Tablet Stand for Kirtan

These days iPads and other tablets are commonly used to display shabads during kirtan. Some places a monitor is used so that the kirtani  can see the shabad. Tablets screens can be hard to see at an angle and sometimes they are an awkward size to put on a vaja. If the device is placed higher and at more of an angle, the rest of the sangat on stage can see the shabad as well. For these reasons I was requested to help make a stand that could securely hold a tablet at an angle and high enough so that it would be visible. Fortunately I was given a monitor stand to use as a base, since building a complete stand from scratch is difficult. I was also given some cut up pieces of wood. I used wood glue and really small nails to put the pieces  of wood together to form a platform with edges so nothing would slide off. Then I painted the back silver and added a soft black felt to the front so the devices wouldn’t get scratched or slide around.  I added a small piece in the front so the tablet would not fall forward and finally mounted the whole thing onto the monitor stand.

The actual construction of it:

Here is the finished product:


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isangat.org Android Application

screenshot1  As viewers may know, I love creating things, learning new stuff, and making things convenient. So I decided to try my hand at making an app for my android phone. This is my first app, so its very simple but it gets the job done. The app basically displays a list of Kirtan programs in the bay area with times and addresses from www.isangat.org. This is a convenient way to check from programs from your phone without having to go to the website. If you don’t have a data plan or rely only on wifi, this app also has the built in feature to save the information so that when you open it later without an internet connection you can still see the events. Obviously it will not update if there are any changes unless your internet connection is active. Another cool thing about having it as an app is that you don’t have to look at the website and type the information into your gps or maps app. You should be able to just click the address and view it in maps. Hopefully I will learn how to add more advanced features and make more apps as well. I hope you like it! If you have any issues don’t hesitate to contact me.

Right Click Here or Long Press and choose (Save Link As..) to Download. You can either download the file on your computer and put it in your SD card, or just open this page in your mobile browser and download it directly onto your phone. Then just open the file to install.

Note: You must have installation of non-market applications allowed. To do this on your device go to Settings>Applications> Check “Unknown Sources”

———-UPDATE—– May 14th, 2016 ———-

I have officially rebuilt this app from the ground up, optimized for android Kitkat/Lollipop and above. It is now officially available on the Google Play Store at the following link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vikramkhalsa.isangat

I have also added programs from www.ekhalsa.com to the app and will be adding more sources and features in the future. All of the updates will now be available directly in the play store.


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Customized VSK Ultimate Vaja

With LED lit keyboard and built-in phone stand.

Lately, I’ve been thinking of many ideas to customize, improve, and add features to my harmonium. I recently came up with the idea of adding LED lights for the keyboard to assist in seeing the keys while playing in the dark. Although this wasn’t a much needed feature I felt it could have some practical benefits for some people and it definitely looks cool. After putting the lights in I realized I didn’t really like the look of my vaja (it was pretty old and worn out with plenty of cuts and scratches on the paint) and the wiring/LED setup didn’t look very nice either. So I decided to “clean it up” a little and make the electrical work more hidden.  I figured while doing this I might as well customize the look of my vaja and give it a makeover. I went with my favorite black and silver theme, and tried to make it look more elegant too. There is no visible wiring, an easily accessible battery holder, and a push-button switch built into the wood.  My last addition was a hidden iphone/PDA stand which rotates out when you need it. This was the result of my Spring Break:

 

 

What it used to look like:

 

The process and detailed pictures:

 

 


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