On Fri, 05 Oct 2012 16:02:37 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:> >Phil Hobbs wrote: >> >> I've never had a package stolen, as far as I can recall.> Me, either. It's probably that their postal system won't come to >reasonable terms with the US postal system.I've never had a package stolen from the USPS, but I *have* had one stolen from UPS. Back in 1974 I had some stereo equipment stolen in a break-in, and ordered a replacement to be sent UPS. The shipment arrived while I was at work, so they left a note that they'd try the next day. I called and said I'd pick it up from their office after I got off work. It was December, so there was a long line. After an interminable wait, they said they didn't have the package... must've gone out for delivery again by mistake. Got home, no note. Called again and repeated everything the next day. They finally admitted that they couldn't find the package, and blamed it on the seasonal help. They eventually paid for a replacement, after a lot of paperwork. In all the years since, though, I've never had a problem. (Of course, I became gun-shy about ordering "good stuff" in December!) Best regards, Bob Masta DAQARTA v7.10 Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis www.daqarta.com Scope, Spectrum, Spectrogram, Sound Level Meter Frequency Counter, Pitch Track, Pitch-to-MIDI FREE Signal Generator, DaqMusic generator Science with your sound card!
Using mobile phone as an internet radio
Started by ●October 2, 2012
Reply by ●October 6, 20122012-10-06
Reply by ●October 6, 20122012-10-06
In article <epudnWDGL-LfiO3NnZ2dnUVZ_oWdnZ2d@supernews.com>, Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:> > The Americans do seem generally to be used to sending a lot by courier > > when we would just put in the post. Tending to happen in the UK also > > even though the Royal Mail / Parcelforce often give a better service > > and of course do not charge extra to send further. There has been a > > big campaign in the North of Scotland about companies charging extra > > for many postcode areas.> That's mostly a business etiquette thing, I think. Sending somebody a > bunch of business documents in the snail mail sort of says that their > input isn't that urgent. Letter mail here is also very secure IME.Fine if 'they' want to do this and pay for it. My complaint is buying goods from the US where I'm paying the P&P and not having the choice of a reasonably priced service. Why would I want to pay in some cases more than the value of the goods for postage, if I'm in no rush to receive them? -- *A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking * Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound.
Reply by ●October 6, 20122012-10-06
On 10/06/2012 09:08 AM, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:> In article<epudnWDGL-LfiO3NnZ2dnUVZ_oWdnZ2d@supernews.com>, > Phil Hobbs<pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote: >>> The Americans do seem generally to be used to sending a lot by courier >>> when we would just put in the post. Tending to happen in the UK also >>> even though the Royal Mail / Parcelforce often give a better service >>> and of course do not charge extra to send further. There has been a >>> big campaign in the North of Scotland about companies charging extra >>> for many postcode areas. > > >> That's mostly a business etiquette thing, I think. Sending somebody a >> bunch of business documents in the snail mail sort of says that their >> input isn't that urgent. Letter mail here is also very secure IME. > > Fine if 'they' want to do this and pay for it. My complaint is buying > goods from the US where I'm paying the P&P and not having the choice of a > reasonably priced service. Why would I want to pay in some cases more than > the value of the goods for postage, if I'm in no rush to receive them? >Dunno. It may have something to do with package tracking and fraudulent claims for loss or damage. The logistics companies give you one tracking number that works anywhere in the world, whereas the post offices all generate confusion and duplicated numbers that make it very hard to establish whether something got delivered, and if not, where it went. Here, there's lots of competition in logistics, so the service is generally excellent and the cost very reasonable. US postal rates are also quite low, which may make it more difficult for them to negotiate a revenue sharing agreement with higher cost organizations. (Canada Post is the example I'm most familiar with--at one point quite recently, all mail from the US to Canada had to go through the central Toronto sorting facility, even if it was a letter sent from Vancouver to Seattle.) Cheers Phil Hobbs -- Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 160 North State Road #203 Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 hobbs at electrooptical dot net http://electrooptical.net
Reply by ●October 6, 20122012-10-06
On Sat, 06 Oct 2012 07:06:22 -0400, Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:>On 10/05/2012 07:47 PM, krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz wrote: >> On Fri, 05 Oct 2012 19:00:56 -0400, Phil Hobbs >> <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote: >> >>> George Herold wrote: >>>> >>>> On Oct 5, 2:51 pm, Jeff Liebermann<je...@cruzio.com> wrote: >>>>> On Thu, 04 Oct 2012 10:03:21 -0400, Phil Hobbs >>>>> >>>>> <pcdhSpamMeSensel...@electrooptical.net> wrote: >>>>>>> Yep. As I understand it (possible wrong), AC filaments break in the >>>>>>> middle, mostly from vibration flexing. >>>>> >>>>>> I don't think so, because there's no mechanism for that, as I said. The >>>>>> wire is fully annealed at all times, so there's no possibility of >>>>>> progressive fatigue failure. >>>>> >>>>> Oscillating filament light bulb: >>>>> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_DwwNVA-7Q> >>>>> Whether the earths magnetic field is strong enough to induce such >>>>> oscillations is questionable. >>>>> >>>>> While digging for the apparently mythical lifetime test data on >>>>> incandescent light bulbs, I've found numerous theories on why >>>>> filaments fail. >>>> >>>> Grin, the internet as a 'fire hose' of information. I went searching >>>> for something that contained "Philips tech. rev." and found a >>>> reference to the following article, >>>> >>>> H. Horster, E. Kauer and W. Lechner � The Burn-out Mechanism of >>>> Incandescent Lamps Philips Technical Review 32,155-164, 1971. >>>> >>>> It was referenced in "Illuminating Engineering - Page 32 - Google >>>> Books" >>>> >>>> But nothing about turn on failure... sigh. >>>> >>>> Here is a patent by some of the same guys at Philips... lots of stuff >>>> about the filament getting hottest in the middle. >>>> >>>> http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3868159.html >>>> (Actually a decently written patent.) >>>> >>>> George H. >>>> >>>> Tungsten evaporation, causing hot spots, is the most >>>>> common. One suggested that thermal cycling hardens the tungsten and >>>>> makes it brittle. Another suggested that the inrush current causes a >>>>> mechanical shock if it hits at the 60Hz peak, instead of at the zero >>>>> crossing. Yet another speculates that the temperature differential >>>>> between the hot filament, and the relatively cold mounting structure >>>>> may cause cracking. >>>>> >>> >>> I can believe that the filament is hottest in the middle. It's >>> furtherst from the support, so whatever conductive heat sinking there is >>> will be less, but more than that, it sees the radiative input from the >>> rest of the filament on both sides instead of just one. >> >> Aren't the filaments welded to the elements at the ends? It would seem that >> this would cause a narrowing. ISTR most filaments broken near the supports, >> which would be counter to the hotter-in-the-middle theory. > >The feedthroughs are made of Dumet, which is basically 42Ni stainless >with a borated copper coating to bind to the glass. It's much >lower-melting than the tungsten, so spot-welding them together shouldn't >affect the tungsten much.Welding5 is welding. Metal has to flow, no?> >A necked-down hot spot is a stress concentration point, and ones nearer >the support would have more mass hanging off them. When the filament >jumps at turn-on, hot spots at the ends will probably more torque applied. > >> My theory is that bulbs tend to fail when turned on because of the thermal >> shock but only because they were about to fail anyway. Cycling, itself, >> doesn't have a huge effect on longevity, certainly not a factor of two. >> >>> Sort of similar to the case of a long solenoid, whose B field at the >>> ends is half what it is in the middle. >> >> Do they only burn out when energized? ;-) > >I've never seen one burn out that wasn't energized.OK, perhaps I sh6ould have said *as* they-re energized (to keep th6e corollary with light bulbs burning out when turned on).>But you're the big-iron transmitter guy.^^^^^^^^^^^ Huh? I think you have me confused with someone else.>Gotta run, I have a bunch of guys coming to >the lab in a few minutes, and I have to start the coffee pot!Most important. Get the good stuff.
Reply by ●October 6, 20122012-10-06
On Sat, 06 Oct 2012 09:28:03 +0100, MB <MB@nospam.nospam> wrote:>On 06/10/2012 00:15, Phil Hobbs wrote: >> "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote: >>> >>> In article <GcKdnTpQbqR-ofLNnZ2dnUVZ_sqdnZ2d@earthlink.com>, >>> Michael A. Terrell <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote: >>> >>>> Phil Hobbs wrote: >>>>> >>>>> I've never had a package stolen, as far as I can recall. >>> >>>> Me, either. It's probably that their postal system won't come to >>>> reasonable terms with the US postal system. >>> >>> Other countries seem quite happy to use ordinary post to the UK. The US, >>> not. So explain that. >> >> >> Probably the War of 1812. ;) >> >> Coming from Canada, I can tell you that the USPS is very nearly flawless >> when compared with Canada Post. Those morons can't find their rear ends >> with both hands and a map. >> > >The Americans do seem generally to be used to sending a lot by courier >when we would just put in the post."Courier"? Do you mean "next day" services like FedEx and UPS? Yes, often time is money. "Couriers" are sometimes (rarely) used for intra'-city delivery when hours count. Intrest on a megabuck pays for courier service.>Tending to happen in the UK also >even though the Royal Mail / Parcelforce often give a better service and >of course do not charge extra to send further. There has been a big >campaign in the North of Scotland about companies charging extra for >many postcode areas.Your point?
Reply by ●October 6, 20122012-10-06
On 10/06/2012 11:14 AM, krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz wrote:> On Sat, 06 Oct 2012 07:06:22 -0400, Phil Hobbs > <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote: > >> On 10/05/2012 07:47 PM, krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz wrote: >>> On Fri, 05 Oct 2012 19:00:56 -0400, Phil Hobbs >>> <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote: >>> >>>> George Herold wrote: >>>>> >>>>> On Oct 5, 2:51 pm, Jeff Liebermann<je...@cruzio.com> wrote: >>>>>> On Thu, 04 Oct 2012 10:03:21 -0400, Phil Hobbs >>>>>> >>>>>> <pcdhSpamMeSensel...@electrooptical.net> wrote: >>>>>>>> Yep. As I understand it (possible wrong), AC filaments break in the >>>>>>>> middle, mostly from vibration flexing. >>>>>> >>>>>>> I don't think so, because there's no mechanism for that, as I said. The >>>>>>> wire is fully annealed at all times, so there's no possibility of >>>>>>> progressive fatigue failure. >>>>>> >>>>>> Oscillating filament light bulb: >>>>>> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_DwwNVA-7Q> >>>>>> Whether the earths magnetic field is strong enough to induce such >>>>>> oscillations is questionable. >>>>>> >>>>>> While digging for the apparently mythical lifetime test data on >>>>>> incandescent light bulbs, I've found numerous theories on why >>>>>> filaments fail. >>>>> >>>>> Grin, the internet as a 'fire hose' of information. I went searching >>>>> for something that contained "Philips tech. rev." and found a >>>>> reference to the following article, >>>>> >>>>> H. Horster, E. Kauer and W. Lechner � The Burn-out Mechanism of >>>>> Incandescent Lamps Philips Technical Review 32,155-164, 1971. >>>>> >>>>> It was referenced in "Illuminating Engineering - Page 32 - Google >>>>> Books" >>>>> >>>>> But nothing about turn on failure... sigh. >>>>> >>>>> Here is a patent by some of the same guys at Philips... lots of stuff >>>>> about the filament getting hottest in the middle. >>>>> >>>>> http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3868159.html >>>>> (Actually a decently written patent.) >>>>> >>>>> George H. >>>>> >>>>> Tungsten evaporation, causing hot spots, is the most >>>>>> common. One suggested that thermal cycling hardens the tungsten and >>>>>> makes it brittle. Another suggested that the inrush current causes a >>>>>> mechanical shock if it hits at the 60Hz peak, instead of at the zero >>>>>> crossing. Yet another speculates that the temperature differential >>>>>> between the hot filament, and the relatively cold mounting structure >>>>>> may cause cracking. >>>>>> >>>> >>>> I can believe that the filament is hottest in the middle. It's >>>> furtherst from the support, so whatever conductive heat sinking there is >>>> will be less, but more than that, it sees the radiative input from the >>>> rest of the filament on both sides instead of just one. >>> >>> Aren't the filaments welded to the elements at the ends? It would seem that >>> this would cause a narrowing. ISTR most filaments broken near the supports, >>> which would be counter to the hotter-in-the-middle theory. >> >> The feedthroughs are made of Dumet, which is basically 42Ni stainless >> with a borated copper coating to bind to the glass. It's much >> lower-melting than the tungsten, so spot-welding them together shouldn't >> affect the tungsten much. > > Welding5 is welding. Metal has to flow, no?Sure, but not the tungsten, just the steel. The melting point difference is more than that between copper and solder, so it's more like brazing than normal welding.>> >> A necked-down hot spot is a stress concentration point, and ones nearer >> the support would have more mass hanging off them. When the filament >> jumps at turn-on, hot spots at the ends will probably more torque applied. >> >>> My theory is that bulbs tend to fail when turned on because of the thermal >>> shock but only because they were about to fail anyway. Cycling, itself, >>> doesn't have a huge effect on longevity, certainly not a factor of two. >>> >>>> Sort of similar to the case of a long solenoid, whose B field at the >>>> ends is half what it is in the middle. >>> >>> Do they only burn out when energized? ;-) >> >> I've never seen one burn out that wasn't energized. > > OK, perhaps I sh6ould have said *as* they-re energized (to keep th6e corollary > with light bulbs burning out when turned on). > >> But you're the big-iron transmitter guy. > ^^^^^^^^^^^ > > Huh? I think you have me confused with someone else. > >> Gotta run, I have a bunch of guys coming to >> the lab in a few minutes, and I have to start the coffee pot! > > Most important. Get the good stuff.Stew Leonard's Espresso Roast, roasted fresh daily in sunny Yonkers. Best beans I've ever come across, and worth the trip. Always a crowd pleaser. Cheers Phil Hobbs -- Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 160 North State Road #203 Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 hobbs at electrooptical dot net http://electrooptical.net
Reply by ●October 6, 20122012-10-06
Phil Hobbs wrote:> The logistics companies give you one > tracking number that works anywhere in the world, whereas the post > offices all generate confusion and duplicated numbers that make it very > hard to establish whether something got delivered, and if not, where it > went. >Registered mail uses one tracking number worldwide too. It's R, a letter, a fixed length string of numbers and the country code. I can track a letter or package sent registered mail from almost any country on 17track.net, several other similar sites, and once it is here on the Israel postal site. The problem with the US is that they send regular international mail using a tracking number with an L at the begining, and those are tracked as far as the first post office the sender drops them off at. Occasionally they are tracked to a sorting center, but not always, and usually not. Several years ago the USPS restructured their rates for mail outside of the US. They dropped surface mail, replacing it with an air mail system that takes almost as long. I have had packages take 6 weeks to arrive here airmail from the US. They did a survey of prices of the courier services, and simply charge 1/2 of what the courier services do. If you want registered mail, they charge another $12 or so for it. Compare that to China which charges a few dollars to send a package, and another dollar or so for registered mail. Or the UK (and the rest of the EU) that charge about $5 for postage and registered mail.> US postal rates are also quite low, which may make it more difficult for > them to negotiate a revenue sharing agreement with higher cost > organizations.No, they are rediculously high. Much more than an other postal service for international mail, they also have a very high theft rate, and will not insure their packages. As for rates, everyone pays the same rate by international treaty. So the eBay vendor in central China that pays a few dollars to send his package is paying the Israel post office the same amount to deliver my mail as the vendor from the US that pays $16 for the same size package. The profit/cost above it goes to their national post offices. It's like cellular roaming rates. I pay .73 NIS ($.20US) per minue to call on my cell phone from all over europe back to Israel, or to the US. Someone with a US company can easily pay $3 for the same call, BUT their cellular company paid the local company the same amount as mine did for taking the call and forwarding it over international long distance lines. Geoff. -- Geoffrey S. Mendelson, N3OWJ/4X1GM/KBUH7245/KBUW5379 "Owning a smartphone: Technology's equivalent to learning to play chopsticks on the piano as a child and thinking you're a musician." (sent to me by a friend)
Reply by ●October 6, 20122012-10-06
Phil Hobbs wrote:> [......] > > Stew Leonard's Espresso Roast, roasted fresh daily in sunny Yonkers. > Best beans I've ever come across, and worth the trip. Always a crowd > pleaser. > > Cheers > > Phil Hobbs >Sorry to hijack this thread but I have an actual electronics repair question: how do I go about getting my old AIWA CX-NA10 stereo system to read CD's again? Is the lazer bad? It detects the cd and spins up but wont play it. -- http://howlingforjustice.wordpress.com www.snuhwolf.9f.com|www.savewolves.org _____ ____ ____ __ /\_/\ __ _ ______ _____ / __/ |/ / / / / // // . . \\ \ |\ | / __ \ \ \ __\ _\ \/ / /_/ / _ / \ / \ \| \| \ \_\ \ \__\ _\ /___/_/|_/\____/_//_/ \_@_/ \__|\__|\____/\____\_\
Reply by ●October 6, 20122012-10-06
On 10/06/2012 12:49 PM, Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:> Phil Hobbs wrote: >> The logistics companies give you one >> tracking number that works anywhere in the world, whereas the post >> offices all generate confusion and duplicated numbers that make it very >> hard to establish whether something got delivered, and if not, where it >> went. >> > > Registered mail uses one tracking number worldwide too. It's R, a letter, > a fixed length string of numbers and the country code. I can track a > letter or package sent registered mail from almost any country on > 17track.net, several other similar sites, and once it is here on the > Israel postal site. > > The problem with the US is that they send regular international mail > using a tracking number with an L at the begining, and those are > tracked as far as the first post office the sender drops them off at. > > Occasionally they are tracked to a sorting center, but not always, and usually > not. > > Several years ago the USPS restructured their rates for mail outside of the > US. They dropped surface mail, replacing it with an air mail system that > takes almost as long. I have had packages take 6 weeks to arrive here airmail > from the US. > > They did a survey of prices of the courier services, and simply charge 1/2 > of what the courier services do. If you want registered mail, they charge > another $12 or so for it.Sounds like a bargain to me. Very few other organizations would leave money on the table like that. I sure wouldn't. Would you?> > Compare that to China which charges a few dollars to send a package, and > another dollar or so for registered mail. Or the UK (and the rest of the > EU) that charge about $5 for postage and registered mail.Plus they save on duty by claiming that everything is a gift. Such generous folks, those Chinese.> >> US postal rates are also quite low, which may make it more difficult for >> them to negotiate a revenue sharing agreement with higher cost >> organizations. > > No, they are rediculously high. Much more than an other postal service > for international mail, they also have a very high theft rate, and will > not insure their packages.Dunno. I don't ship a lot of stuff overseas, so that's quite possible. However, they're terrific domestically.> > As for rates, everyone pays the same rate by international treaty. So the > eBay vendor in central China that pays a few dollars to send his package > is paying the Israel post office the same amount to deliver my mail as > the vendor from the US that pays $16 for the same size package. > > The profit/cost above it goes to their national post offices.What treaties are those, and do they guarantee the same rates for everyone?> > It's like cellular roaming rates. I pay .73 NIS ($.20US) per minue to call > on my cell phone from all over europe back to Israel, or to the US. > > Someone with a US company can easily pay $3 for the same call, BUT their > cellular company paid the local company the same amount as mine did for > taking the call and forwarding it over international long distance > lines.Depends what's important to you, of course. Mostly when I'm in Europe I do my calling over wifi using UMA, so it costs the same as at home. But I only go there every couple of years. Cheers Phil Hobbs -- Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 160 North State Road #203 Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 hobbs at electrooptical dot net http://electrooptical.net
Reply by ●October 6, 20122012-10-06
On 10/06/2012 12:51 PM, ���hw��f wrote:> Phil Hobbs wrote: >> [......] >> >> Stew Leonard's Espresso Roast, roasted fresh daily in sunny Yonkers. >> Best beans I've ever come across, and worth the trip. Always a crowd >> pleaser. >> >> Cheers >> >> Phil Hobbs >> > Sorry to hijack this thread but I have an actual electronics repair > question: how do I go about getting my old AIWA CX-NA10 stereo system to > read CD's again? Is the lazer bad? It detects the cd and spins up but > wont play it. > > >You're no fun anymore. Cheers Phil Hobbs -- Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 160 North State Road #203 Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 hobbs at electrooptical dot net http://electrooptical.net
