On 2013-09-18, Larry Jaques wrote:
On 18 Sep 2013 04:22:37 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:

On 2013-09-18, Larry Jaques wrote:
rOn 17 Sep 2013 23:20:03 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:

[ ... ]

I'll keep eyeballs peeled for those, Don. Thanks. Speaking of crystal
ovens, I have one from the '50s which I use as a fire safe. It's made
with that horrid OHMIGODWEREALLGONNADIE asbestos stuff.

BTW -- I was meaning to ask how big a crystal oven you *have*.
A fire safe for *what*? The crystal ovens I have plug into an octal
tube socket, and have just enough room inside for the heating element,
the thermal switch, and a quartz crystal (say about 1" x 3/4" by 3/8"
depending on the age and the style). The Power Designs 2005s have a
zener diode in there instead -- same principle -- keep the temperature
steady to keep the value (frequency or voltage) steady. I do have a
larger one which could hold a medium size prescription pill bottle. It
has a glass enclosed (and likely in vacuum) crystal. Overall size is
about that of a beer can.

Mine's a bit larger. Roughly 14d x 18w x 20"t. There's a small
padlock hasp on the side and 2 shelves in the middle. The heater was
taken out before I got it, and there is a light bulb socket outside
(lower right near the back) which let you know it was running. I put
a piece of steel over the grommeted 3/4" hole on the top.

O.K. An oven -- and likely a lab oven, but not what I would
call a "crystal oven". (Perhaps the brand was "Crystal"? :-)

I keep legal papers, DVD backups, and a few coins in it.

O.K. Makes sense if you don't have a use for it as an oven. It
sounds like it would do a nice job tempering steel after the quench, but
not get things hot enough for the quench. If it did, the wire shelves
would sag. (They are wire, aren't they?)

I do have a little furnace which will get up to at least 1850F
(in about an hour), with lots of insulation, and a working area about
the size of a brick. It came with the heating elements, but no
controller. I had a NOS Omega controller, sold as overrun from a
project by someone on this newsgroup years ago, which I got "just in
case". I had to hook it to a solid state relay to handle the current
that the oven used, but it does a really nice job. Setting it for 1800F
it goes up to about 1400, turns off for a while to see how much
overshoot there is, then turns back on and eases its way up to the
setpoint. It goes all of 1 degree F over temperature, nothing more.

[ ... ]

Ouch! They aren't giving those away, are they?

Nope -- but they were around $500-$900 in the late 1960s. which
would be several K these days. Hamfests are better than eBay -- but you
have to wait longer to find what you want. :-)

I'm liking that new Chiwanese $50 p/s better already.

I think that one with a poor photo was about $75.00 or so, which
is pretty close to your $50.00. But Figure maybe $35.00 to $50.00 at
the hamfest these days. Less if someone doesn't know about the sense
jumpers on the back and thinks that it does not work (and is honest
about it). :-)

[ ... ]

Um, rivets aren't supposed to be removed, sir. g That means you
usually have to support the engine/trans, then remove the xmember and
about 400 other things to get at the item you need to replace. Lots
of fun, that.

Well ... I went through several web pages about how to change
them (actually the bushings on the radius rods), and given the tools I
had, the remove the rivets and put in the bolts fit better. Just
getting a big enough socket inside the front coil spring was a nasty
job, and I did not want to put that much torque on it without having a
hydraulic lift. Jack stands are just not that steady, even with several
extras.

That's when you borrow your buddy's lift and do it overhead, while
standing up. Much safer and easier. Shadetree's a bitch.

I don't have a buddy with a lift. At least none close enough to
make it worth while.


And some of the web pages said that they *may* have bolts
already, suggesting that either the factory used them some of the time,
and rivets the rest -- or that it was a common repair approach. :-)

It worked, which is what matters. :-)

OK, but do keep an eye on the tightness of those bolts. Or didja
locktight 'em?

Split lock washers, and torqued to a reasonable point. But yes,
it is time to re-check them again.

[ ... ]

I knew that. I was just saying that I need to go to learn stuff and
to find those treasures you found.

Learning what you need to pass the exam(s) won't tell you what
these good things in the hamfests are. The hams who bought the lot at
the surplus sale have already pulled out the directly ham-related stuff
for their own use. :-)

Twice, you've seemed to miss my dual point, seeing only one in the
sentence. Should I have put it A) I need to get my tickee and B) go
to the hamfests to find treasures (and pick brains)?

Looking at the sentence again, I see what I missed. I was
rather sleepy, and you did not call attention to the "and", which was
lurking at one end of a line of text. Perhaps I would have done it as
*and*. :-)

[ ... license exams ... ]

You went whole hog into it, dincha?

Well ... as I was learning about the questions in the earlier
exams, I was learning that there were things which I could not do as a
Technician which I could as a General, and things which I could not do
as a General which I could do only as an Extra, so I figured that I
should go for the highest so I would not wind up accidentally doing
something which I could only do as a higher class.

Grok that. I intend to keep Ham low-key, so technician class is fine
for me. If I get a wild hare later, so be it.

O.K.

[ ... ]

I only spent 3 years as a tech and didn't really learn as much as I
would have wished. I have regrets about that, but I wasn't prepared
to drive 2-3 hours in rush hour traffic to the outskirts of Sandy Eggo
to get it.

Understood. I was driving about 45 minutes each way (going the
opposite direction of the majority of rush-hour traffic), so that was

I had that same opposite drive 15 minutes each way, so when SKF took
over Palomar Technology and combined entities elsewhere, I was ****ed.
I've been self-employed ever since, though.

That was when I took "discontinued service retirement" from the
lab. They moved my job to Maryland, going the bad traffic direction
(which they did not count), but a longer drive (all of one mile) which
they *did* count into my eligibility for the (slightly) early
retirement. However, the *real* reason was that I did not like the
"vibes" in the interaction between different groups there -- not the
cooperation which we had where I had been.

[ ... ]

I have a Ham CD a friend gave to me with all the exam questions and
answers, programs, and information on it, and I bought the Dummies
Guide to Ham Radio (pdf) the other day. It's just a matter of
studying them and takee tickee.

How long ago did he give it to you? The exams are updated about
once every three years, with the Extra class one updated in 2011 IIRC.
So it is about time for the Technician class to be updated next year, I
think.

2012.

O.K. It should be good enough then. Not sure how the programs
go -- it could be that they are like one of the ones at the practice
sites. But it is good to get the feel for the exams so you are
comfortable when the real ones come along.

Good Luck with your exam(s) (however many you choose to take.)

Just the Tech, at least for now.

O.K. You're more used to getting up early than I am these days. :-)

I am. I get up at 4 or 5am most days, even Sunday. g
I'm in bed reading at 7pm some days, and turn the lights out at 10ish.

Very different. My body has always wanted to be a late hours
person, and once I retired, my body claimed its due. :-)

[ ... ]

I haven't been terribly intrigued by Ham, so I'd likely just use it as
a local emergency radio when (not if) the SHTF.

O.K. Of course, when it hits, the license will probably not be
worth the paper it is printed on. :-) But being used to using the radio,
and knowing the other people in the area will probably be a benefit.

Perzactly.


AFAIK, I've never lived where lighting struck wires or antennas. It
has never affected me personally during my 60 years so far. (Me glad,
BTW)

[ ... ]

Interesting. I grew up in South Texas, and the old house had
lightning rods. And I remember them "thummm"ing when struck. And we
also had a few trees (not many in South Texas) hit and large chunks
split off. There was not much rain, but when there was, it was often a
serious thunderstorm, and I remember sitting on the porch watching it
approach -- and loved to watch it.

I'll bet that was fantastic, though loud as hell.

As a little kid, I loved the noise and the sight of the bolts.
I know some adults who can't stand the lighting and thunder.

Most can't. I've always been a science buff and wild stuff thrills
me. There aren't too many things more wild than lightning.

Interesting. My wife has no problems with the thunder and
lightning -- but our rent-a-daughter (really the daughter of a long time
friend who sometimes stays with us) really does not like it at all.

[ ... thundersnow ... ]

Tends to happen only in certain weather conditions, usually a
blizzard in this area. It is uncommon enough so the TV weather men make
a big thing about it each time it happens. Probably about once every
three years, here.

Kinda like Sandy Eggo weathermen going nuts over red tides and grunion
runs.

Hmmm ... I thought that the red tides were an East Coast
phenomenon. I know that we've had it in the Chesapeake, and off the
coast of the Carolinas. Maybe a bit wider spread than I thought.

As for grunion -- sounds more like a British name for an auto
part. :-)

I find thunder and lightning
fascinating, too. AFAIK, I've never been scared of it.
Earthquakes are kinda cool, too. (Well, up to 4.5 is all I've felt.)

I've only *noticed* one -- a couple of years ago towards central
Virginia. It shook a few things off shelves up here, but no damage to
the house. However, it brought the triangular brick part under the end
of a roof toppling down on a bunch of cars in the parking lot a few
miles way -- sort of variable how hard it hit.

O.K. It aw in 2011, and was a 5.8 magnitude. Lots more damage
near the epicenter.

I could tell that it was somewhat distant, because I first felt
horizontal motion for several seconds, and then vertical, which felt a
lot stronger.

The other I've been in, but did not notice directly, was in
Guyaquil Ecuador. I woke up and heard voices out in the street
(vendors) crying "terramoto" (earthquake), but the springing on the bed
kept me from feeling it -- though it might have helped me wake up then. :-)

Dad and I were on a guys-only trip to Mexico when I woke up one
morning. I had never felt an earthquake and he asked if I'd felt the
one at 4am. I was ****ed that I'd slept through my first one. He said
it was about a 3.2 or so, nothing to write home about. I was 16, I
think.

I think that I was about 17, and pretty much the same feeling.

Enjoy,
DoN.

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