  Go to the Flow Security Systems site, and you can watch a video showing how to install and remove the FaucetLock.

The FaucetLock is $19.95 directly from Flow Security Systems.  If you prefer, you can order it from Amazon.com for the same price.  I ordered two.  If they work as well as all the reviews at Amazon.com say, they’ll pay for themselves in a couple of months in water savings!

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, News

Tagged: Do-It-Yourself, Outdoor, Spotlight Gadgets

The FaucetLock by Flow Security Systems originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 23, 2009 at 12:43 pm.

Here’s a nifty gadget for your gear bag. It’s a replica of a hobo knife from the early 1900′s. This one from W.R. Case has a bone handle with a knife, spoon and a fork with a can opener. It’s pretty expensive at around $80 or so at various online retailers. However, I did find some more reasonably priced versions at Budk.com that are worth checking out.

Filed in categories: Gear, News

Tagged: Knives, Outdoor, Spotlight Gadgets

Hobo knives – For chowing on the go originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 15, 2009 at 4:09 pm.

The H2Only 25 oz. water bottle from US Canteen has a built in Ionic-Adsorption Micro-Filtration system that removes toxic chemicals, detergents, pesticides, and agricultural waste, as well as dissolved solids such as arsenic, aluminum, zinc, asbestos, copper, lead, mercury, and chromium 6. It also removes dirt, sediment, E-Coli Bacteria, DDT, MTBE, Benzene, and Chloroforms, which can all be found in drinking water. The filter removes up to 99.99% of all pollutants in all tap water in every part of the world. Each filter lasts for 12 months of heavy use, about 100 gallons, without any special washing or care. You can buy the H2Only for $40.00 and extra filters for $15.00.

Filed in categories: Gear, Miscellaneous, News

Tagged: Beverage, Outdoor, Spotlight Gadgets

Filter your tap water on the go with a H2Only water bottle originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 29, 2009 at 10:47 am.

Summer may be officially over, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t still play outside. Need some motivation? How about the Aquapod Water Bottle Launcher. It’s the first professionally manufactured bottle launcher on the market that can launch a 2-liter plastic bottle up to 100 feet in the air. Get yours for $24.99. Full press release after the jump.

Great American Projects, Inc. Announces
the Aquapod Bottle Launcher

The first professionally manufactured bottle rocket launcher has the capacity to launch a 2-liter plastic bottle up to 100 feet in the air.

(Alexandria, Virginia, October 7, 2009) – Great American Projects, Inc. announces the Aquapod Bottle Launcher, a bottle rocket launcher that can launch a 2-liter plastic bottle up to100 feet in the air.  The first professionally manufactured bottle launcher on the market, the Aquapod has a built-in brass check valve that prevents over pressurization and is built with high-quality ABS plastic that is thick and durable.

“There are homemade launchers in backyards everywhere; and with the introduction of the Aquapod, we can provide a safe and professional-grade option for those fascinated with the fun and science of launching,” said Mark Micieli, Co-President of Great American Projects, Inc. “We are excited to offer the first product of its kind and are confident it will be a hit with thrill-seeking consumers.”

Unlike other bottle rocket launchers, launching the Aquapod is simple—it requires no assembly and is easily portable.  To launch, fill an ordinary 2-liter plastic bottle 1/3 full of water, place it over the launch tube, and secure the latch.  Attach a bicycle pump to the front air valve, and give 10 to15 pumps or until the check valve releases.  Moving back 15 feet to the launch position, pull the trigger lanyard with a short, quick tug to release the bottle.  Watch it soar up to 100 feet in the air.

The Aquapod is engineered for quality and safety, and optimal performance occurs at approximately 60 psi.  Its built-in check valve prevents pressurization past this point.  Launch height can be affected by environmental elements, and a clear radius of 50 feet is recommended.  Adult supervision for persons under 10 years of age is recommended.

The Aquapod Bottle Launcher, MSRP $24.99, is now available at www.theaquapod.com. Visit the site for complete details and launch videos.

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, Kid Gadgets

Tagged: Outdoor, Spotlight Gadgets

Launch a 2 liter bottle 100 ft – Aquapod Water Bottle Launcher originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 7, 2009 at 11:07 am.

The next time you want to go for a ride with your sweetie, skip the sweat producing manual bicycle and go with a PEDEGO tandem e-bike. It features a beach cruiser design with two wide, cushioned seats, relaxed handlebars and a rear motor. It operates much like a regular tandem bicycle but utilizes a parallel electric drive system that includes a 750 watt motor and 48 volt lithium manganese battery. Sound good? Then prepare for sticker shock – $2300.00. I think I’ll just take a walk

Filed in categories: Travel Gear

Tagged: Bike, Outdoor, Spotlight Gadgets

Transportation for lazy lovebirds – PEDEGO Electric Tandem Bike originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 21, 2009 at 8:41 pm.

The next time you’re in the jungle being chased by Nazi soldiers, you can take off your Survival Straps bracelet, unravel the 16 feet of paracord and rappel off the side of a cliff to safety. Oh wait, I think that was from an Indiana Jones movie, not a MacGyver episode. Anyway, you get the idea, Survival Straps are functional / wearable paracord bracelets, anklets, watch straps, rifle straps, belts and more. Nifty and useful.

Filed in categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Outdoor, Spotlight Gadgets

MacGyver jewelry – Survival Straps originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 6, 2009 at 10:42 pm.

Using your laptop outdoors on a sunny day can be difficult because the sunlight can cause the laptop’s display to look dark or washed out. Putting on your normal sunglasses usually makes matters worse. Glarewear sunglasses are sporty looking glasses that have special polarized lenses that allow you to see the display even on a very sunny day. Three sets of lenses are included with these sunglasses that are specialized for the three most common variations of laptop screen. They can also be used as regular sunglasses for driving, etc. If these uni-sex glasses don’t work with your laptop, you can send them back for a full refund. That’s a good thing considering they cost 99.00 Euros (~ $138 USD).

Filed in categories: Laptops and Gear, Travel Gear

Tagged: Laptop, Outdoor, Spotlight Gadgets

Glarewear – Sunglasses for outdoor laptop viewing originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 15, 2009 at 6:54 am.

Scorpions give me the creeps. Luckily, I don’t live in an area where we have those evil looking critters. If I did, I’d want a Photon Scorpion Finder Freedom Micro keychain light. How can an LED flashlight find a scorpion? A unique feature of nearly all scorpions is that their bodies will fluoresce brightly under any UV light. The Scorpion Finder keychain light shines a beam of UV light that can be used to check sleeping bags and shoes for these glowing stinging crawlies. This item would make a great gift for soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Filed in categories: Gear

Tagged: Camping, Outdoor, Spotlight Gadgets

Keychain flashlight that can find scorpions originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 13, 2009 at 7:01 am.

Check it out, it’s a telescoping fishing pole that collapses into a pen sized container. I’m not sure how well it really works. I doubt you could catch anything too large with it, but it sure is cute! You can find them through Amazon and I want one of those.com (UK). There’s even a site called penfishingrods.com that has different reels.

Filed in categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Fishing, Outdoor, Spotlight Gadgets

A fishing rod in your pocket originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 15, 2009 at 1:33 pm.

August in Southern Indiana can be both hot and humid. Temperatures around 100 degrees are not unusual for us. As a result, it’s normal to see people watering their outdoor plants in the evenings, to keep them from frying to a crisp. I’ve been known to shirk my watering duties due to the fact that I hate wrestling with the garden hose. Unwinding it usually isn’t a big deal, but winding back onto the reel can sometimes be an exercise in frustration. Since I’m all for trying a product that has been designed to ease my frustration level, I was happy to review the ReelSmart Automatic Hose Reel from Hydro-Industries.

The ReelSmart is a 20.76″x14.29″x20.23″ / 53x36x50.4cm sized rectangular box made of strong plastic with a wood texture. I know you’re all thinking “Julie, we don’t care about a plastic box that holds your garden hose.”… Just bear with me for a bit ok? )

Lifting the lid reveals a plastic bag of items needed to set things up.

Package Contents

Hose reel
Spigot hose
Drain hose
Hose stopper
2 Wall / ground brackets
User guide

Before you can begin using the ReelSmart, you have to hook up the various hoses. This is really easy and takes less than 15 minutes. The only tool required is a Philips screwdriver for the last step.

First you turn the box so that the 2 outside connection points are facing you. The connection point on the bottom left is for the short length of hose that connects to your outside hydrant / spigot, and the connection point on the right is for the longer drainage hose. You’ll also notice a lever above the hose points. I’ll get to it in a minute.

Both connection points can swivel out to make it easier to screw on the hoses. The left side is threaded, so screwing it on isn’t a problem. The drainage hose has to be forced on to the connection point. It requires a bit of twisting and turning, but eventually, the hose settles into place.

In the next step, you attach the actual garden hose to the reel.

The ReelSmart reel is large enough to accommodate up to 125ft of 5/8″ hose or 60m of 1/2″ hose. I used a 100ft hose that I already had on another hose cart.

At this point, it is best to relocate the ReelSmart to the place where it is going to be used.

Here we see the ‘before’ picture of my garden hose area. As you can see, I tend to just leave the hose all willy nilly on the ground. You can also see a plastic hose cart in the picture. I own 3 of these carts and find them all to be pretty much useless. They don’t last very long before they fall apart because they are so cheaply made. I used to have a metal cart, but it ended up getting rusty…

Attaching the garden hose to the reel is just a matter of feeding the hose through the yellow guide slot on the front bottom of the box and around the reel. You then screw the end of the hose onto the attachment point on the reel. Like the other hose attachment points, this one also swivels to allow for easier access.

Here we have the garden hose attached and the drainage hose extended down the hill.

The last step is to put on the plastic hose stopper. You’ll need a Philips screwdriver for this task. The stopper prevents the hose from being completely rolled up onto the reel inside the box. Since I have a hand sprayer screwed on to the end of the hose, I really would not need to use the stopper…

Fully installed, we see the ReelSmart with the hose rolled up. This looks much nicer than the ‘before’ picture doesn’t it?

Now for the cool part of this product. The ReelSmart uses water to automatically rewind the hose into the reel. It doesn’t require any electricity or batteries, just water.

This is where the lever on the side of the box comes into play. When the lever is to the Right, it’s in the Rest position. Typically the lever will be in this position 99% of the time. In this position, you can pull out the hose and use it as you normally would.

When you’re done water, and ready to to have the hose rewind, you just slide the lever to the Left and the hose will automatically start rolling back onto the reel. Cool! The hose does not recoil at blurring speeds, but since I’m not cranking, I’m happy!

It works via a piston operated water engine that converts the water’s energy into mechanical power. The Yellow guide slot has an auto-sort feature that untangles and wraps the hose perfectly on the reel.

You might remember the drainage hose that we attached to the ReelSmart, during the set up tasks… Well, this is where the primary con for this product can be noticed. In order for the rewind feature to work, you have to have the hydrant turned on. When you flip the lever to Rewind, water will flow through the special piston operated engine and start the reel rotating. The water will then flow out of the drainage hose and on to the ground. The first time I used the rewind feature, I let the water just run out on the ground. Then I started wondering just how much water was being wasted during this operation, so I placed a 5 gallon bucket under the hose and tried rewinding 100 feet of hose a 2nd time. Guess what? The bucket almost completely filled. Ack! That’s a LOT of water to waste to automatically rewind a hose. I sincerely hope/ask that anyone that already owns this product or is thinking about buying one, will collect the drainage water in a bucket for another use, and not just waste it.

You also want to make sure that you flip the lever back to the Rest position once the hose is fully rewound, and remember to turn off the hydrant. That’s my other issue with this product. You have to wait for the hose to rewind before you can turn off the spigot. Some might say that if you’re just standing there waiting for the hose to rewind, you might as well be rewinding it yourself. That is a valid argument. But I can see that this product could come in very handy for elderly people or people with physical challenges.

See it in action…

Click on image to play the QuickTime video (34sec, 1.1mb). The video is encoded in the H.264 codec. You will need the latest version of Quicktime to view it. VLC is another free viewer..

The Hydro-Industries ReelSmart is an easy to setup, easy to use self-winding garden hose reel that is great for that person that either can’t or doesn’t want to manually wrap the hose on a cart. It doesn’t require any special tools or skills to setup, and doesn’t require electricity / batteries to run.

Available at home improvement stores such as Lowes and Home Depot for $75-$140.

Filed in categories: Home Tech

Tagged: Outdoor

Hydro-Industries ReelSmart Automatic Hose Reel originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 21, 2006 at 9:52 am.

Mother Nature and gadgets. The two of them are a match made in heaven. There are gadgets that measure wind direction and velocity, gizmos that measure changes in the barometric pressure and gadgets that display the temperature. Today I’m going to tell you about the La Crosse Technology WS-7038U Wireless 433 MHz Miniature Rain Monitor. Sent to me by the folks at SmartHome, this kit comes with everything you will need to keep track of how much precipitation falls at your location.

Package Contents

LCD Rainfall monitor
Wireless Rainfall collector
Mounting screws
Instruction manual

The only necessary items that aren’t included are 2 AAA batteries for the LCD monitor, and 2 AA batteries for the wireless rainfall collector.

The rainfall collector / wireless transmitter, is a 7.20″ tall beige plastic cylinder that you place outside to collect… rain. The rain falls into the funnel shaped opening, where it drips onto a teeter totter style measuring device.

When enough water collects on the one side of the teeter totter, it will tip over so that the water can run out of the collector and through the drainage slots on the base of the unit.

In the picture above, you can see the drainage slots on the left and right sides of the base. You can also see the screw posts and battery compartment lid.

Using the supplied screws, you can mount the rain collector to a desired surface. Here you can see that I just placed the collector on my deck. So far I’ve not had any problems with it falling over in a heavy rain. At some point, I probably will go ahead and attach it to my deck railing, or some other surface out of the way.

The LCD monitor can be mounted to a wall, or with the included stand, sat on a table. As long as the rainfall collector (outside) and the LCD monitor (inside), are no more than 80 feet apart, wireless communication between the two devices should be fine.

Setup is a snap. Just install the batteries into the base of the collector, batteries into the monitor, and then set the time, date and day of the week on the monitor. After you complete those steps, it is just a matter of waiting for the next batch of rainclouds to form. Which is exactly what I had to do for several days once I had the collector in place and ready to go. Normally a person doesn’t hope for a rainy day (well, everyone except for Judie – who is always hoping for rain), but I did.

Four days later, I woke up to a nice gloomy / rainy day. Yay! Then another equally gloomy day. Yay!

The monitor uses a simple bar graph to display the amount of rain. In the pictures above, you can see the graphs for daily and weekly rainfalls. The numbers at the bottom the graph designate the last 6 days in daily mode, and last 6 weeks if viewing in weekly mode. 0 means the current day or week and the number 6 would mean rainfall from 6 days or 6 weeks ago. For example, in the picture above on the left, it is saying that 4 days ago it rained a half an inch. And then it rained another half an inch 1 day later. In the picture on the right, it is showing that this week it has rained 1 inch and last week it rained a tenth of an inch.

You can also view rainfall in monthly mode (for the last 6 months). You can also change the information displayed above the graph, from viewing the time of day, to the day of the month…

Or from day of the month, to the amount of rain that has fallen in the last hour or last 24hrs.

Of course, you can also view the total amount of rain that has fallen in the last 6 months.

This wireless rain monitor also has the ability to sound an alarm when rain is detected. It will sound the alarm for 150 seconds before automatically shutting off. I wouldn’t recommend setting the alarm, because it would probably scare the stuffings out of you if it went off in the middle of the night, due to a shower or thunderstorm. I’m not even sure why someone would want / need a rain alarm…

If you’re the type of person that has Weather.com bookmarked in your browser, Weatherbug installed in your taskbar, and never goes anywhere without an umbrella, then the WS-7038U Wireless 433 MHz Miniature Rain Monitor from La Crosse Technology, might make a nice addition to your arsenal of weather tools.

Filed in categories: Home Tech

Tagged: Outdoor

La Crosse Technology WS-7038U Wireless 433MHz Miniature Rain Monitor originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 15, 2006 at 2:20 pm.

I have recently become interested in solar devices. There’s something really cool about using the power of the sun instead of the power of an AC adapter, when it comes to powering products. The sun is free; Electricity definitely isn’t. That’s why I was more than happy to review a solar powered garden accent light, when the folks at SmartHome contacted me to gauge my interest in their Solar Powered Garden Accent Light.

The six sided Greenish step stone arrived in a thin box (an Ivory version is also available). The “stone” is 14 inches point to point, 12.25 inches flat side to flat side, and has a thickness of 1 inch.

The product is composed of a durable and UV protected resin material that looks very much like stone, while remaining light weight. Although this product is called a stepping stone, I’m not entirely sure it should be walked on. I don’t know how long it might hold up with people actually walking on it. I don’t have any evidence that it would not hold up, I just have a feeling that might crack after heavy use. One clue that this might be the case is the picture hanger built into the back of the stone. I think this product should be used as decorative accent, instead of a functional step.

On the back of the stone, you see the battery compartment. Two rechargeable nickel-cadmium AA batteries are included and pre-installed. These batteries have a typical life-span of 18 months and can be user replaced with 1.2V 600mAh cells.

The solar panel is located in the middle of the face of the stone. If you’re not familiar with the way solar devices work, the solar panel collects and converts sunlight into DC power everyday while the pre-installed rechargeable batteries store energy to power the light at night. The built-in photo sensor automatically activates the light at dusk and deactivates it at dawn. You can also test it by putting your hand over the solar panel. Doing so will cause the LEDs to light up until you remove your hand.

The first thing you do before setting the stone is to press the Black rubber button on the battery door. This activates the battery and turns on the dawn / dusk sensor. Then you place it outdoors in a location that receives direct sunlight. A location that receives 8hrs of direct sunlight per day is your best bet for keeping the internal batteries charged. If you place the stone in a shady location, it will cut back on the number of hours each night that the stone stays lit.

Here’s a picture of the stone that I took without a flash. As you can see, there are 4 LEDs installed. These LEDs glow an amber color, but don’t appear quite as bright in real life as they do in this image. The bulbs are supposed to have a life-span of 100,000+ hours. My handy calculator figures that 100,000 hours calculates to around 30 years if the stone only stays lit for 9 hours a day, everyday. So it looks like the only part that needs replacing will be the batteries once a year or so.

These stepping stones are an easy way to decorate and light your garden without the hard work of burying wires.

Filed in categories: Home Tech

Tagged: Outdoor

HomeBrite Solar Powered Garden Accent Light originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 1, 2006 at 3:09 pm.