June 29, 2023

Yesteryear
One year ago today: June 29, 2022, yes, but he wasn’t practicing.
Five years ago today: June 29, 2018, so that’s a commissary.
Nine years ago today: June 29, 2014, poor old Sarah.
Random years ago today: June 29, 2016, aha, the termite nest.

           Go woke, go broke. National Geographic has terminated the last of its staff writers. Gosh, declining sales since they came out with their anti-White human footprint content. Today should break another record, so the plan is all morning in the library. Hours later that’s what happened, so what can be done on such a day? I’ve finally finished the book, “Yellow Admiral” and believe I would have made a decent midshipman. But Captain, forget it. What a headache. Our man was saved from being yellowed by Napoleon escaping from Elba, to the delight of palindrome lovers everywhere. I also found and downloaded a Forrest Mimms book on sensors that’s been hard to find since RadioShack folded.

           I’m mulling over the sensor kit mentioned lately. I needed to know which sensors could be conveniently included, staying away from water sensors and such which require too much setup. They should also have a short enough reaction time to keep the observer interested. Can’t have him around waiting for the humidity to change. I would also confine all to types that have no moving parts. I’ve only flipped through the Mimm book but I can see why it wasn’t a bestseller. It requires brains to understand the projects listed.
           And I’ve planned out an old-fashioned tour, the kind I used to make by sidecar years ago. No GPS, I would sketch the route on paper and clip it to my handlebars. Just go, if you missed a turn, it was cheap enough to double back. This time, I’d like to see the river again near Lithia. Driving no longer bothers my blood pressure and the trip would be much nicer inside the van. We’ll see, as the drive to Miami is pending any time.

           Our potential club member has send an e-mail, which I gave him the phone number. Most new people don’t keep up, but we did have many more show up at least a while than NOVA managed. The fatal sub wreckage has been retrieved, a credit to how far salvage operations have come since the Atocha. This is purported to be part of the hull, showing catastrophic damage. As a thermometer of how far the last generation of America has dumbed-down, countless of them are asking why the occupants didn’t just use the escape hatch
           In another blow to the woketard class, the Supreme Court has ruled (fifty years too late and after the damage is done) that affirmative action is unConstitutional. Minorities everywhere are bleating, now they can’t play the race card. Strange how many are Asians. Why so worried about a merit-based admission system, Hop Sing? As Babylon Bee puts it, if what they say is true about IQ-based admissions, by 2025 all college students in America will be Chinese.

Picture of the day.
The first audio amplifier.
(De Forest, 1914.)
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           I confirm the Mimm book is too advanced for beginners, but one of the circuits intrigues me. Called a “light listener”, it takes light signals and converts them to sound. The human ear has, compared to the eye, a much wider and better reception. The circuit also uses op amps, which if I cannot understand, maybe like the rest, I’ll just start using them in hopes the brain part happens later. Here is the circuit. I could kick myself for all the old radios I’ve thrown away that had many of these parts.

           Boost offers a partial explanation. A week or so back they “migrated” all their customers to a new tower, this one operated by the Dish people who bought them out (and reneged on their obligations to existing customers). The local office reports a slowdown of many cell services and the Coolpad is really a cell phone. As it goes nowadays, the staff has no knowledge or gear to troubleshoot the device and I’m fresh out of all my old gear. It’s uncanny how Boost knows things like that.

           Returning home, I threw on that DVD of Van Damme joining the foreign legion. For those who don’t read that history extensively, it is called the foreign legion because French citizens are not allowed to join. It is recognized many criminals on the run would otherwise enlist. Nowadays, the criminals cross the Mexican border and join the US Gay Forces. I lost the connection, so no movie. No work either, my shoulder blades are acting up. Not a great sign, as warm weather is usually a positive. It’s going to stay warm, we’ve seen this before. Humidity off the Gulf. I found another DVD, “American Assassin”, great action so far, realistic portrayals, correct regional accents, lots of Irish actors.

           Here is a photo from tomorrow. Due to the fading light, I just managed to get the post moved on the saw canopy. Technically, not moved, as shown here, the new post is on the left, the old still on the right. And two cross braces so I can take the old post down and move it to a new position where I can make a proper shade for the saw. Once more, it is the lack of anything else that makes these events the top stories—your signal this blog is a daily journal, not out to impress the hoi polloi. Did you know, if I charged a penny per view, I’d be rich?
           The original plan was to take a time lapse photo of the sunlight on the new garden spot. But thanks to the fence I’ve been working close enough for a couple weeks now to know there is adequate sunlight. I thumbed through my garden log and note two outstanding barriers. One is the weeds that take over when I’m not here, and two, plants that thrive in the linden tree shade too quickly dehydrate in direct sun. The position of the camphor trees allows direct sunlight in patches and keep roughly the same amount of shade. Return and I’ll show you what I mean.

ADDENDUM
           If you are new here and not interested in electronics, don’t be dismayed. I only report when there is progress, and that happens in phases one of which is happening at the moment. I’m considering another “science fair” project on how sensors work. There are all kinds, sometimes called detectors. Temperature, pressure, sound, and so on. To work with microcontrollers (Arduino), they all must share a common parameter. Usually, that is by varying from 0V to 5V in the “range” stated on the package. Here’s where I describe, in plain talk, how that is done.

           First, think of sound as a separate case. A sound detector is called a microphone and they are different in the sense they produce only a tiny signal way down in the microvolt range, so they must be amplified to be of any use to a microcontroller. Leave sound out of the equation for now.

           It is up to you to match the sensor voltage to your microcontroller. You are lucky, most are already a match because 5V has been a standard for a long, long time. So, how do these sensors manage? Ah, now you may regret not paying attention back when they told you about voltage dividers. Remember those? Remember the formula? That’s okay, neither did I. A voltage divider is taking a reading on a piece of wire between two resistors connected to a voltage and a ground. If the resistors are of equal value, the reading will be pretty much halfway between the input voltage and the ground.
           Got that? If not, go look at a diagram, they are everywhere if you search. Here’s a quick view I put together, but find one that makes sense to you. Sensors work on this principle. Sensors replace R1 with a variable resistance. You can get almost any voltage between maximum and minimum by changing the ratio between those two resistors. Repeat, what you do is replace resistor number 1 with variable resistor. Now, when you measure the center point, you get a varying voltage and that is sent to your microcontroller. Make sense? It will have to if you want to grasp this material.

           You are not out of the weeds yet. That voltage varies between 0V and 5V in a smooth, or analog fashion. You need to convert it to digital before your microcontroller can use it. I knew none of this when I bought the Arduino in 2010, but fortunately, it has this convertor built in. It’s called an ADC. Analog to digital converter. That’s another diagram you can look up. The ADC “samples” the incoming analog signal 1023 times per clock cycle. A cheap ADC may sample it fewer times, and expensive unit more times, that is called your “resolution” and you get what you pay for.
           My plan is to build a small circuit board that uses a potentiometer to vary the resistance. Nothing elaborate, the challenge is to think of an attractive display that reacts to this setup. Or possibly, a circuit that allows a couple or three different sensors to interchange. Nothing of note happened anywhere else in central Florida today.

Last Laugh