The first all-up test of the rave machine was a mixed success. Some parts of the design worked perfectly and others failed utterly. I'm very glad I had the opportunity to find all this out now, close to home and with plenty of time left before Burning Man. All of the problems are fixable, and I see no reason to doubt that things will go much more smoothly next time.

Technical issues or no, the machine was reasonably successful as an art project. I wasn't always sure how people would react when I parked my stereo in front of their camp, but everyone seemed to like it. One person made a point of stopping by on her way out the next day to tell me how much her camp had enjoyed the music, and how they'd wished I'd dawdled longer. Plenty of people told me they had been following my progress on this web site and had been looking forward to seeing the machine - that was unexpected and very welcome.

Construction went smoothly, more or less, though I found that the layers of paint added enough thickness to the outriggers that it was difficult to slide them into their mounting brackets. All of the electrical components connected up smoothly and worked perfectly the first time I flipped them on. I was relieved to find that the stereo was still adequately loud in the open air; it didn't blow your socks off, exactly, but it was certainly loud enough to make its point.

It was tough to set up the guy ropes with the correct amount of tension. I've built some kind of tripod-anchored pole system every time I've gone to Burning Man, and I have run into this same problem every time. If there is a standard solution I have yet to run across it. I had thought that the small scale of this project would enable me to adjust all three anchor straps more or less simultaneously, but this was not the case, and I still ended up running around and around the machine, adjusting each strap so that the pole did not lean over. I ended up leaving the ropes a little bit slack, fearing that too much tension would damage the pole; this turned out to be a mistake.

Trouble came as soon as I took the machine on its first ride around the block. The two-rail hitch system did not allow the bike to turn quickly enough, and I found mysef zig-zagging down the road with the rear tire bouncing first off one hitch bar and then the other. It was very difficult to make any kind of progress. The first corner was an intersection of two broad roads with a wide grassy lawn on the other side, but I could barely turn fast enough to make it. I pulled to a stop, and just as I turned my head I saw the pole fall over, crashing the laser apparatus right into the ground!

Inspection revealed a double miscalculation. The peg at the base of the pole was designed to provide lateral rather than angular reinforcement; I had counted on the guy lines to hold the pole steady. The guy lines are stretched at a narrow angle to the pole, and while they do keep the pole segments compressed together and seated solidly on the end-pegs, they do not absorb much horizontal force. On top of this I had not tightened them enough, and they simply could not relieve all of the strain on the peg. The peg and its mounting bolt tore their way out of the top of the machine, the pole slipped, and down the whole thing went.

After a couple hours off doing other things, I decided to make the best of what I had and try some jury-rigging. I abandoned the entire hitch mechanism and tied the front eye-bolt to my bike with a rope. Then I strapped the laser platform on top of the inverter, tilted back at an angle and held there with zip-ties. This yielded a much smaller laser image than I had hoped to get with the laser atop the pole, but at least you could see it and it didn't look totally pointless.

This setup worked pretty well. I think that plenty of people who saw it probably didn't even realize it was broken. It would likely have been more impressive with the laser way up overhead, but it worked well enough for today. People liked it, it was fun, I learned a few things, and that's all I needed to accomplish on a test run.

Pulling the trailer was no trouble at all - it didn't even feel like work, really, except for when I was trying to get it rolling. Braking wasn't really a problem, either, even with nothing but a rope; I've added many pounds of heavy electrical equipment since the last time I took this machine for a spin, and this time I was riding on gravel rather than asphalt, so it cruised to a demure halt every time I needed it to. But I had imagined the machine creeping along very slowly, at walking pace or slower, and it turns out to be very difficult to ride a bike that slowly without constantly s-curving back and forth across the road. I think the bike itself needs an outrigger, perhaps some grown-up-sized training wheels.

Disassembly was a pain: the outriggers were wedged quite tightly into their brackets, and I had to resort to a hammer to convince them to come back out. In the process I managed to crack the protective glass covering one of the blacklights. It's nothing serious but it was very frustrating. I plan to take a sander to the inside-ends of the outriggers and grind them down three-sixteenths of an inch or so. I'll have to repaint them, but I think it will be worth it.

I still have no idea how long the battery will last. I left the stereo running for hours, and the sound showed no signs of weakening. I would like to install a voltmeter so I can keep a little better track of the battery's charge level, but I doubt I will ever run out of juice anywhere but the playa, and even there I bet I will only have to charge it a couple of times during the week.