SMART Boards

Mounting Projectors #1

  "What is the diagonal measure of a SB680?" someone asked in a recent email.  It's 77" diagonal.  But why would someone want to know this?  My guess is they are trying to figure out the proper throw distance to mount the projector.  I'd calculate this differently.  The SB680's ACTIVE screen area is 61.65" wide x 46.40" high and the SB660 is 51.25" wide x 38.40 high.  At Projector Central's website, I'd click on Calculator Pro at the lower left corner of the screen and choose the brand and model of projector to use (marked with green arrows).

  Then, scroll down to the bottom of the page (marked with blue arrows) type in the horizontal width in the box, click on the + and - buttons to the right of the entry box, to enter the value in for calculation.  Finally, go to the Throw Distance table (marked with green arrows) and read the maximum and minimum throw distance.  Throw distance is the distance from the lens at the front of the projector, to the screen surface.  In a "perfect world" the lens should be mounted at the throw distance midpoint, to allow for as much zoom adjustment as possible.  The lens center should be mounted perpendicular to the center of the SMART Board.

  This is the throw range box.  Using an Epson 82c projector (one of my favorites, because it's bright, affordable and good resolution), the throw distance for a SB680 is a minimum of 7.5 feet (that's 7 POINT 5 feet, which is the same as 7 feet 6 inches) a maximum of 9.1 feet (9 feet 1-1/4 inches) and a midpoint of 8.2 feet (8 feet 2-1/4 inches).

For the SB660, using an Epson 82c, the throw distance is 6'1-1/4" to 7'4-3/4".  Other useful information you might want is SMART's Textless Installation Guides for the SB680, SB660, SB640 or the Quick Help Guide.

FREE Sound Software

  Julie Ann Sawall's latest greatest idea is a little known secret she mentioned in our recent Green Bay and Wausau SMART Board seminars.  Julie used a simple computer headset she got from Best Buy and showed how to use FREE Audacity software to capture audio, save in as MP3 files and link to SMART Notebook objects.  Here we see a simple audio file created with the FREE Windows version of Audacity.

  Mac users aren't left out, because they can download the Macintosh version, too.  There's even a Linux version.  With Audacity, you can record live audio, convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs, edit OGG Vorbis, MP3 and WAV sound files, cut, copy, splice and mix sounds together, change the speed or pitch of a recording and much more.  Audacity is FREE (not shareware) and is open source software, like OfficeOffice and Mozilla.  Machine requirements are very small, Vista/XP/2000/98 - 64 MB RAM, 300 MHz processor.  Macintosh - version 1.0 (Mac OS 9.0 or later), version 1.1 (Mac OS 10.1 or later)

  In SMART Notebook, you'd create an object or use one from the Gallery.  Here we've brought in Lincoln from the Gallery and are clicking on the drop down menum (click on the object then click on the triangle on the upper right corner of the object).  Pull down to "Sound..." to link the sound.

Finally, using the Insert Sound dialog box, click on the Browse button to find the Sound file you want to use.  SMART Notebook works best with MP3 files.  Once the file attaches, click on the Corner Icon or Object radio buttons to set up the user interface for playing the sound and click OK.

High Demand for SB6i

Demand for SMART Technology's SB680i and SB660i is been so great that orders placed this week will be shipped in early June.  Read our November 11 review on the features of SMART's new integrated projector/sound/interface/board system.

GoodSearch.com

  Publicizing GoodSearch to your faculty and students as a search engine tool is a good way for schools to earn some extra money (to buy SMART Boards or any other needed educational materials).  I recently learned about GoodSearch from Gretchen Renfert, a Stevens Point Area High School math teacher, at a SMART Board inservice I was conducting.  By getting faculty, staff, students and parents to use GoodSearch as their search engine, their school has earned over $700 in just over a semester.

  If 1,000 people with the same charity search twice a day for a year, the charity earns about $7,300.  Founders Ken and JJ Ramberg teamed up with Yahoo on this project and half of the profit they earn from GoodSearch is donated to charities and schools.  Click HERE to learn all about GoodSearch.

  Try out GoodSearch to find out more about it.  The search engine is clean and easy to use, and I didn't see distracting pop-ups.  My only disappointment was that there weren't as many hits on it for my company, as there are on Google.  But if you search for SmartChoice AV on it, that's bound to change over time.  Read more about GoodSearch in SocialTech.com News, CNN Money.com, MSNBC.com.