[Elecraft] temperature sensors and "convert" -- totally off topic

[Fred Jensen]

Since Eric seems to be on vacation or otherwise indisposed ...

With full credit to Richmond Johnson, a colleague at work and retired 
USAF Col, I think the problem with "going metric" is that we all have a 
"Knower" inside our head, as he said.  I "know" what a mile is.  I have 
body parts that help me know what an inch, a foot, or a yard are.  On 
the highway, I can probably tell you when we've gone a mile to within 
maybe 200-300 ft.  I "know" what a pound is, give me a brick and I'll 
likely hit it within a few ounces.  Yes, my Knower knows what an ounce 
is too.

Ham radio as a teen exposed me to metric ... 80 and 40 meters.

While in uniform in SE Asia, I learned metric for good.  It took awhile 
for my "knower" to know what a kilometer was without translating to 
miles, but it did, and now I just "know" what a kilometer is, same for 
meters, centimeters and millimeters.  I "know" how hot my KPA500 is when 
it says "60C".  I have to think to relate that to deg F, and I don't 
care anyway.

At one point a number of years ago, CalTrans began putting both miles 
and km on road signs.  I don't think there are many left.  It's probably 
going to take a generation or two dying off [one might be mine :-))] 
before the move to metric will accelerate.  It's moving very slow now, 
furlong by furlong, it does seem really slow.

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 2014 Cal QSO Party 4-5 Oct 2014
- www.cqp.org

On 6/22/2014 3:56 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote:
> Well, that may be more possible than many years ago when a switch to
> metric was proposed.
> At that time, the machine tool industry was well invested in the English
> system for such things as screw threads and such.
> Now that the automotive industry uses mostly metric hardware, the switch
> may be easier than it was 'back then'.
>
> I think the main stumbling block right now is a 'consumer attitude' in
> the US that thinks in the English system.
>
> I can go to the hardware store and buy Metric fasteners, no problem, so
> in terms of hardware availability, no problem exists - I think the major
> problem is in the minds of the US consumers who are well indoctrinated
> into the English system of weights and measures.
>
> Even at that, it is not entirely English - my weight is in Pounds, but
> in England, it would be in Stones, while the rest of the world would
> measure weight in Kilograms.
>
> So much for standardization.