Here’s a composition I call “Tat, Dry Leaves, & Scooter Parts”. She is a good predictor of events, she settles into leaves like this just before any windstorm. Sure enough, the forecast for this afternoon is winds up to 30 mph. Gusts like that make cycle riding a challenge. Considering 75% of drivers talk on their cells and now 25% report surfing the web, one wonders what the biggest threat on the road really is.
The new scooter is still having teething problems. Upon examination, it has a carburetor, not fuel injectors. Didn’t know they still made those. It may be fouling or feeding too rich a mixture, all this was not as noticeable at lower break-in speeds. I’ll have it tended to, as the “Great 2011 Circumnavigation of Lake Okeechobee” is tentatively slated for a week from this Sunday.The cable TV bandits are doing the rounds again. According to Kelley’s and Jimbos’ they now want a box for each television set on the premises. No more watching ping-pong and golf on different channels any more. And we wonder why the world thinks us a bunch of savages. I heard cable service is now $114 per month, but nobody would pay that, would they? If so, where are they headed? And what’s with the handbasket?
Today in 1966, John Lennon declared the Beatles were bigger than Jesus. In 45 years, we’re still waiting for one of the people who complained about that to step forward and prove him wrong. To any religious fanatics who have accidentally found their unwelcome way in here, I got news for you: the Beatles are still bigger than Jesus.
I walked over and asked the neighbors if they had seen Theresa on the property recently. Yes, and they told me a lot more, including some of the things Wallace has been saying. For example, they say he told them I wasn’t paying any bills, no rent, no food, no electric. They said they knew he was lying because they could tell I was cooking whether he was in town or not.
Whereas I doubt Wallace actually said those things, that is what they heard. Only a fool discusses such things with the neighbors because a gossip always hears what they want to hear. I mean, what if I was not the type who could cook? It is hard to believe Wallace would go to such lengths to stir up trouble, but we know his daughter would. I mean, she must have learned the behavior somewhere, since people aren’t born that way.
I’m really into the Radio Shack booklet on power supplies. I have no intention of using 110 V for anything but the theory is grand mental exercise. With robotics, there is a temptation to forge ahead with transistors, the real thing when it comes to circuitry. I’ve decided to hold back until I have more of the basics in order. Everyone knows a wire moving through a magnetic field produces an electric current.
Therefore, it also produces voltage and a resistance, therefore, it should be measurable. Does one wire and one magnet product enough to measure? To date, I have not found any beginner’s texts that address these points. Therefore, I’ll do it myself. As a reminder, I am not out to become an expert, but only to familiarize myself with the topic.
How’s this for progress? A while back I built a 7805 voltage circuit and marveled at how stable and accurate it was. This morning I discover the 7805 has built-in to itself a series-pass regulator, which consists of [at least] two transistors which sample the output voltage to self-correct matters. (I’m still unclear on the transistors, as other readings have told me the transistor base is controlled by current, not volts.)
On the same topic, I must re-ask a question I had from high school. You know how there are kilovolts and microfarads? I know the answer, but here’s the rhetoric. Why don’t they just redefine all the units so that the most common prefixes are dropped for the 95% of the time the components are teamed up? Then you take a volt of this, a farad of that, an ohm of the other and so on. Only when you depart from the regular do you need worry about picos and megas. I know, dumb question.
Here’s another shortcoming of the textbooks. You get a predrilled circuit board and some directions. But none of the directions are clear on how the components are connected behind the circuit board. The photos I’ve seen show they are not connected with wire, since the wires run through the holes adjacent to the component leads. And there is no visible connection on the front of the board. True, I’ll find out, but it is one more example of how the system educates people beyond their intelligence level.
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