Carl Benton

I am an electronic engineer with a Masters in Engineering and am currently working on my PhD. You can find out the details of my education on the CV Page. Well, where to start eh? I suppose I will start with my interests…

Interests

My main interest is my electronics. I have been interested in electronics ever since I was a little boy who pulled apart his toys to see how they worked, and if I could modify them. At the age of 12 I got into the Dick Smith kit sets where I didn’t bother with Book 1, no, I went onto soldering book 2. However, I shortly got through those and got into all the other kits, and started making my own plastic circuit boards (PCBs). I developed an interest in audio amplifiers, and I also have a long time project for disco and display lighting.

Me in Pjamas at the workbench at the age of 12

Another interest is refereeing rugby, where I currently referee at Premier Division 2 level here in Otago. You can see the ORRA website here. I started refereeing rugby at the age of 16, and really enjoy the sport. It gets a bit difficult at times when you have to deal with the range of spectators, most of which believe they are experts on the rules. The reality is of course that most don’t have any idea. I thought I would take the time to include a few quotes from some of these “expert” spectators (and players) I have encountered. Personally, I blame Murray Mexted for the lack of knowledge of the rules these days:

- “There are no off sides or knock on’s in the in goal!” – This was actually a coach! (My favorite)
- “You can’t take a quick throw in once the ball has crossed the rope!” – Errr, rule book anyone?
- “Oh your f*%@king joking ref!” – This resulted in an instant red card. Good on ya mate!
- “But I was bridging ref!” – A players comment after he was penalized for going off his feet at a ruck
- “I was on my feet ref!” – A players comment after he was penalized for picking the ball up in a ruck
- More to come…

Now, I must also take the time to introduce my fiance Christy Brett wife Christy Benton. Christy and I have been together since the 3rd day of University back in 2001 and were married on the 6th February 2010 in the Coromandel. Christy is a very talented artist where you can see some of her work at the Unique Paintings website. Christy is also a passionate Marine Biologist and is currently working at the Marine Studies Centre & Aquarium at Portobello, Dunedin where she takes guided tours, looks after the fish and aquarium and teaches classes of school groups. Christy did a BSc and also a Masters in Marine Biology where she studied Sea Worms (No, not the man eating kind)!

I also like to relax and play a bit of Counter Strike Source in my spare time (which is not much these days) where my alias is “Osty”. This is why you may see an image of an Ostrich around the place. You can find out more about CSS on this Wikipedia article.

Another passion of mine is running my own business. I started a company called Bentech Limted back in 2007 with the intention of doing contract electronic engineering work, and building the business into a full time job after I finish my PhD. In late 2008 I was looking for a source of RGB SMD LEDs for use in my latest disco light panel project, and found some manufacturers in China that I developed a relationship with. From this, LEDstuff was born, where we import LED lighting products aimed at caravans, motorhomes, household and commercial lighting. LEDstuff has grown over the first two years into a great business with over 2000 happy customers.