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Michael Kilpatrick

@mtkilpatrick.bsky.social
289 followers 401 following 1.3K posts

Baritone saxophonist, Duke Ellington devotee. Harmony In Harlem jazz orchestra. Liberal Democrat, federalist, poet. Former VLSI engineer at ARM. South Cambs, UK. #NAFO - spend money to free Ukraine.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
6/ The case bottom and lid top are 4mm plywood and I'm keeping them, so digging in to gouge out the legs of the rivets isn't helpful. Instead, I'm carefully drilling off the heads of most of them and pushing them through. I've sourced new rivets - 11 gauge with a 7/32" head (5.5mm), nickel plated.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
5/ good news: the old 3/8" plywood can be replaced by 9mm structural plywood of which I have plenty left over from lining my workshop. Next, then, was removing all the braces and corner brackets. Everything is riveted in using bifurcated rivets, folded over into the plywood rather haphazardly.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
4/ It didn't take long to see that the back piece, which suffers repeated load when the lid is thrown open, was almost completely delaminated. I could pull it apart easily.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
3/ Then the long process of dismembering the case, and working out what I need, began. The lining is a fabric-backed plush mostly glued inside, apart from the accessories compartment which was nailed in. Once that was out I could start examining the construction properly.
Removing the lining from a saxophone case.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
2/ It didn't take too long to find an appropriate material, "leathercloth" from Ratchford.co.uk in Manchester. I got an A4 sample then bought a 6m roll, enough for two baritone sax cases, because my original Conn case from my other baritone is not exactly tip-top either.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
1/ Call me mad, but I decided to undertake a restoration of this old baritone saxophone case. The leatherette is half gone and the plywood carcass is falling apart.
Disintegrating baritone sax case, at least 60 years old, I believe.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
The 10x jeweller's loupe is set in thermoplastic and is just beyond the focal length of the cheapo magnifying glass. I stopped the magnifying glass down to about 20mm and made a screen with a hole in it to put the whole thing in the shade.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Apparently, we'll get about 90% of the eclipse in South Cambridgeshire, so I improvised this projector using a magnifying glass, a jeweller's loupe, some thermoplastic, two microphone stands and a load of cardboard.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
8/ Ah, the switch carrier actually comes out, so it may be easier to glue it. I also found the Start microswitch is dying. I'm going to unsolder it and swap it with one we don't use. I've got no idea what the P, kg, M1 and M2 switches do. And here is a good use of staples as reinforcement!
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
7/ But the switches that are temperamental are the ones that have broken off at the two rather small connection points at the ends of the arms:
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
6/ Hmm. The switch tops are supposed to be attached to the moulding by two little springy arms...
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
5/ Will the switch internals all fly across the room when I remove the PCB? Is there a membrane? It feels too mechanical for that...
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
4/ Now I just need to find out if I can actually access the switch internals and if they are actually serviceable.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
3/ Making sure I photograph everything, although it's straightforward, just the colour-coded relay plugs could get mixed up.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
2/ This 25yr old microwave has got progressively worse - the Start and most-used 900W button are almost inoperable. So, out it comes from the housing.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
1/ Wish me luck, @breakintoprogram.co.uk. It's microwave switch repair time!
Neff microwave control unit.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
I went to the Kennedy Centre last Thursday, as my friend Maureen Kerrigan was performing in Shear Madness and the couple in front of me on my flight from Heathrow were performing on the Millennium Stage earlier the same night. Didn't look at all decaying, the bits I saw.
Set of Shear Madness at the Kennedy Centre.Lily Neill and Clive Carroll performing at the Kennedy Centre.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
6/ This is a bit disturbing. These Wiska boxes are IP67 rated, but the unused membrane ports on the top have either been eaten or rotten! It's all wet inside! This box is by the pond, halfway to the garage. So, I've got a replacement and some blanking plugs with washers to seal all unused ports.
Dodgy Wiska junction box.New Wiska box, blanking plugs and washers.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
5/ Now I can print extra labels for the Consumer Unit. Yes, I put in an extra RCBO myself, separating two armoured cables into two circuits rather than on one RCBO. Shed/pond for one (16A), garage for the other (new 20A). Both go into a new junction box in the garage. Armoured glands - hard work!
Consumer Unit labelled. Galvanised box where four armoured cables meet in the garage for two separate outdoor circuits.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
4/ Just hack the bloody thing with a Dremel and a Stanley knife, solder a PP3 battery lead to the wires, reassemble, and you've got a device which takes either 6x AAA cells or a PP3 cell. Sorted. Common sense prevails.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
3/ Let's just take the damned thing to bits. Cover off, lift the main PCB a bit, extract the two bits that form the AAA terminals, and the wiring is obvious enough...
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
2/ And who wants to use the mains adapter if you're working in an awkward place? But look, it's/almost/ big enough to fit a PP3. A rechargeable PP3 is 8.4V, and I know the device works with 2 rechargeable AAAs and 4 alkalines, so the why the hell wasn't it made for PP3 in the first place?
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
1/ Quick thread on a bit of electronics DIY. I've got this Dymo label machine but it's REALLY ANNOYING because it runs on six AAA cells. Yro, bonkers. And it won't take 6 rechargeable AAAs because that's only 7.2V, not 9V. Here is the battery compartment.
Dymo 160 Label Maker
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Nice bit of wiring in the garage, sorting out the mess of the armoured cables. Tidying up long overdue. Previous owners were a bit messy. I've used some PVC mini-trunking, and that's still a work in progress.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 08/11/2025
Unfortunately, repair cafes don't generally extend to welding, and my vintage baritone saxophone stand has a stress fracture at the bend in the peg. I need to find someone to give this a zap with a welder!
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
The BBC News are getting a bit sloppy with their proofreading. The word "policies" is missing from the end of the headline for this article by Chris Mason.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
The Library of Congress doubles as a set for a zombie hospital horror film.
Corridor of the Library of Congress in Washington DC.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
3/ Definitely too much...
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
2/ There was also an aftershow party with a catwalk competition - several flamboyant characters from the audience took part as well as four of the the leading ladies of the cast. Erm, I got a bit hot under the collar at that point...
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
1/ Thanks to a recommendation, I went to Signature Theatre, Arlington, near DC, on Friday night to see "Play On" - Twelfth Night set in Duke Ellington's Harlem. Marvellous fun, and my pot-luck table fellows were wonderful. A family from Atlanta who came up to see their daughter in the show.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Second day at the Smithsonian NMAH Archives Centre in a bit, for more research on Duke Ellington manuscripts. I'll try not to forgot how long it doesn't take to get there from my hotel, so as not to stand around for half an hour before opening time!
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Dinner at Swahili Village just round the corner from my hotel in #WashingtonDC. The boss will probably appear and recognise me again after six months, like last time.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
From that angle, the Aussie just looks like a full blue merle Border Collie. Flek has some blue merle in the family, and some of his siblings had one blue eye. Here is his "yes, I've been a bad dog" pose.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
Which reminds me. Back in the 1980s we had two of these programmable ones at home. Possibly through my father's work. I see someone has one up for £350 on Ebay. That's a bit mad. Not sure what happened to the two we had.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Had a fun rehearsal with Bob Hunt's Harlem Jazz Orchestra on Monday. Had a few solo spots on baritone - one of Bob's compositions.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 02/08/2025
I'm making sketches and thinking of coding shortcuts to render visible walls through gaps as part of my simplified perspective maze rendering on the Microbit.
Sketch of visibility issues for a simplified perspective maze drawing game.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Oh my! The v2 Microbit is nearly 10 times faster than the v1. My maze drawing routine:
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
9/ Aha. Rendering trick: draw the two mirror image major triangles (solid border and stipple pattern) first, render the maze by deleting/overwriting segments were side-junctions appear. Next trick: render the triangles as several rectangular blocks, hard-coded. Really fast. No Bresenam nonsense.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
6/ I'm also wondering if the fastest rendering is achieved by drawing the two major triangles (with stipple pattern?) first and then deleting/overwriting sections for any side junctions and facing walls.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
4/ And then I lowered the vanishing point and took the ceiling corners /above/ the edge of the display window. A much better view. Also, the ceiling diagonals are at 45 degrees - opens up coding optimisations.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
3/ I started thinking about rendering it in a simplified perspective. The first idea with a central vanishing point is not ideal because of the screen aspect ratio. If makes the walls look insufficiently claustrophobic.
Pencil sketch of maze POV for a 128x64 OLED display.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
1/ Recently I dug up the Microbit and revisited the maze drawing routine from 5 years ago. Rewritten it using a proper ARM assembler environment...
BBC Microbit driving an SSD1309 OLED display, drawing a maze
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
5/ Ahhhhh. But I'm not looking forward to all the graft of repairing the ground and paving.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
4/ And there's a Shelly automation device which is /just/ within reach of the WiFi to control it all with a phone app.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
3/ The cascade pump has a new access hatch - my handyman made it unserviceable years ago, and that wasn't good enough. A separate 32mm MDPE pipe through the conduit:
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
2/ All pipes and cables in a conduit of 110mm drain pipes and now fully serviceable.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
1/ I don't do anything by halves. Engineering overkill, but IMMENSELY satisfying. Here's my pond filler valve enclosure (with frost protection heater cable) over a drain access hatch. Video in the next post.
Enclosure with solenoid valve and heater cable Wiring inside access access riser - 110mm drain used as conduit for pipes and cables
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
ChatGPT admits its flaws but says that its model has improved since last year. True, but it still "front loads" and the just generates gibberish in attempts to complete a verse or rhyme.
Yes, the model has improved since earlier versions — especially at maintaining form and tone over 14 lines, handling metre more consistently, and preserving the intended emotional atmosphere. But you're right to say it's not perfect: rhymes can still drive awkward phrasing, and acrostics sometimes go astray, especially under constraints like iambic pentameter, emotional subtlety, and acrostic alignment all at once.

What has improved is:

Consistency of metre: It’s better at maintaining iambic pentameter without breaking rhythm, though it can still slip under pressure.

Thematic cohesion: It's more able to sustain an emotional throughline across all 14 lines, rather than front-loading the best ideas.

Rhyme quality: It now makes fewer lazy or obvious rhymes, though awkward inversions or filler lines can still appear.However:

Word choice can still be led by rhyme, leading to contrived constructions or unnecessarily archaic diction.

Acrostic integration remains brittle, especially with internal constraints (like not sounding forced while spelling a name).

Emotional tone still needs your calibration — when left alone, it often veers into either melodrama or generic abstraction.


So in short: yes, there’s progress — but you still write better poetry.

Would you like me to have another go at a sonnet under particular constraints, just as a benchmark? For example, you could set a name to acrostic, a theme (e.g., yearning, celebration, apology), and metre — and we can compare?
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
3/ I've dug up the paving near the pond's edge to install a new access hatch where the pond cascade pump goes.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
2/ it involves digging up the half-baked mess that my handyman left years ago, because the 110m drain pipe conduit system wasn't actually complete. What's the point of installing such a thing if the last metre of pipes and cables go through so I lmao? Bonkers.
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