step 2Solder the LEDs onto the wires

Be prepared for some long and tedious steps. Carefully soldering 64 individual LEDs, each not much larger than a grain of sand onto thin and uncooperative wires takes patience. 

Before starting, measure out your umbrella and plan where each of the LEDs will go. This umbrella will have 16 spokes radiating out from the center, each spoke having 4 LEDs. I chose to have 4 different sets of LED spacing (8 of each set) to make a pseudo random looking pattern. I set the LED spacing set so they're generally closer together towards the outside of the umbrella in an effort to make the LED distribution reasonably even throughout the surface of the umbrella. 

Get a large board (wider than the radius of your umbrella) and hammer a bunch of nails along the sides so that you can string up/stretch out your single-strand copper wires (2 wires to each nail). Place masking tape and/or mark off the points at which you will be soldering the LEDs. Leave some extra lengths of wire at each end in case you need some extra length once it comes time to actually install them onto your umbrella. 

Place some masking tape under the wires to prevent burning the board (in case you ever want to use it for some other purple) and more masking tape to hold the wires down in place as you solder. My wire was lacquer coated, so I had to first burn it off at the points where the LEDs will be added with my soldering gun and hot solder. (You may try scraping it off instead, or using a wire stripper to strip it off.) Once the wires are 'tinned' with solder, try to wedge an LED between the two. Be careful to place all LEDs in the same polarity!! 

Time to solder your first LED. I tried to apply some masking tape onto the wires so that they pinch the LED in place - makes it easier to solder the LEDs in they they're not always moving around. With a very quick, light touch, touch both sides of the LED with the hot soldering tip and the solder coating the wires & tip will flow into the LED contacts. If you're not sure you got it, hook up 3V (two AA batteries) to the wires hanging off the board and see if the LED lights up! Once you get the hang of it, move on and do the rest of the LEDs. I soldered mine in two sets - half of the wire/LEDs on the board at one time (16 'spokes') and the other half after finishing the first. 

After all the LEDs were soldered in, I applied power to the board/wires to see all the LEDs light up in their glory :) This is also a good time to determine how many volts you want your umbrella to run on, and what value variable resistor you want to use for dimming. I decided on 3 AA batteries (4.5 Volts (or 3.6 volts if using rechargeable batteries)) and a 750 Ohm variable resistor.

文章裡有一個有趣的單字spoke，但是竟然加了"s"，speak的過去式加了s，spokes到底是什麼東西呢？一起來認識新單字吧！

tedious..........冗長、乏味
grain..........穀粒
uncooperative..........不合作的
spoke..........輪輻(腳踏車輪的骨架或是雨傘的骨架)
radiate from..........從中心向外延展
pseudo..........假的
radius..........半徑
scraping..........削去
strip..........剝去
polarity..........極性

step 1What you need



The things that you need may be found through some combination of local stores, electronics parts shops, online and scrounging parts from old electronic junk you may have lying around.

Parts & Equipment:

-One umbrella, preferably light colored (I picked yellow), with a straight handle and with a hollow shaft so that you may pass wires through it. It is very important that the umbrella be simple - none of that spring loaded-automatic stuff! You want the shaft to be hollow.

-64 SMD (surface mount) LEDs in your color of choice. The actual size does not matter except that smaller will look more invisible (preferable) but will be more difficult to work with. I used size 805 (2mm wide) 3.5V white LEDs. White, blue, UV & some greens require 3.5 Volts and won't require additional resistors on each LED, but 1.8V LEDs (red, yellow, green) do (more trouble!)

-A spool of thin single strand, lacquered copper wire. Thin enough to be almost invisible against the umbrella, but thick enough to withstand the occasional stresses/snags. This is what the SMD LEDs will be soldered onto.

-3AA battery holder, preferably compact and arranged in an L shape, as the batteries will have to lie over the umbrella's shaft. 3AAA batteries would work well too, and are more compact, but won't last as long.

-Normal plastic coated multi-strand copper wire, preferably the kind that will not break easily after repeated flexing.

-One 750 Ohm variable resistor with built-in on/off switch for dimming and turning the umbrella on & off.

-Needle and thread (of the same color as the umbrella)

-Solder and Soldering iron/gun

-Wire cutters, wire strippers, scissors, x-acto knife

-Drill and drill bits

-Large board and small nails, to be used for laying out the wires and soldering the SMD LEDs onto the wires.

-Masking tape and double sided tape/carpet tape

-Clear epoxy or Glue, super-glue 
　

　
cooper是什麼是車子的一種嗎？
快點來複習一下單字吧！

scrounging..........搜尋
junk..........舊物
handle...........把手
shaft..........把手、軸、矛
Volt..........伏特
resistor..........電阻器
spool...........一捲[(+of)]
strand............(繩、線等的)股;縷;絞
lacquered...........上漆的
copper...........銅
snag..........斷枝、阻撓
solder...........焊接
dim..........這個單字上一篇學過囉！忘記的快回去複習一下！
needle...........針
thread..........線
drill...........鑽
epoxy..........環氧(化物)
　
本篇圖文引用自：http://www.instructables.com/id/Electric-Umbrella/ 
特別感謝：http://blog.pixnet.net/chamil/post/18329516

On Sunday I went to my first Taiwanese wedding lunch, the groom is my friend and coworker Andrew. It was a very exciting and fun experience. I was very worried at first because when I was given the red invitation it had no English on it, I panicked not knowing what to do. My worries were soon alleviated, however, because Andrew hired a bus to take us to the restaurant. All we had to do was meet at our work early in the morning and we would travel to his hometown of Yilan. Now onto my next problem, the present…

I had no idea what to get Andrew and his soon to be wife for a wedding gift. I didn’t want to get a present that was inappropriate or boring, so I had to rack my brain. I went to the Ikea store by the Nanjing E Road MRT stop to search. I walked around the store not knowing what to do until I came to the art section, and an idea dawned on me. I bought a simple black picture frame and took it home. I spent the next while drawing a picture that could commemorate the love they have for each other, then I mounted it in the frame.

On Sunday at around noon we arrived at the restaurant in Yilan, I handed over my present which I wrapped in newspaper (Canadian style). When I headed inside, I had a chance to look through the wedding photo album, and was surprised at how nice the pictures were. Both Andrew and his wife looked like they should be in a fashion magazine! Next I sat down and chatted with everyone until the food came, and a lot of it came that’s for sure! I lost count how many courses of amazing food came through, but it was all delicious. After the food was finished the bride and groom came around the tables and we toasted to them and had some good laughs and pictures. After it was all over we were given small gifts from the restaurant and headed home. It was a great day!

　

Scott體驗過了第一次的台式婚禮，大家一起複習一下今天的單字吧！

red invitation................喜帖

panic............................恐慌

alleviate........................緩和

inappropriate................不適當

rack someone's brain...絞盡腦汁

dawned on...................頓悟

commemorate.............成為...的紀念

mount..........................鑲嵌

handed over.................遞交

course..........................一道菜

編號	中文	英文
航空公司
66	航空公司	Airlines
67	華信航空	Mandarin Airlines
68	立榮航空	Uni Air
69	遠東航空	Far Eastern Air Transport
70	復興航空	TransAsia Airways
71	中華航空	China Airlines
72	長榮航空	Eva Air
73	港龍航空	Dragon Air
74	日本航空	Japan Airlines International Co.,Ltd.
75	泰國航空	Thai Airlines
76	馬來西亞航空	Malaysia Airlines
77	越南太平洋航空	Pacific Airlines
78	越南航空	Viet Air
79	澳門航空	Air Macau
80	國泰航空	Cathay Pacific Airways
81	新加坡航空	Singapore Airlines
82	聯合航空	United Airlines
83	西北航空	Northwest Airlines
84	大韓航空	Korean Air
85	韓亞航空	Asiana
86	全日本空輸	All Nippon Airways
87	菲律賓航空	Philippine Airlines
88	印尼航空	Garuda Indonesia
89	荷蘭航空	KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
90	柬埔寨總統航空	President Airlines

 最後，來認識一下各家航空公司吧！請見→機場單字大公開(下)