Blaster

I've just about completed work on my PortoBlaster, a portable disco sound and light system to be towed by my bicycle out into the deep desert at Burning Man. I conceived of it several months ago and somehow managed to make it happen over the past few months. It looks like a fairly puny project from the looks of it.. but it took plenty of pondering, rule checking, and dumpster diving.

Here are some pictures

Normally at the event, the only vehicles allowed to drive on the playa are art cars which have been licensed and approved by the event's DMV. This normally requires an especially extravagant setup which I don't really have the means to pull off myself. However, bikes are permitted free access to everywhere in just about every configuration one could imagine. I knew the only way to get sound and light equipment far out into the darkness was pulling with my bike. After months of agonizing over how I might accomplish this, here are the parts I assembled:

A twin baby bike trailer - holds 100 lbs. $69
A Stereo Amp - Sony home stereo amp from Craigslist - $20
Two decent bookshelf sized speakers - Salvation Army - $7.50
An old mini-portable CD player that's been collecting dust for years
Some Xmas lights from last year's tree
A red tube-light I've had laying around that I've never used
A blue twirling police beacon light - Target - $12
Purple spray paint
Some velcro and wire hooks to keep things in place
1 yard of plush white faux fur.

The last and largest hurdle to bring powered equipment into the desert is where to get electricity. Generators are expensive, heavy, and loud. This was the toughest piece of the puzzle. I could have gone the car stereo route and used a marine battery for power, but I wasn't sure about the lights and I'm not super handy with car audio. I became enamored with the Honda 1000 generator, which weighs 29 lbs, and is apparently about as quiet as a sewing machine. Unfortunately, they are expensive and not easy to find second hand. After doing the math on renting vs. buying and sizing up market on eBay and Craigslist, I decided that if I could find one for $400, I could easily re-sell it after the event for the same amount - making it essentially free for my use. I found one on eBay after weeks of searching and it's waiting for me to pick it up at Fedex right now. I really hope it works.