Driver to drive?

On 1/3/2015 1:45 AM, meow2222@care2.com wrote:
On Thursday, November 20, 2014 12:38:37 AM UTC, rickman wrote:
On 11/19/2014 7:19 PM, Joerg wrote:

It's always good to learn about those because one can do weird tricks
with them. They are also useful as gain control elements. I just hope
they won't disappear. I think TV will eventually vanish and go Internet
and then they'd likely be obsoleted because that is the only mass market
for them that I know of.

I can't see TVs ever loosing a tuner. That would only happen when TV
station broadcasts go away and I don't think that is at all on the
horizon.

As internet speeds creep up, by the time we all have a bundle of fibres the bandwidth supplied by air broadcast will become pointless and almost worthless. The end looks inevitable. A single fibre bundle can wipe out uhf tv, all current radio bands and phone lines, so it will for cost reasons.

Except that they will never bring fiber to every household. There are
lots of places that don't even have cable which is why there is satellite..

The whole developed world has mains electicity supplied, a huge undertaking to achieve. Why? Its worth it. Living in 50 or 100yrs time without fast internet will be unthinkable, just as we're no longer prepared to live with a 32v generator in the basement. It'll happen. In this country the rare houses with no mains supply are worth 10s of thoussands less because of it. That price brings a lot of willingness, and so it will with internet eventually.


NT
 
On Sunday, January 4, 2015 2:56:44 AM UTC, Robert Baer wrote:
cjensen@netplus.com wrote:

Can anyone please have a look at this circuit and tell me what it is
doing, or supposed to do?

Better yet if you can decipher the parts in Russian.

https://app.box.com/s/hin6mhzpzl147473r1td

It is supposed to be some kind of "secret" device from the 1950's.

Maybe some kind of radio tracking gadget. Would be interesting to
calculate the frequency used.

Claus Jensen
Do not know Russian at all,but here is my take:
At the top, 220V 50Hz.
R1: 1-2 ohms, R2: 5K appx at 2Watts.
C1: 0.25-0.50uF metal film 400V
C2: 2000-6000pF NPO
C3: 200-500pF NPO
D1,D2: unknown
M: ?frequency meter? 80?? at 220? (or part number 80C-220
Tp: tuned transformer secondary
The rest is unknown.
Wild guess is the diodes are to generate harmonics, and one tunes the
transformer secondary; purpose is a cheap high power jamming xmitter.

I dont see the point of the diodes at all, given the characteristics of the glowstarter


NT
 
On 4.1.15 04:05, Sergey Kubushyn wrote:
Phil Allison <pallison49@gmail.com> wrote:
cje...@netplus.com wrote:

Can anyone please have a look at this circuit and tell me what it is
doing, or supposed to do?

Better yet if you can decipher the parts in Russian.

https://app.box.com/s/hin6mhzpzl147473r1td

It is supposed to be some kind of "secret" device from the 1950's.

Maybe some kind of radio tracking gadget. Would be interesting to
calculate the frequency used.


** First of all, it runs from the AC supply, 220V and 50Hz.

The device marked "M" looks like some kind of motor.

I reckon it could be a radio jammer, intended to stop the good citizens of
mother Russia from listening to evil propaganda arriving on shortwave from
the west.

Close but no bananas :)

It is top secret KGB device, totally bogus :) The title says:

=== Cut ===
Schematics of "Pulsar" device for wideband jamming of PSYCHOTRONIC (zic!)
transmitter signals in 1.7..4.5MHz (?) and 2.0..???(can not see what it is)
band.
.
.
.
Weak electromagnetic field generated by "Pulsar" erases recipient's
reflectory memory (whatever it is :)) codes (zic!) i.e. causes decoding
(whatever it is :))
=== Cut ===

So this looks like active tinfoil hat replacement :)

And that "M" device is not a motor but a fluorescent bulb starter...

---
******************************************************************
* KSI@home KOI8 Net < > The impossible we do immediately. *
* Las Vegas NV, USA < > Miracles require 24-hour notice. *
******************************************************************

This seems to be a more modern version of a spark transmitter.

It creates a rough signal pulsed at 100 Hz rate (twice of the power
feed frequency). The output frequency range of the buzz is detemined
by the tuned transformer at the bottom. There is not enough info of
the coil to determine the frequency, but I think that Sergey is well
on the track.

As KGB use, I'd think it useful to spoil reception of HF communication
of a nearby agent at the target frequency range.

There might be a better output signal if the capacitor in parallel
to the starter is left out. It is included in the fluorescent light
fixtures to attenuate the RF hash.

--

Tauno Voipio
 
Phil Allison:

https://app.box.com/s/hin6mhzpzl147473r1td

** First of all, it runs from the AC supply, 220V and 50Hz.

The device marked "M" looks like some kind of motor.

I reckon it could be a radio jammer, intended to stop the good citizens of mother Russia from listening to evil propaganda
arriving on shortwave from the west.

Na... it works the other way around,
it receives the evil propaganda from the west and makes 220V 50Hz from it to run home appliances...
;-)
 
If you replace the diode in the buck converter with a transistor, and
drive the two transistors alternately, you get a synchronous buck, which
does track PWM% at all times.

All you need to do is remove the DC offset, so you get a clean sinewave
output with no DC (an obvious drawback if it were an AC inverter..). This
is usually achieved by running another inverter at opposite phase, and
taking the output between them. So the DC levels subtract, and the AC
adds.

Tim

--
Seven Transistor Labs
Electrical Engineering Consultation
Website: http://seventransistorlabs.com

"Sylvia Else" <sylvia@not.at.this.address> wrote in message
news:cgrnqtF2g3bU1@mid.individual.net...
I had (naively, perhaps) thought that the main reason for having a
transformer in a sinewave inverter circuit was to provide isolation,
between the mains voltage output and the low voltage input, so that the
latter would not be live.

My thinking was then that if that's not a consideration (because the
input is also at a dangerous voltage) then one could dispense with the
transformer.

Yet the standard PWM sinewave inverter circuit seems to rely on the very
high transformer primary inductance for its function. Certainly, I
haven't managed to conceive a transformerless PWM circuit that works,
even in SPICE.

So I tried conceiving of it as a buck converter, where the regulated
output voltage tracks the required sinewave. That doesn't work because
there's not enough output current at lowish points in the output cycle
to discharge the smoothing capacitor fast enough for the output voltage
to track properly.

My generator's original inverter clearly did not have a 2.5kW 50Hz
transformer, just two chokes (perhaps 300uH) on the mains output lines,
and two electrolytic capacitors (220uF, if memory serves - certainly
about that).

Equally, my 300W pure-sinewave inverter does not contain a 300W 50Hz
transformer. It contains what looks like a transformer, but nothing like
that big.

It appears I'm missing something, and multiple Google searches have not
been informative. Anyone have knowledge of this?

Sylvia.
 
On Sunday, January 4, 2015 12:01:22 PM UTC, Jan Panteltje wrote:
On a sunny day (Sun, 4 Jan 2015 03:35:27 -0800 (PST)) it happened
meow2222@care2.com wrote in
9e55e606-0e6c-4885-b13d-0d9147c4e282@googlegroups.com>:
On Sunday, January 4, 2015 2:56:44 AM UTC, Robert Baer wrote:
cjensen@netplus.com wrote:

Can anyone please have a look at this circuit and tell me what it is
doing, or supposed to do?

Better yet if you can decipher the parts in Russian.

https://app.box.com/s/hin6mhzpzl147473r1td

It is supposed to be some kind of "secret" device from the 1950's.

Maybe some kind of radio tracking gadget. Would be interesting to
calculate the frequency used.

Claus Jensen
Do not know Russian at all,but here is my take:
At the top, 220V 50Hz.
R1: 1-2 ohms, R2: 5K appx at 2Watts.
C1: 0.25-0.50uF metal film 400V
C2: 2000-6000pF NPO
C3: 200-500pF NPO
D1,D2: unknown
M: ?frequency meter? 80?? at 220? (or part number 80C-220
Tp: tuned transformer secondary
The rest is unknown.
Wild guess is the diodes are to generate harmonics, and one tunes the
transformer secondary; purpose is a cheap high power jamming xmitter.

I dont see the point of the diodes at all, given the characteristics of the glowstarter

The non-linearity of diodes is often used to generate higher harmonics,

surely they'd have a tiny effect compared to the glowstarter

NT

not sure what diodes are used here.
Those harmonics would also travel via the mains wires,
no main decoupling / filtering at all.
 
On a sunny day (Sun, 4 Jan 2015 03:35:27 -0800 (PST)) it happened
meow2222@care2.com wrote in
<9e55e606-0e6c-4885-b13d-0d9147c4e282@googlegroups.com>:

On Sunday, January 4, 2015 2:56:44 AM UTC, Robert Baer wrote:
cjensen@netplus.com wrote:

Can anyone please have a look at this circuit and tell me what it is
doing, or supposed to do?

Better yet if you can decipher the parts in Russian.

https://app.box.com/s/hin6mhzpzl147473r1td

It is supposed to be some kind of "secret" device from the 1950's.

Maybe some kind of radio tracking gadget. Would be interesting to
calculate the frequency used.

Claus Jensen
Do not know Russian at all,but here is my take:
At the top, 220V 50Hz.
R1: 1-2 ohms, R2: 5K appx at 2Watts.
C1: 0.25-0.50uF metal film 400V
C2: 2000-6000pF NPO
C3: 200-500pF NPO
D1,D2: unknown
M: ?frequency meter? 80?? at 220? (or part number 80C-220
Tp: tuned transformer secondary
The rest is unknown.
Wild guess is the diodes are to generate harmonics, and one tunes the
transformer secondary; purpose is a cheap high power jamming xmitter.

I dont see the point of the diodes at all, given the characteristics of the glowstarter

The non-linearity of diodes is often used to generate higher harmonics,
not sure what diodes are used here.
Those harmonics would also travel via the mains wires,
no main decoupling / filtering at all.


 
Hi Don, I sometimes "hang out" at the electronics stack exchange forum. It has a lot more low level questions than here... but it lacks all the political (and other) "noise". The high end is about the same at both places. (IMO) I've asked question on both sites and gotten useful answers at both. The one problem with the stack exchange is the format is not conducive to long discussions, which I find the most enjoyable part of SED.

George H.
 
On Sunday, January 4, 2015 6:35:12 PM UTC, Jan Panteltje wrote:
On a sunny day (Sun, 4 Jan 2015 08:54:09 -0800 (PST)) it happened
meow2222@care2.com wrote in
716acfee-62e1-44a8-8e15-de9f40e4348e@googlegroups.com>:
On Sunday, January 4, 2015 12:01:22 PM UTC, Jan Panteltje wrote:
On a sunny day (Sun, 4 Jan 2015 03:35:27 -0800 (PST)) it happened
meow2222@care2.com wrote in
9e55e606-0e6c-4885-b13d-0d9147c4e282@googlegroups.com>:
On Sunday, January 4, 2015 2:56:44 AM UTC, Robert Baer wrote:
cjensen@netplus.com wrote:

Can anyone please have a look at this circuit and tell me what it is
doing, or supposed to do?

Better yet if you can decipher the parts in Russian.

https://app.box.com/s/hin6mhzpzl147473r1td

It is supposed to be some kind of "secret" device from the 1950's.

Maybe some kind of radio tracking gadget. Would be interesting to
calculate the frequency used.

Claus Jensen
Do not know Russian at all,but here is my take:
At the top, 220V 50Hz.
R1: 1-2 ohms, R2: 5K appx at 2Watts.
C1: 0.25-0.50uF metal film 400V
C2: 2000-6000pF NPO
C3: 200-500pF NPO
D1,D2: unknown
M: ?frequency meter? 80?? at 220? (or part number 80C-220
Tp: tuned transformer secondary
The rest is unknown.
Wild guess is the diodes are to generate harmonics, and one tunes the
transformer secondary; purpose is a cheap high power jamming xmitter.

I dont see the point of the diodes at all, given the characteristics of the glowstarter

The non-linearity of diodes is often used to generate higher harmonics,

surely they'd have a tiny effect compared to the glowstarter

I think the glowstarter ? is merely a switch.

its a neon, switch and small capacitor in parallel.
Most liekly the circuit eats much less than 20w, thus the starter will act as ne & c in paarallel, the switch staying open

It probably arcs a bit and creates some harmonics,
but not like a true spark gap in a horn.

The ne will switch on at 90v and off each half cycle

> To activate that tuned circuit you need spectral components IN its frequency range.

all you need is a squarish edge.


NT

Remember the old 'anti rattle capacitors' over the rectifiers in old radios?
The mains generated harmonics from those diodes were right in the radio band!
The caps suppressed those.
 
On Sunday, January 4, 2015 5:54:01 PM UTC, rickman wrote:
On 1/4/2015 3:22 AM, meow2222@care2.com wrote:
On 1/3/2015 1:45 AM, meow2222@care2.com wrote:
On Thursday, November 20, 2014 12:38:37 AM UTC, rickman wrote:
On 11/19/2014 7:19 PM, Joerg wrote:

It's always good to learn about those because one can do weird tricks
with them. They are also useful as gain control elements. I just hope
they won't disappear. I think TV will eventually vanish and go Internet
and then they'd likely be obsoleted because that is the only mass market
for them that I know of.

I can't see TVs ever loosing a tuner. That would only happen when TV
station broadcasts go away and I don't think that is at all on the
horizon.

As internet speeds creep up, by the time we all have a bundle of fibres the bandwidth supplied by air broadcast will become pointless and almost worthless. The end looks inevitable. A single fibre bundle can wipe out uhf tv, all current radio bands and phone lines, so it will for cost reasons.

Except that they will never bring fiber to every household. There are
lots of places that don't even have cable which is why there is satellite..

The whole developed world has mains electicity supplied, a huge undertaking to achieve. Why? Its worth it. Living in 50 or 100yrs time without fast internet will be unthinkable, just as we're no longer prepared to live with a 32v generator in the basement. It'll happen. In this country the rare houses with no mains supply are worth 10s of thoussands less because of it. That price brings a lot of willingness, and so it will with internet eventually.

You are confusing having Fiber with having Internet. The two are not
the same thing.

of course im not. how else do you propose people get huge banwidth in future?


NT
 
On Sat, 03 Jan 2015 18:16:50 -0800, the renowned Robert Baer
<robertbaer@localnet.com> wrote:

Attached are screenshots of attempt to login to a webmail spam check
site that i use.
As you can see, there is a complaint about the password (altho, the
problem might really be the username).
I know i have the user name and password correct,because the EXACT
same character construction is used and WORKS wen i do this in Win2K.
^^^^^
Could it be a problem with spelling or capitalization?

Try the same user name in all caps or all lower case, just in 'case'
some translation is taking place.

Also, that e-mail that is allued to in LLC1.jpg seems to not be sent.

What gives?

Probably being intercepted by a 'woman in the middle' attack.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
 
On Sunday, January 4, 2015 7:35:01 PM UTC, Jan Panteltje wrote:
On a sunny day (Sun, 4 Jan 2015 11:18:23 -0800 (PST)) it happened
meow2222@care2.com wrote in
e1e8c673-e5cf-4c49-a333-689164319e27@googlegroups.com>:

On Sunday, January 4, 2015 6:35:12 PM UTC, Jan Panteltje wrote:
On a sunny day (Sun, 4 Jan 2015 08:54:09 -0800 (PST)) it happened
meow2222@care2.com wrote in
716acfee-62e1-44a8-8e15-de9f40e4348e@googlegroups.com>:
On Sunday, January 4, 2015 12:01:22 PM UTC, Jan Panteltje wrote:
On a sunny day (Sun, 4 Jan 2015 03:35:27 -0800 (PST)) it happened
meow2222@care2.com wrote in
9e55e606-0e6c-4885-b13d-0d9147c4e282@googlegroups.com>:
On Sunday, January 4, 2015 2:56:44 AM UTC, Robert Baer wrote:
cjensen@netplus.com wrote:

Can anyone please have a look at this circuit and tell me what it is
doing, or supposed to do?

Better yet if you can decipher the parts in Russian.

https://app.box.com/s/hin6mhzpzl147473r1td

It is supposed to be some kind of "secret" device from the 1950's.

Maybe some kind of radio tracking gadget. Would be interesting to
calculate the frequency used.

Claus Jensen
Do not know Russian at all,but here is my take:
At the top, 220V 50Hz.
R1: 1-2 ohms, R2: 5K appx at 2Watts.
C1: 0.25-0.50uF metal film 400V
C2: 2000-6000pF NPO
C3: 200-500pF NPO
D1,D2: unknown
M: ?frequency meter? 80?? at 220? (or part number 80C-220
Tp: tuned transformer secondary
The rest is unknown.
Wild guess is the diodes are to generate harmonics, and one tunes the
transformer secondary; purpose is a cheap high power jamming xmitter.

I dont see the point of the diodes at all, given the characteristics of the glowstarter

The non-linearity of diodes is often used to generate higher harmonics,

surely they'd have a tiny effect compared to the glowstarter

I think the glowstarter ? is merely a switch.

its a neon, switch and small capacitor in parallel.
Most liekly the circuit eats much less than 20w, thus the starter will act as ne & c in paarallel, the switch staying open

It probably arcs a bit and creates some harmonics,
but not like a true spark gap in a horn.

The ne will switch on at 90v and off each half cycle

To activate that tuned circuit you need spectral components IN its frequency range.

all you need is a squarish edge.

Not exactly.

The transformer is an LC tank. Anything that causes a perturbance in it will get it to oscillate a bit, passively. The neon turning on at 90v will give it a good kick.

A square wave has mainly odd harmonics
For 50 Hz switching the more harmonics fit in the bandwidth,
the more noise in that band.
Adding diodes creates more 50 Hz harmonics.

The neon will be o/c at any time the diodes contemplate turning off, diodes thus have no effect at all on circuit behaviour.

Just connecting a voltage and then disconnecting and letting the the LC run a damped oscillation
is just a dying tone at one frequency really.

Precisely. You also get all the frequencies in the squarish edge, albeit at a low duty cycle. Any negative resistance tendency from the neon will help things too - to what extent I don't know.

You get broadband hash from arc transmitters, and that's exactly what this is. The arc is tiny inside the neon. Arc transmitters are pretty well untunable. The LC arrangement may increase output around one frequency, but isn't enough to get a continuous rf tone, so it spits out junk all over the place.

I'm wondering why the circuit's more complex than just:
RC ballast
neon
coil & C

If this is 1950s and soviet, the diodes would probably be copper oxide or selenium. I still can't see them doing anything the neon isnt already doing. The neon is working much like a back to back diode pair with Vdrop of 60v, plus some neg-R.

I also wonder why they bothered with a real earth, when a mains conductor could have been used.


NT
 
On Saturday, December 27, 2014 3:17:38 PM UTC, Sam Seagate wrote:
I recently took advantage of post-Christmas sales and purchased several
strings of warm white C7 size LED lights of 25 in each string. My
intention is to brighten the window candles we currently have.
Initially, when I designed the candles last year, I used a single light
from each string in place of the original candle bulb. I used a DC
"wall wort" 12 volt power supply to power each one with a dropping
resistor to reduce the current in each bulb to around the 17 mA level,
the same level I measured in the 120 V string before I cut the bulbs out
to use them. However, this left the bulbs too dim and the wife didn't
like the dimness. Then, a few days ago, since there's enough room
inside the bulb envelope, I doubled up two bulbs in series and adjusted
the current going in to be around 40 mA. Using the two series bulbs in
each candle envelope brightened the result considerably, but now I'm
concerned that there may be too much current flowing through them.
Although I didn't measure it, I believe the current in series bulbs
remains the same (40mA) but the voltage divides(?). This may be too
much for the bulbs.

Today, in an experiment, I decided to wire four bulbs in parallel and
set the input current at 10 mA. Measurements were 2.7 VDC @ 10 mA going
into the parallel combination. Four bulbs inside these small envelopes
begins to get difficult, but still not impossible.

My goal is to have the longest life possible out of these candles and
the maximum brightness which is the reason I've dropped the input
current and/or used more than a single bulb for each candle.

I have several questions:

1) If I use either the four bulbs in parallel driven at 10 mA and/or
the two bulbs in series at 40 mA input, is the resulting output
brightness going to be the same for the bulb combinations?

2) Which is the best method to use for preserving the longest LED life?

Thanks in advance,
Sam

Current should not exceed 20mA per led die for an unspeced LED. Half that will give massive life.

As for light out, only you can try and see how many you need to get the output you want.


NT
 
On Sun, 04 Jan 2015 15:23:50 -0600, Les Cargill wrote:

snip

Sadly, yes. Plan 9 and BeOS are out there, but widely unused.

I ran BeOS. It was great. It would be nice to see it get support for
modern gear and get back up again.
 
On 04.1.2015 Đł. 00:26, Les Cargill wrote:
Don Y wrote:
On 1/3/2015 12:27 PM, Lanarcam wrote:

A few thoughts:

Usenet gives more freedom and with that come advantages
and disadvantages. There is a need for self-discipline,
for respect of others based on their merits, for the
search of the truth by debate and not that of victory
by all means.

Yes. So, folks intent on the venue to exchange information
are left with a crappier S/N.

Usenet was born in another time when only a limited
number of people could participate. There was selection
based on education. All that has changed now, the Internet
is everywhere for everybody. We could say that it has
moved from the universities to the street.

Corporate forums are a response, moderation prevents
chaos but your freedom is restricted. You become
dependant on an organisation that you don't control,
you lose your independance. You lose for instance the
right to criticize that organisation.

Yes, as well. The moderation tends to get a bit more heavy-handed;
BOfH-ish.

OTOH, you can get "moderation" without corporate sponsorship.
But, the big (potential) win of corporate involvement is the
presence of "experts", hopefully (unless the firm assigns the
newbies to the task of "support")

I see support "venues" (trying to avoid conflicting with "forum")
as having several different characteristics that drive their
overall utility. In no particular order (some of these rely
on others -- but, IMO, merit being addressed explicitly):

- Technology
How is the venue implemented (mailing lists, web pages, SMS services,
etc.)?
This has direct impact on many of the other issues (that follow)

NNTP is vastly superior to the rest for this.

- Accessibility
How readily can the content can be accessed (devices, media, etc.)?
And, how well can it be *searched* for applicable content?

So use NNTP over port 80.

- Push vs Pull
Does the content come to you or do you go to it? Mailing lists
being an
example of the former; USENET the latter.

Pull is good.

- Privacy
How much privacy does the venue present its participants? Do you have
any idea/control as to who is "seeing" your posted content? Can you
limit your exposure?

Ha! Privacy is an absolute illusion.

- "Richness" of content
What sorts of media are supported? E.g., USENET is effectively text
only
while most "portal forums" support at least limited types of
multimedia.

Very bad. Text is good. Multimedia is a threat vector medium at the very
least.

NNTP coupled with webpages should be enough.

- Focus
Is there an "effective" charter governing the venue's usage? Or, does
the content (topic and quality) wander aimlessly?

Doesn't matter. Focus is also overrated.

- Control
How is access controlled? Content? Is any form of moderation in
force
and, if so, how (specific moderators, distributed moderation, etc.)?

There should be total anarchy. Control is an illusion ( unless
all the poles are on the unit circle ).

- Exploitability
How susceptible is the venue to abuse (spam, etc.)? How vulnerable
are the
participants to that (unwanted) abuse?

Who cares? Become adept at filtering.

- Cost
Is there a cost associated with posting/reading content? To
maintaining
the service?

Pay for your NNTP link, then stop worrying. I feel for people trying to
monetize fora, but not too much.

- "Value"
(Bad choice of terms) Are the right people drawn to the venue to
address
the subject matter covered in the charter? (note that this applies to
encouraging the participation of "experts" as well as NOT
discouraging the
participation of neophytes)


The best thing a neophyte can do is learn to ask good questions.

I can go on, but I think this gives an indication of how multifaceted the
decision is.

Gated communities are no way to live.

I was about to post something of that sort but you had already
done it :).

Typically I do not post at all to places where someone is allowed
to delete/move/edit my posts in the way they can do at fora etc.
I have done it - and once I actively participated for a few years
in a forum (until they tampered with one of my posts)- but I avoid
doing it. Generally if I allow someone to mess with my output I'd
rather not do it for free, if that.

What facebook and twitter got right is exactly the feeling of not
being censored too much for the users I suppose, hence the success.
Not getting me on board though - I barely use my accounts.
I do use flickr though, hunting with the camera being my main
recreational activity....

Dimiter

------------------------------------------------------
Dimiter Popoff, TGI http://www.tgi-sci.com
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.flickr.com/photos/didi_tgi/
 
Les Cargill wrote:
Don Y wrote:
On 1/3/2015 12:27 PM, Lanarcam wrote:

A few thoughts:

Usenet gives more freedom and with that come advantages
and disadvantages. There is a need for self-discipline,
for respect of others based on their merits, for the
search of the truth by debate and not that of victory
by all means.

Yes. So, folks intent on the venue to exchange information
are left with a crappier S/N.

Usenet was born in another time when only a limited
number of people could participate. There was selection
based on education. All that has changed now, the Internet
is everywhere for everybody. We could say that it has
moved from the universities to the street.

Corporate forums are a response, moderation prevents
chaos but your freedom is restricted. You become
dependant on an organisation that you don't control,
you lose your independance. You lose for instance the
right to criticize that organisation.

Yes, as well. The moderation tends to get a bit more heavy-handed;
BOfH-ish.

OTOH, you can get "moderation" without corporate sponsorship.
But, the big (potential) win of corporate involvement is the
presence of "experts", hopefully (unless the firm assigns the
newbies to the task of "support")

I see support "venues" (trying to avoid conflicting with "forum")
as having several different characteristics that drive their
overall utility. In no particular order (some of these rely
on others -- but, IMO, merit being addressed explicitly):

- Technology
How is the venue implemented (mailing lists, web pages, SMS services,
etc.)?
This has direct impact on many of the other issues (that follow)

NNTP is vastly superior to the rest for this.

- Accessibility
How readily can the content can be accessed (devices, media, etc.)?
And, how well can it be *searched* for applicable content?

So use NNTP over port 80.

- Push vs Pull
Does the content come to you or do you go to it? Mailing lists
being an
example of the former; USENET the latter.

Pull is good.

- Privacy
How much privacy does the venue present its participants? Do you have
any idea/control as to who is "seeing" your posted content? Can you
limit your exposure?

Ha! Privacy is an absolute illusion.

- "Richness" of content
What sorts of media are supported? E.g., USENET is effectively text
only
while most "portal forums" support at least limited types of
multimedia.

Very bad. Text is good. Multimedia is a threat vector medium at the very
least.

NNTP coupled with webpages should be enough.

- Focus
Is there an "effective" charter governing the venue's usage? Or, does
the content (topic and quality) wander aimlessly?

Doesn't matter. Focus is also overrated.

- Control
How is access controlled? Content? Is any form of moderation in
force
and, if so, how (specific moderators, distributed moderation, etc.)?

There should be total anarchy. Control is an illusion ( unless
all the poles are on the unit circle ).

- Exploitability
How susceptible is the venue to abuse (spam, etc.)? How vulnerable
are the
participants to that (unwanted) abuse?

Who cares? Become adept at filtering.

- Cost
Is there a cost associated with posting/reading content? To
maintaining
the service?

Pay for your NNTP link, then stop worrying. I feel for people trying to
monetize fora, but not too much.

- "Value"
(Bad choice of terms) Are the right people drawn to the venue to
address
the subject matter covered in the charter? (note that this applies to
encouraging the participation of "experts" as well as NOT
discouraging the
participation of neophytes)


The best thing a neophyte can do is learn to ask good questions.

I can go on, but I think this gives an indication of how multifaceted the
decision is.

Gated communities are no way to live.

Amen to all of that.

I pay all of $13 (10 Euros) per year for the news server. For that I do
not need to run any kind of filtering because they already take care of
hosing off spam. When I still had AT&T I filtered out google mail and
that took care of most spam. It's easy.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/
 
On 1/4/2015 3:22 AM, meow2222@care2.com wrote:
On 1/3/2015 1:45 AM, meow2222@care2.com wrote:
On Thursday, November 20, 2014 12:38:37 AM UTC, rickman wrote:
On 11/19/2014 7:19 PM, Joerg wrote:

It's always good to learn about those because one can do weird tricks
with them. They are also useful as gain control elements. I just hope
they won't disappear. I think TV will eventually vanish and go Internet
and then they'd likely be obsoleted because that is the only mass market
for them that I know of.

I can't see TVs ever loosing a tuner. That would only happen when TV
station broadcasts go away and I don't think that is at all on the
horizon.

As internet speeds creep up, by the time we all have a bundle of fibres the bandwidth supplied by air broadcast will become pointless and almost worthless. The end looks inevitable. A single fibre bundle can wipe out uhf tv, all current radio bands and phone lines, so it will for cost reasons.

Except that they will never bring fiber to every household. There are
lots of places that don't even have cable which is why there is satellite..

The whole developed world has mains electicity supplied, a huge undertaking to achieve. Why? Its worth it. Living in 50 or 100yrs time without fast internet will be unthinkable, just as we're no longer prepared to live with a 32v generator in the basement. It'll happen. In this country the rare houses with no mains supply are worth 10s of thoussands less because of it. That price brings a lot of willingness, and so it will with internet eventually.

You are confusing having Fiber with having Internet. The two are not
the same thing.

--

Rick
 
On a sunny day (Sun, 4 Jan 2015 08:54:09 -0800 (PST)) it happened
meow2222@care2.com wrote in
<716acfee-62e1-44a8-8e15-de9f40e4348e@googlegroups.com>:

On Sunday, January 4, 2015 12:01:22 PM UTC, Jan Panteltje wrote:
On a sunny day (Sun, 4 Jan 2015 03:35:27 -0800 (PST)) it happened
meow2222@care2.com wrote in
9e55e606-0e6c-4885-b13d-0d9147c4e282@googlegroups.com>:
On Sunday, January 4, 2015 2:56:44 AM UTC, Robert Baer wrote:
cjensen@netplus.com wrote:

Can anyone please have a look at this circuit and tell me what it is
doing, or supposed to do?

Better yet if you can decipher the parts in Russian.

https://app.box.com/s/hin6mhzpzl147473r1td

It is supposed to be some kind of "secret" device from the 1950's.

Maybe some kind of radio tracking gadget. Would be interesting to
calculate the frequency used.

Claus Jensen
Do not know Russian at all,but here is my take:
At the top, 220V 50Hz.
R1: 1-2 ohms, R2: 5K appx at 2Watts.
C1: 0.25-0.50uF metal film 400V
C2: 2000-6000pF NPO
C3: 200-500pF NPO
D1,D2: unknown
M: ?frequency meter? 80?? at 220? (or part number 80C-220
Tp: tuned transformer secondary
The rest is unknown.
Wild guess is the diodes are to generate harmonics, and one tunes the
transformer secondary; purpose is a cheap high power jamming xmitter.

I dont see the point of the diodes at all, given the characteristics of the glowstarter

The non-linearity of diodes is often used to generate higher harmonics,

surely they'd have a tiny effect compared to the glowstarter

I think the glowstarter ? is merely a switch.
It probably arcs a bit and creates some harmonics,
but not like a true spark gap in a horn.
To activate that tuned circuit you need spectral components IN its frequency range.
Remember the old 'anti rattle capacitors' over the rectifiers in old radios?
The mains generated harmonics from those diodes were right in the radio band!
The caps suppressed those.
 
Hi Dimiter,

On 1/4/2015 10:15 AM, Dimiter_Popoff wrote:

I was about to post something of that sort but you had already
done it :).

Typically I do not post at all to places where someone is allowed
to delete/move/edit my posts in the way they can do at fora etc.
I have done it - and once I actively participated for a few years
in a forum (until they tampered with one of my posts)- but I avoid
doing it. Generally if I allow someone to mess with my output I'd
rather not do it for free, if that.

But that's not a *SUPPORT* forum. Rather, it's a place where folks
gather to discuss a particular subject matter (electronics,
metalurgy, religion, etc.). There are scant few newsgroups that
could marginally be considered "support groups": notable exceptions
being the adobe.* groups and the various alt.*.os.* groups. There
are a smattering of "autos" groups, and game consoles, etc.

But, you don't see an alt.tgi.netmce group :>

I.e., do *you* sponsor/endorse any "venues" (mailing lists, newsgroups,
portals, etc.) for your customers to discuss problems/features with
your products? If *not*, is this because there is no demand for it
(i.e., perhaps customers don't want to disclose publicly to others how
they are using your kit -- competition; or, perhaps, their needs are met
with one-on-one email/phone exchanges?)

Said another way, what sorts of "support venues" would you consider
appropriate for *your* products -- and *why* (esp why *not*!).

What facebook and twitter got right is exactly the feeling of not
being censored too much for the users I suppose, hence the success.
Not getting me on board though - I barely use my accounts.
I do use flickr though, hunting with the camera being my main
recreational activity....

AFAICT, social media "venues" are advertising and griping opportunities.
I'd not place much stock in a "recommendation" (nor a *warning*) posted
on the like: "Who is this guy and why should I take *his* comments
as Truth?" (i.e., he may be an idiot and hence complaining about his own
ineptitude with the product; or, he may be a shill effectively pushing
a product for some other reason!)
 
Hi George,

Nice and cold, there?? :> (Unfortunately, I can't "gloat" as it's been
a wee bit chilly, here, of late! No idea how the Valencias are faring as
it is way too soon to harvest them)

On 1/4/2015 10:39 AM, George Herold wrote:
Hi Don, I sometimes "hang out" at the electronics stack exchange forum. It
has a lot more low level questions than here... but it lacks all the
political (and other) "noise". The high end is about the same at both
places. (IMO) I've asked question on both sites and gotten useful answers
at both. The one problem with the stack exchange is the format is not
conducive to long discussions, which I find the most enjoyable part of SED.

Again, I don't really consider those "support venues". Rather, a step
above a "chat room" -- a place where people gather to talk about (ideally)
a particular subject matter (which is often very broad/general).

E.g., you wouldn't expect folks who purchase Nest thermostats to come
*here* to discuss the problems/features/operation of their devices
(though there is nothing *preventing* them from doing so, they would
probably prefer to gather with OTHER OWNERS of Nest thermostats in
the hopes of finding folks with more common experiences as theirs).

USENET allows for this -- create a newsgroup, give it a charter, decide
whether it should be moderated (or not), find a moderator, etc. There
are some newsgroups set up for this (see my other recent post for examples;
or, peruse your newsgroup list).

But, USENET is not "private" -- you can't discuss problems with your
XYZ Colostomy Bag and expect it to only be seen by other (sympathetic?)
colostomy patients! You can censor posts *to* it (with a moderator).
There is no (practical) cost to supporting it. It's a "pull" technology.
Whether or not it allows advertisements and other off-topic content would
be subject to the moderator's discretion. It can opt to support binaries
(untyped objects), or not (ick! the idea of media other than text for
a subject like that is... disconcerting!).

Similarly, you (manufacturer) can enroll all of your customers in a
mailing list (anonymized or not) and therefore know that only *they*
are privy to see the comments of other customers, no "spam" opportunities
(assuming the list is actively moderated), etc.

Or, set up a web portal and get the worst of both worlds :-/

Separate from all of this is the extent of corporate involvement: in
terms of funding the venue, participating in it (employees), controlling
it (censorship/policing), etc.

I.e.,, even if the corporation doesn't *endorse* a venue (and may, in fact,
resent its creation), there is nothing to stop someone from independently
creating such a venue without the consent/sponsorship/control/participation
of the corporation whose product is being "supported"!

E.g., alt.microsoft.*.sucks
 

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