Strand Lighting Easter Egg.
(C) Steve Brown 2012 - 2015 brossell.uk
Updated 17-July-2010 after conversation with Andy Collier who started this tradition

This Easter Egg is a place marker for when I can get the information together to make a proper web page.
 
If people come across this Easter Egg and have more information I would be grateful if they could forward it on as as the years have gone on it's all gone a bit vague.

Strand Leaving Presents
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Before I had joined Strand there had been a tradition of technical leaving presents with AndyC, which I then got involved in.
They were usually started the night before of the leaving presentation. A gang would get together and work though the night. It was a early version of the Scrapheap Challange.


The list before me:
1) Based on a MMS pin patch panel a baby cradle with full handbook for a secretary leaving to have a baby. 

2) (OK their was more, but I forgot. Have to get back to AndyC! This time I'll ask before the beer.)


The list I can remember that I was involved in:
1) Lighting desk channel controller converted to a musical electronic organ.
Done for an engineer who done a lot of work on the Galaxy. Present was based on a Galaxy lighting desk channel controller where the control surface could be used to play tunes.

2) Solid state LED video card
Done for a software engineer that had done a lot of work on the new Galaxy video card. It was a 8x8 matrix of red LEDs with manual controls for drawing images on.

3) Tea mug protection device
Done for Drawing Office manager who actively guarded his tea mug, you should have seen the reaction when someone cleaned the mug for him, 20 years of conditioning lost in a few minutes.  The present was based on a flood lamp housing where the tea mug was glued on a platform that retracted into the housing if an attempt was made to touch it, whilst playing the theme from Mission Impossible. It fact we had to steal the mug before the presentation and he found it gone and nearly missed the presentation looking for it. Sign of the times, to get a recording of the Mission Impossible theme I had to scout round London record stores a couple of nights before to find it, well before the internet.

4) Exploding power Supply
We had a summer student who tested a lot of power supplies. So this one had a flash tube in and issued smoke.

5) Baby in a cradle that recorded speach
Doll in a wicker cradle, it record the last noise/words it heard and then played it back. Also issued smoke from the nappy area.

6) Musical floppy disc
Milled out a 3.5" floppy disc and inserted a card tune generator, switch and battery so when used as a tea mug mat it made music.

7) Walnut navigation device
Someone leaving to travel the world. Four arrow LEDs arranged as a compass in a walnut shell with tilt switches to decide where to go next.

8) Miniture motorised stage light
Software engineer who did a lot of work on motorised lighting fixtures. So a miniture light was mounted a servo motor on a small box with tilt switches.

9) Nightmare Super size NE555
I had nothing to do with this one as it was my leaving present.