[GreenKeys] Progress report.... on topic and slighty off topic

Fri Apr 12 12:34:28 EDT 2013

Hi Again...

This winter has been a PIA, with both my health (or lack thereof) and the weather, and a combination of the two. While I have been advised by the local media that spring is here, I have my serious doubts to that statement. BUT, the good thing with the rainy gloomy weather is that besides the fact that both the pond and the sanitary drain pond are full to their proper level, the hay field that I top seeded last fall is sprouting nicely. I must say that it was very strange earlier this month to have a driving snow storm with six inches accumulation, yet the frogs were croaking in the ponds at four in the morning. 

With the weather, work on the "outside plant" has been minimal. Very soon, weather be good or bad, I must repair the chicken run and hen house. A raccoon had torn part of the fence down (and had a very acute, lethal case of lead and copper poisoning), which allowed a fox (too pretty to dispatch) to kill a couple of our birds. A permanent fence repair along with an electric outside the fence wire will help, I hope.

With all of the 'global warming' preventing me to work outside this winter and spring, the "inside plant" progress has been great!

First of all, the 1950's vintage radio rack that was given to me for hauling it away has been power washed, the locks re-keyed and the paint touched up. I used an auto paint cleaner and polish on it, which really worked. Then I installed a fan on top of the unit to help dissipate the heat generated by hopefully hundreds of vacuum tubes glowing in the night.

The first photo is of the front of the rack showing the first jack strip that I had installed. This jack strip is the "source loop signals" for my TTY system. Yes, that is a lot of jacks, and I only have a few 'sources' so far, but one can be optimistic! The 'scope over the jack strip is just sitting there for the time being to keep it out of the way. It is DOA, and I will take it out later and try to get it operational. The space it occupies will be used for a set of four loop current power supplies that I am going to build. This set up will have a four local circuit capability when complete, (I hope).

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j291/AmourDuTigre/IMG_2088_zps3b57d1be.jpg

The next two photos are shots from the back of the cabinet. In this one, only the back of the 'scope can be seen, but I included it as the chief RMO (Rodent Mitigation Officer) can be seen doing her duty.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j291/AmourDuTigre/IMG_2082_zps1a02e74f.jpg

This shot is of the rear of the jack panel, and shows the cables coming off of the back of the jacks. You can see that I attempted to lace the cables, but I fear that the lacing job would have gotten me court marshaled in the Navy or fired from Western Electric. The one jack that can be seen dangling from the strip had to be re-soldered and the contacts polished because it had too high a resistance for my liking. It is now re-seated in the strip.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j291/AmourDuTigre/IMG_2080_zps5087d1fc.jpg

This shot is of the shelf in the middle of the cabinet that the screw terminal strips will be located for the incoming and out-going loop source signals. Note the roll of waxed linen lacing twine. Unfortunately, that twine sometimes distracts the RMO from her duties.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j291/AmourDuTigre/IMG_2086_zps930f804d.jpg

This next photo is of the jack side of my loops unit. I found it and payed too much for it on e-pay, but it was of good quality. I would have rather had used a Western Electric, but the jacks were WE and so I used it. It came off of a Neve recording mixer, and so I knew that it was a good quality. The jacks were stamped with 1983, so they were at least thirty years old. Thus, I took them individually apart, (WE jacks can be disassembled and reassembled), cleaned them, buffed the contact points with black construction paper and reassembled them. My nine year old grand daughter and I wired it for loop use and soldered it. Yes, I taught her how to solder. No sexism at our QST!

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j291/AmourDuTigre/IMG_2093_zps19a96892.jpg

And this photo is of the front of the rack again, after the loops were installed. One of the reasons that I used this particular jack strip is that it has six distinct sets of eight jacks. Thus, I used the sets as individual loops. I know that it probably would not be a good idea to use eight different devices in one loop due to distortion, but it does give me options such as putting a mA meter in the loop or to (with out the power supply in the loop) to check the resistance with an ohm meter. Unlike Naval units, there is NO loop current power supply hooked to the loops. It is strictly passive. I did this to give me the greatest flexibility possible.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j291/AmourDuTigre/IMG_2094_zps66a45d48.jpg

Finally, here is one last shot of the RMO, who is feeling quite satisfied with herself and her position in 'the organization'!

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j291/AmourDuTigre/IMG_2083_zps381a5522.jpg

Now for the non-TTY OT part of this report...

As I have posted in the past, I am also into electromechanical telephony and radiation science. I am working on attempting to construct a small stepper CO a.k.a. an SXS switch. It has been slow but steady going. My main accomplishments on this front is to gather the things needed for the power plant. To this end, I have acquired a very heavy steel rack, a 48 volt high current battery charger, a 28 volt talk supply, and a smaller WE power supply for a 555 cord board, where all the "0" for operator calls will go. Some may remember that I was going to have the 48 volt power supply cab grit blasted. Well, as everyone knows, the best laid plans of mice and men... Well, the grit blaster became yet another victim of this wonderful "new economy", and went out of business. There are other sand blasters in the city, but they are all in very unsavory parts of town, and I prefer not to go there. Thus, I am prepping the cabinet the old fashioned way... Take a
 look:

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j291/AmourDuTigre/IMG_2097_zps0723421d.jpg

Here is a view of the inside of this monster. It is very heavy, and the iron inside this thing is the reason...

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j291/AmourDuTigre/IMG_2096_zps6b5ad109.jpg

It looks small in the photos, but it just fits into a 19 inch rack. For me to move this takes planning and a sturdy dolly. My wonderful just 16 year old nephew merely picks it up and asks me where I want it. Sigh. He is a good kid. His mother tells me that I am more of a father to him than his ever was. Seems that is my fate... I have no biological children of my own, but many that call me dad or grandpa.

And finally, here is a cute photo of another of the four legged kids... he is around 14, and was telling me in no uncertain terms that he was not listening to anything that I had to say at the moment. I think he was 'birdwatching' at the moment.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j291/AmourDuTigre/IMG_1856.jpg

Oh, I forgot, one last thing. This photo I snagged off of the Internet. If anyone knows where I can find one of these for a price that does not require a second mortgage on the house, please let me know. They were called the "Call Director" by ma Bell, and I remember when they were ubiquitous. Now they are very hard to find.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j291/AmourDuTigre/KGrHqUOKkEE4mCUVNCiBOTuZE7tg48_3.jpg
Well, that is it for now! Happy Teletyping to all! 

(I hope that I did not bore anyone too bad...)

Best,

Joe Herdler
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