Carl Benton

I am an electronic engineer with a Masters in Engineering. You can find out the details of my education on the CV Page.

Family

I am happily married to Christy and we 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, however with two young children (and a husband) she can afford little time to paint. Christy is also a passionate Marine Biologist and worked at the Marine Studies Centre & Aquarium at Portobello, Dunedin while we lived down there. She took guided tours, looked after the fish and aquarium and taught 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)!

On 27 Feb 2011 our daughter Samara was born at Dunedin Hospital in Dunedin. In April the following year we moved back up to Hamilton, and on 17 Dec 2012 our son Jackson was born. With two young children we are very happy and love to spend time with them working around the house doing landscaping and gardening.

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. I am fortunate enough to expand this hobby into a full time job with my own business.

Me in Pjamas at the workbench at the age of 12

Another interest is refereeing rugby, where I have been a member of both the Hamilton and Dunedin Rugby Referee Associations. I started refereeing rugby at the age of 16, and really enjoy the sport. Since our first child (Samara) was born I took time away from Refereeing to spend more time with her, and since then we have had Jackson. I hope to return to refereeing in the near future.

Being a referee can be both frustrating and humorous to deal with some 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, just for a bit of a laugh:

– “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?
– “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

I also like to relax and play a bit of Counter Strike Source in my spare time (which is very litle 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.

Business

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. 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 into a great business. These days, LEDstuff employes 2 staff and I spend about half of my time working on Electronic design projects both contracted to clients and for in-house development.