Very fast rise time generator...

[Bob F]

On 2/17/2023 1:08 PM, charles wrote:

In article <tsopra$3nm58$1@dont-email.me>,
SteveW <steve@walker-family.me.uk> wrote:
On 17/02/2023 19:08, Carlos E. R. wrote:
On 2023-02-17 12:52, NY wrote:
I wish cars would standardise on putting the hazard lights switch on
the end of one or other of the stalks, rather than putting it in some
arbitrary position on the dashboard. It means the driver can hit the
hazard lights switch without having to take his hands off the wheel
and his eyes off the road; the downside is that it can\'t be reached by
a passenger. On my Peugeot 306, I learned how to reach the switch
without taking my eyes off the road

Here it is apparently illegal to switch on those lights if the car is
moving. Thus, no reason to put the switch on the stalks.

Except that manufacturers like to use the same systems throughout all
their markets and here (and possibly in some other countries), there can
be reason to put them on while moving.

Here, it was was illegal to do so, but people sometimes did and
government recognised that it was actually a good idea and changed the law.

It is now a legal and recognised sign to following drivers, on a fast
road, such as a motorway or dual-carriageway, that you are approaching
standing traffic and slowing quickly to a stop. As such it needs to be
activated quickly and without having to take your eyes off the road.

In my last car, braking hard (emergency breaking) brought on the flashers.

Here, it is common for slow trucks going up the mountain pass to turn
their flashers on.

Driving my mothers \"new car\" once, I flicked the turn signal with a left
finger, and the car suddenly accelerated into the turn. I had to quickly
hit the brakes. That was how I learned about her cruise control enable
button being on the end of the turn signal lever. Maybe not a good place
for critical controls.

 

[whit3rd]

On Monday, February 20, 2023 at 2:12:02 AM UTC-8, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 19/02/2023 22:13, Cindy Hamilton wrote:

It\'s about how this country was settled: plenty of timber, no
restrictions on cutting it on your own property; easy for the
yeoman-farmer to build with, especially since there were all
those felled trees left from clearing the virgin forest.

It\'s not a bad material. The oldest surviving timber-frame house
in the U.S. was built in about 1640.

There\'s quite a few older than that in the UK.

However the problem is that the statistics show that eventually nearly
all of them catch fire.

And there is nothing left to rebuild.

It doesn\'t help that the oldest were made with wooden chimneys...
late 1700s and Victorian era isn\'t so rare to see standing today.

 

[NY]

On 15/02/2023 17:21, John Larkin wrote:

We own the language now. Tiny old monarchies and former empires don\'t
matter much any more.

LOL

You own the language used in the USA. We own the language that we use
here in the UK. There are remarkable similarities (as well as some
differences) between the languages

 

[NY]

On 15/02/2023 17:56, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 15/02/2023 15:39, John Larkin wrote:
On Wed, 15 Feb 2023 07:49:09 +0000, The Natural Philosopher
tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

On 14/02/2023 22:25, Carlos E.R. wrote:
For instance, the book I started learning English taught the expression
\"it is raining cats and dogs\". Most of the times I tried to use it,
nobody understood it and I had to explain ?

That is sadly, because most English people today are not taught English.
They can\'t pronounce it, spell it, or use  correct grammar.

An educated Indian speaks better English.

Who defines a language, if not the people who use it?

a standards committee.
You nurking farqual.

Except that the UK and the US don\'t have an equivalent of the Academie
Francaise which regulates the language. We have dictionaries which
reflect current usage and imply what usage is and isn\'t \"acceptable\" but
those are advisory, not mandatory.

 

[Bob F]

On 2/17/2023 1:50 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2023-02-17 19:33, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Mon, 13 Feb 2023 21:18:25 -0000, Carlos E. R.
robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
On 2023-02-13 22:10, SteveW wrote:
On 13/02/2023 20:54, Carlos E. R. wrote:
On 2023-02-13 21:09, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sat, 11 Feb 2023 15:47:50 -0000, John Larkin
jlarkin@highlandsnipmetechnology.com> wrote:
On Sat, 11 Feb 2023 07:32:07 -0000, \"Commander Kinsey\"
CK1@nospam.com> wrote:

Why don\'t car batteries have a better state of charge indicator
(the little green float)?
It could be on the side and go a few inches along a sloping tube,
telling you the precise battery charge state.

Most car batteries are sealed now, not refillable, and don\'t have a
float indicator. Mine is under the trunk in the back and is not even
visible.

I asked a woman for a jump start once, fancy BMW or Merc or
something. Took us 10 minutes to work out how to open the stupid
battery cover. Why cover a battery?  Did they think someone might
steal it?

Have you ever seen what happens when you drop a tool on top of the
battery?

Other manufacturers seem to get away with a simple clip-on, clip-off
cover on the positive terminal.

True. And it is cheaper.

But once I saw BMW mechanics working on the cars dressed with white
coveralls...

Why would that matter?  Were the coveralls electrically conductive?

Did you ever try? How long does your coverall stay white when servicing
cars?

That\'s why they offer the free wash and vac. So the mechanics don\'t get
their coveralls dirty on your filthy car..

 

[NY]

On 15/02/2023 11:29, Max Demian wrote:

On 14/02/2023 20:22, NY wrote:
And Latin has no word for \"child\" or \"children\" (of unspecified
gender): you have to say explicitly \"boy\" or \"girl\", or \"boys and girls\".

I suspect that the masculine form is used when gender is unknown or both
meant, like the Greek \"paed\" meaning boy is used for both sexes as in
paediatrics.

Ah. I don\'t know much Greek. I don\'t no much more Latin

But I assumed that \"paed\" was Ancient Greek for child, rather than boy.

But then in Roman and Greek times, boys were the only \"important\"
gender: women were just for child-bearing and pleasure.

 

[Rod Speed]

On Tue, 21 Feb 2023 02:40:54 +1100, The Natural Philosopher
<tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

On 20/02/2023 15:37, rbowman wrote:
On Mon, 20 Feb 2023 10:09:55 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

The spanish/mediterranean style houses built of brick stone and
concrete
with massively thick rooves, tiled floors and overhanging eaves are
the
most energy efficient way to live in temperatures over 30°C as the
Romans and the Moors discovered.

At night airflow cools the masonry, and by day the masonry cools the
airflow
The adobe construction in the US southwest has similar properties. The
energy efficiency may be a byproduct. Sun-dried mud bricks require thick
walls and overhanging eaves prevent them from washing away in the
infrequent but intense rains.
Trees are sparse and most aren\'t suitable for lumber. Stone was used in
other areas like Chaco Canyon where sandstone was abundant. There may
have
been more timber in the period but from today\'s conditions they would
have
had to go as much as 60 miles to find suitable timber for the vigas.
You use what you have. Sod construction wasn\'t very pleasant but when
you\'re on the Great Plains with plenty of sod and no trees you make do.

Exactly, I dont think adobe construction is that bad either. Surprised
they never lit a fire and turned it into bricks

Not much suitable to burn that isnt used for cooking food.

 

[Bob F]

On 2/22/2023 3:13 PM, John Larkin wrote:

On Wed, 22 Feb 2023 23:35:23 +0100, Peeler <trolltrap@valid.invalid
wrote:

On Wed, 22 Feb 2023 13:35:59 -0800, John Larkin, another obviously brain
dead, senile BIGMOUTH, blathered:


Seriously, a purr may be an echolocation frequency chirp.

Seriously, you MUST do something about this senility of yours! LOL

Never heard of chirps? It\'s a mathematical transform of an impulse,
but doesn\'t need the big peak power. Big radars do it so they don\'t
ionize the air near the antenna.

Most critters, humans included, use some form of echolocation.

Look it up. It\'s interesting.

Even blind people do it.

 

[Rod Speed]

On Thu, 16 Feb 2023 02:44:12 +1100, John Larkin
<jlarkin@highlandsnipmetechnology.com> wrote:

On Wed, 15 Feb 2023 11:27:09 +0000, Max Demian
max_demian@bigfoot.com> wrote:

On 15/02/2023 01:02, Rod Speed wrote:
On Wed, 15 Feb 2023 11:36:31 +1100, John Larkin
jlarkin@highlandsnipmetechnology.com> wrote:
On Wed, 15 Feb 2023 10:16:13 +1100, \"Rod Speed\"
rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote:
On Wed, 15 Feb 2023 07:27:02 +1100, NY <me@privacy.net> wrote:

English probably could do with a plural form of you;

the distinction between familiar and formal is less important.

We do have one here, \'darl\', even when referring to a man.

dawlin

That\'s what ours is derived from.

and honey in the south, by salesgirls for example. That\'s sort
of nice.

That\'s a form of address, not the same as you. People might say, \"Can
you come here,\" but not \"Can darling come here.\"

(In Lancashire/Manchester shop girls call you \"luv\", which is a bit of a
degradation of meaning.)

Dawlin, comover here and I\'ll show you the crawfish.

Luv is nice too. Much better than Sir.

And the silly way that UK cops say \'mum\' to their female seniors.

 

[Ed Pawlowski]

On 2/20/2023 12:28 PM, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 20/02/2023 17:16, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/20/2023 10:40 AM, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Exactly, I dont think adobe construction is that bad either.
Surprised they never lit a fire and turned it into bricks


Fuel
Cow shit is fairly common
How much cow shit is needed to run a modest sized brick kiln. You need
about 1800 degrees for 8+ hours.

Cow manure has about 7500 BTU per pound. Takes about 6000 BTU to fire a
brick. Even a small 8\' square cabin would be about 800 bricks. Depending
on kiln efficiency, between a half to a ton of manure. About a month of
poop from a well fed cow.

 

[Don Y]

On 2/15/2023 9:24 AM, Martin Brown wrote:

On 15/02/2023 10:48, Mike Monett VE3BTI wrote:
Martin Brown <\'\'\'newspam\'\'\'@nonad.co.uk> wrote:

The remaining big power hog is the garage lights.

Your fridge is a big power hog. Set the refrigerator temperature to the
highest setting, usually around 45 degrees F or 7 degrees C. This is an
excellent temperature for keeping vegetables, especially potatoes.

UK fridges are much less of a power hog than US ones. The power it takes to
keep cool depends mostly on how often it gets opened and how full it is. 4C is
a widely recognised safe temperature for storing uncooked meat and fish much
above that and you are asking for trouble.

I suspect (?) our frigs are larger than yours. Ours is 23 cu ft
and that\'s the \"smaller\" variant of this model (the \"standard\"
is 28 cu ft).

Replace filament bulbs with LEDs. The power savings is amazing. For example,
a 100 W LED bulb only draws 12 watts. A 60 W LED bulb only draws 9 watts.

LED bulbs are a win but they have been a win for nearly a decade now. I doubt
if anyone has a significant number of filament bulbs in use today. Even so the
lighting circuits are trivial when compared to cookers and water heaters (which
is our single biggest heavy load if the central heating isn\'t on).

A standard lighting circuit, here, is 15A (@120VAC). Water heaters,
ovens/ranges, central air, etc. are all \"dedicated circuits\" in the
30A - 50A (@220VAC) range. A (gas) furnace or refrigerator would
likely get a dedicated 15A (@120VAC) circuit, largely for reliability
(so nothing else sharing the circuit could compromise its availability)

Lighting circuits often address the lighting in multiple rooms on
a single circuit. Ditto for general purpose \"receptacles\" in rooms
other than the kitchen.

This is low enough that I keep the one in the bathroom turned on all the
time. The main switch is in an awkward location, and I hate having to search
for it in the dark.

That sounds like a very good reason to move the switch or install a proper
night light! You can even get motion activated ones - no switch at all.

I have a battery powered one on my front door - it lasts about a year on 3xC
cells in regular use.

We have these installed just inside each doorway and by the counter
in each bathroom:

<https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61w6Wj38mdL._AC_SL1500_.jpg>

Pressing the face plate cycles a selector switch through different
intensity settings -- incl OFF. It self-activates based on the amount
of ambient light so it\'s not something we have to remember to turn on.

[I found these look cleaner than having something plugged *into*
an outlet]

You can also purchase them *in* duplex receptacles (but having
something plugged into it would interfere with the amount of
light available so, in those applications, it\'s mainly to help
you *find* an outlet, in the dark)

 

[NY]

On 17/02/2023 20:03, SteveW wrote:

There are also a lot of phrases that come from the Royal Navy - square
meal (from the square wooden plates); between the devil and the deep
blue sea - the devil being the final plank of a deck, against the side
of the ship and the hardest to fit; the bitter end - the end of a rope
... especially if you missed catching it as the rope went over the side;
and a whole lot more.

Freezing the balls off a brass monkey - the story I\'ve heard is that
cannon balls were kept on a brass rack called a monkey which would
contract in very cold weather and cause the cannon balls to be ejected
from it.

Sweet Fanny Adams - a girl called Fanny Adams went missing and when her
body was found, people likened it to a meat ration that had just started
to be served in the Navy; originally the phrase was not used as a
euphemism for \"sweet fuck all\" (ie \"an extremely small amount of
something\" - at least, no-one would admit to that meaning!

 

[NY]

On 15/02/2023 17:33, Max Demian wrote:

I think it was just chance, or perhaps a famous clock had hands moving
deiseil. (Adjacent cogs in a gear train move in opposite directions and
it just happened that the one with a twelve hour period was going
deiseil.) In any case, the first clocks with dials has the *dial*
rotating and the hand (with fingers I think) was stationary. No idea
which way they rotated.

That reminds me of some cars which have their speedos calibrated
clockwise but with 0 at the 2 o\'clock position and highest speed at
about the 10 o\'clock position, as opposed to 0 at 8 o\'clock and max
speed at 4 o\'clock. Takes a bit of getting used to.

Could be worse: they could have also calibrated it
anticlockwise=increase ;-)

 

[rbowman]

On Mon, 20 Feb 2023 15:40:54 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Exactly, I dont think adobe construction is that bad either. Surprised
they never lit a fire and turned it into bricks

Firewood is fairly scarce in many of the areas where adobe was used.
Mesquite can get big given a reliable water supply but typically it\'s more
of a large shrub. Making bricks would be lower on the scale than cooking
and heating. Depending on the altitude there may be juniper or live oak
but they\'re not large either.

otoh, there\'s plenty of sun in the southwest and you don\'t have to lug it
home.

 

[Commander Kinsey]

On Sun, 12 Feb 2023 21:42:59 -0000, Mark Lloyd <not.email@all.invalid> wrote:

On 2/11/23 09:39, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sat, 11 Feb 2023 15:32:12 -0000, Wade Garrett <wade@cooler.net> wrote:

On 2/11/23 3:16 AM, Commander Kinsey wrote:
Why do circuit breakers go up for on and down for off? Would they work
installed upside down?

Mine are mounted horizontally: left off, right on.

Some people seem to confuse left and right, not sure how, they must
remember which hand they write with.

I know someone who can\'t tell left from right without touching herself.

Touching herself where?

And how did touch remind her?

 

[Joe Gwinn]

On Wed, 15 Feb 2023 16:24:54 +0000, Martin Brown
<\'\'\'newspam\'\'\'@nonad.co.uk> wrote:

On 15/02/2023 10:48, Mike Monett VE3BTI wrote:
Martin Brown <\'\'\'newspam\'\'\'@nonad.co.uk> wrote:

The remaining big power hog is the garage lights.

Your fridge is a big power hog. Set the refrigerator temperature to the
highest setting, usually around 45 degrees F or 7 degrees C. This is an
excellent temperature for keeping vegetables, especially potatoes.

UK fridges are much less of a power hog than US ones. The power it takes
to keep cool depends mostly on how often it gets opened and how full it
is. 4C is a widely recognised safe temperature for storing uncooked meat
and fish much above that and you are asking for trouble.

Set the freezer to -14 F or -10 C. Once the temerature is below freezing, it
doesn\'t matter how cold it is.

Yes it does! Frozen stuff keeps much longer at -18C than at -10C.

Also -18C gives you some leeway when there is a powercut provided you
keep the freezer door shut. I can see the power consumption in realtime
from fridge and freezer when they are on. They would only be a problem
if the insulation gets compromised (as happened to a previous unit).
Then the compressor is on almost permanently fighting a thermal bridge.

Replace filament bulbs with LEDs. The power savings is amazing. For example,
a 100 W LED bulb only draws 12 watts. A 60 W LED bulb only draws 9 watts.

LED bulbs are a win but they have been a win for nearly a decade now. I
doubt if anyone has a significant number of filament bulbs in use today.
Even so the lighting circuits are trivial when compared to cookers and
water heaters (which is our single biggest heavy load if the central
heating isn\'t on).

This is low enough that I keep the one in the bathroom turned on all the
time. The main switch is in an awkward location, and I hate having to search
for it in the dark.

That sounds like a very good reason to move the switch or install a
proper night light! You can even get motion activated ones - no switch
at all.

Easier solution by far is to change the switch to one with an
illuminated toggle, so it can be found in the dark.

Here is a USA brand example. I assume that something similar exists
everywhere.

..<https://www.leviton.com/en/products/residential/switches-timers/led-illuminated-switches>

Joe Gwinn

 

[rbowman]

On Mon, 20 Feb 2023 17:28:32 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 20/02/2023 17:16, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/20/2023 10:40 AM, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Exactly, I dont think adobe construction is that bad either. Surprised
they never lit a fire and turned it into bricks


Fuel
Cow shit is fairly common

Ever burned cow shit? Probably more important it takes a lot of acres of
mesquite scrub land to support a cow so it\'s going to be widely dispersed.

 

[Commander Kinsey]

On Mon, 13 Feb 2023 18:13:41 -0000, John Larkin <jlarkin@highlandsnipmetechnology.com> wrote:

On Sun, 12 Feb 2023 15:42:59 -0600, Mark Lloyd <not.email@all.invalid
wrote:

On 2/11/23 09:39, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sat, 11 Feb 2023 15:32:12 -0000, Wade Garrett <wade@cooler.net> wrote:

On 2/11/23 3:16 AM, Commander Kinsey wrote:
Why do circuit breakers go up for on and down for off? Would they work
installed upside down?

Mine are mounted horizontally: left off, right on.

Some people seem to confuse left and right, not sure how, they must
remember which hand they write with.

I know someone who can\'t tell left from right without touching herself.

I had one engineer who couldn\'t tell left from right, and couldn\'t
tell a digital 1 from a 0. He was always getting logic wrong.

0 and 1 are a billion times easier than left and right, that guy was a moron. Does he get mixed up between yes and no aswell?

 

[Don Y]

On 2/15/2023 10:14 AM, upsidedown@downunder.com wrote:

Just wondering how you get such high numbers, they must be driving
around in your SUV all day long

We\'re just accustomed to \"cheap energy\" and high availability.

[I\'ve a neighbor who uses her TV (CATV) to listen to broadcast *music*!
Surely, there must be less energy intensive means of delivering sound
to a home!?]

The average household likely has *three* TVs. And, they are no longer
\"19 inch\" varieties. The woman across the street often has ALL of
the TVs \"on\", at the same time, in her home, as she moves from room
to room doing \"housework\". Everyone in this neighborhood has at least
as many vehicles as they have occupants. 20% of homes have two or
more refrigerators:

<https://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/reports/2009/state_briefs/pdf/ca.pdf>
see \"US\" figures.

We routinely trade energy for convenience/time. Take something
out of the freezer and *cook* (heat!) it. Why bother remembering
to take it out earlier and let it *defrost*?

In cold climate, the electricity used by indoor appliances will end up
as heat, reducing the heating needed. Don\'t forget that a human will
also warm a space with about 0.1 kW.

Inside generated heat is a problem if artificial cooling is needed.

In Norway, practically all electricity is generated by cheap hydro,
houses are heated mainly by electricity and the national consumption
is about 3 kW/person. That figure include power used by industry etc.
Thus the private consumption is below 2 kW/person.

They don\'t burn any fossil fuels, there?

Current world energy production (all forms, 2019 figures) is about
606EJ/year, of which 418EJ is delivered as useful energy to the consumer.

That\'s about 1700W/person, or 41kWh per day.

Much of which goes to industry, agriculture etc.

Who, ultimately, consumes the products that those people produce?
How much does a bushman in the Kalahari consume?

Compare thus to the solar flux about 2 m2 (peak) will receive this
amount of radiation. Assuming realistic solar panel efficiency and
solar angles, 40-60 m2/person solar panels would be required.

And the space to mount them. Most homes with PV panels, here,
will site ~10-12 on a rooftop. Each is almost exactly a square meter.
Where do I site the other 70 panels we\'d need (by your figures)?

 

[NY]

On 17/02/2023 21:08, charles wrote:

In article <tsopra$3nm58$1@dont-email.me>,
SteveW <steve@walker-family.me.uk> wrote:
On 17/02/2023 19:08, Carlos E. R. wrote:
On 2023-02-17 12:52, NY wrote:
I wish cars would standardise on putting the hazard lights switch on
the end of one or other of the stalks, rather than putting it in some
arbitrary position on the dashboard. It means the driver can hit the
hazard lights switch without having to take his hands off the wheel
and his eyes off the road; the downside is that it can\'t be reached by
a passenger. On my Peugeot 306, I learned how to reach the switch
without taking my eyes off the road

Here it is apparently illegal to switch on those lights if the car is
moving. Thus, no reason to put the switch on the stalks.

Except that manufacturers like to use the same systems throughout all
their markets and here (and possibly in some other countries), there can
be reason to put them on while moving.

Here, it was was illegal to do so, but people sometimes did and
government recognised that it was actually a good idea and changed the law.

It is now a legal and recognised sign to following drivers, on a fast
road, such as a motorway or dual-carriageway, that you are approaching
standing traffic and slowing quickly to a stop. As such it needs to be
activated quickly and without having to take your eyes off the road.

In my last car, braking hard (emergency braking) brought on the flashers.

That\'s fine, but by the time you are braking that hard you are very
close to the hazard. I put mine on long before that, as soon as I see
the tail end of the queue, maybe before I\'ve started to brake much,
given that I brake gently at high speed and progressively increase the
braking as I get slower: gentler on the passengers and less likely to
provoke a high-speed skid.

I also use my hazard lights to supplement flashing my headlights at
oncoming traffic if I\'ve just passed a hazard (eg broken-down car) that
is just behind me on the other side of the road, round the corner - to
say \"there is a hazard that you need to be aware of, just round the corner\".