Technology


Curta Calculator
Curta
Curta Org

The Curta mechanical calculator is an incredible feat of mechanical engineering. Developed in the 1940s, these devices are roughly the size and shape of a salt shaker. When a series of mechanical sliders and a carriage set correctly, it can makes calculations with the turn (or turns) of a handle. The results can then be reset using a lever, making for a very interesting piece of mechanical hardware.

Though it’s amazing what this device can do, its origin story is perhaps even more incredible. Its creator, Curt Herzstark, was taken to the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1943, where rumors spread that he was working on a new calculating machine. Strangely enough, development of this device was encouraged as something that could be presented to Adolf Hitler upon Germany’s predicted victory in World War II. As this prediction didn’t come to fruition, Herzstark was able to make working prototypes of this invention after the war, and then put them into production under his own name. This continued until they were phased out in the 1970s with the invention of the electronic calculator.

Things to try tonight after BOTM.

Try disabling the “Wi-Fi Assit” option located at the bottom of the “Cellular” page under “Setting” . Make sure to reboot the phone after that… and try again.

Go to Setup > Network and uncheck ‘uPnP’ and ‘uPnP Port forward’ and save settings.
Now try adding the camera to your account through the app.

Trying to calibrate The vacuum tube voltmeter but instead all I did was trip the breaker upstairs. Looked at what was going on inside the voltmeter and then look at the schematic and realize that somebody had put on a three prong plug and grounded attached the ground wire to the chassis. The problem is the ground wire is now grounded to the negative side of the AC they seem full line was just tripped the breaker. In the original circuit the AC line only hooks to the transformer in the problem with the chassis is the chassis is actually the AC ground or the negative AC not just ground. I’ll have to talk to some folks about this.

Actually what happened was as soon as I touched the negative ground wire of the test probe into the AC socket it tripped the circuit breaker. I realized

I’m going to have to build myself a dim bulb tester so that I wouldn’t won’t do this again Brian had even mentioned that possibly a ground fault interrupt her might be is good as well or maybe in conjunction with it I’m not sure if I use the damn bowl with a ground fault interrupter outlet if that would work, possibly.
Knight KG-690 -1
During the day I purchased an older model night TK or KT6 70 off of eBay for 25 bucks +15 or so dollars shipping. It ended up shipping this evening or at least being said it was shipped. I’m not sure if it’s actually going to be working when I get it.

At home I finally decided to go ahead and purchase a second night KT 670 capacitor tester it was a little newer, has a nicer front panel and hopefully I can get parts from both of them in order to get at least one complete or maybe I can fix them both. I did find a website that had directions and calibrating capacitors for many capacitor testers.
Knight KG-670 B -8
HERE is a site that talks about these testers with help on calibration and repair.

Ordered this today, paid about $27 after it was all said and done

Heath VTVM V-4A - 1

Heath VTVM V-4A - 5

Heath VTVM V-4A - 4

Heath VTVM V-4A - 3

Heath VTVM V-4A - 2

US $14.99 For parts or not working in Business & Industrial, Electrical & Test Equipment, Test Equipment

Cords and leads all dry rotted.  Common terminal plastic damaged.  Batteries were left inside and one was leaking.  See photos.  Appears to be complete.  I suspect this could be brought back to life with a little work or would make a good parts unit.

I bought this a couple years ago intending to get it working, but it has sat around since then.  I am liquidating most of my old Ham gear due to my interests changing.  I will be listing some other items as time allows.

This unit is obviously not working right now and I am selling it as-s with no returns.

Source: Heathkit V 4A Vacuum Tube Voltmeter | eBay

Country: United States of America (USA)
Manufacturer / Brand: Heathkit (Brand), Heath Co.; Benton Harbor (MI)
alternative name

Heath Company
Year: 1955 ?? Type: Service- or Lab Equipment
Valves / Tubes 2: 6H6 6SN7
Wave bands – without
Details
Power type and voltage Line / Batteries (any type) / 105–125 & 2× 1,5 Volt
Loudspeaker – – No sound reproduction output.
Power out
from Radiomuseum.org Model: Vacuum tube voltmeter V-4A – Heathkit Brand, Heath Co.;
Material Metal case
Shape Tablemodel, with any shape – general.
Dimensions (WHD) 6 x 10 x 5.875 inch / 152 x 254 x 149 mm
Notes Heathkit Vacuum Tube Voltmeter V-4A.
D.C. Voltmeter:
6 Ranges: 0–3, 10, 30, 100, 300, 1000 V, with accessory probe 3000 and 10000 V; Ri: 11 MΩ, 1 MΩ in probe, 110 MΩ with accessory probe;
A.C. Voltmeter:
6 Ranges: 0–3, 10, 30, 100, 300, 1000 V reading R.M.S. (.707 of negative peak);
Ohmmeter:
6 Ranges: Scale with 10 Ω center ×1, ×10, ×100, ×1000, ×10M, ×1Meg. Measures 0.1 Ω to 1000 MΩ with internal battery.
Net weight (2.2 lb = 1 kg) 8 lb 0 oz (8 lb) / 3.632 kg
Literature/Schematics (1) — Original-techn. papers.

Welp. New Horizons decided to put on a little 4th of July drama for the mission’s fans. It’s currently in safe mode, and it will likely be a day or two before it recovers and returns to science, but it remains on course for the July 14 flyby. Here’s the mission update in its entirety.

Source: New Horizons enters safe mode 10 days before Pluto flyby [UPDATED] | The Planetary Society

Looks good, but almost one grand! $974.99, ouch!
12ed_mass_effect_geth_pulse_rifle_replica_alt2THE PEW PEW OF THE SYNTHETICS

The danger with making synthetic beings to do all the hard chores is one day those beings realizing they are, in fact, beings. That is, they become sentient. And then they desire the rights of all the other sentient beings they see (which isn’t unreasonable). If those other sentient beings take up arms against the synthetics, the synthetics might replicate that behavior, as well. This is the story (part of it, anyways) of the Geth from the Mass Effect series. And this, the Mass Effect Geth Pulse Rifle Full Scale Replica, is a replica of one of their standard weapons.

Geth Pulse Rifles are finely balanced with low-recoil and incredibly high accuracy. And this Mass Effect Geth Pulse Rifle Full Scale Replica doesn’t have any recoil (because it doesn’t shoot) and features amazing accuracy to the weapon in the game. It weighs 20 lbs., has LED light effects, and is a very limited edition (only 500 worldwide)! If you’re a true Mass Effectian (Mass Effecter? Mass Effectie?), then you need to add a Mass Effect Geth Pulse Rifle Full Scale Replica to your collection.

Product Specifications:

Hand-finished and hand-painted polystone

Working LED effects

Limited Edition of 500 pieces worldwide

Officially-licensed Mass Effect 3 weapon replica, created by TriForce

Dimensions: 12" x 7" x 33"

Weight: 20 lbs.

via Mass Effect Geth Pulse Rifle Full Scale Replica | ThinkGeek.

A Delta IV Heavy rocket roars to life at Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch vehicle is carrying NASA's Orion spacecraft on an unpiloted flight test to Earth orbit. Liftoff was at 7:05 a.m. EST. Image Credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph and Kevin O'Connell

A Delta IV Heavy rocket roars to life at Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch vehicle is carrying NASA’s Orion spacecraft on an unpiloted flight test to Earth orbit. Liftoff was at 7:05 a.m. EST.
Image Credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph and Kevin O’Connell

A spacecraft built for humans left the domain of low-Earth orbit Friday for the first time in 42 years when NASA’s first Orion soared 3,604 miles above Earth and returned safely hours later, having accomplished a flawless flight test as part of NASA’s journey to Mars.

"We as a species are meant to press humanity further into the solar system and this is a first step," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Directorate. "What a tremendous team effort."

via Orion Performance Showcases Exploration Abilities | NASA.

When Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo crashed in late October, the company attributed the loss to an unidentified "serious anomaly." Now, thanks to the ongoing investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, we finally have a clearer picture of what happened 9 miles up in the air that day. According to surviving pilot Peter Siebold, the spacecraft disintegrated around his seat while it was flying at 50,000 feet, almost twice the height of Mt. Everest. The temperature at that altitude is usually below freezing point, around minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and any human without an oxygen mask would pass out due to loss of pressure. Since Siebold wasn’t wearing a spacesuit at the time, that’s exactly what happened to him, though he managed to unbuckle his seatbelt at some point before his parachute automatically opened.

A previous NTSB investigation points to the premature unlocking of SpaceShipTwo’s feather re-entry system as one of the possible causes of the crash. Siebold told authorities he wasn’t aware that co-pilot Michael Alsbury, who sadly didn’t survive, unlocked SpaceShipTwo’s feather braking system earlier than intended. This braking/re-entry method turns the spacecraft’s tail upward in order to slow and stabilize its descent. According to the investigation, Alsbury only unlocked the first lever and left the second one untouched, but the winds tore the spacecraft apart anyway.

As for Siebold, an aerospace physiologist called his survival "extremely remarkable." People don’t usually survive such harsh temperature and pressure conditions, and they usually come out of the ordeal permanently damaged when they do.

[Image credit: Getty Images]

via Virgin Galactic pilot recounts how he survived being ejected at 50,000 feet.

Wreckage of SpaceShipTwo 10-31-2014lVirgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo disintegrated shortly after the vehicle’s tail stabilizers prematurely deployed, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Friday’s crash killed co-pilot Michael Asbury and injured pilot Peter Siebold. The exact cause of the accident is still unknown, and acting NTSB Chair Christopher A. Hart cautioned against drawing conclusions from the initial findings.
Virgin Galactic

SpaceShipTwo’s third powered flight

This promotional video from Virgin Galactic shows the third powered flight of SpaceShipTwo, which took place Jan. 10, 2014. The vehicle’s feathering system can be seen in action at 1:46.

via SpaceShipTwo Feathering System Prematurely Deployed before Fatal Breakup | The Planetary Society.

36.3MP FX-Format CMOS Sensor

No Optical Low Pass Filter

EXPEED 4 Image Processor

3.2″ 1,229k-Dot LCD Monitor

Full HD 1080p Video at 60/30/24 fps

Continuous Shooting to 5 fps in FX Mode

Expandable Sensitivity to ISO 51200

Multi-CAM 3500FX AF Sensor w/ 51 Points

Electronic Front Curtain Shutter

External Mic and Headphone Inputs

Specifications:

Caliber: 5.56×45 / .223 (chamber is 5.56). Conversion kits available for 5.45×39 and 9×19

Barrel Length: Available in 16.5” and 18” versions

Rate of Twist: 1:7

Overall Length: 26 1/8” (16.5” bbl) or 27 5/8” (18” bbl)

Length of Pull: 15.75”

Weight: 7.9 lbs

Trigger Pull Weight: 11.5 lbs

Operation: long stroke gas piston, locking bolt (right or left ejection specific)

Capacity: Accepts AR-15 magazines

Finish: Polymer body available in Black or Flat Dark Earth. All metal parts treated for corrosion resistance

MSRP: $1,999 either color or barrel length. $2,599 in IDF version with Mepro-21 Reflex Sight affixed to barrel (note: this version does not have a full picatinny upper rail)

via Gun Review: IWI TAVOR SAR | The Truth About Guns.

BMW i8
The BMW i8 is no ordinary sports car. It’s an icon of progress — an extraordinary evolution of The Ultimate Driving Machine®. As a plug-in hybrid, this revolutionary vehicle combines the power of a TwinPower Turbo engine and the efficiency of an all-electric motor for an exhilarating driving experience that’s every bit BMW.

Starting at $135,700*

  • 0–60 mph in 4.4 seconds
  • Combined max. power – 362 hp and 420 lb-ft torque
  • Boasts up to 94 mpg fuel efficiency
  • Fully recharges in 1.5 hours from a 220-volt Level 2 charger

BMW i – BMW North America – BMW North America.

BMW i8 Interior