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Dan Purgert <dan@djph.net> writes:
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On 2023-02-18, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 18/02/2023 12:37, Max Demian wrote:
Steam locos were not rated in horsepower, but \'tractive effort\' . How
many tons of pull they could generate before the wheels slipped.
Sort of. The important factor is tractive effort; but horsepower was a
known factor as well.
Indeed. From Audel\'s volume 1:
\"Horse Power - This unit was introduced by James Watt to measure the
power of his steam engines; defined as 33,000 ft. lbs. per minute.\"
Audels Engineers and Mechanics Guide Vol 1. pg 78.
https://archive.org/details/audelsengineersm01grahrich/page/78/mode/2up
The first two volumes are a fascinating introduction into the theory
and mechanics of steam engines.
That\'s why they had a lot of driving wheels - at least four, generally 6
and up to 8.
10 and 12 were also used out west. And don\'t forget the articulated
options that had 12 or 16 (6 or 8 total drive axles). I think one of
the eastern roads went with a triplex design of 2-6-6-6-2 or something
like that; but it didn\'t work all that well (too steam hungry).
My favorite (At the California Railway Museum in Sacramento):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4-8-8-2
It\'s much larger than it appears in the picture (look for the
placcard holders alongside for a sense of scale).
The cab was forward of the stack to avoid suffocating the drivers
in the long sierra tunnels.
On 14/02/2023 14:28, Anass Luca wrote:
In sci.electronics.design rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
On Mon, 13 Feb 2023 20:37:43 -0000, Commander Kinsey wrote:
Rotary took fucking ages to dial long distance. And a very long
time to dial the UK emergency 999. Should have been 111.
That was designed to prevent cats from dialing the emergency
services. At least the US went for 911.
Yes, and then every maker of business phone exchanges also decided to
then use \"9\" to begin the dial sequence of an outside line.
Many years ago, we used to have 4-digit office extensions; 1nnn
From the rest of the UK, they could dial direct to an extension on 061
902 1nnn (061 being the Manchester area code and 902 being the local
exchange).
In the 061 area, just dialling 902 1nnn worked.
One guy left, but his desk phone regularly rang. The company had a
policy of someone answering any phone within 3 rings, but we just
ignored that phone.
One day a manager was passing as I ignored the phone and questioned me
about not answering. I said it\'s for the NatWest bank. The manager
looked at me oddly, picked up the phone and yes, it was a call for a
branch of the NatWest Bank in Birmingham. He then looked at me even more
oddly.
People all over the 061 area dialled a 9 for an outside line, when they
didn\'t need to, then 021 for Birmingham and then nnn nnnn, effectively
dialing the local number 902 1xxx, plus some extra, ignored digits
Couple that stupid choice with \"dial 1 for long distance\" and every long
distance call begins as \"9 1\" -- two thirds of the 911 emergency
number.
I\'ve known folks who accidentally dialed an additional \"1\" after the
\"long distance + outside line\" prefix and had to explain that no, they
really were not trying to contact emergency services.
Even worse were some of the mobile phones with buttons. With mine,
pressing * and # together locked the keypad to prevent accidental (butt)
dialling in your pocket - except that some bright spark had decided that
to make emergency calls easier, pressing and holding the 9 key would
call the emergency number, even when locked ... which of course was even
more likely to happen than if you left the keypad unlocked and randomly
dialled numbers!
At one time I was at the top of a ladder, when I could hear a faint
voice from somewhere. Yes, my phone had connected to the emergency services!
On Wed, 15 Feb 2023 07:27:02 +1100, NY <me@privacy.net> wrote:
English probably could do with a plural form of you;
It already has a couple of informal ones, yous and you-all for yanks.
I used to say \'you two\' when asking the parents say where they would
be at a certain time etc, but my step mother didn\'t like that style.
She
was a rather silly woman tho, hated the use of the word holidays for
university students, insisted on vacation for some reason.
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...
On 16/02/2023 14:27, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Mon, 13 Feb 2023 13:32:14 -0000, NY <me@privacy.invalid> wrote:
Sadly my dad lent all the Meccano to a work colleague for his son to play
with, and when he came to ask for it back some year later the
colleague said
\"Oh, I thought you\'d *given* it to me, not lent it to me. When [son] grew
too old for it, we took it to the tip.\" Grrrrrr. Old Meccano from the
1940s/50s would probably be worth a bit nowadays.
People who throw out usable stuff should be shot. Have they not heard
of Gumtree, Ebay, Freecycle? The government could make it a law against
the environment or something.
Yes, my dad was not best pleased. He was planning to pass the Meccano on
to my nephews when they were old enough to play with it. I had hours of
fun making models, and learning about spur and helical gears, and gear
ratios (reduce rotational speed but increase torque proportionally).
On Tue, 14 Feb 2023 14:28:13 GMT, Anass Luca <AL@invalid.invalid
wrote:
In sci.electronics.design rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
On Mon, 13 Feb 2023 20:37:43 -0000, Commander Kinsey wrote:
Rotary took fucking ages to dial long distance. And a very long
time to dial the UK emergency 999. Should have been 111.
That was designed to prevent cats from dialing the emergency
services. At least the US went for 911.
Yes, and then every maker of business phone exchanges also decided to
then use \"9\" to begin the dial sequence of an outside line. Couple
that stupid choice with \"dial 1 for long distance\" and every long
distance call begins as \"9 1\" -- two thirds of the 911 emergency
number.
I\'ve known folks who accidentally dialed an additional \"1\" after the
\"long distance + outside line\" prefix and had to explain that no, they
really were not trying to contact emergency services.
The US 411 directory assistance was sometimes confused with 911.
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.
\"SteveW\" <steve@walker-family.me.uk> wrote in message
news:tse909$2893i$2@dont-email.me...
On 13/02/2023 20:54, Carlos E. R. wrote:
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.
A teacher at my school in 1980 had a scarred face and bald patches amongst
his pudding-basin haircut. When I got to know him quite well in the sixth
form (I was a prefect whose duty was in the audio visual room that he was in
charge of) he told me about the scars and the bald patches. He said that he
had been working on his car about ten years previously and had accidentally
dropped a spanner on the car battery. He remembers seeing it glow white hot
and the next thing he remembers was waking up in hospital with bandages all
over his head, and intense sores all over his face.
The battery had burst when the sulphuric acid boiled, and had sprayed
boiling acid all over his head. Luckily he was wearing glasses which saved
his eyesight. He took his glasses off and there was a very distinct line
between smooth, unscarred skin round his eyes and red, scarred skin
elsewhere.
He warned me not to be prat like he\'d been. Also if I was jump starting a
car, attach the red +ve jump lead first (to the +ve battery terminal) and
the black -ve lead second to a convenient bit of metal on the engine, on the
opposite side of the engine compartment. A flat battery gives off a lot of
hydrogen and oxygen as it is being charged by the donor battery, and it
makes sense to create a spark (by completing the circuit when the second
lead is attached) as far away from the source of those gases as possible.
It\'s a while since I\'ve looked at my car battery but I think the terminals
are shrouded by raised plastic around three sides (apart from the side where
the leads leave the terminals, and the leads are insulated to within that
shrouded area. If a spanner falls on the battery, it will not be able to
touch both terminals at the same time. Only a curved or C-shaped piece of
metal could so that. So it looks as if manufacturers have learned from
accidents like the teacher\'s and build in safeguards now.
On Tue, 14 Feb 2023 09:29:27 -0800, John Larkin wrote:
The US 411 directory assistance was sometimes confused with 911.
Just don\'t confuse it with 988 or the white coats will be on their way.
On 14/02/2023 14:17, Ian Jackson wrote:
In message <op.10bquhfubyq249@pvr2.lan>, Rod Speed
rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> writes
On Tue, 14 Feb 2023 08:00:14 +1100, NY <me@privacy.invalid> wrote:
Yes, I\'m not saying that Japanese grass and veg is blue, just they
(apparently) used the same word to describe both green and blue.
Sounds unlikely given that they must have noticed that the sky and
grass arent the same color
Languages are strange things, and some don\'t have words for the
bleedin\' obvious. For example, Latin and in Gaelic seem to have
difficulty with the simple concept of \'Yes\' and \'No\'.
And Latin has no word for \"child\" or \"children\" (of unspecified gender):
you have to say explicitly \"boy\" or \"girl\", or \"boys and girls\".
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?
The best one ever was a fork lift with a dying battery - the engine
needed overhaul and it wasn\'t used much so the battery was always on
charge and over charged.
Someone dropped a spanner and there was an almighty Fukushima level
hydrogen explosion. Split the battery open and leaked acid all over the
shop floor.
Merry days.
Well then it sounds like you have a delightful Vista.
I miss that and hope to finally buy a place like that
On 2/14/23 18:29, rbowman wrote:
On Tue, 14 Feb 2023 09:29:27 -0800, John Larkin wrote:
The US 411 directory assistance was sometimes confused with 911.
Just don\'t confuse it with 988 or the white coats will be on their way.
I\'m not suicidal, but if I was I wouldn\'t tell anybody. From what I\'ve
seen, the response is more like punishment than help.
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.
Set the freezer to -14 F or -10 C. Once the temerature is below freezing, it
doesn\'t matter how cold it is.
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.
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.
On 2023-02-14 10:18, The Natural Philosopher 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?
The best one ever was a fork lift with a dying battery - the engine
needed overhaul and it wasn\'t used much so the battery was always on
charge and over charged.
Someone dropped a spanner and there was an almighty Fukushima level
hydrogen explosion. Split the battery open and leaked acid all over the
shop floor.
Someone was on a ladder working near the open rack of the 48 V
distributor at a mobile phone exchange. Some of the false floor tiles
were also removed for access. He started to fall (bound to happen one
day), he grabbed for support, but he had a screwdriver on his hand, and
put it across the copper bars. And the screwdriver didn\'t have an
insulation sleeve on the metal. Could be a wrench, it was long ago, but
all the same, tools used at that location should be protected with a
plastic sleeve and they were not.
The result was the whole area (an island) without mobile coverage for an
hour or two.
The chap was mostly unharmed, but sent to hospital nonetheless. Stress
or shock. Mental shock, I mean.
(I guess he released the tool sufficiently fast to not be burned, but it
melted)
On 14/02/2023 17:35, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 12/02/2023 21:42, Mark Lloyd wrote:
I know someone who can\'t tell left from right without touching herself.
When I was a kid I used to look as the small mole on my right hand to
remind myself. It didn\'t help that I when I as taught to write it was
\"No, the other hand\"... These days I have no trouble with left or
right, nor port and starboard, or clockwise, or any of the others.
Turnwise and Widdershins? Yes the latter is a genuine wo
On 11/02/2023 20:08, SteveW wrote:
I have installed an unneeded RCBO for the EV charger - a double pole MCB
is sufficient, as the charger includes its own RCD protection. However,
my consumer unit is a Crabtree Starbreaker and double pole MCBs take up
two slots, while an RCBO, with full off isolation for both L&N, takes up
only a single slot. Worst case, there is no discrimination, so either
end may trip, but that doesn\'t really matter.
That is interesting.
AFAIK the double pole switching need not be at the CU but can be
installed at the charger end.
You may have a requirement to have RCD protection for the cable to the
charger inside the CU (say the cable cable from the CU to the charger is
buried less than 50mm behind the surface) but you have to be careful
what type of RCD you use for this. Usually a type A RCD will be OK.
On Sun, 19 Feb 2023 12:41:15 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
It is quite hard in the UK to get a mortgage on a 100% timber frame.
That would explain the Soviet style apartment blocks I see in British
films. Some attempt to dress up the poured concrete construction with
limited success.
Almost all new construction in this area is platform
framed wood construction, sheathed with OSB, wrapped in Tyvek, and some
sort of decorative siding applied. The exception is multistory commercial
buildings.
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.
Set the freezer to -14 F or -10 C. Once the temerature is below freezing, it
doesn\'t matter how cold it is.