alnwlsn

7 ms·

1.
by alnwlsn 8d ago
You must not hang out on there. Those are some pretty standard grade Hackaday comments. I love the site, read every day, but the comments section can be... rough.
2.
by alnwlsn 14d ago
Not who you're replying to, but I did this just the other day. First thing to know is what there is even to look at. If you don't know anything, look here: https://www.heavens-above.com/skychart2.aspx You'll
3.
by alnwlsn 15d ago
I have a couple of these. Of the ones in a working device, they are in capacitor ("condenser") checkers. You rotate a dial until the eye tube goes from closed to open, then read off the capacitance on the dial. I don't rememb
4.
by alnwlsn 15d ago
This is not insignificant. The period of Pluto's planethood represents just about 0.76% of recorded human history, but that does cover around 7% of the total number of people who have ever lived, about 10x the 'average'. Of c
5.
by alnwlsn 15d ago
Luckily telephone lines are very current limited. You'd be hard pressed to draw more than 100mA even with a dead short at ring voltages. One zener diode might be all you need. Also not the most unusual thing I've seen over a RJ11,
6.
by alnwlsn 15d ago
In contrast, I've been messing around with some old analog phones and VOIP stuff recently, and I've been blown away with how good the quality is over what I was expecting. The audio bandwidth is low yes (it's G.711u, so 8 KHz
7.
by alnwlsn 16d ago
There is always some young person or new to the field learning for the first time. Post like this are exactly how I learned.
8.
by alnwlsn 20d ago
For those that have this, how is your auditory imagination? I would not describe my thinking as especially visual, but I can hear things. It's much easier for me to imagine the crunch of someone biting an apple than the image of an app
9.
by alnwlsn 20d ago
Old Roombas used to come with a serial port so you could use drive the motors and use it as a robot base. Then, you stick a wireless router and a webcam on top - no raspberry pi in those days.
10.
by alnwlsn 22d ago
That's a shame, I'm quite a bit younger than both of you and this is exactly how I learned to program. When I was a kid, computers were icons and a mouse, with no indication of how they worked or how you would go about making them
11.
by alnwlsn 23d ago
There are indeed! Vacuum tube computer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAlnJnYt5do Making vacuum tubes in a garage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UEfqAWb3fE
12.
by alnwlsn 29d ago
To be fair, I've bought things for more that promised zero support, but at least you know what you're getting into with that. Bad support is just plain bad.
13.
by alnwlsn 29d ago
I like my framework, but I do wonder if the repairability angle is overstated if you're already used to fixing normal laptops. Yes, Framework's parts are easier to find, and the laptops are easier to open, but it's not like d
14.
by alnwlsn 1mo ago
Both myself and my boss took off work to see the last one. Though unplanned it was not, as eclipses can be predicted centuries in advance. I intended to see it before even working there. Looking forward to the next local one in 2045.
15.
by alnwlsn 1mo ago
This is correct. I have bought some disks from him before (also he is tomdotstar on EBay) and they come as ordinary used disks with a new label stuck on top. Supposedly each one is tested; all the ones I got worked and looked to be in good
16.
by alnwlsn 1mo ago
They do sell, I've bought from them before.
17.
by alnwlsn 1mo ago
In the US, those are radio stations WWVB for clocks and watches, and WWV/WWVH for shortwave. One thing I think is interesting is that not only are the digital formats these carry synced to an atomic clock, but the radio carrier wave is
18.
by alnwlsn 1mo ago
You actually can still call NIST and hear the signal broadcast from WWV[0], though that's probably different from the telephone time of day you're thinking of, which might have come from one of these machines [1] in a local teleph
19.
by alnwlsn 1mo ago
If you want to see how an actual application of this works, I've yet to see a description better than in CuriousMarc's HP 5061A series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOti3kKWX-c
20.
by alnwlsn 1mo ago
You mean everyone else would have the "wrong" time whereas your clock is still bang-on correct for you. So you have become a time traveler.
21.
by alnwlsn 1mo ago
I've done this to myself too. I once had a thermal receipt printer I wasn't using, so I decided to point a webcam at it and put it on a webpage so anyone could print random crap to it (it's actually still up - alnwlsn.com&#x2
22.
by alnwlsn 1mo ago
I think it would have been more likely to be some kind of mechanical analog computer full of gears and cams (which some planes and missiles did use for guidance). Probably needing more support from the ground. Apollo did carry tubes also, i
23.
by alnwlsn 1mo ago
I do some retro-computing every now and then and of these old drives that still work (about a 50% chance), when I format them assuming all sectors are good, they will inevitably report the same bad sectors as is on the label. I don't r
24.
by alnwlsn 1mo ago
In many ways this project is more difficult than building a professional train simulator (I've worked on one). 1. Professional customers are willing to pay for (and usually have an in) on getting genuine parts. You usually don't h
25.
by alnwlsn 2mo ago
I wonder if they aren't sticking the die to the end of their finger, then using the bamboo stick to poke it off and get it into final position. That's probably how I would attempt it given those materials.
26.
by alnwlsn 2mo ago
I occasionally do some microsoldering, and I'll reach for a wood toothpick when I need something that's absolutely non-magnetic, soft enough to not scratch things, does not conduct much heat, or is not wetted by solder. At those s
27.
by alnwlsn 2mo ago
My cousin has one. But he also lives on 5 acres, which is also not average either. Apparently prices on them have gone way up. The one he has now would cost something like $6K today.
28.
by alnwlsn 2mo ago
Here's a real world* example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAbyUaLN2QA *youtuber
29.
by alnwlsn 2mo ago
For an anecdote in a different direction, my father bought a Ford model T a few years ago. Now, "classic" cars of the 60's and 70's are still very popular among those who lived through that time. Maybe your family had on
30.
by alnwlsn 2mo ago
The shortwave WWV, not so much, except to check if your shortwave radio is working. Canada's shortwave CHU was shut down last month. The 60 kHz WWVB, yes. Plenty of cheap wall clocks have "atomic time" as it is marketed over

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