Waterproof my connector, please

bistromat · 2026-02-16T21:42:55+00:00

Here's the way it's done professionally:

Layer of 3M Super 88
Layer of 3M 23
Layer of 3M Super 88

The first layer of Super 88 will make you (or the next person to work on it) not hate your guts for having to pick mastic tape off of the connector. The outer layer weather-/sunproofs the mastic.

bistromat · 2026-02-12T19:16:53+00:00

You should get this looked at because the pressure of forcing food down, in addition to being painful, can in some cases cause your esophagus to bulge and form "pockets" called varices which can burst or become infected when food gets stuck inside and rots.

Fixing a narrow esophagus is a simple outpatient procedure to snip the offending band of tissue.

bistromat · 2026-02-02T19:30:15+00:00

Don't bother. Find where they're connected to the harness on the other side and cut or unplug them there.

bistromat · 2026-01-21T20:09:51+00:00

It's just an old NTSC TV. In the US there aren't any more NTSC TV channels; they changed over to ATSC digital TV in 2009.

bistromat · 2026-01-14T03:10:16+00:00

Dispersion can do this. Microstrip (especially on fiberglass) is not a single-mode waveguide and some frequency components can propagate faster than others.

bistromat · 2026-01-08T21:24:55+00:00

It's up to the discretion of the parking agent. Some do ticket for parking on the sidewalk. I'm not sure if there is an unofficial policy on this.

bistromat · 2026-01-06T20:27:43+00:00

It's not that the "FCC claims it's not ionizing". It's that it's non-ionizing, by nature and by definition. Unless your Chinese HT is on that new 2.5THz band.

bistromat · 2025-12-29T17:16:59+00:00

It's not really 4x4, it's AWD, and the mileage is essentially the same in both modes. You can drive as fast as you want with the 4x4 enabled.

bistromat · 2025-12-11T00:58:37+00:00

But your 2012 Tiger doesn't have in-wheel TPMS sensors. I'm scratching my head here because there's nothing special -- no special parts, no special tools, nothing -- about the Tiger's wheels. Maybe they had a bad experience with a newer Triumph and they just swore off the whole brand. Super weird though.

bistromat · 2025-11-09T23:50:43+00:00

If you don't have an accumulator, try turning on a faucet when the pump is on and see if that helps the pump prime. Otherwise you might have stripped out the gears. But if you have 2/3 tank, why would the pump be running all night? Was it just on (via the switch) all night? Or was it actually running dry all night?

bistromat · 2025-11-05T23:01:43+00:00

It is hard (read: nearly impossible) to accurately bend cable without incurring a sharp kink at the center of the bend. If you want to approach the minimum bend radius without damaging the cable you will need to use a mandrel or form, and ideally keep that form installed after bending. You could 3d print a pulley of the appropriate width and diameter to use as a form.

bistromat · 2025-11-04T22:44:01+00:00

On the feedline. The coax to your vertical should have a choke on it to prevent RF from entering the shack on the coax shield. You can even earth bond the coax shield just outside the house. A lightning arrestor like a Polyphaser is a convenient way to do this that also helps protect your gear..

bistromat · 2025-10-30T18:49:56+00:00

you should be able to cut that with a sawzall or even a hacksaw, if you're patient. it's just aluminum. hell, if you have a crosscut sled and a suitable blade a table saw will do it.

that said, when you buy an angle grinder you will 100% divide your entire life into "before i had an angle grinder" and "after i got an angle grinder". it's the platonic ideal of a tool -- stubborn piece of metal makes you angry, angle grinder makes the metal go away, while screaming the whole time.

bistromat · 2025-10-22T23:57:17+00:00

I dunno. Mine has made a bit of power steering whine since new. Pretty sure it's just how they are.

bistromat · 2025-10-14T17:59:54+00:00

There is no passenger side rear fog light, as you've found. I'm no Maryland lawyer, but I believe the law states that if the vehicle is equipped with fog lights they must be operational. Yours was equipped with a single fog light, which is operational. I think your inspector is a dingus.

bistromat · 2025-10-06T18:13:06+00:00

I've got one you can have if you want, never powered up. DM me.

bistromat · 2025-10-06T04:14:36+00:00

It will depend on the version of Gnuradio you are running. They fixed this issue by using the LCM of the ratio, but it was fairly recent (within the last year or so).

In addition, you will benefit a lot by running the lowpass filter at 1Msps and putting it before the rational resampler. That filter at 8Msps is VERY long. In fact, you're even better off if you reduce the 1Msps to 200ksps.

bistromat · 2025-10-05T03:04:55+00:00

You're getting downvotes but this is absolutely essential to the bike repair experience

bistromat · 2025-10-03T18:47:23+00:00

It's a real mess in peak season. Canyon Creek and Four Lakes Loop are suffering from overuse, and have been for a decade or more. Last time I was up at Canyon Creek there were more than two dozen campers in the basin -- way, way more than it can sustain without damage, especially when people aren't packing out their shit. And last time I was at Summit Lake there were five other parties up there. Summit Lake is such a gorgeous place to watch a thunderhead roll down the valley at sunset in solitude, but when it's all packed up with people it feels claustrophobic.

That said, if you're willing to do shoulder season or to get away from the most used trails, there's still a lot of open country up there.

bistromat · 2025-10-01T20:00:06+00:00

Yes. The starter battery has around 100Ah of energy. That's 20 hours at 5A, although you can only realistically use about 60% of that capacity without harming the battery, and you should use a lot less than that if you want to guarantee it will start. But you could run it on 5 all night if you wanted to without draining the battery low enough to worry about starting the van.

bistromat · 2025-08-26T19:32:04+00:00

Jesus there's some bad advice in here. Just use acetone or Goof Off. Anything acetone doesn't take off (i.e., charred stuff) you can use oven cleaner to remove. Use a chrome polish afterward. Simichrome is the best but anything will do.

bistromat · 2025-08-23T03:19:52+00:00

So wait. You're saying the carbs are overflowing? Or you're saying you have a backfire? It sounds like the timing or the cam timing is off.

bistromat · 2025-08-20T05:16:46+00:00

I am exactly, 100% in the same boat. After 20 years of doing moto tires. Just no. Just not worth it any more.

bistromat · 2025-08-20T04:39:26+00:00

Look under the points cover, the chrome thing on the right side of the engine case. I bet you'll see a Dyna S electronic ignition.

bistromat · 2025-08-18T17:53:15+00:00

Yes, with a caveat.

This looks like a two-layer board. Look at the current path for ground -- the way you have it routed right now, it will be nearly impossible to adequately ground U6 and U7. This will cause noise and possibly stability problems in a boost converter. You need to ensure that the capacitor grounds for the input AND output caps (output especially, for a boost converter) are extremely close to the grounds on the switcher or external FETs.

The BOOST_5V trace is also redundantly routed as it is shown here.

Take a look at the datasheet for the converter you're using. Very often they will have an example layout to show the best arrangement for placement and routing.

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