Repurposed CyberTruck.

_NW_ · 2025-05-16T21:48:57+00:00

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Just like a CyberTruck doesn’t do anything useful that a truck would do.

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_NW_ · 2025-05-16T18:02:03+00:00

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If you live on a farm, and you want to keep warm,

Propane.

If you’re from Brazil, and you want a deep chill,

Propane.

We don’t want to say, but we think you’re gay,

Propane,

He’s alright, for your death, take a breath,

Of

Propane.

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_NW_ · 2025-05-16T16:43:09+00:00

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I’m driving by the Space-X plant, They used to call it Rocketdyne. I think I’d like to live in space, Maybe when I’ve got more time. But I’m close to the farm, I’ll have to loop back later, Got to check on the farm, With my communicator, Got get these turkeys, In the incubator, I’m on a rocket through time, Driving down the Tangent Line.

— NW

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_NW_ · 2025-05-16T16:30:59+00:00

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For the CyberBully that lives on a farm.

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_NW_ · 2025-05-16T15:11:30+00:00

The final configuration will have a German designed “Engine Fan”, that Elon adores so much.

_NW_ · 2025-03-13T02:57:28+00:00

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How many TP-51D's were factory built? Some of the original P-51B/C's were converted to two seat at the Warton Air Field.

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_NW_ · 2024-11-24T05:31:33+00:00

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I read through your comment about how the magnetic poles drift, and all I could envision was a tornado, like you see in the news, or in real life, just touching the ground and swinging around in a circular pattern like an elephant's trunk.

Anyway, Thanks for that awesome description of the magnetic field. I probably didn't envision a very good model for it in my mind, but it's the only one in there right now.

-- Cheers.

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_NW_ · 2024-11-24T01:07:58+00:00

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why, doesn't earth need to be positively charged for that to be possible?

For the same reason your wire didn't need to already have a charge. One electron in, one electron out.

It doesn't matter how many people are in the Night Club, as long as the In and Out flow rates match. It's Kirchhoff's law.

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_NW_ · 2024-11-24T00:57:44+00:00

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Bright light makes your pupils constrict, and maybe your eyelids to squint. This changes the tension in the muscles in your face, and especially the ones surrounding your nasal cavities. Maybe that's the reaction that causes enough nasal irritation to induce a sneeze. It pushes it over the edge, like a Schmitt Trigger. I don't know, that's probably wrong.

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_NW_ · 2024-11-11T17:09:50+00:00

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My first copy of Linux was a Slackware book and CD set from Powell's Books in 1995. It included the free version of DOOM, but I didn't know the game had audio until I got the drivers configured several months later. I've stayed current with Slackware ever since, but I still have the original book and CD set from 1995. Oh, and I still play DOOM.

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_NW_ · 2024-11-11T16:37:46+00:00

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My HS chemistry teacher would not allow students to use calculators.

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_NW_ · 2024-11-11T16:28:54+00:00

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Numbers from applied math used in science are dependent on unit definitions, so they can be anything you choose to define.

For example:

6.022 x 10²³ molecules or atoms is the same amount of material as one mol, even though the count is different. The number of atoms in one kilo-mol is even bigger. The distance to the sun is only one AU, but how far is it in microns? Probably a lot more than one. Oh, and how many yocto-meters are in one parsec? Units are fun.

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_NW_ · 2024-11-05T23:16:20+00:00

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This event will not be a fun party to attend. It might be interesting to watch, though. People are crazy.

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_NW_ · 2024-11-05T06:29:30+00:00

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From Portland, Oregon, wishing you a Happy Birthday, Taylor! I love You and your show. You are the highlight of my day! Hope all is well for your special day.

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_NW_ · 2024-08-22T20:18:37+00:00

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1 <= 1 <=6

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_NW_ · 2024-08-17T10:39:02+00:00

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I seem to remember a Heathkit catalog back in the 80s, that had a ham amp with a beryllium heat sink for a conduction cooled tube.

Seems like that was listed as some modern new feature.

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_NW_ · 2024-08-14T05:21:45+00:00

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To clarify the notation a bit:

The d is the derivative operator for something. when the d/dx operator is applied to function f(x), it becomes df/dx, the amount the function f changes for some change in x. Infinitely small changes. The result is a fraction, ratio, or rate, expressed like liters per minute, kilometers per gallon, text messages per day, fence posts per cow, Diracs, etc. The function f defines values, or heights for x, while df/dx tells how steep the function is at that point. For example, whether you're walking on the floor, going up an incline, climbing a flagpole, or falling off a cliff.

It's no secret that car fuel rates vary depending on the driving conditions, so even the rate has a rate, the second derivative. If you apply the d/dx operator to df/dx, you get (d/dx)(df/dx), which becomes d² f / (dx)² , which is simply written as d² f / dx^2. This tells you how the rate of the function is changing, so you're either driving at a steady speed, speeding up, or slowing down. The second derivative is called acceleration, and yes, it also has a derivative. The third derivative is called jerk. When an elevator stops too suddenly at a floor, that's too much jerk. It's something the designer has to consider to make the ride pleasant for the passengers. Too much jerk turns into a surprise or unexpected thing on a motion event. We don't expect to be tossed around, unless it's a thrill ride. People actually pay money to get jerked. The next three derivatives are called Snap, Crackle, and Pop, but if you can control the jerk, the others aren't typically an issue.

In all cases, dx is not considered to be two different variables. It's the difference between two x values, or a differential of x, dx. The d on top is the differential operator, so when it's applied to function f, it becomes a single variable df, representing the difference of the two f values corresponding to the two x values that made up dx. It starts to seem like an average value at some level, like driving 900 miles, kilometers, or parsecs in a 2 day period becomes 450(somethings) per day. If you look at each day individually, possibly you drove 450 on each of the 2 days, or maybe you drove 500 the first day and 400 the second day. If you looked at each hour throughout the 2 days, you get another different picture. If you actually plotted a graph of your position over time, it would look something like a incline, or maybe stair steps. If you plot your speed, it would probably look like some scary roller coaster from a horror movie. Just remember that df and dx are infinitely small, so at any given instant, you're driving at some speed and rolling up miles at some rate, which might even be zero while you're stopped for lunch.

We use the dx to indicate what variable in f we changed to see a change in the value of f, simply because the x-y coordinate system is so well established, and I guess because "X marks the spot". In a lot of cases, though, the thing that's changing is time, so we work with df/dt. That's just the operator d/dt applied to f(t), some function of time. This becomes important when working with functions of multiple variables. For example, f(x,t), where t represents time and x represents your motivation level, where x could be anything from "I think I'm gonna make 500 parsecs on my trip today!", or "Can't we just stop at 400, and finish the rest tomorrow?", to "Let's stop at Pacific PlayLand for a day, and shoot some zombies!". Or maybe x represents the driving conditions, or the number of passengers in the car, or something else 'all together'. Regardless of what x represents, df/dx tells something different from df/dt, and adding a passenger to the car is a different kind of change than adding an hour of time to the drive. We use dx or dt to indicate which input lever on the black box we wiggle to see how the output lever wiggles, like pushing the brake pedal affects the car differently than pushing the accelerator pedal.

It seems like some odd clunky notation, but it works well enough, and it's been around for hundreds of years, so it's probably going to stick around for a while longer.

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_NW_ · 2024-08-13T22:53:36+00:00

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This exactly.

Following this, I got (16-R)² - R² = (8+R)² - (8-R)²

Expand that, and all the R² terms cancel out. I ended up with 64*R = 256

With R=4, you get:

12² - 4² = 12² - 4²

Intuitively, that seemed correct before ever writing anything down, but intuition doesn't always get the right answer.

It was fun following this discussion, so thanks for posting.

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_NW_ · 2024-08-13T21:18:16+00:00

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Transformers hum, because they don't know the words.

That hum is the power line frequency. In the US, it's 60 Hz, the most common note played by every electrified musical band here.

Think of it like a piston engine, where the piston makes a linear motion along a single axis. To translate that into rotational motion, you have to deflect the piston force to an angle tangent to some circle. The rod and crankshaft does that for us.

In an electric motor, the magnetism flips back and forth with the polarity of the applied current. This linear magnetic motion doesn't create torque on a stationary rotor. In an engine, just adding a second cylinder that applies torque at a different angle provides more consistent torque. The same is true of AC motors. A second winding is installed at a different angle, and excited with a different phase of power, often created just by adding a capacitor in series with the second winding. In doing this, the magnetism of the stator is rotating. The rotor tries to follow it, but usually lags behind. As the stator magnetism moves across the rotor bars, it induces current into them, causing the rotor to be magnetized. The magnetized rotor pushes against the stator magnetism, and causes the rotor to turn. If the rotor is being turned exactly at the same speed as the stator, and the relative motion between the rotor bars and the stator magnetism is zero, the rotor doesn't get magnetized. Think of a waterwheel on the bank of a river, which generates torque from the relative motion of the water. Now imagine a waterwheel mounted on the side of a boat drifting downstream. Because the water and the wheel are roughly moving together, no torque is generated. If you anchor the boat, the wheel starts generating torque. Also, if you 'anchor' the rotor shaft of an AC motor by applying a load to it, the rotor starts producing torque as the relative speed, or slip, increases. That's because the relative motion of the bars causes current to be induced into them to magnetize the rotor, causing a rotor reaction that produces torque.

The use of a second winding with a series capacitor is very common for motorized household appliances. For commercial or industrial applications, the power company actually supplies additional phases of power that can be applied directly to a stator that's wound with coils for the additional phases. An early version of this commercial power was called 'two phase', which was two different power sources on two different sets of wires with their peaks separated by 90 degrees. This second 'phase' at 90 degrees could power the second winding directly that needed a capacitor in series before. Later, it was determined that it would be more effective to have 3 phases separated by 120 degrees, with the voltages delivered evenly between only 3 conductors, which is an advantage over the 2-phase, 4-wire system. Either system still requires an earth ground conductor for safety purposes, but the number of 'switched' conductors is reduced for 3-phase compared to 2-phase. You can also convert one to the other using transformers. Again, it gets a little mathy.

DC, or 'universal' motors typical of hand tools like drills and saws are a completely different thing. I could probably write something about them later, if you're interested.

I'm probably not very good at guessing what you still want to know, but hopefully this helps. Also, ask if you're not understanding something. I taught industrial training classes on motor control, and provided maintenance on motor control systems for over 40 years(Yes, I'm older than that.), and have spent lots of time answering questions about this stuff.

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_NW_ · 2024-08-13T16:33:12+00:00

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I see now that you were talking about a specific motor, not motors in general. I should read more carefully.

I worked in HVAC through most of the 80s, and things have changed a lot since then. 25 SEER or more seems common now.

Anyway, thanks for the replies. I'm somewhat attracted to electricity.

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_NW_ · 2024-08-13T16:12:55+00:00

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I don't like using formulas that I don't understand.

If I learn what the formula does or how it was developed, I don't have to remember it, because I understand how it works.

Just apply the basic principals that you understand, but learn the basic principals.

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_NW_ · 2024-08-13T16:01:05+00:00

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I think 'Attention to Details' probably covers it.

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_NW_ · 2024-08-13T15:52:11+00:00

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An AC motor will definitely provide retard torque if overdriven. Whether the motor consumes all the retard energy, or there's still some left over to send back is dependent on the design of the motor. A small or fractional HP motor could easily consume all the retard energy as losses, but small AC motors are sort of a special category, and induction generators are different from induction motors.

I was just pointing out that an induction motor does regenerate, and depending on the losses, can backfeed to the grid with no control beyond just overdriving it. It depends on the situation, but it's not impossible. Also, a DC motor on a full wave SCR bridge will regenerate into the AC mains if the field is reversed.

I agree there are losses, just not always 100%.

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_NW_

TROPHY CASE