On Sat, 27 Jun 2015 23:48:42 -0500, David R. Birch wrote:
On 6/27/2015 9:30 PM, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Sat, 27 Jun 2015 22:28:13 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" wrote:

62, but you'll get more if you can wait till you're 65.

Thats what I thought. Thanks for the confirmation

Actually, you get more until you're 70. I retired at 65 because I was
tired of what I was doing and because several of my friends didn't make
it to 70 or 65 or 62.

Another complication: For married couples, it sometimes makes sense for
the higher-earner to file early (eg age 66) and then suspend benefits
until age 70. Meanwhile, the lower-earner gets "free"* spousal benefits
at half of the higher-earner's rate. (As I understand it. For actual
facts, see http://www.socialsecuritychoices.com/info/fileandsuspend.php
and http://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/suspend.html.)

*http://www.socialsecuritychoices.com/info/freespousal.php
--
jiw

On Sun, 28 Jun 2015 22:12:43 +0000 (UTC), James Waldby
wrote:

On Sat, 27 Jun 2015 23:48:42 -0500, David R. Birch wrote:
On 6/27/2015 9:30 PM, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Sat, 27 Jun 2015 22:28:13 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" wrote:

62, but you'll get more if you can wait till you're 65.

Thats what I thought. Thanks for the confirmation

Actually, you get more until you're 70. I retired at 65 because I was
tired of what I was doing and because several of my friends didn't make
it to 70 or 65 or 62.

Another complication: For married couples, it sometimes makes sense for
the higher-earner to file early (eg age 66) and then suspend benefits
until age 70. Meanwhile, the lower-earner gets "free"* spousal benefits
at half of the higher-earner's rate. (As I understand it. For actual
facts, see http://www.socialsecuritychoices.com/info/fileandsuspend.php
and http://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/suspend.html.)

*http://www.socialsecuritychoices.com/info/freespousal.php

Yes, that's exactly what we've done. Give them a call and, if you get
a nice lady like I did, she will very patiently explain all of it.

--
Ed Huntress

On Sunday, June 28, 2015 at 6:20:22 PM UTC-4, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Sun, 28 Jun 2015 22:12:43 +0000 (UTC), James Waldby
wrote:

On Sat, 27 Jun 2015 23:48:42 -0500, David R. Birch wrote:
On 6/27/2015 9:30 PM, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Sat, 27 Jun 2015 22:28:13 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" wrote:

62, but you'll get more if you can wait till you're 65.

Thats what I thought. Thanks for the confirmation

Actually, you get more until you're 70. I retired at 65 because I was
tired of what I was doing and because several of my friends didn't make
it to 70 or 65 or 62.

Another complication: For married couples, it sometimes makes sense for
the higher-earner to file early (eg age 66) and then suspend benefits
until age 70. Meanwhile, the lower-earner gets "free"* spousal benefits
at half of the higher-earner's rate. (As I understand it. For actual
facts, see http://www.socialsecuritychoices.com/info/fileandsuspend.php
and http://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/suspend.html.)

*http://www.socialsecuritychoices.com/info/freespousal.php

Yes, that's exactly what we've done. Give them a call and, if you get
a nice lady like I did, she will very patiently explain all of it.

--
Ed Huntress

If not, go to the library. There have been a couple of good books written on this very subject. I just turned 61, and this is high on my list of subjects in which to get educated this year.

Funny that Gunner is even thinking about this. a) Social Security is evil in his book, isn't it? b) By his account, he hasn't paid payroll taxes in many years, if ever. If he is counting on the FICA from his imaginary jobs in the Army or as a Sherriff's deputy, I hope he has fun cashing his imaginary SS checks and buying imaginary food with the proceeds.

On 2015-06-28, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Sun, 28 Jun 2015 11:42:02 -0500, Ignoramus24678
wrote:

On 2015-06-28, Ed Huntress wrote:

When Mitutoyo was my advertising client, back when their HQ was in NJ,
I frequently took items home to photograph on my seamless backgrounds
and tabletop setups with a view camera, which I didn't like to take to
their office. Things like a digital mike, a conventional mike, two
digital calipers, a granite surface plate, and a bunch of ceramic gage
blocks. When I tried to return them, they'd say, "Oh no, we can't take
them back. We've already written them off as advertising expense."

Nice.

Those granite surface plates are very handy.

My 200,000 BTU pool heater is sitting on a 24x36" granite surface
plate right now. Makes a very nice platform.

Ha-ha! Yes, I'll bet it does. g


It weighs about 300 lbs, I put it on a bed of "river stone" and it
sits very nicely.

i

On Sun, 28 Jun 2015 22:12:43 +0000 (UTC), James Waldby
wrote:

On Sat, 27 Jun 2015 23:48:42 -0500, David R. Birch wrote:
On 6/27/2015 9:30 PM, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Sat, 27 Jun 2015 22:28:13 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" wrote:

62, but you'll get more if you can wait till you're 65.

Thats what I thought. Thanks for the confirmation

Actually, you get more until you're 70. I retired at 65 because I was
tired of what I was doing and because several of my friends didn't make
it to 70 or 65 or 62.

Another complication: For married couples, it sometimes makes sense for
the higher-earner to file early (eg age 66) and then suspend benefits
until age 70. Meanwhile, the lower-earner gets "free"* spousal benefits
at half of the higher-earner's rate. (As I understand it. For actual
facts, see http://www.socialsecuritychoices.com/info/fileandsuspend.php
and http://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/suspend.html.)

*http://www.socialsecuritychoices.com/info/freespousal.php

Yes. I believe that can be referred to as a form of "tax avoidance".
Something that the wealthy are damned for practicing :-)
--
cheers,

John B.

On Sun, 28 Jun 2015 06:58:20 -0700, Gunner Asch
wrote:

On Sun, 28 Jun 2015 09:18:59 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

The benefit steps up by your age in months and gives you a constant
total by age 78 IIRC. Starting early may be better if it will preserve
your high-interest investments.


"high interest investments"? What might those be?

Must be Greek.

--
Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult,
whereas I am merely in disguise.
-- Margaret Atwood

On Sun, 28 Jun 2015 08:58:44 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .
...
Air dream: I'd love to build a small electric car or motorcycle for
kicks.


I had my fun with those, building prototypes at Segway. The machine

You realize how jealous all of us are for your employment there, don't
you, Jim? you sucked


itself wasn't as big a challenge as monitoring, logging and analyzing
its performance and changing the controller parameters as needed.
That's what set me looking to buy or build my own low cost, high
resolution portable datalogger, first a microcontroller-based one with
a troublesome common ground and then separate optically isolated DVMs.

Was that just to get performance data on them during design and
testing, or for continued input?


A compact Campbell Scientific datalogger was hard enough to mount
securely on a motorcycle, a laptop would be quite a challenge. Laptops
are a great solution on machines that carry a passenger, they were the
original control and display terminals for prototypes of this:
http://www.freeflightsystems.com/products/ads-b

The new, smaller laptops with solid state disks would be easier now.
Bolt a bracket surrounding the gas tank (remove laptop, open gas
filler cap, fill with gas, replace), but even easier on an electric
car.


At the same time I was adding a hydraulic bucket loader to my garden
tractor. Hydraulics took more machining to implement but were easier
to debug.

g


The pump puts out a constant flow volume per turn so I only
needed to control engine speed and watch pressure and lifting force,
both easy static measurements. I made a knob-adjustable pressure
relief to replace the fixed one on the control valve assembly and run
it as low as will do the job. The valves are open in the center
position and the fluid just circulates freely with only frictional
losses.

That sure should keep the heat down.


The controls for electric wheelchairs would be excellent for a
homebrew vehicle although I wouldn't divert them from the grey market
for non-subsidized repairs.

How many were you thinking one of us was building? blink

--
Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult,
whereas I am merely in disguise.
-- Margaret Atwood

Gunner Asch on Sun, 28 Jun 2015 09:48:57 -0700
typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

"high interest investments"? What might those be?

The ones you are highly interested in, yes?

(I think he means those mythical investments which bring above
market returns, such as the ones which CalPers uses to base future
pensions on.)
--
pyotr filipivich
"With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."

Oh..I dont have any of those. My personal networth is simply what I
own in hardware, my home and $300 in the bank. Investments? Sold
the few I had years ago when I needed money badly.

Which is one of the reasons you had made those investment - so
that when you needed it, it was there.

I once at $150,000 in the bank..seriously. But I was single and had no
medically needly family. That of course..changed

Family is like that ... B-)

--
pyotr filipivich
"With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Jun 2015 08:58:44 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
. ..
...
Air dream: I'd love to build a small electric car or motorcycle
for
kicks.


I had my fun with those, building prototypes at Segway. The machine

You realize how jealous all of us are for your employment there,
don't
you, Jim? you sucked

They hired me as a temporary, PTOC contractor while their lab tech was
out for medical reasons. Like all R&D they struggled to keep engineers
occupied after the product had been finalized, so it wasn't -that-
great a place to work, especially for a temp. It went downhill once
the principal designers left for Apple etc.
https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/...DEA_2015/Field

itself wasn't as big a challenge as monitoring, logging and
analyzing
its performance and changing the controller parameters as needed.
That's what set me looking to buy or build my own low cost, high
resolution portable datalogger, first a microcontroller-based one
with
a troublesome common ground and then separate optically isolated
DVMs.

Was that just to get performance data on them during design and
testing, or for continued input?

Just to match the motor controller to vehicle dynamics, such as
acceptable motor speed ramp-up and ramp-down rates. I've had the new
front and rear tires of a bike break loose in a corner on asphalt when
I forgot about the mold release. I could handle it from dirt bike
experience but still I almost banged into the far curb.

A compact Campbell Scientific datalogger was hard enough to mount
securely on a motorcycle, a laptop would be quite a challenge.
Laptops
are a great solution on machines that carry a passenger, they were
the
original control and display terminals for prototypes of this:
http://www.freeflightsystems.com/products/ads-b

The new, smaller laptops with solid state disks would be easier now.
Bolt a bracket surrounding the gas tank (remove laptop, open gas
filler cap, fill with gas, replace), but even easier on an electric
car.

The "gas tank" was for appearance.

For engineering work I prefer older, larger (heavier), more capable
business-class laptops, which approach the expandability of desktops
but are portable on internal battery or external 12V. My Dell Latitude
Ds accept both a boot SSD and a Terabyte spinning HDD in the CD bay,
Cardbus plus ExpressCard plugins which I use for USB2 and USB3 or more
datalogging serial ports, and a DVD or another large HDD in a special
higher-power USB expansion bay.
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-PD01S-Ext.../dp/B001ULDYXI
I found that the built-in 15" screen was fine for detailing the CAD
drawing of the trolley wheels and axles and I don't need to plug in
the 22" monitor.

This IDE model made in 2005 is running XP from a SATA SSD in the CD
bay.

The IBM Thinkpads and Toshiba Satellites at work were similarly
capable. I happened to go with Dell at home because they are cheap and
plentiful, including the batteries and accessories.

USB adapters like these connect a laptop to automotive and smart
battery electronics:
http://www.amazon.com/USB-CAN-Conver.../dp/B00FFZ8L24

-jsw

On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 08:47:09 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

snip


For engineering work I prefer older, larger (heavier), more capable
business-class laptops, which approach the expandability of desktops
but are portable on internal battery or external 12V. My Dell Latitude
Ds accept both a boot SSD and a Terabyte spinning HDD in the CD bay,
Cardbus plus ExpressCard plugins which I use for USB2 and USB3 or more
datalogging serial ports, and a DVD or another large HDD in a special
higher-power USB expansion bay.

I have a 2006 Latitude 14" that weighs like sin, but I lug it with me
on business trips, whenever I have to do a lot of writing. It has the
best keyboard of any laptop I've used. Ir was my son's machine all
through college and he's moved on, but it's just too good for my work
to get rid of it. I've loaded it with RAM, fast Wi-Fi, and an
ExpressCard USB3 adapter. It still rocks, even though I hate lugging
it around.

--
Ed Huntress

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 08:47:09 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

snip


For engineering work I prefer older, larger (heavier), more capable
business-class laptops, which approach the expandability of desktops
but are portable on internal battery or external 12V. My Dell
Latitude
Ds accept both a boot SSD and a Terabyte spinning HDD in the CD bay,
Cardbus plus ExpressCard plugins which I use for USB2 and USB3 or
more
datalogging serial ports, and a DVD or another large HDD in a
special
higher-power USB expansion bay.

I have a 2006 Latitude 14" that weighs like sin, but I lug it with
me
on business trips, whenever I have to do a lot of writing. It has
the
best keyboard of any laptop I've used. Ir was my son's machine all
through college and he's moved on, but it's just too good for my
work
to get rid of it. I've loaded it with RAM, fast Wi-Fi, and an
ExpressCard USB3 adapter. It still rocks, even though I hate lugging
it around.

--
Ed Huntress

I've seen a stack of still-working Latitudes whose metal shells had
been mangled or punctured in transit.

These people sell individual replacement key caps for them:
http://www.machinaelectronics.com/store/

The keys aren't easy to replace but at least it's possible.

-jsw

On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 10:02:57 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 08:47:09 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

snip


For engineering work I prefer older, larger (heavier), more capable
business-class laptops, which approach the expandability of desktops
but are portable on internal battery or external 12V. My Dell
Latitude
Ds accept both a boot SSD and a Terabyte spinning HDD in the CD bay,
Cardbus plus ExpressCard plugins which I use for USB2 and USB3 or
more
datalogging serial ports, and a DVD or another large HDD in a
special
higher-power USB expansion bay.

I have a 2006 Latitude 14" that weighs like sin, but I lug it with
me
on business trips, whenever I have to do a lot of writing. It has
the
best keyboard of any laptop I've used. Ir was my son's machine all
through college and he's moved on, but it's just too good for my
work
to get rid of it. I've loaded it with RAM, fast Wi-Fi, and an
ExpressCard USB3 adapter. It still rocks, even though I hate lugging
it around.

--
Ed Huntress

I've seen a stack of still-working Latitudes whose metal shells had
been mangled or punctured in transit.

These people sell individual replacement key caps for them:
http://www.machinaelectronics.com/store/

The keys aren't easy to replace but at least it's possible.

-jsw


Thanks. I've saved that one.

--
Ed Huntress

On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 08:47:09 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 28 Jun 2015 08:58:44 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
...
Air dream: I'd love to build a small electric car or motorcycle
for
kicks.


I had my fun with those, building prototypes at Segway. The machine

You realize how jealous all of us are for your employment there,
don't
you, Jim? you sucked

They hired me as a temporary, PTOC contractor while their lab tech was
out for medical reasons. Like all R&D they struggled to keep engineers
occupied after the product had been finalized, so it wasn't -that-
great a place to work, especially for a temp. It went downhill once
the principal designers left for Apple etc.
https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/...DEA_2015/Field

Yabbut, working inside a Big Boy's Toy Factory...


itself wasn't as big a challenge as monitoring, logging and
analyzing
its performance and changing the controller parameters as needed.
That's what set me looking to buy or build my own low cost, high
resolution portable datalogger, first a microcontroller-based one
with
a troublesome common ground and then separate optically isolated
DVMs.

Was that just to get performance data on them during design and
testing, or for continued input?

Just to match the motor controller to vehicle dynamics, such as
acceptable motor speed ramp-up and ramp-down rates. I've had the new
front and rear tires of a bike break loose in a corner on asphalt when
I forgot about the mold release. I could handle it from dirt bike
experience but still I almost banged into the far curb.

Mold release? I expect to hear that during an injection molding
discussion, but not in an electrics/electronics discussion. What
meaneth thou?


A compact Campbell Scientific datalogger was hard enough to mount
securely on a motorcycle, a laptop would be quite a challenge.
Laptops
are a great solution on machines that carry a passenger, they were
the
original control and display terminals for prototypes of this:
http://www.freeflightsystems.com/products/ads-b

The new, smaller laptops with solid state disks would be easier now.
Bolt a bracket surrounding the gas tank (remove laptop, open gas
filler cap, fill with gas, replace), but even easier on an electric
car.

The "gas tank" was for appearance.

I forgot myself. Then it should have been a clamshell (or simply a
platform) for the laptop.


For engineering work I prefer older, larger (heavier), more capable
business-class laptops, which approach the expandability of desktops
but are portable on internal battery or external 12V.

I programmed a voice card/telephone tree database for a guy who gave
me a suitcase computer to work on. He sold classic hotrod refurb
services. That was interesting. http://tinyurl.com/at82m8s That was
a typical '80s business class "laptop". Your Latitude is a bit
smaller.


My Dell Latitude
Ds accept both a boot SSD and a Terabyte spinning HDD in the CD bay,
Cardbus plus ExpressCard plugins which I use for USB2 and USB3 or more
datalogging serial ports, and a DVD or another large HDD in a special
higher-power USB expansion bay.
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-PD01S-Ext.../dp/B001ULDYXI

Those are going for a song, wot?


I found that the built-in 15" screen was fine for detailing the CAD
drawing of the trolley wheels and axles and I don't need to plug in
the 22" monitor.

Yeah, just mount the 22" monitor to the windshield...


This IDE model made in 2005 is running XP from a SATA SSD in the CD
bay.

The IBM Thinkpads and Toshiba Satellites at work were similarly
capable. I happened to go with Dell at home because they are cheap and
plentiful, including the batteries and accessories.

How's the reliability? I hear the business models have been
considerably more reliable than the consumer crap Dell puts out.
I'd hope so, as they sold for $2-5k new.


USB adapters like these connect a laptop to automotive and smart
battery electronics:
http://www.amazon.com/USB-CAN-Conver.../dp/B00FFZ8L24

How so? Not familiar with CAN bus.

--
Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult,
whereas I am merely in disguise.
-- Margaret Atwood

Ignoramus23199 wrote:
I am wondering if anyone else ever received unusual gifts.

For example, today, a company unexpectedly gifted me sixteen brand
name pallet jacks in great condition.

nice.

Any short narrow ones for sale?

On Friday, June 26, 2015 at 3:57:33 PM UTC-7, Ignoramus23199 wrote:
I am wondering if anyone else ever received unusual gifts.

I have a 14" band saw that the drive wheel was really wobbly and the bearing was shot. Except when I opened it up, the split pin had dropped out of the wheel retaining nut and loosened it off. A zero dollar and two minute repair. Emailed them they could come and get it, but they never did.

I got a small Emco CNC milling that could not be made to work. I found a 5-pin DIN plug on the back panel was missing. It just connected one of two lines depending on set up to be used. A piece of jumper wire pushed in Pin-1 to pin-4 and bingo another zero dollar repair, well, after about ten minutes with the manual I found online. I offered to return this one but they had replaced it so said "keep it."

Quite a few others, 60W laser engraver, 65W CO2 medical laser tube and controller.

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 08:47:09 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

So much to explain. I'm glad I didn't describe the Inca culture as
"chalcolithic".

I had my fun with those, building prototypes at Segway. The
machine

You realize how jealous all of us are for your employment there,
don't
you, Jim? you sucked

They hired me as a temporary, PTOC contractor while their lab tech
was
out for medical reasons. Like all R&D they struggled to keep
engineers
occupied after the product had been finalized, so it wasn't -that-
great a place to work, especially for a temp. It went downhill once
the principal designers left for Apple etc.
https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/...DEA_2015/Field

Yabbut, working inside a Big Boy's Toy Factory...

Temps weren't numbered among the core Big Boys, or invited to
contribute projects to Frog Days.
I was nominated onto a three-man Tiger Team for a hot special project
and paid the price in resentment from those not chosen.

...
Just to match the motor controller to vehicle dynamics, such as
acceptable motor speed ramp-up and ramp-down rates. I've had the new
front and rear tires of a bike break loose in a corner on asphalt
when
I forgot about the mold release. I could handle it from dirt bike
experience but still I almost banged into the far curb.

Mold release? I expect to hear that during an injection molding
discussion, but not in an electrics/electronics discussion. What
meaneth thou?

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/...d.php?t=669165

A compact Campbell Scientific datalogger was hard enough to mount
securely on a motorcycle, a laptop would be quite a challenge.
Laptops
are a great solution on machines that carry a passenger, they were
the
original control and display terminals for prototypes of this:
http://www.freeflightsystems.com/products/ads-b

The new, smaller laptops with solid state disks would be easier
now.
Bolt a bracket surrounding the gas tank (remove laptop, open gas
filler cap, fill with gas, replace), but even easier on an
electric
car.

The "gas tank" was for appearance.

I forgot myself. Then it should have been a clamshell (or simply a
platform) for the laptop.

The "Industrial Designers" rather than the engineers had final say on
the appearance. Techs had no say at all.


For engineering work I prefer older, larger (heavier), more capable
business-class laptops, which approach the expandability of desktops
but are portable on internal battery or external 12V.

I programmed a voice card/telephone tree database for a guy who gave
me a suitcase computer to work on. He sold classic hotrod refurb
services. That was interesting. http://tinyurl.com/at82m8s That
was
a typical '80s business class "laptop". Your Latitude is a bit
smaller.

"Portable" means it has one or more handles, as do upright pianos. I
tried to spread the term "schleppable".

My Dell Latitude
Ds accept both a boot SSD and a Terabyte spinning HDD in the CD bay,
Cardbus plus ExpressCard plugins which I use for USB2 and USB3 or
more
datalogging serial ports, and a DVD or another large HDD in a
special
higher-power USB expansion bay.
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-PD01S-Ext.../dp/B001ULDYXI

Those are going for a song, wot?

I paid $25 for the D820 I loaded the CAD program on. It inherited 4 GB
of RAM from another one that went to 8 GB.

I found that the built-in 15" screen was fine for detailing the CAD
drawing of the trolley wheels and axles and I don't need to plug in
the 22" monitor.

Yeah, just mount the 22" monitor to the windshield...

In July it will be illegal to draw while driving here.

The IBM Thinkpads and Toshiba Satellites at work were similarly
capable. I happened to go with Dell at home because they are cheap
and
plentiful, including the batteries and accessories.

How's the reliability? I hear the business models have been
considerably more reliable than the consumer crap Dell puts out.
I'd hope so, as they sold for $2-5k new.

There were real and alleged problems, like burning batteries,
overheating nVidia graphics chips, mother board cracks, etc. AFAICT
only the fittest have survived. They are relatively easy to open up
and work on.

They aren't entirely suited to Windows 7 and may need suboptimal Vista
drivers. Only the final x30 models have an AHCI option and ability to
take 8GB of DDR2 RAM if you install a 64 bit OS. The fastest available
processor appears to be an overpriced Core 2 Duo 2.6GHz T9500, my best
one is 2.4GHz. The graphics are good enough for live HDTV but
reportedly not for gaming.

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguid...dows-7-32-bit/
"This model and Operating System is not supported by Dell."

USB adapters like these connect a laptop to automotive and smart
battery electronics:
http://www.amazon.com/USB-CAN-Conver.../dp/B00FFZ8L24

How so? Not familiar with CAN bus.
http://canbuskit.com/what.php
http://www.instructables.com/id/Hack...o-and-Seeed-C/

-jsw, waiting for the weather to clear before I set up my log lifting
equipment.

On Sun, 28 Jun 2015 20:32:02 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Sun, 28 Jun 2015 08:58:44 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
. ..
...
Air dream: I'd love to build a small electric car or motorcycle for
kicks.


I had my fun with those, building prototypes at Segway. The machine

You realize how jealous all of us are for your employment there, don't
you, Jim? you sucked


itself wasn't as big a challenge as monitoring, logging and analyzing
its performance and changing the controller parameters as needed.
That's what set me looking to buy or build my own low cost, high
resolution portable datalogger, first a microcontroller-based one with
a troublesome common ground and then separate optically isolated DVMs.

Was that just to get performance data on them during design and
testing, or for continued input?


A compact Campbell Scientific datalogger was hard enough to mount
securely on a motorcycle, a laptop would be quite a challenge. Laptops
are a great solution on machines that carry a passenger, they were the
original control and display terminals for prototypes of this:
http://www.freeflightsystems.com/products/ads-b

The new, smaller laptops with solid state disks would be easier now.
Bolt a bracket surrounding the gas tank (remove laptop, open gas
filler cap, fill with gas, replace), but even easier on an electric
car.


At the same time I was adding a hydraulic bucket loader to my garden
tractor. Hydraulics took more machining to implement but were easier
to debug.

g


The pump puts out a constant flow volume per turn so I only
needed to control engine speed and watch pressure and lifting force,
both easy static measurements. I made a knob-adjustable pressure
relief to replace the fixed one on the control valve assembly and run
it as low as will do the job. The valves are open in the center
position and the fluid just circulates freely with only frictional
losses.

That sure should keep the heat down.


The controls for electric wheelchairs would be excellent for a
homebrew vehicle although I wouldn't divert them from the grey market
for non-subsidized repairs.

How many were you thinking one of us was building? blink
The controller on my '75 Fiat 128 conversion was dead seimple
voltage switcher with switched resistance - 2 battery packs in
parallel through resistor - short resistor, switch packs to series
through resistor, short resistor - then weaken field with rheostat -
motor was a military surplus aircraft generator.

wrote in message
...

The controller on my '75 Fiat 128 conversion was dead seimple
voltage switcher with switched resistance - 2 battery packs in
parallel through resistor - short resistor, switch packs to series
through resistor, short resistor - then weaken field with rheostat -
motor was a military surplus aircraft generator.

Was it practical in city traffic?

On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 17:53:52 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

wrote in message
.. .

The controller on my '75 Fiat 128 conversion was dead seimple
voltage switcher with switched resistance - 2 battery packs in
parallel through resistor - short resistor, switch packs to series
through resistor, short resistor - then weaken field with rheostat -
motor was a military surplus aircraft generator.

Was it practical in city traffic?


It was actually pretty good. I ran 8 GC2H 215AH golf cart batteries,
so 24 volts for startup, and 48 for cruise - through the Fiat 4 speed
transmission with no clutch. 50 miles at 30mph, 30 miles at 50mph -
slightly less in city traffic. Could spin the tires taking off in
first with the small motor. In an attempt to get more power and more
range, I installed a bigger motor, and it became almost undriveable -
I needed a better controller because even on 24 volts through the
resister it could smoke the tires - pulling away in second was more
civilized but I had to be carefull I didn't pop the breaker (set to
400 amps or 600 instantaneous). The breaker was a big paddle right
behind the shifter between the seats.
In storage over the winter someone disconnected the battery maintainer
and I lost most of my battery pack - and being a 7 year old FIAT the
rust-worm had done a number on the undercarriage- so it sat another
year and then was scrapped. Still have the motor and contactors, and I
think the breaker.

On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 13:18:23 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 08:47:09 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

So much to explain. I'm glad I didn't describe the Inca culture as
"chalcolithic".

I had my fun with those, building prototypes at Segway. The
machine

You realize how jealous all of us are for your employment there,
don't
you, Jim? you sucked

They hired me as a temporary, PTOC contractor while their lab tech
was
out for medical reasons. Like all R&D they struggled to keep
engineers
occupied after the product had been finalized, so it wasn't -that-
great a place to work, especially for a temp. It went downhill once
the principal designers left for Apple etc.
https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/...DEA_2015/Field

Yabbut, working inside a Big Boy's Toy Factory...

Temps weren't numbered among the core Big Boys, or invited to
contribute projects to Frog Days.
I was nominated onto a three-man Tiger Team for a hot special project
and paid the price in resentment from those not chosen.

Aren't people wonderful?


...
Just to match the motor controller to vehicle dynamics, such as
acceptable motor speed ramp-up and ramp-down rates. I've had the new
front and rear tires of a bike break loose in a corner on asphalt
when
I forgot about the mold release. I could handle it from dirt bike
experience but still I almost banged into the far curb.

Mold release? I expect to hear that during an injection molding
discussion, but not in an electrics/electronics discussion. What
meaneth thou?

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/...d.php?t=669165

Oh, tires! Yeah, mold release. I was entirely in electronics mode in
that conversation so you threw me.


The "gas tank" was for appearance.

I forgot myself. Then it should have been a clamshell (or simply a
platform) for the laptop.

The "Industrial Designers" rather than the engineers had final say on
the appearance. Techs had no say at all.

Is that anything like "military intelligence"? Thot so.


For engineering work I prefer older, larger (heavier), more capable
business-class laptops, which approach the expandability of desktops
but are portable on internal battery or external 12V.

I programmed a voice card/telephone tree database for a guy who gave
me a suitcase computer to work on. He sold classic hotrod refurb
services. That was interesting. http://tinyurl.com/at82m8s That
was
a typical '80s business class "laptop". Your Latitude is a bit
smaller.

"Portable" means it has one or more handles, as do upright pianos. I
tried to spread the term "schleppable".

g


My Dell Latitude
Ds accept both a boot SSD and a Terabyte spinning HDD in the CD bay,
Cardbus plus ExpressCard plugins which I use for USB2 and USB3 or
more
datalogging serial ports, and a DVD or another large HDD in a
special
higher-power USB expansion bay.
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-PD01S-Ext.../dp/B001ULDYXI

Those are going for a song, wot?

I paid $25 for the D820 I loaded the CAD program on. It inherited 4 GB
of RAM from another one that went to 8 GB.

I found that the built-in 15" screen was fine for detailing the CAD
drawing of the trolley wheels and axles and I don't need to plug in
the 22" monitor.

Yeah, just mount the 22" monitor to the windshield...

In July it will be illegal to draw while driving here.

Don't laws like that burn you up? They'll certainly save the lives of
texters and sketchy people everywhere. Where's Darwin when you need
him? I understand they're padding light posts in London for that same
reason. Crom help us!


The IBM Thinkpads and Toshiba Satellites at work were similarly
capable. I happened to go with Dell at home because they are cheap
and
plentiful, including the batteries and accessories.

How's the reliability? I hear the business models have been
considerably more reliable than the consumer crap Dell puts out.
I'd hope so, as they sold for $2-5k new.

There were real and alleged problems, like burning batteries,
overheating nVidia graphics chips, mother board cracks, etc. AFAICT
only the fittest have survived. They are relatively easy to open up
and work on.

They aren't entirely suited to Windows 7 and may need suboptimal Vista
drivers. Only the final x30 models have an AHCI option and ability to
take 8GB of DDR2 RAM if you install a 64 bit OS. The fastest available
processor appears to be an overpriced Core 2 Duo 2.6GHz T9500, my best
one is 2.4GHz. The graphics are good enough for live HDTV but
reportedly not for gaming.

7? Hell, Win 3.1 had most everything we could want. ('cept memory)


http://dellwindowsreinstallationguid...dows-7-32-bit/
"This model and Operating System is not supported by Dell."

USB adapters like these connect a laptop to automotive and smart
battery electronics:
http://www.amazon.com/USB-CAN-Conver.../dp/B00FFZ8L24

How so? Not familiar with CAN bus.
http://canbuskit.com/what.php
http://www.instructables.com/id/Hack...o-and-Seeed-C/

I'll check it out. Yesterday and today each have 1.5 hours of work
for me. It's nice to relax. I have Jupiter Ascending and Last
Knights waiting for me in town at the local RedBox, too.


-jsw, waiting for the weather to clear before I set up my log lifting
equipment.

We've been toying with 100+ degree weather here for a couple weeks
now. May we borrow your rain, please?

--
Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult,
whereas I am merely in disguise.
-- Margaret Atwood

On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 09:29:39 -0700 (PDT), "Dave, I can't do that"
wrote:

On Friday, June 26, 2015 at 3:57:33 PM UTC-7, Ignoramus23199 wrote:
I am wondering if anyone else ever received unusual gifts.

I have a 14" band saw that the drive wheel was really wobbly and the bearing was shot. Except when I opened it up, the split pin had dropped out of the wheel retaining nut and loosened it off. A zero dollar and two minute repair. Emailed them they could come and get it, but they never did.

I got a small Emco CNC milling that could not be made to work. I found a 5-pin DIN plug on the back panel was missing. It just connected one of two lines depending on set up to be used. A piece of jumper wire pushed in Pin-1 to pin-4 and bingo another zero dollar repair, well, after about ten minutes with the manual I found online. I offered to return this one but they had replaced it so said "keep it."

Quite a few others, 60W laser engraver, 65W CO2 medical laser tube and controller.

Very cool, all.

--
Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult,
whereas I am merely in disguise.
-- Margaret Atwood

On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 20:21:30 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 17:53:52 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

wrote in message
. ..

The controller on my '75 Fiat 128 conversion was dead seimple
voltage switcher with switched resistance - 2 battery packs in
parallel through resistor - short resistor, switch packs to series
through resistor, short resistor - then weaken field with rheostat -
motor was a military surplus aircraft generator.

Was it practical in city traffic?


It was actually pretty good. I ran 8 GC2H 215AH golf cart batteries,
so 24 volts for startup, and 48 for cruise - through the Fiat 4 speed
transmission with no clutch. 50 miles at 30mph, 30 miles at 50mph -
slightly less in city traffic. Could spin the tires taking off in

Har!


first with the small motor. In an attempt to get more power and more
range, I installed a bigger motor, and it became almost undriveable -
I needed a better controller because even on 24 volts through the
resister it could smoke the tires - pulling away in second was more
civilized but I had to be carefull I didn't pop the breaker (set to
400 amps or 600 instantaneous). The breaker was a big paddle right
behind the shifter between the seats.

Why no clutch, or equiv?


In storage over the winter someone disconnected the battery maintainer
and I lost most of my battery pack - and being a 7 year old FIAT the
rust-worm had done a number on the undercarriage- so it sat another
year and then was scrapped. Still have the motor and contactors, and I
think the breaker.

Bummer on the loss.

--
Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult,
whereas I am merely in disguise.
-- Margaret Atwood

On Tue, 30 Jun 2015 14:15:42 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 20:21:30 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 17:53:52 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

wrote in message
...

The controller on my '75 Fiat 128 conversion was dead seimple
voltage switcher with switched resistance - 2 battery packs in
parallel through resistor - short resistor, switch packs to series
through resistor, short resistor - then weaken field with rheostat -
motor was a military surplus aircraft generator.

Was it practical in city traffic?


It was actually pretty good. I ran 8 GC2H 215AH golf cart batteries,
so 24 volts for startup, and 48 for cruise - through the Fiat 4 speed
transmission with no clutch. 50 miles at 30mph, 30 miles at 50mph -
slightly less in city traffic. Could spin the tires taking off in

Har!


first with the small motor. In an attempt to get more power and more
range, I installed a bigger motor, and it became almost undriveable -
I needed a better controller because even on 24 volts through the
resister it could smoke the tires - pulling away in second was more
civilized but I had to be carefull I didn't pop the breaker (set to
400 amps or 600 instantaneous). The breaker was a big paddle right
behind the shifter between the seats.

Why no clutch, or equiv?


Why? Didn't need it. Just remove power from motor and shift. No need
for starting either - put it in gear, mash the pedal and go - maximum
torque at zero RPM, unlike IC engines. I still had the clutch peral,
but all it did was disconnect power.
In storage over the winter someone disconnected the battery maintainer
and I lost most of my battery pack - and being a 7 year old FIAT the
rust-worm had done a number on the undercarriage- so it sat another
year and then was scrapped. Still have the motor and contactors, and I
think the breaker.

Bummer on the loss.

On Tuesday, June 30, 2015 at 5:10:44 PM UTC-4, Larry Jaques wrote:


We've been toying with 100+ degree weather here for a couple weeks
now. May we borrow your rain, please?


How about some of our snow next January?

Dan

On 06/28/2015 08:57 PM, rangerssuck wrote:


Funny that Gunner is even thinking about this. a) Social Security is evil in his book, isn't it?
b) By his account, he hasn't paid payroll taxes in many years, if ever.
If he is counting on the FICA from his imaginary jobs in the Army or as
a Sherriff's deputy,
I hope he has fun cashing his imaginary SS checks and buying imaginary
food with the proceeds.


I would happily give up the pittance SS deposits in my account if the
*******s would give me back all the deposits I was forced to make into
the ponzi scheme, plus interest.


technomaNge
--

On 6/28/2015 6:57 PM, rangerssuck wrote:
On Sunday, June 28, 2015 at 6:20:22 PM UTC-4, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Sun, 28 Jun 2015 22:12:43 +0000 (UTC), James Waldby
wrote:

On Sat, 27 Jun 2015 23:48:42 -0500, David R. Birch wrote:
On 6/27/2015 9:30 PM, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Sat, 27 Jun 2015 22:28:13 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" wrote:

62, but you'll get more if you can wait till you're 65.

Thats what I thought. Thanks for the confirmation

Actually, you get more until you're 70. I retired at 65 because I was
tired of what I was doing and because several of my friends didn't make
it to 70 or 65 or 62.

Another complication: For married couples, it sometimes makes sense for
the higher-earner to file early (eg age 66) and then suspend benefits
until age 70. Meanwhile, the lower-earner gets "free"* spousal benefits
at half of the higher-earner's rate. (As I understand it. For actual
facts, see http://www.socialsecuritychoices.com/info/fileandsuspend.php
and http://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/suspend.html.)

*http://www.socialsecuritychoices.com/info/freespousal.php

Yes, that's exactly what we've done. Give them a call and, if you get
a nice lady like I did, she will very patiently explain all of it.

--
Ed Huntress

If not, go to the library. There have been a couple of good books written on this very subject. I just turned 61, and this is high on my list of subjects in which to get educated this year.

Funny that Gunner is even thinking about this. a) Social Security is evil in his book, isn't it? b) By his account, he hasn't paid payroll taxes in many years, if ever. If he is counting on the FICA from his imaginary jobs in the Army or as a Sherriff's deputy, I hope he has fun cashing his imaginary SS checks and buying imaginary food with the proceeds.


By his own words, gummy-bitch makes no more than $28,000 per year. I
doubt he's paying any payroll taxes, or as much as he should be paying.
This dole-scrounger already got Medi-Cal to pay for his bypass
surgery, and care following his stroke.

On Tue, 30 Jun 2015 18:40:34 -0400, wrote:

On Tue, 30 Jun 2015 14:15:42 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 20:21:30 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 17:53:52 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

wrote in message
m...

The controller on my '75 Fiat 128 conversion was dead seimple
voltage switcher with switched resistance - 2 battery packs in
parallel through resistor - short resistor, switch packs to series
through resistor, short resistor - then weaken field with rheostat -
motor was a military surplus aircraft generator.

Was it practical in city traffic?


It was actually pretty good. I ran 8 GC2H 215AH golf cart batteries,
so 24 volts for startup, and 48 for cruise - through the Fiat 4 speed
transmission with no clutch. 50 miles at 30mph, 30 miles at 50mph -
slightly less in city traffic. Could spin the tires taking off in

Har!


first with the small motor. In an attempt to get more power and more
range, I installed a bigger motor, and it became almost undriveable -
I needed a better controller because even on 24 volts through the
resister it could smoke the tires - pulling away in second was more
civilized but I had to be carefull I didn't pop the breaker (set to
400 amps or 600 instantaneous). The breaker was a big paddle right
behind the shifter between the seats.

Why no clutch, or equiv?


Why? Didn't need it.

Except that it'd burn out in first and blow the breaker in 2nd.
Nope, didn't need it at all. g

--
Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult,
whereas I am merely in disguise.
-- Margaret Atwood

On Tue, 30 Jun 2015 19:49:47 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Tue, 30 Jun 2015 18:40:34 -0400, wrote:

On Tue, 30 Jun 2015 14:15:42 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 20:21:30 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 17:53:52 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

wrote in message
om...

The controller on my '75 Fiat 128 conversion was dead seimple
voltage switcher with switched resistance - 2 battery packs in
parallel through resistor - short resistor, switch packs to series
through resistor, short resistor - then weaken field with rheostat -
motor was a military surplus aircraft generator.

Was it practical in city traffic?


It was actually pretty good. I ran 8 GC2H 215AH golf cart batteries,
so 24 volts for startup, and 48 for cruise - through the Fiat 4 speed
transmission with no clutch. 50 miles at 30mph, 30 miles at 50mph -
slightly less in city traffic. Could spin the tires taking off in

Har!


first with the small motor. In an attempt to get more power and more
range, I installed a bigger motor, and it became almost undriveable -
I needed a better controller because even on 24 volts through the
resister it could smoke the tires - pulling away in second was more
civilized but I had to be carefull I didn't pop the breaker (set to
400 amps or 600 instantaneous). The breaker was a big paddle right
behind the shifter between the seats.

Why no clutch, or equiv?


Why? Didn't need it.

Except that it'd burn out in first and blow the breaker in 2nd.
Nope, didn't need it at all. g
That's just if I stuck my foot into it too hard. ( and blowing the
breaker was only with the BIG motor.