One year ago today: February 21, 2023, not sandwiches, “handhelds”.
Five years ago today: February 21, 2019, a work day.
Nine years ago today: February 21, 2015, always something to do.
Random years ago today: February 21, 2001, 8¢ a mile.
Freezing, and my best oil-filled radiator burned out the element. I told myself in 2019 I’d get central heating, but along came Tennessee. Sounds like I’m blaming the place, but that was my choice and Nashville is now the center of my economic activities. I have no plans to ever live there due to this thing called winter, but it’s been cold as hell the third year in a row. I’m going to give the neighbor a lift to the hospital later this week, as he’s been getting lifts from the circle of gals who were his wife’s friends before she passed away. Consequently he’s more than once been let down at the last minute—I’m not criticising, I am merely observing. I figure guranteeing he’ll get there is fair compensation for using his fancy tools in the shed.
Quite often we were frinnds with kids whose father was the telegraph operator. It was amazing to watch them type with a clicking noise with the key also clicking in the background. Our tiny town was a backwater used to train the staff so every few years a new family would move in. This was often my only contact with how city kids lived or what was going on in the outside world. They were the first time I heard of many things such as movie theaters that were open every day and played more than one movie so you had an actual choice.
They had a switchboard but my picture of it is missing—also a characteristic of this stupid “smart” phone, it stores files wherever it pleases. The station in our town did not have this plugboard and the messages came through only at certain times of day. The telegraph keys had a bypass lever. At the appointed times, the operator would turn the lever on and the receiver, that triangle thing in the upper left, would begin clicking.
He would listen for his call signs, then begin typing. I was able to tell the difference between letters and numbers, but that is it. I’ve learned Morse a dozen times in my life and just as quickly lost it due to nobody to practice with. Ah, but recently, Wilford has said he has the same experience. Also, you know that friend of his whose name I never remember? Turns out he is working on a math degree, which is my worst subject. Arithemetic I can ace, but math, no. I still need someone to show me, not tell me, how integration works. I’ll say again, I’ve memorized the formulas and passed the tests, but I do not know what the results mean or how to ap ply them.
It has warmed up to 60°F by 11:00AM and I promised myself to get out there if that happened. I have the hardware to install on my matching set of boxes, which will give me time to ponder if I really want to spend money on that dado set. Well, I mean I do, but that’s expensive, but it would eclipse my other tools, but this and that. I’ll make a decision by later today. Maybe I’ve find out what the difference is between a box and a chest. A lot of the lid-cutting directions insist on saying chest.
A chest (it seems) conforms more to a standard. Usually deeper and wider than a box, and has a swingin lid. I spent the afternoon in the shed working mostly on other small items, as I had some thinking to do. One conclusion is to put to rest at least one urban legend, see this afternoon’s input. I also used the new crosscut sled to slice the top and bottom panels of the JeePee box. It was an instant improvement because the sled forces the piece to be square. I was have trouble before, the tiniest bit out and the boxes could look square but be slightly rhomboid, making the hinges hard to work with. Just to comfirm, I took some of the pieces I’d kept from other project that measured square. Every one was out by at least a degree, no wonder my joints had gaps.
Black sand beach, Canary Islands.
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What’s the legend and the project I’ve focused on? The basic transistor circuit. I’ve wanted to do this for years, but could not get any help around here. Now we have Wilford, who is interested and has two advantages that were not always there in Miami. He’s got money and a credit card. All the components I can’t find since the move will be replaced by end of this week. This also means the proven method of parallel builds can be re-instituted. That’s where rather than everybody working on one circuit (usually me doing 95% of it all), each member builds his own and we compare.
Here’s an early example, this was a working computer from 1978, for sale in a Plant City curio shop for $75. This is before the Internet, before Apple, before personal computers, and it could beat 99.99% of human opponents. The world chess champion at the time was Boris Spassky, born in Leningrad in 1937 and he barely edged out the machine. Most the the 1978 world was unaware of this chess game except that he was able to bear it. And here, 46 years later, I’m still learning about transistors.
One thing about this hobby [electronics], is that after a few years you learn how to ask questions that expose a liar. The biggest l iiars are those who claim to be experts, but I have yet to meet such a person, or read a book by one. The transistor can act as an amplifier—but what exactly does it amplify? And no, “the input signal” is not a proper answer. I need the units. Does it amplify volts? Current? Decibels? Over half the on-line sites say voltage, but this is not true, in fact it is so ontrue, that’s where I get the term liar. The “experts” don’t like it when they are cross-examined.
In another millennial brain-fart, Win 11 will not operate the scanner or I’d show you the schematic. It’s a single transistor amplifier with just four parts and it says there is a gain of 50. Fifty what? They don’t say, and that is what we are about to investigate. Two circuit builds to once and for all find out what is going on. I’m not going to guess because in my mind’s eye, several outcomes make sense. The design works on 12 volts, which I have only one power supply that much. What we don’t have is anything to measure decibels if that turns out the answer. But we should be able to hear it if the input signal is a microphone.
We will test the c rap out of this circuit and look at other questions as they arise. One I got right away is why is the diagram careful to show two 12V power supplies rather than one that is split into two. The circuit contains a variable resistor labeled 5kΩ with a note to “adjust for best results”. Does that mean trim it down from 5k, or put in a 10k to and increase the setting.
Here’s one for you. Baking cookies, what could go wrong. A couple weeks back, some organic cookie mix went on sale half price. Normally out of my range, I picked up one package and just got around to baking it this week. Great, they were ginger cookies but not ginger snaps. This is now Wednesday and guess what everything in my kitchen smells like? Make toast, make eggs, make coffee, everything has the aroma of ginger. No picure, the cookies didn’t last 10% as long as the aura of ginger.
ADDENDUM
Finally, during three morning coffees, I watched a video on the Mexican CII rail line, or whatever they are calling it. The Atlantic-Pacific line that was put out of business by the Panama canal because American shipping preferred an American company. Ah, but the canal is no longer American and usage fees have skyrocketed. I head it costs up to a half-million bucks to get through. The canal is also operated by water from nearby jungle and has lately been hit by drought. I did not know only 40 ships a day pass through the canal and water shortages have taken that down to 25 at times.
Also, the railway link meant, back then, that cargoes had to be unloaded by hand. Just like regular ports, the job is now largely automated and uses containers. That part I know is efficient, as in 1985 I almost invested in some containers. (I found the company books iffy and sure enough they were later caught.) The available coverage is irksome at times as they keep throwing in mention of “global warming” as if it is some established fact that others need to accept, as in ships using the northwest passage. Other than that, a lot of the material is accurate, including Mexico’s militar being sent in the crush the inevitable jungle tribes who object to everything.
My filter watching for anything on the Qatarra Depression often catches news on that underground river the Saudis are planning. They already produce a fifth of the total desalinated water, but that was after they pumped out all their fossil water supply and gave it away free. The new plants burn oil to distill seawater so there are no eco-friendly breakthroughs here and a potential for pollution troubles down the line. While most countries like to be independent of foreign supplies to me that should mean emphasizing strengths rather that covering for shortages. (It’s revealing to watch all these videos of advanced technology in such far away places full of White Boomer American staff.)
California wants to divert another river. I saw the exposed banks of the reservoirs in California many years ago and the crisis was obvious. On the other hand, I don’t think people who do not use the water should be compelled to pay for the system which is always a factor when you are dealing with California. They have shown they will divide up your paycheck any chance they get.
