More sunlight hits the left side of the transmitter than the right, so the plastic front covers fade at different rates. From time to time, we pull a module out for service, and replace it with a spare. The removed module, once repaired, becomes a spare. So when it eventually goes back in, it goes into a different slot. So, over the years, the modules have all migrated semi-randomly around the various cabinets.

I've only ever visited one accelerator. It was a fairly small linear unit, deep in the bowels beneath the physics building at the University of Florida. During one of my overnight explorations, I found that the door was unlocked and nobody was there, so I just kind went in and of wandered around. That's what I loved about being on a college campus in an era before RFID card readers and magnetic locks were ubiquitous. It was easy to explore interesting stuff.

There is a small nuclear reactor in the same basement, but the door to it was locked.

I got to tour the particle accelerator in the basement of the Loma Linda cancer treatment ward. It's a used Russian accelerator. I think it would have frightened me during the cold war to know that the Russians were going to nuke my dad's balls one day.

Coincidentally, the very best vacuum tubes are surplus Soviet CRT tubes. I built a good hi-fi tube amp, and that's what I use. You can hear the difference in vinyl color on multi-colored records. Sounds like a million rubles.

It's interesting you say that. A lot of radio stations which still have tube-type FM transmitters have switched to buy new Svetlana tubes as opposed to rebuilding their old Eimacs.

What's funnier is that Voice of America has an internal policy against purchasing Russian tubes for their transmitters.


FM tubes aren't quite as crazy as UHF tubes. My last FM transmitter used a 4CX15000A, which is a fairly conventional grounded-grid tetrode.

http://cupcakecarnival.net/gallery/m...serialNumber=2

(The metal rings at the bottom are the "pins")

https://semispares.com/wp-content/up...7c613bc098.jpg

Typical filament current on these is about 160 amps at 6 volts. The power cables feeding the base of the socket were... large.

Saw a Nissan Cube today. Yep, it’s still hideous.

VLF array about an hour from my house. 1,000kw.

Naval Radio Station (T) Jim Creek


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ff1e33a2fb.jpg

6V @ 2,220A. Spicy.

Current power ratings for the antenna are right around 1.2GW. I'll have to keep an eye out for modded delorians around Arlington...

**edit** wait- megawatts, not gigawatts. Phew. that was a close one. Man, the metric system is hard.

Yeah, I was just about to ask you about that. 1 Gw of RF output would set the air surrounding the antenna on fire.

hello comrade, my old friend.

WE HAVE A WINNER!

YOU JUST FOUND THE MARBLE IN THE OATMEAL!

My wife still doesn't understand why I refer to Costco as spatula city.

:bowrofl:

NASA just issued a warning...
Apparently, a mini ice age, expected to last about seventy years, could be upon us as early as 2021, or sooner.
And, we all drive convertibles.
Damn.

Global warming cooling warming cooling warming cooling climate change.

And they keep saying the seas are rising 0.03 inches per year because the ice caps are melting.

Link?

Everything I can find is 3+ years old and the words "mini ice age" were never used by the original authors of the scientific paper. More like speculation that continued reduction in solar activity to could lead to a drop in temps.

Some people have cooler last names than others.

swearing in ceremony

Just got finished with a roofing company rep who mistakenly tried a hard sell on me. Anyone that knows me would know that this is about the worst tact you can use, as I go into full defensive mode.
Anyway, we were talking metal roofing on a roughly 1350 square foot cape cod house. A tad under 20 squares of roofing, for those with knowledge of roofing material coverage, or about 2000 square feet.

33 freaking grand for a damn roof. Really? When I choked a little on the price, he immediately knocked 9 grand off the top if I signed right then. And he said all this with a straight face, too.
Naturally, I told him there was absolutely no chance I was interested at that price. My exact words were, " you're wasting your breath, it ain't gonna happen".

That's $33,000 for about 2000 square feet, or $16.50 a square foot. For a damned roof. I'm still shaking my head.

Yeah, that's ridiculous.
My metal roof cost about a third, and it's almost double that size.
You need to find an Amish crew.

+1 on the Amish. We had a 20x12' Pergola installed last summer by a local Amish shop, about 1/2 price of anything else out there, large wood stained nicely, custom cut/framed to the house by 2 highschool-ish age amish kids and a driver. Math for cuts done by hand on pencil/paper scrap. More accurate than the Solidworks model I made to visualize what we wanted. Done by lunch.

Ryan, find me an Amish crew for Spring patio/deck things unless that legitimately sounds fun to you.