doing our part for Art
in [Design]
|
Prev: Deadbeat nation
Next: Mixed-Signal, Bipolar vs CMOS
From: krw on 4 Jun 2010 20:37 On Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:54:19 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > >Jim Thompson wrote: >> >> On Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:35:37 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: >> >> > >> >Jim Thompson wrote: >> >> >> >> On Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:40:09 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: >> >> >> >> > >> >> >"Charlie E." wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> On Thu, 03 Jun 2010 22:16:18 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" >> >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >"Charlie E." wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:03:56 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" >> >> >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> >"Charlie E." wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Fog can be a trick! When I designed the 91 Express Lanes, I built a >> >> >> >> >> vehicle sensor that was basically two laser light curtains abount a >> >> >> >> >> foot apart. I designed it to only distinguish vehicles going in the >> >> >> >> >> proper direction. What I hadn't anticipated was fog. I heard that, >> >> >> >> >> one day a few months after I was let go, they had thick fog move >> >> >> >> >> through the pass, and recorded hundreds of phantom cars in the toll >> >> >> >> >> lanes! >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> > They are too stupid to close toll roads in heavy fog? >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Ubetcha! This is in the middle of a freeway, and it only closes for >> >> >> >> maintanance... >> >> >> > >> >> >> > >> >> >> > I've seen fog so thick that you couldn't see the end of the hood on >> >> >> >your vehicle, yet idiots were rolling by at high speed. Even worse is >> >> >> >when it's mixed with heavy smoke from controlled burns. >> >> >> >> >> >> Well, I used to drive 'Rim of the World Drive' down from Crestline to >> >> >> San Berdoo at night, in dense fog, at not much less than normal speed. >> >> >> You just 'know' where the turns are... >> >> >> >> >> >> Except, of course, when there are rocks in the fog... ;-) >> >> > >> >> > >> >> > I was thinking of I-75 between Cincinnati & Dayton Ohio. That was >> >> >the area with the highest Interstate traffic when I lived near there. >> >> >Lots of wrecks in heavy fog. Even worse, if the air was drifting in the >> >> >wrong direction you could smell the Purina pet food plant. It was worse >> >> >than a dead body. :( >> >> >> >> In my walk from our Cambridge apartment to MIT, I passed a rendering >> >> plant _and_ a chocolate factory. Some days the blended stench was so >> >> bad I had to run thru that area to avoid the ultimate up-chuck ;-) >> > >> > >> > You couldn't run from that Purina stench. It took 15 minutes to >> >drive threough it, on the Interstate. Of course, Cincinnati was called >> >Porkopolis because of all the pigs that were slaughtered & processed >> >there. BTW, 'alwaysdim' is from Cincinnati. >> > >> >http://www.wisegeek.com/why-was-cincinnati-once-known-as-porkopolis.htm >> >> My sister lives in Cincinnati. I don't recall it smelling. But I do >> remember having to drive thru this on the NJ Pike... > > > Cincinnati itself is small. The entire are around it is referred to >as 'Greater Cincinnati' I worked on Glendale-Milford road, at the old >Cincinnati Electronics plant on second shift. That area had heavy >industry in buildings built to supply the troops in W.W. II. The >building was built for the air force and leased to Crosley. Later AVCO >used it, then C.E. It was owned by Marge Schot, who also owned the >Cincinnati Reds. They still talk about Marge at CE. They're glad to be in their new digs, out by Kings Island. > It was foggy most summer nights on the way home, because of the Ohio >river. Unless you were in that area around midnight, and had the wind >blowing the right way you wouldn't smell it. The fog held the stench >close to the ground. > > >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secaucus,_New_Jersey > > > No one should have to drive through New Jersey. That's why I'm glad >that I didn't have to spend three years at Ft. Monmoth. The other >engineers who did, didn't have one good thing to say about it other than >they were glad to finally graduate. :( The worst are the paper mills on I95 in GA, down by the FL border. That is *bad*.
From: Michael A. Terrell on 5 Jun 2010 02:31 "krw(a)att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" wrote: > > On Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:54:19 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" > <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > > > > >Jim Thompson wrote: > >> > >> On Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:35:37 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" > >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > >> > >> > > >> >Jim Thompson wrote: > >> >> > >> >> On Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:40:09 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" > >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > >> >> > >> >> > > >> >> >"Charlie E." wrote: > >> >> >> > >> >> >> On Thu, 03 Jun 2010 22:16:18 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" > >> >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > >> >> >> > >> >> >> > > >> >> >> >"Charlie E." wrote: > >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> On Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:03:56 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" > >> >> >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> > > >> >> >> >> >"Charlie E." wrote: > >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> >> Fog can be a trick! When I designed the 91 Express Lanes, I built a > >> >> >> >> >> vehicle sensor that was basically two laser light curtains abount a > >> >> >> >> >> foot apart. I designed it to only distinguish vehicles going in the > >> >> >> >> >> proper direction. What I hadn't anticipated was fog. I heard that, > >> >> >> >> >> one day a few months after I was let go, they had thick fog move > >> >> >> >> >> through the pass, and recorded hundreds of phantom cars in the toll > >> >> >> >> >> lanes! > >> >> >> >> > > >> >> >> >> > > >> >> >> >> > They are too stupid to close toll roads in heavy fog? > >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> Ubetcha! This is in the middle of a freeway, and it only closes for > >> >> >> >> maintanance... > >> >> >> > > >> >> >> > > >> >> >> > I've seen fog so thick that you couldn't see the end of the hood on > >> >> >> >your vehicle, yet idiots were rolling by at high speed. Even worse is > >> >> >> >when it's mixed with heavy smoke from controlled burns. > >> >> >> > >> >> >> Well, I used to drive 'Rim of the World Drive' down from Crestline to > >> >> >> San Berdoo at night, in dense fog, at not much less than normal speed. > >> >> >> You just 'know' where the turns are... > >> >> >> > >> >> >> Except, of course, when there are rocks in the fog... ;-) > >> >> > > >> >> > > >> >> > I was thinking of I-75 between Cincinnati & Dayton Ohio. That was > >> >> >the area with the highest Interstate traffic when I lived near there. > >> >> >Lots of wrecks in heavy fog. Even worse, if the air was drifting in the > >> >> >wrong direction you could smell the Purina pet food plant. It was worse > >> >> >than a dead body. :( > >> >> > >> >> In my walk from our Cambridge apartment to MIT, I passed a rendering > >> >> plant _and_ a chocolate factory. Some days the blended stench was so > >> >> bad I had to run thru that area to avoid the ultimate up-chuck ;-) > >> > > >> > > >> > You couldn't run from that Purina stench. It took 15 minutes to > >> >drive threough it, on the Interstate. Of course, Cincinnati was called > >> >Porkopolis because of all the pigs that were slaughtered & processed > >> >there. BTW, 'alwaysdim' is from Cincinnati. > >> > > >> >http://www.wisegeek.com/why-was-cincinnati-once-known-as-porkopolis.htm > >> > >> My sister lives in Cincinnati. I don't recall it smelling. But I do > >> remember having to drive thru this on the NJ Pike... > > > > > > Cincinnati itself is small. The entire are around it is referred to > >as 'Greater Cincinnati' I worked on Glendale-Milford road, at the old > >Cincinnati Electronics plant on second shift. That area had heavy > >industry in buildings built to supply the troops in W.W. II. The > >building was built for the air force and leased to Crosley. Later AVCO > >used it, then C.E. It was owned by Marge Schot, who also owned the > >Cincinnati Reds. > > They still talk about Marge at CE. They're glad to be in their new digs, out > by Kings Island. > > > It was foggy most summer nights on the way home, because of the Ohio > >river. Unless you were in that area around midnight, and had the wind > >blowing the right way you wouldn't smell it. The fog held the stench > >close to the ground. > > > > > >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secaucus,_New_Jersey > > > > > > No one should have to drive through New Jersey. That's why I'm glad > >that I didn't have to spend three years at Ft. Monmoth. The other > >engineers who did, didn't have one good thing to say about it other than > >they were glad to finally graduate. :( > > The worst are the paper mills on I95 in GA, down by the FL border. That is > *bad*. Heh. Try stringing cable inside one of those places in August, from a work basket over a propane powered forklift. The fumes make you light headed, and the blackflies try to carry you away, for their dinner. The twon i grew up in had to major industries. Steel and paper. -- Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.
From: John Larkin on 5 Jun 2010 12:47 On Sat, 05 Jun 2010 02:31:11 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > >"krw(a)att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" wrote: >> >> On Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:54:19 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: >> >> > >> >Jim Thompson wrote: >> >> >> >> On Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:35:37 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: >> >> >> >> > >> >> >Jim Thompson wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> On Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:40:09 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" >> >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >"Charlie E." wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Thu, 03 Jun 2010 22:16:18 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" >> >> >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> >"Charlie E." wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:03:56 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" >> >> >> >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> >> >"Charlie E." wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Fog can be a trick! When I designed the 91 Express Lanes, I built a >> >> >> >> >> >> vehicle sensor that was basically two laser light curtains abount a >> >> >> >> >> >> foot apart. I designed it to only distinguish vehicles going in the >> >> >> >> >> >> proper direction. What I hadn't anticipated was fog. I heard that, >> >> >> >> >> >> one day a few months after I was let go, they had thick fog move >> >> >> >> >> >> through the pass, and recorded hundreds of phantom cars in the toll >> >> >> >> >> >> lanes! >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> >> > They are too stupid to close toll roads in heavy fog? >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Ubetcha! This is in the middle of a freeway, and it only closes for >> >> >> >> >> maintanance... >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> > I've seen fog so thick that you couldn't see the end of the hood on >> >> >> >> >your vehicle, yet idiots were rolling by at high speed. Even worse is >> >> >> >> >when it's mixed with heavy smoke from controlled burns. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Well, I used to drive 'Rim of the World Drive' down from Crestline to >> >> >> >> San Berdoo at night, in dense fog, at not much less than normal speed. >> >> >> >> You just 'know' where the turns are... >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Except, of course, when there are rocks in the fog... ;-) >> >> >> > >> >> >> > >> >> >> > I was thinking of I-75 between Cincinnati & Dayton Ohio. That was >> >> >> >the area with the highest Interstate traffic when I lived near there. >> >> >> >Lots of wrecks in heavy fog. Even worse, if the air was drifting in the >> >> >> >wrong direction you could smell the Purina pet food plant. It was worse >> >> >> >than a dead body. :( >> >> >> >> >> >> In my walk from our Cambridge apartment to MIT, I passed a rendering >> >> >> plant _and_ a chocolate factory. Some days the blended stench was so >> >> >> bad I had to run thru that area to avoid the ultimate up-chuck ;-) >> >> > >> >> > >> >> > You couldn't run from that Purina stench. It took 15 minutes to >> >> >drive threough it, on the Interstate. Of course, Cincinnati was called >> >> >Porkopolis because of all the pigs that were slaughtered & processed >> >> >there. BTW, 'alwaysdim' is from Cincinnati. >> >> > >> >> >http://www.wisegeek.com/why-was-cincinnati-once-known-as-porkopolis.htm >> >> >> >> My sister lives in Cincinnati. I don't recall it smelling. But I do >> >> remember having to drive thru this on the NJ Pike... >> > >> > >> > Cincinnati itself is small. The entire are around it is referred to >> >as 'Greater Cincinnati' I worked on Glendale-Milford road, at the old >> >Cincinnati Electronics plant on second shift. That area had heavy >> >industry in buildings built to supply the troops in W.W. II. The >> >building was built for the air force and leased to Crosley. Later AVCO >> >used it, then C.E. It was owned by Marge Schot, who also owned the >> >Cincinnati Reds. >> >> They still talk about Marge at CE. They're glad to be in their new digs, out >> by Kings Island. >> >> > It was foggy most summer nights on the way home, because of the Ohio >> >river. Unless you were in that area around midnight, and had the wind >> >blowing the right way you wouldn't smell it. The fog held the stench >> >close to the ground. >> > >> > >> >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secaucus,_New_Jersey >> > >> > >> > No one should have to drive through New Jersey. That's why I'm glad >> >that I didn't have to spend three years at Ft. Monmoth. The other >> >engineers who did, didn't have one good thing to say about it other than >> >they were glad to finally graduate. :( >> >> The worst are the paper mills on I95 in GA, down by the FL border. That is >> *bad*. > > > Heh. Try stringing cable inside one of those places in August, from >a work basket over a propane powered forklift. The fumes make you light >headed, and the blackflies try to carry you away, for their dinner. The >twon i grew up in had to major industries. Steel and paper. Try crawling through a maze of hot pipes to lay on an asbestos blanket on top of a screaming VW-sized steam valve, to adjust a trimpot on a valve position sensor, in the Gulf of Mexico, in an engine room with a base temperature of about 100F and a sound level just at the threshold of pain. No, don't try it. We once spent 15 hours dead in the water while we argued over whether the electronics was locking up, or the mechanics. It was mechanics. It took them another 12 hours to fix it. It was a very clever design, an electric-motor-powered lead screw that moved a sliding nut that drove a big hydraulic servo. Every once in a while it would freeze up and stall the motor I was driving. When the angles and coefficient of friction were just right, the nut would lock onto the shaft. I was about 21, and looked about 16, and it was hard to argue, in front of the angry owners, with a bunch of crusty old MEs who "had always done it this way." The nut, with a forked follower, moved one end of a steel bar. The other end was attached to the big main steam valve. Partway down the bar was a hydraulic control valve. It was an inverting opamp, with the valve the summing point. The lengths of the bars of either side of the pilot valve were Ri and Rf. They could reposition the valve by selecting one of a few mounting options to adjust closed-loop gain. The loop seemed to be inherently stable, as the main actuator piston was one big integrator. 10 second slew, something like that. It was my first closed-loop control design, 32,000 horsepower. John
From: Michael A. Terrell on 5 Jun 2010 14:46 John Larkin wrote: > > On Sat, 05 Jun 2010 02:31:11 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" > <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > > > > >"krw(a)att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" wrote: > >> > >> On Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:54:19 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" > >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > >> > >> > > >> >Jim Thompson wrote: > >> >> > >> >> On Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:35:37 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" > >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > >> >> > >> >> > > >> >> >Jim Thompson wrote: > >> >> >> > >> >> >> On Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:40:09 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" > >> >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > >> >> >> > >> >> >> > > >> >> >> >"Charlie E." wrote: > >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> On Thu, 03 Jun 2010 22:16:18 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" > >> >> >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> > > >> >> >> >> >"Charlie E." wrote: > >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> >> On Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:03:56 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" > >> >> >> >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> >> > > >> >> >> >> >> >"Charlie E." wrote: > >> >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> >> >> Fog can be a trick! When I designed the 91 Express Lanes, I built a > >> >> >> >> >> >> vehicle sensor that was basically two laser light curtains abount a > >> >> >> >> >> >> foot apart. I designed it to only distinguish vehicles going in the > >> >> >> >> >> >> proper direction. What I hadn't anticipated was fog. I heard that, > >> >> >> >> >> >> one day a few months after I was let go, they had thick fog move > >> >> >> >> >> >> through the pass, and recorded hundreds of phantom cars in the toll > >> >> >> >> >> >> lanes! > >> >> >> >> >> > > >> >> >> >> >> > > >> >> >> >> >> > They are too stupid to close toll roads in heavy fog? > >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> >> Ubetcha! This is in the middle of a freeway, and it only closes for > >> >> >> >> >> maintanance... > >> >> >> >> > > >> >> >> >> > > >> >> >> >> > I've seen fog so thick that you couldn't see the end of the hood on > >> >> >> >> >your vehicle, yet idiots were rolling by at high speed. Even worse is > >> >> >> >> >when it's mixed with heavy smoke from controlled burns. > >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> Well, I used to drive 'Rim of the World Drive' down from Crestline to > >> >> >> >> San Berdoo at night, in dense fog, at not much less than normal speed. > >> >> >> >> You just 'know' where the turns are... > >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> Except, of course, when there are rocks in the fog... ;-) > >> >> >> > > >> >> >> > > >> >> >> > I was thinking of I-75 between Cincinnati & Dayton Ohio. That was > >> >> >> >the area with the highest Interstate traffic when I lived near there. > >> >> >> >Lots of wrecks in heavy fog. Even worse, if the air was drifting in the > >> >> >> >wrong direction you could smell the Purina pet food plant. It was worse > >> >> >> >than a dead body. :( > >> >> >> > >> >> >> In my walk from our Cambridge apartment to MIT, I passed a rendering > >> >> >> plant _and_ a chocolate factory. Some days the blended stench was so > >> >> >> bad I had to run thru that area to avoid the ultimate up-chuck ;-) > >> >> > > >> >> > > >> >> > You couldn't run from that Purina stench. It took 15 minutes to > >> >> >drive threough it, on the Interstate. Of course, Cincinnati was called > >> >> >Porkopolis because of all the pigs that were slaughtered & processed > >> >> >there. BTW, 'alwaysdim' is from Cincinnati. > >> >> > > >> >> >http://www.wisegeek.com/why-was-cincinnati-once-known-as-porkopolis.htm > >> >> > >> >> My sister lives in Cincinnati. I don't recall it smelling. But I do > >> >> remember having to drive thru this on the NJ Pike... > >> > > >> > > >> > Cincinnati itself is small. The entire are around it is referred to > >> >as 'Greater Cincinnati' I worked on Glendale-Milford road, at the old > >> >Cincinnati Electronics plant on second shift. That area had heavy > >> >industry in buildings built to supply the troops in W.W. II. The > >> >building was built for the air force and leased to Crosley. Later AVCO > >> >used it, then C.E. It was owned by Marge Schot, who also owned the > >> >Cincinnati Reds. > >> > >> They still talk about Marge at CE. They're glad to be in their new digs, out > >> by Kings Island. > >> > >> > It was foggy most summer nights on the way home, because of the Ohio > >> >river. Unless you were in that area around midnight, and had the wind > >> >blowing the right way you wouldn't smell it. The fog held the stench > >> >close to the ground. > >> > > >> > > >> >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secaucus,_New_Jersey > >> > > >> > > >> > No one should have to drive through New Jersey. That's why I'm glad > >> >that I didn't have to spend three years at Ft. Monmoth. The other > >> >engineers who did, didn't have one good thing to say about it other than > >> >they were glad to finally graduate. :( > >> > >> The worst are the paper mills on I95 in GA, down by the FL border. That is > >> *bad*. > > > > > > Heh. Try stringing cable inside one of those places in August, from > >a work basket over a propane powered forklift. The fumes make you light > >headed, and the blackflies try to carry you away, for their dinner. The > >twon i grew up in had to major industries. Steel and paper. > > Try crawling through a maze of hot pipes to lay on an asbestos blanket > on top of a screaming VW-sized steam valve, to adjust a trimpot on a > valve position sensor, in the Gulf of Mexico, in an engine room with a > base temperature of about 100F and a sound level just at the threshold > of pain. No, don't try it. > > We once spent 15 hours dead in the water while we argued over whether > the electronics was locking up, or the mechanics. It was mechanics. It > took them another 12 hours to fix it. It was a very clever design, an > electric-motor-powered lead screw that moved a sliding nut that drove > a big hydraulic servo. Every once in a while it would freeze up and > stall the motor I was driving. When the angles and coefficient of > friction were just right, the nut would lock onto the shaft. I was > about 21, and looked about 16, and it was hard to argue, in front of > the angry owners, with a bunch of crusty old MEs who "had always done > it this way." > > The nut, with a forked follower, moved one end of a steel bar. The > other end was attached to the big main steam valve. Partway down the > bar was a hydraulic control valve. It was an inverting opamp, with the > valve the summing point. The lengths of the bars of either side of the > pilot valve were Ri and Rf. They could reposition the valve by > selecting one of a few mounting options to adjust closed-loop gain. > The loop seemed to be inherently stable, as the main actuator piston > was one big integrator. 10 second slew, something like that. > > It was my first closed-loop control design, 32,000 horsepower. > > John Try crawling in a closed attic with a new tar & gravel roof while balancing yourself on thin, stamped steel studding while measuring and bending conduit to finish a job that was supposedly done before they drywalled the ceiling. It was around 130 degrees, and i was crawling around on fiberglass insulation, while trying to avoid the hot recessed incandescent light fixtures. I could only work five to ten minutes, then had to climb down for a 20 minute cool down while I drank over a gallon of water. Do that for three full days in a row. I lost over ten pounds in three days. I had a migraine for over a week from that mess. Crawling around a hot engine to adjust a trimpot is just bad design. -- Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.
From: John Larkin on 5 Jun 2010 17:31
On Sat, 05 Jun 2010 14:46:20 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > >John Larkin wrote: >> >> On Sat, 05 Jun 2010 02:31:11 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: >> >> > >> >"krw(a)att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" wrote: >> >> >> >> On Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:54:19 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: >> >> >> >> > >> >> >Jim Thompson wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> On Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:35:37 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" >> >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >Jim Thompson wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:40:09 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" >> >> >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> >"Charlie E." wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Thu, 03 Jun 2010 22:16:18 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" >> >> >> >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> >> >"Charlie E." wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:03:56 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" >> >> >> >> >> >> <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> >> >> >"Charlie E." wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Fog can be a trick! When I designed the 91 Express Lanes, I built a >> >> >> >> >> >> >> vehicle sensor that was basically two laser light curtains abount a >> >> >> >> >> >> >> foot apart. I designed it to only distinguish vehicles going in the >> >> >> >> >> >> >> proper direction. What I hadn't anticipated was fog. I heard that, >> >> >> >> >> >> >> one day a few months after I was let go, they had thick fog move >> >> >> >> >> >> >> through the pass, and recorded hundreds of phantom cars in the toll >> >> >> >> >> >> >> lanes! >> >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> >> >> > They are too stupid to close toll roads in heavy fog? >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Ubetcha! This is in the middle of a freeway, and it only closes for >> >> >> >> >> >> maintanance... >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> >> > I've seen fog so thick that you couldn't see the end of the hood on >> >> >> >> >> >your vehicle, yet idiots were rolling by at high speed. Even worse is >> >> >> >> >> >when it's mixed with heavy smoke from controlled burns. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Well, I used to drive 'Rim of the World Drive' down from Crestline to >> >> >> >> >> San Berdoo at night, in dense fog, at not much less than normal speed. >> >> >> >> >> You just 'know' where the turns are... >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Except, of course, when there are rocks in the fog... ;-) >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> > I was thinking of I-75 between Cincinnati & Dayton Ohio. That was >> >> >> >> >the area with the highest Interstate traffic when I lived near there. >> >> >> >> >Lots of wrecks in heavy fog. Even worse, if the air was drifting in the >> >> >> >> >wrong direction you could smell the Purina pet food plant. It was worse >> >> >> >> >than a dead body. :( >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> In my walk from our Cambridge apartment to MIT, I passed a rendering >> >> >> >> plant _and_ a chocolate factory. Some days the blended stench was so >> >> >> >> bad I had to run thru that area to avoid the ultimate up-chuck ;-) >> >> >> > >> >> >> > >> >> >> > You couldn't run from that Purina stench. It took 15 minutes to >> >> >> >drive threough it, on the Interstate. Of course, Cincinnati was called >> >> >> >Porkopolis because of all the pigs that were slaughtered & processed >> >> >> >there. BTW, 'alwaysdim' is from Cincinnati. >> >> >> > >> >> >> >http://www.wisegeek.com/why-was-cincinnati-once-known-as-porkopolis.htm >> >> >> >> >> >> My sister lives in Cincinnati. I don't recall it smelling. But I do >> >> >> remember having to drive thru this on the NJ Pike... >> >> > >> >> > >> >> > Cincinnati itself is small. The entire are around it is referred to >> >> >as 'Greater Cincinnati' I worked on Glendale-Milford road, at the old >> >> >Cincinnati Electronics plant on second shift. That area had heavy >> >> >industry in buildings built to supply the troops in W.W. II. The >> >> >building was built for the air force and leased to Crosley. Later AVCO >> >> >used it, then C.E. It was owned by Marge Schot, who also owned the >> >> >Cincinnati Reds. >> >> >> >> They still talk about Marge at CE. They're glad to be in their new digs, out >> >> by Kings Island. >> >> >> >> > It was foggy most summer nights on the way home, because of the Ohio >> >> >river. Unless you were in that area around midnight, and had the wind >> >> >blowing the right way you wouldn't smell it. The fog held the stench >> >> >close to the ground. >> >> > >> >> > >> >> >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secaucus,_New_Jersey >> >> > >> >> > >> >> > No one should have to drive through New Jersey. That's why I'm glad >> >> >that I didn't have to spend three years at Ft. Monmoth. The other >> >> >engineers who did, didn't have one good thing to say about it other than >> >> >they were glad to finally graduate. :( >> >> >> >> The worst are the paper mills on I95 in GA, down by the FL border. That is >> >> *bad*. >> > >> > >> > Heh. Try stringing cable inside one of those places in August, from >> >a work basket over a propane powered forklift. The fumes make you light >> >headed, and the blackflies try to carry you away, for their dinner. The >> >twon i grew up in had to major industries. Steel and paper. >> >> Try crawling through a maze of hot pipes to lay on an asbestos blanket >> on top of a screaming VW-sized steam valve, to adjust a trimpot on a >> valve position sensor, in the Gulf of Mexico, in an engine room with a >> base temperature of about 100F and a sound level just at the threshold >> of pain. No, don't try it. >> >> We once spent 15 hours dead in the water while we argued over whether >> the electronics was locking up, or the mechanics. It was mechanics. It >> took them another 12 hours to fix it. It was a very clever design, an >> electric-motor-powered lead screw that moved a sliding nut that drove >> a big hydraulic servo. Every once in a while it would freeze up and >> stall the motor I was driving. When the angles and coefficient of >> friction were just right, the nut would lock onto the shaft. I was >> about 21, and looked about 16, and it was hard to argue, in front of >> the angry owners, with a bunch of crusty old MEs who "had always done >> it this way." >> >> The nut, with a forked follower, moved one end of a steel bar. The >> other end was attached to the big main steam valve. Partway down the >> bar was a hydraulic control valve. It was an inverting opamp, with the >> valve the summing point. The lengths of the bars of either side of the >> pilot valve were Ri and Rf. They could reposition the valve by >> selecting one of a few mounting options to adjust closed-loop gain. >> The loop seemed to be inherently stable, as the main actuator piston >> was one big integrator. 10 second slew, something like that. >> >> It was my first closed-loop control design, 32,000 horsepower. >> >> John > > > Try crawling in a closed attic with a new tar & gravel roof while >balancing yourself on thin, stamped steel studding while measuring and >bending conduit to finish a job that was supposedly done before they >drywalled the ceiling. It was around 130 degrees, and i was crawling >around on fiberglass insulation, while trying to avoid the hot recessed >incandescent light fixtures. I could only work five to ten minutes, >then had to climb down for a 20 minute cool down while I drank over a >gallon of water. Do that for three full days in a row. I lost over ten >pounds in three days. I had a migraine for over a week from that mess. > > Crawling around a hot engine to adjust a trimpot is just bad design. Hey, I was just a kid. John |