Announcement: Building Homebrew Vacuum Tubes and Homebrew Tr

[jakdedert]

"--exray--" <no@no.no> wrote in message
news:vner3cabtgt5e1@corp.supernews.com...

Watson A.Name - Watt Sun wrote:

But at almost any store, I can buy an 8-pack of brand name alkaline
AAs for 4 bucks, that's about $.50 each. And they have a lot higher
capacity than carbon-zincs. Someetimes they go on sale; At Fry's I
got a bunch of 4-packs of GE/Sanyo AA alkalines for $.89, about 22
cents each, so I have enough AA cells to hold me over for quite
awhile. ;-) So at least for the smaller sizes, like AA and AAA, I
don't see a reason to buy carbon-zincs.


Wow, I wish we had stores like that out here in the backwater. I have
to mail order the Mouser GP AA alkalines at 40 cents or pay retail
locally which is typically 2/$2.99 and I've got two kids that eat 'em
like candy.
-Bill M


Man! What else are you feeding them?!?! Those batteries couldn't be very

nutritious.... ;-)

I know what you mean, though. I had to educate my young'uns very early on
about the price of batteries. I buy them rechargeables, but have to keep on
them about keeping them topped off...sucks to buy a set of NimH's or even
NiCads and find them under the bed months later--flat as a pancake and
unchargable.

jak

 

[jakdedert]

"Fred Nachbaur" <fnachbaur@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:_mJdb.34306$H86.670238@news1.telusplanet.net...

Robert Casey wrote:
[...]
I got a C in chem 101 back in college 30 years ago, so I can't say I
know anything
about batteries. Like why do they put corrosive crap in batteries?

Because baby lotion doesn't work.

something, A. As I said, I got a C. To me, any chemical that I can't
pronounce
is cancergenous or mutenigenous or smells bad.....


LOL! I enjoyed the chem classes but hated the labs. Too messy and
stinky. And I never got the expected result, so had to fudge. Made me
feel guilty and incompetent.

My h.s. chem teacher used to say that those failed experiments amounted to a
Nobel prize-winning discovery, which went unnoticed because of our lack of
training in observation.

jak

Cheers,
Fred
--
+--------------------------------------------+
| Music: http://www3.telus.net/dogstarmusic/ |
| Projects, Vacuum Tubes & other stuff: |
| http://www.dogstar.dantimax.dk |
+--------------------------------------------+

 

[jakdedert]

I remember making a CZ battery in jr. h.s. science class. Some
manufacturer--I think it was Eveready--made kits to build a D-cell. We put
a little pre-mixed electrolite in the pre-formed (and labeled) zinc can, set
the carbon, then filled around it with the remainder and tamped it down.
The fun part was melting tar to seal up the top.

Worked great. I wish I still had it.

jak

"Don Bruder" <dakidd@sonic.net> wrote in message
news:JjHdb.25293$dk4.795836@typhoon.sonic.net...

In article <3F77381F.1090501@ix.netcom.com>,
Robert Casey <wa2ise@ix.netcom.com> wrote:






Betcha I can come up with a battery you can tear apart to get a carbon
rod from in less than 10 minutes - given 5 bucks and a town with more
than a gas station, a mom-and-pop store, and a post office, that is...
Carbon-zincs are still around, and can be had from anyplace that sells
almost any brand other than Energizer or Duracell.



I thought carbon zincs were banned by the EPA. Too much trash or
something.....


In three words: You thought wrong.

Unless some new danger from them has been discovered that I haven't
heard about yet, nothing about carbon-zinc batteries is of any
particular interest to the EPA.

Some of the earlier alkalines were pretty evil due to high mercury
content, but your basic carbon-zinc battery is nothing more than a
carbon rod, some manganese dioxide "filling", and a zinc "can" wrapped
around the whole mess. Variations from maker to maker might include a
few other things in the manganese powder/paste, but none of them (that I
know of, anyway) are more "dangerous" than a handful of sand.

Carbon-zincs do make one serious *BUTTLOAD* of a mess if you spill the
lovely black manganese powder/paste indoors. You'll be wiping what looks
like soot off everything in the area for months, if not years, after
such an incident. Even so, it's basically harmless. It might be an ugly
mess, but "ugly" isn't really the province of the EPA, an outfit that's
primarily interested in stuff that's actually a danger of some kind.

--
Don Bruder - dakidd@sonic.net <--- Preferred Email - SpamAssassinated.
Hate SPAM? See <http://www.spamassassin.org> for some seriously great
info.
I will choose a path that's clear: I will choose Free Will! - N. Peart
Fly trap info pages:
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[--exray--]

jakdedert wrote:

I know what you mean, though. I had to educate my young'uns very early on
about the price of batteries. I buy them rechargeables, but have to keep on
them about keeping them topped off...sucks to buy a set of NimH's or even
NiCads and find them under the bed months later--flat as a pancake and
unchargable.

jak


Yeah, I tried the rechargable route (twice) and experienced the same

thing. Plus a pair of burnt out chargers because they were convinced
they could recharge the alkalines too.
-BM

 

[jakdedert]

"Fred Nachbaur" <fnachbaur@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:uLLdb.21080$o21.9461@edtnps84...

Cool! You truly are a madman!
In the immortal words of Chevy Chase, "I *LIKE* it!"

Coming from Fred (see *his* website!), that's VERY high praise.

jak

Cheers,
Fred
--
+--------------------------------------------+
| Music: http://www3.telus.net/dogstarmusic/ |
| Projects: http://dogstar.dantimax.dk |
+--------------------------------------------+

 

[Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun]

In article <JjHdb.25293$dk4.795836@typhoon.sonic.net>,
dakidd@sonic.net mentioned...

In article <3F77381F.1090501@ix.netcom.com>,
Robert Casey <wa2ise@ix.netcom.com> wrote:






Betcha I can come up with a battery you can tear apart to get a carbon
rod from in less than 10 minutes - given 5 bucks and a town with more
than a gas station, a mom-and-pop store, and a post office, that is...
Carbon-zincs are still around, and can be had from anyplace that sells
almost any brand other than Energizer or Duracell.



I thought carbon zincs were banned by the EPA. Too much trash or
something.....


In three words: You thought wrong.

Unless some new danger from them has been discovered that I haven't
heard about yet, nothing about carbon-zinc batteries is of any
particular interest to the EPA.

Some of the earlier alkalines were pretty evil due to high mercury
content, but your basic carbon-zinc battery is nothing more than a
carbon rod, some manganese dioxide "filling", and a zinc "can" wrapped
around the whole mess. Variations from maker to maker might include a
few other things in the manganese powder/paste, but none of them (that I
know of, anyway) are more "dangerous" than a handful of sand.

Sand doesn't corrode your battery clips or rot away the rest of your
circuit board like battery juice does.

Carbon-zincs do make one serious *BUTTLOAD* of a mess if you spill the
lovely black manganese powder/paste indoors. You'll be wiping what looks
like soot off everything in the area for months, if not years, after
such an incident. Even so, it's basically harmless. It might be an ugly
mess, but "ugly" isn't really the province of the EPA, an outfit that's
primarily interested in stuff that's actually a danger of some kind.

Oddly, some things the EPA doesn't care squat about cause panic with
the state depts. Like anti-freeze. Some states ban it and tell you
to recycle it, others say it's okay to pour small quantities down the
sewer as long as your sewer connects to the main line, i.e. is not a
septic tank.


--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
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goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
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Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@

 

[Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun]

In article <3F776C1A.1289B1A5@ieee.org>, billj@ieee.org mentioned...

Don Bruder wrote:

In article <MPG.19e0bb7f84065c03989718@news.dslextreme.com>,
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun" <alondra101@hotmail.com> wrote:

In article <T69db.5976$NX3.2166@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net>,
XpfriedrZ@mindspringX.com mentioned...
Greetings, All.

For the last three years I have been engaged in writing a book on the
topic of homebrew amplification devices, including tubes, transistors,
and electromechanical devices. I'm happy to announce that this book,
"Instruments Of Amplification" is now complete.

I invite you to visit my web site to view images of some of the projects.

http://www.mindspring.com/~pfriedr/books/ioa/ioa.htm

In the event you might be interested in a copy of the book, I do not
sell them myself. However, the web site features links to a number of
organizations that either do, or will shortly carry "Instruments Of
Amplification."

From the back cover:

Instruments of Amplification

Are you interested in building sensitive audio amplifiers from magnets,
a shoe-polish tin and a couple of carbon rods? [snip]

Shoe polish tin? Those went extinct with the advent of Reebok, Nike
and Adidas. Not to mention B-K, Converse, etc., etc.

Don't get out much, do ya? Or if you do, you don't get anywhere near
anything that resembles a decent shoe store... Walk into one of those,
and you have a hard time dodging the Kiwi shoe-polish rack. They *WANT*
you to trip over it, y'see...


And carbon rods? With most batteries being alkaline, I'd guess
they're hard to find, too.

Betcha I can come up with a battery you can tear apart to get a carbon
rod from in less than 10 minutes - given 5 bucks and a town with more
than a gas station, a mom-and-pop store, and a post office, that is...
Carbon-zincs are still around, and can be had from anyplace that sells
almost any brand other than Energizer or Duracell.

--
Don Bruder - dakidd@sonic.net <--- Preferred Email - SpamAssassinated.
Hate SPAM? See <http://www.spamassassin.org> for some seriously great info.
I will choose a path that's clear: I will choose Free Will! - N. Peart
Fly trap info pages: <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/Horses/FlyTrap/index.html

The last D cell I took apart did not have a Carbon rod in the center.
The D cell was made with the Zinc in the center and the Carbon was just
inside the case.

That was an alkaline cell, not a zinc-carbon cell. Get a true zinc-
carbon cell and take it apart.

How do I determine who makes the old style with the Carbon rod?

Bill K7NOM.

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@

 

[Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun]

In article <X5Kdb.25335$dk4.796785@typhoon.sonic.net>,
dakidd@sonic.net mentioned...

In article <MPG.19e10b4de179c37c98972c@news.dslextreme.com>,
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun" <alondra101@hotmail.com> wrote:

In article <XFHdb.25298$dk4.795884@typhoon.sonic.net>,
dakidd@sonic.net mentioned...
In article <slrnbnef5v.b3p.sven@gordsven.com>,
sven@gordsven.com (Sven Franklyn Weil) wrote:

trimmage

I'm definitely keeping an eye on 'em, if only because they're an
unfamiliar beast. But so far (now close to 24 hours of run-time on 'em)
I'm not even seeing the "low battery" indication that this unit puts up.
Whatever these things are, they're doing pretty good. My nice fresh set
of NiCds only makes it through about 15-18 hours on a charge before the
unit starts complaining about low batteries. Whatever these batteries
are (no indication on either battery or package) I don't think they're
alkalines. They don't have the "heft" of an alkaline, even though they
seem to be holding a charge like an alkaline would. <shrug> Beats the
bejeebers outta me. At least I didn't totally waste my 3 bucks!

Are you sure they're Ni-Cds? They might be Ni-MHs. Either of those
start off and end at a lower voltage (1.2V instead of 1.5V) compared
to alkalines, so it would seem that they should not last as long. But
the rechargables are cheaper to use in the long run.



--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@

 

[Don Bruder]

In article <MPG.19e16f465c11aa9989734@news.dslextreme.com>,
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun" <alondra101@hotmail.com> wrote:

In article <X5Kdb.25335$dk4.796785@typhoon.sonic.net>,
dakidd@sonic.net mentioned...
In article <MPG.19e10b4de179c37c98972c@news.dslextreme.com>,
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun" <alondra101@hotmail.com> wrote:

In article <XFHdb.25298$dk4.795884@typhoon.sonic.net>,
dakidd@sonic.net mentioned...
In article <slrnbnef5v.b3p.sven@gordsven.com>,
sven@gordsven.com (Sven Franklyn Weil) wrote:

trimmage

I'm definitely keeping an eye on 'em, if only because they're an
unfamiliar beast. But so far (now close to 24 hours of run-time on 'em)
I'm not even seeing the "low battery" indication that this unit puts up.
Whatever these things are, they're doing pretty good. My nice fresh set
of NiCds only makes it through about 15-18 hours on a charge before the
unit starts complaining about low batteries. Whatever these batteries
are (no indication on either battery or package) I don't think they're
alkalines. They don't have the "heft" of an alkaline, even though they
seem to be holding a charge like an alkaline would. <shrug> Beats the
bejeebers outta me. At least I didn't totally waste my 3 bucks!

Are you sure they're Ni-Cds? They might be Ni-MHs. Either of those
start off and end at a lower voltage (1.2V instead of 1.5V) compared
to alkalines, so it would seem that they should not last as long. But
the rechargables are cheaper to use in the long run.

Yeah, the NiCds are NiCds... Leastwise, that's what they claim to be
right on 'em

I suspect the 1.2 vs 1.5 volts thing is strongly related to why the
discman starts crying "Low Battery" sooner when I feed it rechargables
instead of disposables. Wouldn't surprise me to find out they went
super-cheap on the battery monitor chip - I know for certain they did
when it comes to the "shuffle-play" function... Put in a disc. Hit
shuffle-play, and get the exact same sequence out of it every time. With
a certain MP3 disc, that means the play sequence is going to start out
1, 2, 4, 8, 17, 34, 68, 35, 70, 50 100, 71, 58, 7, 56...

Before you say "it's taking some sort of hash of the disc as the random
seed, so of course it's going to be the same every time for that disc",
don't waste your time... The sequence is the same for every MP3 CD that
has more than a hundred tracks that I've dropped into the beast.
Likewise, for Audio CDs, the "random" sequence is the same for any two
of them that have the same number of tracks - Hmmm... That throws an
idea at me... The track count is the seed? Errr... no, that wouldn't
work either - The MP3 CDs all have different (all 100+, but all
different) track counts.

But I digress...

--
Don Bruder - dakidd@sonic.net <--- Preferred Email - SpamAssassinated.
Hate SPAM? See <http://www.spamassassin.org> for some seriously great info.
I will choose a path that's clear: I will choose Free Will! - N. Peart
Fly trap info pages: <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/Horses/FlyTrap/index.html>

 

[Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun]

In article <slrnbner2q.fem.sven@gordsven.com>, sven@gordsven.com
mentioned...

In article <MPG.19e1088d51aa1ddb98972a@news.dslextreme.com>, Watson A.Name
- "Watt Sun" wrote:

But at almost any store, I can buy an 8-pack of brand name alkaline
AAs for 4 bucks, that's about $.50 each. And they have a lot higher

Correct. And I buy a 10-pack of re-badged Varta AA cells at Ikea for
2$ US.

You gotta keep something in mind about New Yorkers. We're cheap when it
comes to household goods. That is why we have a dollar store on every
block (almost). We have a huge supermarket where all the groceries on the
bottom floor are one dollar. There are discount-closeout stores galore
here with prices that would make Walmart cry. We have clothing stores
like Conway's where a pair of slacks may only set you back 5 or $10.00.

The average person can't distinguish between a carbon zinc battery and an
alkaline. They will just see a package of batteries that will only set
them back one dollar and "what the heck".

The fact that the batteries look like Duracells probably helps. I don't
understand how come Duracell hasn't put a stop to this. I hope they
don't. Their batteries are overpriced.

The CZn batteries work fine in almost any application from CD players to
radios to calcs. I wouldn't use them in smoke detectors though.

CD players demand high current to run the motor. Same for tape
players. Radios are somewhere in the middle unless you crank up the
volume. The worst current hogs are the digital cameras.

But calculators take so little power that they only need button cells.
Back in the early '80s I bought a Sharp scientific calculator with two
AA cells, and the salesdroid tried to use sales hype to get me to buy
a pair of alkalines for it, and I gave her back a flat NO. I had
already read the back of the calculator, and it said it drew only 250
microwatts(!) When the calculator gave out more than a decade later,
it still had the original Sharp carbon-zinc batteries in it.

As for smoke detectors, the fire depts ask the media to run public
service ads when the time changes to also change the battery in your
smoke detector. So if you use carbon-zinc or alkalines, they should
be fresh every year.

However, I still don't understand why, in all their cheapness...my fellow
New Yorkers are willing to pay $2,000 for a studio flat with a bathtub in
the kitchen.

Good article this weekend on MSN about the most expensive zip codes,
median home price-wise. Some of those are out on Long Island.
Contrary to popular beliefs, Beverly Hills 90210 is way down at 24th
on the list. And they also said that NYC didn't make the top either.
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/invest/forbes/p62018.asp
Check it out.

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@

 

[Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun]

In article <uLLdb.21080$o21.9461@edtnps84>, fnachbaur@netscape.net
mentioned...

Tim Williams wrote:
"Fred Nachbaur" <fnachbaur@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:SSKdb.34339$H86.676569@news1.telusplanet.net...

The really soft ones (#1, f'rinstance) might be ok. The harder ones have
progressively higher resistance, due to the higher clay content.

I once used a hard pencil lead as a "starter" arc electrode on a Jacob's
ladder. The built-in resistance seemed to help the arc to start, while
not "hogging" it once started.


Works great for welding too ;-)
http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/guest_timwelder.html

Shame on you. It's not AC resistance, it's reactance. So when are
you gonna replace the wood and C clamps with something like a real
transformer bracket? A couple bolts and "L" braces from the hardware
store should work.

Cool! You truly are a madman!
In the immortal words of Chevy Chase, "I *LIKE* it!"

Cheers,
Fred

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@

 

[Steven Dinius]

"Watson A.Name - Watt Sun" <alondra101@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.19e175ca184d21c2989735@news.dslextreme.com...

In article <slrnbner2q.fem.sven@gordsven.com>, sven@gordsven.com
mentioned...
In article <MPG.19e1088d51aa1ddb98972a@news.dslextreme.com>, Watson
A.Name
- "Watt Sun" wrote:
CD players demand high current to run the motor. Same for tape
players. Radios are somewhere in the middle unless you crank up the
volume. The worst current hogs are the digital cameras.

But calculators take so little power that they only need button cells.
Back in the early '80s I bought a Sharp scientific calculator with two
AA cells, and the salesdroid tried to use sales hype to get me to buy
a pair of alkalines for it, and I gave her back a flat NO. I had
already read the back of the calculator, and it said it drew only 250
microwatts(!) When the calculator gave out more than a decade later,
it still had the original Sharp carbon-zinc batteries in it.

Hmmph. Cheap Chinese AA that came in my $1 Wal-Mart calculator (if you drop
and break one in the store they care little so they must cost 14 cents to
make) does not fit in that category. You had a good heavy duty type like
Toshiba possibly.

As for smoke detectors, the fire depts ask the media to run public
service ads when the time changes to also change the battery in your
smoke detector. So if you use carbon-zinc or alkalines, they should
be fresh every year.

The wonder in mine is supposed to run maybe 5 years and came with it. Two
years--still working well.

However, I still don't understand why, in all their cheapness...my
fellow
New Yorkers are willing to pay $2,000 for a studio flat with a bathtub
in
the kitchen.

Makes icing lots of booze more convenient? <shrug>

Good article this weekend on MSN about the most expensive zip codes,
median home price-wise. Some of those are out on Long Island.
Contrary to popular beliefs, Beverly Hills 90210 is way down at 24th
on the list. And they also said that NYC didn't make the top either.
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/invest/forbes/p62018.asp
Check it out.

Under NYC bridges are still free, I'm afraid.


From Orange County, Cal where the affluent meet the effluent

that's damn clever--why hide it? @@ Steven

 

[Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun]

In article <vner3cabtgt5e1@corp.supernews.com>, no@no.no mentioned...

Watson A.Name - Watt Sun wrote:

But at almost any store, I can buy an 8-pack of brand name alkaline
AAs for 4 bucks, that's about $.50 each. And they have a lot higher
capacity than carbon-zincs. Someetimes they go on sale; At Fry's I
got a bunch of 4-packs of GE/Sanyo AA alkalines for $.89, about 22
cents each, so I have enough AA cells to hold me over for quite
awhile. ;-) So at least for the smaller sizes, like AA and AAA, I
don't see a reason to buy carbon-zincs.


Wow, I wish we had stores like that out here in the backwater. I have
to mail order the Mouser GP AA alkalines at 40 cents or pay retail
locally which is typically 2/$2.99 and I've got two kids that eat 'em
like candy.
-Bill M

That's not the cheapest that you can buy AA or AAA alkalines. Try
http://www.cheapbatteries.com. You can get 100 Kodak AA alkalines for
$15.00. Or better yet, use Ni-MH rechargables.

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@

 

[Graham W]

"Don Bruder" <dakidd@sonic.net> wrote in message
news:rmJdb.25328$dk4.796680@typhoon.sonic.net...

Don Bruder wrote:

Found some of those out here in California just the other day -
"Superdeer" is the name on mine. They look exactly like a Duracell,
complete with a fake "tester" gizmo printed on the side, except for
the
"Superdeer" name, and a stylized deer head up in the "copper" part of
the label. These may be the most bizarre batteries I've ever met...

.. It was the fact that with almost no effort, I can
crush the things practically flat. Almost like the "can" is made of
tinfoil, or maybe it's just plain empty. Practically no resistance to
any sort of pressure you apply to it. But as I mentioned, the pair in
the MP3 player has given me close to 20 hours of run-time, so I ain't
complaining. Just puzzled!

Ah - that's so you can squeeze a little bit more life out of them!


--
Graham W http://www.gcw.org.uk/ XP1800+ Page added, Graphics Tutorial
WIMBORNE http://www.wessex-astro-society.freeserve.co.uk/ Wessex
Dorset UK Astro Society's Web pages, Info, Meeting Dates, Sites & Maps
Change 'news' to 'sewn' in my Reply address to avoid my spam filter.

 

[Mark Zenier]

In article <MPG.19e110c94ffeb31a98972f@news.dslextreme.com>,
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun" <alondra101@hotmail.com> wrote:

Oddly, some things the EPA doesn't care squat about cause panic with
the state depts. Like anti-freeze. Some states ban it and tell you
to recycle it, others say it's okay to pour small quantities down the
sewer as long as your sewer connects to the main line, i.e. is not a
septic tank.

Hell, the State of California makes the manufacturer put a cancer
warning on PVC coated aluminum fence wire. ??????????????

I can understand, a bit, about a warning on a garden hose, but
are little kids going to go around sucking on a fence?

And do they make them put the warning on LP records?

Triple sheesh.

Mark Zenier mzenier@eskimo.com Washington State resident

 

[Tim Williams]

"Watson A.Name - Watt Sun" <alondra101@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.19e17904543de0e3989736@news.dslextreme.com...

Shame on you. It's not AC resistance, it's reactance.

Yeah, well, that was years ago, well before I cared about the difference...

So when are
you gonna replace the wood and C clamps with something like a real
transformer bracket? A couple bolts and "L" braces from the hardware
store should work.

Heck, that one's been dead for a while. Smoked the coil after a long
arcing session, didn't feel like rewinding it again.
Right now I'm working on a bigger one, 1kW MOT with 8AWG secondary.
We'll see how many volts I can squeeze out of that...

Tim

--
In the immortal words of Ned Flanders: "No foot longs!"
Website @ http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms

 

[Tim Williams]

"Don Bruder" <dakidd@sonic.net> wrote in message
news:iRMdb.25421$dk4.797061@typhoon.sonic.net...

Ooh! Ooh!! OOOOH!!!!!!! Yummy yummy yummy site!

Hehehe

T'heck with the welder, sez I... . . . all the homebrew
furnaces and ideas for making metal flow like water that are just one
level up that URL...

Yup! Don't forget about my own website in my sig (And on his links
page.)

Oh, boy... I'm gonna burn some bandwidth on this site, lemme tell ya
what! Got probably half a ton (maybe more? And growing by four bales
worth per day.) of baling wire laying around that I've been trying to
figure out a way to turn into bar stock without paying a foundry a
fortune to melt and pour for me... I think you may have just found me
the solution I need!

Errr, no.. steel melts at 3,000°F, aluminum 1,300. It's a bit more
difficult.

However, you might be able to forge-weld it together to make that
barstock. And with all those weld seams, it could make some skookum
pattern-welded stuff (albeit only for display purposes, since your wire
is probably mild steel, lacking the carbon necessary to hold an edge..)

Tim

--
In the immortal words of Ned Flanders: "No foot longs!"
Website @ http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms

 

[Don Bruder]

In article <vnh2ksf6e1qf0b@corp.supernews.com>,
"Tim Williams" <tmoranwms@charter.net> wrote:

"Don Bruder" <dakidd@sonic.net> wrote in message
news:iRMdb.25421$dk4.797061@typhoon.sonic.net...
Ooh! Ooh!! OOOOH!!!!!!! Yummy yummy yummy site!

Hehehe

T'heck with the welder, sez I... . . . all the homebrew
furnaces and ideas for making metal flow like water that are just one
level up that URL...

Yup! Don't forget about my own website in my sig (And on his links
page.)

Oh, boy... I'm gonna burn some bandwidth on this site, lemme tell ya
what! Got probably half a ton (maybe more? And growing by four bales
worth per day.) of baling wire laying around that I've been trying to
figure out a way to turn into bar stock without paying a foundry a
fortune to melt and pour for me... I think you may have just found me
the solution I need!

Errr, no.. steel melts at 3,000?F, aluminum 1,300. It's a bit more
difficult.

However, you might be able to forge-weld it together to make that
barstock. And with all those weld seams, it could make some skookum
pattern-welded stuff (albeit only for display purposes, since your wire
is probably mild steel, lacking the carbon necessary to hold an edge..)

Nobody says I can't throw some wrought iron scrap into the mix...
<hehehehehe>

This, of course, assumes I can "cook" things hot enough...

--
Don Bruder - dakidd@sonic.net <--- Preferred Email - SpamAssassinated.
Hate SPAM? See <http://www.spamassassin.org> for some seriously great info.
I will choose a path that's clear: I will choose Free Will! - N. Peart
Fly trap info pages: <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/Horses/FlyTrap/index.html>

 

[Don Bruder]

In article <tT5eb.869$kA.277847@wards.force9.net>,
"Graham W" <graham@his.com.puterINVALID> wrote:

"Don Bruder" <dakidd@sonic.net> wrote in message
news:rmJdb.25328$dk4.796680@typhoon.sonic.net...

.. It was the fact that with almost no effort, I can
crush the things practically flat.

Ah - that's so you can squeeze a little bit more life out of them!

Ehhhh... Could be! <snicker>

--
Don Bruder - dakidd@sonic.net <--- Preferred Email - SpamAssassinated.
Hate SPAM? See <http://www.spamassassin.org> for some seriously great info.
I will choose a path that's clear: I will choose Free Will! - N. Peart
Fly trap info pages: <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/Horses/FlyTrap/index.html>

 

[Tim Williams]

"Don Bruder" <dakidd@sonic.net> wrote in message
news:%I0eb.25701$dk4.801183@typhoon.sonic.net...

Nobody says I can't throw some wrought iron scrap into the mix...
hehehehehe

Actually, wrought iron is cast iron with all the constituents (except the
iron itself) oxidized. Due to the way it's produced, it is full of slag
which makes it wonderful to forge-weld, needing no flux at all, and
generally a nice forging material. It kind of went out of style in the
19th century.
Wrought iron as it is known today is just a generic term for anything
that looks like it might've come from a blacksmith's shop (yeah, right).
Usually mild steel.

What you really want for knives and other sharp hard stuff are dull files.
I'm sure you have a few very dull ones laying around
Heat it to a good yellow heat and bang it with a hammer till your heart's
content. When you want to harden it, heat to orange hot and quench in
water, then throw it in the oven at 400°F for up to an hour.

Boy that got wordy fast...
If you do ever manage to melt steel, use a known alloy (that bailing wire
is probably low carbon mild steel) then throw a little charcoal/graphite/
diamond ( into the pot. You're aiming for 1% carbon...

Tim

--
In the immortal words of Ned Flanders: "No foot longs!"
Website @ http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms