None here in "If you can dream it, we can tax it" MD of course...
31 July 2008
27 July 2008
18 July 2008
14 July 2008
12 July 2008
Yep, I'm an idiot.
Well, well, well. You guys definitely work with some high caliber folks. Here's what I did last night that even a freshman engineering student wouldn't. Because I'm an ass.
About a week ago, we bought a ceiling fan that I will be installing in my foyer. It came with an in-wall remote, but we need another. Home Depot does NOT sell the remote without the receiver, so I had to buy a second remote/receiver pair. So, I need to know if the second remote will work with the receiver that is included in with the fan. It should, both are Hampton Bay, but I wanted to test BEFORE I spent a day in the attic. So last night, I set up a little work area in the garage. I cut an old PC cord, strip it out, and staple it to an old board. Do the same with the receiver. Connect it all with wire nuts, and turn it on with my voltmeter connected to the output.
That's odd, I only get 60VAC on the light output. Check manual... oh, it has a dimmer function. Hold down the light button, and it sweeps its way up to 120VAC. Great! So now I put it on the motor control. No matter what buttons I push, 120VAC. Even when the fan is supposedly OFF. I think to myself, that's pretty odd. Flipping thru the manual to see if I wired it correctly (it's pretty idiotproof, but I AM the better idiot ya know). Turns out, the way the motor speed control works is it limits current not voltage - so "OFF" is 120V 0A, low is 120V 0.21A, etc.
Some of you may already see where this is headed.
So I switch my multimeter to amperage mode. Put it on low, and yeah, about 0.2A. Great. So I've verified that the remote and receiver that came with the fan operate, so I can next test the second remote. But to make sure, I push the "high" button.
Boom and magic smoke my friends. Apparently "HIGH" means free-for-all. For the less technically inclined readers, I had no load on the line, so I did the equivalent of connecting the two wires with a wire, which either (a) trips your circuit breaker or (b) melts something that takes less current than needed for (a) to happen. I opened the box afterward and saw that I vaporized a trace. Crapola. Now I need to spend ANOTHER $40 on ANOTHER remote control unit.
About a week ago, we bought a ceiling fan that I will be installing in my foyer. It came with an in-wall remote, but we need another. Home Depot does NOT sell the remote without the receiver, so I had to buy a second remote/receiver pair. So, I need to know if the second remote will work with the receiver that is included in with the fan. It should, both are Hampton Bay, but I wanted to test BEFORE I spent a day in the attic. So last night, I set up a little work area in the garage. I cut an old PC cord, strip it out, and staple it to an old board. Do the same with the receiver. Connect it all with wire nuts, and turn it on with my voltmeter connected to the output.
That's odd, I only get 60VAC on the light output. Check manual... oh, it has a dimmer function. Hold down the light button, and it sweeps its way up to 120VAC. Great! So now I put it on the motor control. No matter what buttons I push, 120VAC. Even when the fan is supposedly OFF. I think to myself, that's pretty odd. Flipping thru the manual to see if I wired it correctly (it's pretty idiotproof, but I AM the better idiot ya know). Turns out, the way the motor speed control works is it limits current not voltage - so "OFF" is 120V 0A, low is 120V 0.21A, etc.
Some of you may already see where this is headed.
So I switch my multimeter to amperage mode. Put it on low, and yeah, about 0.2A. Great. So I've verified that the remote and receiver that came with the fan operate, so I can next test the second remote. But to make sure, I push the "high" button.
Boom and magic smoke my friends. Apparently "HIGH" means free-for-all. For the less technically inclined readers, I had no load on the line, so I did the equivalent of connecting the two wires with a wire, which either (a) trips your circuit breaker or (b) melts something that takes less current than needed for (a) to happen. I opened the box afterward and saw that I vaporized a trace. Crapola. Now I need to spend ANOTHER $40 on ANOTHER remote control unit.
04 July 2008
NES mod
This is pretty cool - has 99 games!
http://www.hackaday.com/2008/07/03/portable-nes-in-a-nes-cartridge/
http://www.hackaday.com/2008/07/03/portable-nes-in-a-nes-cartridge/
03 July 2008
Awesome - missing Metropolis footage
And I already own TWO copies of the DVD, one the original, one the restored from a few years back...
http://tastybooze.com/2008/07/lost-metropolis-footage-found/
http://tastybooze.com/2008/07/lost-metropolis-footage-found/
01 July 2008
Awesome Quote
Forwarded from my buddy Jim:
"How a politician stands on the Second Amendment tells you how he or she views you as an individual... as a trustworthy and productive citizen, or as part of an unruly crowd that needs to be lorded over, controlled, supervised, and taken care of."
~Texas State Rep. Suzanna Gratia-Hupp
"How a politician stands on the Second Amendment tells you how he or she views you as an individual... as a trustworthy and productive citizen, or as part of an unruly crowd that needs to be lorded over, controlled, supervised, and taken care of."
~Texas State Rep. Suzanna Gratia-Hupp
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