Month: May 2020

May 29, 2020 – The Vinyl Experiment

May 29, 2020 /

Fridays tend to be the days that I think about music. I think that it is because you are looking forward to the weekend and it is kind of a day to celebrate. Back when I was working, I would create a playlist that would capture my mood or summarize the week. And I would open it up for other team members to add their selections.

I mentioned it previously, but my nephew gave my wife a record player for Mother’s Day (a story for another day). I believe that I have a few records at my parents house, but they were out of town. So last weekend, we looked up a record store in a nearby town. We probably browsed for around an hour.

I have been interested in the vinyl re-revolution. I am old enough to remember and even have records. I started thinking about the format changes and theory of Occam’s razor. I will summarize in that changes tend to go to the extreme. So, vinyl begot 8-track (because it was more potable) back to vinyl to cassette to CD and then digital download. Each change vacillated between clearer audio or more control or more portable formats.

There are still a lot of records around. The problem is that like all album collections, there are two or three songs that I am interested in, the rest I can take or leave. I also dont have a lot of time to sit around and really listen to full albums. So, I think the perfect tests are new releases of ‘best of’ type collections (of old music). I also think that for records, I want music to belong to the era that they were originally produce.

We tried the new record player. It is one of those all in one, suitcase types. It was definitely an nostalgic experience. I had one as a kid that took a lot of abuse. We listened to most of all of our new purchases. We did have some difficulty with all of the used records, When I look at them by eye I dont see a problem, so I suspect that it is the quality of the player itself.

I hooked the player up to the receiver to try and get the full audio experience. Because this is one of the all in one units, the phono amplifier and the record player didn’t get along too well. I could hear the much richer undertones, but a lot of scratches and feedback and noise. I switched the input to the CD port and the sound was much clearer, but there was no low end to the music.

I did a comparison from vinyl to YouTube video and I have to say that I much preferred the sound quality to the digital version versus the record. That being said, I am going to blame all of the problems on the player and not the format or the records themselves. This has lead me into looking for a reasonably priced record player that I can hook up to the receiver for a better test.

I have been thinking about having Friday’s as my music day on this platform. So, today I am going to put together a playlist for my recent vinyl purchases.

May 28, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

May 28, 2020 /

I grew up in a thrifty family. I also grew up in an era (so I am told) where reloaded ammunition could be significantly better than factory purchased. For years, I saved every piece of brass that I ever shot for that one day that I would reload myself.

I think around 2010, I purchased my reloading setup. But first, I had to build a bench to use it. Well that took me three years of barely working on it. I started on a good streak, with a simple idea. Then, the cat had kittens in my shop and you know how projects go… I put it down for a couple of years.

After that, I had to invest in components to actually reload. There are a dizzying amount of powders, primers and bullet combinations. I guess that it took me forty years to start. One of the very useful companies that make products for this niche is MTM. They make a lot of inexpensive but high quality, plastic boxes, holders, cases and accessories for shooting and reloading.

For around $4, a box can be purchased that hold 20/50/100 rounds. They are caliber family specific but not specific to a caliber. What does that mean? The box that I have 45 Colt could also be used for 41 magnum, 44 special, 44 magnum, 454 Casull or 460 Smith and Wesson. So, the same box works for any of those choices. I have quite a number of them and I am going to give some reasons to own them even if you are not a reloader.

They come in multiple different color combinations as well as each box has a set of colored, marking stickers on them. The OCD in me uses different colored boxes for similar cartridges as well as different colored stickers to keep everything organized.

It also should be noted that there are competitors as well, but I do not own any of them as the MTM product is the most available in my market. Another reason is that all of the MTM products stack nicely with each other with interlocking feet to lid connection. I have stacked other brands without as secure of connection with the MTM, so I stick to the same brand because I feel like the organization is better.

To find these things in the store, they are usually around the reloading section or supplies. What I have done is pick-up a couple at a time until I have the number that I want for a particular caliber. Many stores do not stock a high number of these things, so if you want 10 at one time then you are going to want to order them. The most I have seen at one time is six in any store.

The most common variety that I see at the store is the black with clear green top. If you want to color match a particular caliber, my experience is that those are less stocked. I have seen them out at a box store for months in good times. So, you might want to order less common colors, if you are in a hurry to get organized.

If you are a reloader, it seems pretty obvious why you would use these. It is a place to store your product. MTM provides a load card or sticker so that you can reference your box to your particular load that you made. I also occasionally pick up brass at the range and I batch up the brass until I have a full box to reload. But why would you use them if you are not a reloader?

The first thing that I use them for is to break-up bulk pack ammunition into range size quantities. That is unless you are going to shoot 250 or 1000 rounds at a session, I don’t. This is part of the way that I keep track of round count through my firearms.

Another use I have found is a place to put leftovers. It isn’t so much my trips to the range, but it seems like there are always leftover shotgun shells after trap or sporting clays. I have also had days where things are not going so well and I just pack it up for the day. Another leftover scenario is that when you load a six shot revolver for self defense purposes, there is one or two rounds leftover by the time you load up a couple of speed loaders as well. This keeps leftovers from just rolling around.

If you like organization like I do, then give them a shot. They wont break the bank and they are quite useful.

May 27, 2020 – Review: Makita Cordless Circular Saw (XSS02)

May 27, 2020 /

I have been using this tool for the last couple of months. I have got to say that it has become the go-to circular saw in my inventory. I am going to give some ins and outs of my experience.

A cordless circular saw should not be your only circular saw, but probably your first one. Once a certain level of efficacy is achieved with the engineering of the tool, all the additional drawbacks are secondary. What I mean is that a smaller overall blade means less cutting capacity and a battery means limited runtime. But, for the ‘one’ cut or the awkward cuts you cannot beat a small, lightweight and cordless tool.

I am going to compare and contrast some of the other saws in my line-up to try and build a case for this one. My first saw was a traditional home-owner grade Skil. Nothing really wrong with that, I have done a lot of projects and it is serviceable. The number one thing that improves accuracy (for a right hander) is having a blade to the left so you can see the blade cutting the line as you push the saw.

I upgraded to a Porter-Cable about fifteen years ago. This is a much beefier, contractor oriented saw. It has the blade on the left, a really wide base. This saw is ear splitting loud and I have some trouble with the blade wandering, could be me but it doesnt seem to be an issue with other saws. However, the first thing that broke was the ‘tool less’ nut to hold the blade on. This happened mid-project so I ended up buying the Skil worm drive saw while I waited on a replacement nut.

The Skil is a beast. If I am cutting framing lumber all day long or concrete block, this is the saw that I want. It is quiet and powerful (and really heavy). Now, I am going to review the roles that each of these saws’ play. The regular Skil is now attached to my Kreg track. The worm drive is for heavy duty cutting and the Porter-Cable I use largely for demolition. That leaves the Makita for everything else.

I think most people in this realm know that once a brand is chosen, you are smart to buy other tools in the same brand because you can share batteries between them. Hence I have the Makita tool system and a number of tools that are in the family. In true disclosure, I dont have a lot of recent experience with other brands. But after fretting for several months on what brand to buy, I think that you probably cant go wrong with any of them. I will say that DeWalt is available at both major home centers whereas Makita is not. The same is true for Rigid, Milwaukee, Ryobi, Bosch and Craftsman, being store specific.

Now, I only have 3 aHr batteries, so to get more run time, an upgraded battery would be an improvement. However, on a full charge I was able to work on siding all day long without changing batteries. The light an compact nature of the saw is extremely useful in tight situations.

On the more downside of things, this saw does not have a ton of torque so it needs a runway to get started with cutting. It can bind relatively easy so you need to pay attention to the cut. Because of the light weight, kick back is much more real because it doesn’t have the mass behind it to counter act the forces of binding. If you add to it more risky support because of the light weight of the saw you need to be careful not to get injured.

ScoreProsCons
Value3/5Uses batteries for my existing 18V toolsCosts as much as a high output electric saw
Batteries requires brand loyalty
Quality5/5Good ergonomic fit
Performance4/5Very happy about the performance of a lightweight, cordless sawHigh battery draw, the brushless saw (for 50% more) would be more efficient and powerful

It should be noted that this was a tool only purchase. At $129 that is fairly steep for convenience. There are options to buy kits where the most common is drill, driver, reciprocating saw and circular saw that would come with batteries and a charger. The saw can be purchased with battery and charger as well, but you are now getting up to the $250 range. At that price I don’t think this is worth the money.

To sum it up, I am very happy. Despite the many drawbacks not having a cord is sure convenient.

May 26, 2020 – When to cope and when to miter

May 26, 2020 /

Most people, don’t install trim properly. I can say that even though I know how to do it, sometimes I have chosen to do it incorrectly, because it can be faster. I already had the saw setup, I didnt want to go fetch the coping saw and making nice fitting joints are difficult, especially when the profile is complicated.

Miter – Incorrect installation

A miter is a joint where two pieces, each cut with 45 degree bevel on the end of a molding profile are put together. When two pieces meet, they should be very close to 90 degrees. Miters should be used when making outside joints, like around the corners, not inside corners like around a room.

Miter – proper installation
Coping cut – the proper inside joint

A coping cut follows the profile of the molding and has a back bevel so the piece is pressed against the adjacent molding. It requires the same initial 45 degree cut as a miter, but then you use a coping saw to follow the molding profile as you cut all of the material away.

The reason to not use a miter is that walls are rarely square. If one corner is 92 degrees (wider than square) then the corresponding miter should be 46 degree cuts on each piece. In my case, my saw only goes to 45 degrees, so then you are trying to cut backward or shimming the piece to try and get more than the saw is capable of cutting (with some guess work too).

On my project, I already had mitered molding which I did not totally remove. So when putting the molding back up, I started with a mitered corner so I did not have to tear the room apart. It also appears that my molding profile is no longer readily available. I am using molding from other parts of the house so that I can make matches with existing trim. The bathroom will be new and we may redo all or some of the trim in the living space.

This room is nearly finished. I am down to the detail work. I am really happy with the results.

May 22, 2020 – Heading toward a misunderstood holiday weekend

May 22, 2020 /

As an Eagle Scout, my patriotism runs deep. But as I often say, details matter and this is one of those things that is starting to annoy me more as I get older.

Memorial Day originally began as a symbol and remembrance of the horror of war. It was created as a holiday by President Ulysses Grant approximately at the end of the battle of Gettysburg. Gettysburg is considered the turning point in the US Civil War. This is a day to remember those who died in battle, in service to their country, period.

Like many people, I don’t actually know anyone that has died in battle. I know people that were wounded and I know people that later succumbed to their demons. Most of them were kids who’s lives have not yet begun. So unless you are a parent, spouse, sibling or served in combat it is not likely you will have a strong connection to this holiday either.

In this age of ‘woke’ and relative morality, culturally we have lost touch with actual right and wrong. In lieu of potentially offending someone, we just accept wrongness and actively perpetuate it. Patriotic groups are actually the worst at propagating the improper image. I will explain.

My sons’ Boy Scout Troop places flags at one of the local graveyards during the week of Memorial Day. The selection criteria for a grave getting a flag is whether there is an indicator that the person served in the military on the headstone.

That level of discrimination has nothing to do with actual Memorial Day. For the most part, I can tell that most of them did not die in the line of duty by how long they lived. I have also seen flags placed on empty graves because I know one person who’s spouse died and has the headstone mostly complete, including USMC.

At my church last year, everyone that served in the military was recognized during Memorial Sunday. I heard a local country music station say thanks to all that served, including now first responders. We have gone off of the deep end on giving recognition that is way out of context to the meaning of the event.

Service for the most part is a choice, not an enlightenment. I am thankful that people make that choice. But I also believe in supply/demand economics. The kids that I know that have enlisted are doing so for education, VA home loans, paychecks, signing bonuses and twenty years retirement. That is a great reason to do so and I support that decision methodology.

But, lets no kid ourselves here. A signing bonus is a long way from the Marine landing at Omaha Beach or the Pacific islands. Watching actual footage of kids throwing up out of fear and cut to bodies bobbing in the surf has little to do with each other. War is a business where casualties are expected, it is a matter of which ones.

I am all for expressing gratitude, its is a trait that I am not very good at. I just want us to actually take to heart this weekend that ‘Some Gave All’, almost universally not by choice. Strategic and tactical decisions were made and the consequences were death. Let us not cheapen their sacrifice because we are ignorant or are worried that someone is going to be left out of recognition.

May 21, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

May 21, 2020 /

Today’s subject is the ‘tactical dresser’. It is a place to store your ammo, holsters, (maybe) handguns, magazines and other gear.

Of course, I am being a little tongue and cheek. This dresser is something that we bought and used. It was in the apartment and in the way with all of the renovations currently. I am on the fence about whether to refinish it and resell it or donate it. However, with the purchase of a new refrigerator I had to reconfigure a bit of plumbing. Because of that, I had to move a bunch of stuff to access the piping in the basement and consequently, I stuck it in the dresser to get it out of the way,

Everyone needs a place to organize their junk and accoutrement that goes along with their hobbies and interests. For myself, I find a lot of joy in everything having a functional home. I have probably spent as much time building benches and storage furniture than I have actually pursuing the hobby that they were for. The bench that has appeared in multiple ‘Tacticool’ Thursdays posts was designed and constructed as a fly tying bench. It actually has been used as a reloading bench, but not yet to tie a fly.

I have constructed custom pantry, camping and propane storage shelves. I have made pegboard racks, ammunition shelves and potting benches. Maybe they will make it into future posts. I guess that it is the frugality in me, but I am always thinking about how ‘junk’ can be repurposed to into something that be used to further my organization and make life better. Because as much as I think it is good to clean out old stuff, I worry about donating unwanted stuff is still junk in the end.

The dresser pictured is something that we purchased second hand. It is a quality piece of furniture that was built in the 1980s and is made of ‘real’ materials like American Oak. It is dated, no doubt about it but it is well made and well built.

The dresser we used for twenty years was something that was garbage when I started. Contact paper wrapped the entire piece. There were cigarette burns and scars on the top. When I refinished it, it revealed a mahogany veneer. It turned out to be beautiful and I hated to replace it when we did. But there is a saying, “you cant polish a turd”.

Let’s bring this all around. Look at your cast offs, look at you needs. Make sure you are not making your problem someone else’s. Make sure when you are donating something that you are asking yourself, “would you buy this?” Can you integrate this into something that would benefit you? Make your life better by organizing and utilizing material that would otherwise end up in the landfill.

May 20, 2020 – Don’t anyone fool you that construction demolition is fun (or easy)

May 20, 2020 /

I feel like the role of demolition in a project, particularly on TV is portrayed as some kind of romantic process. There is a wild, passionate throw of ideas like “we can knock this down and open that up and replace these fixtures and those sets of cabinets”. Everyone will get out their pent up aggression and an hour later will be moving on to making everything nice and new.

In the real world, that just isnt true. Demo is long, tough, tedious and dirty business. The conditions are less than ideal sometimes downright gross. Rot, mold, mildew, excrement and even dead animals are part of the discovery.

In my case, I am always mindful of ‘over’ demo. If I want to use one sheet of drywall or plywood, I am calculating precisely how far to go so as not to need one and 1/8 of a sheet. I am thoughtful that molding profile may not be easy to match again, so unless I want to redo the entire room, I need to be careful removing it. Gentle demo can take days longer.

I try to be consciences about reuse and value as well. Cabinet and fixture removals are examples of that. Habitat for humanity will take items in serviceable and good condition, but not damaged. I try to reuse wood and minimize landfill fodder as well. We burn appropriate and clean wood in our fire pit for family entertainment. That minimizes waste and maximize use, but nails and things need to be removed first.

I don’t mind swinging a sledgehammer ten times. But eight hours of prying, cutting at odd angles, hammering and wrestling sharp heavy objects quickly removes the romance. It is probably my lack of experience, but rarely does any of this go as planned or easy.

Yesterday’s progress on the bathroom. Boy is our work cut out for us.

May 19, 2020 – What the @#%! is a dipole?

May 19, 2020 /

This recent excursion into Audio/Visual equipment and electronics has gotten me looking around to the science of antennas. Boy let me tell you that from what is out there, this hobby is either a cult or dominated socially challenged individuals. It is very hard to get concise, novice level advice that isn’t filled with technical jargon.

The words cheap or DIY antenna conjure up some pretty ‘hacky’ results. Some of the first results found in such a search do bring up results, but they are very mixed up in technical details that don’t matter and use some techniques and materials that are lab worthy, but not something that will stand the test of time. I want to qualify before I get too deep that I am not an expert in the science nor do I have much (if any) experience in building antennas.

First, how do radio signals work? Each radio station has a frequency that they broadcast their signal. For example, 101.5 MHz is one particular radio station address. So what is a MHz?

  • M – Mega or 1,000,000
  • Hz – Hertz, unit of length of the radio signal in one second

That means that for 101.5, there are 101,500,000 waves in one second. All signals have an assigned band of frequencies that they can operate in. So, the smaller the number (of hertz), the the taller the wave is (because you are measuring the length in one second). Here are some examples from shortest to longest.

  • AM 535-1605 KHz (remember that kilo is 1,000)
  • FM 88-108 MHz
  • VHF 174-216 MHz
  • UHF 470-806 MHz

This is why antennas need to be specific size (length) to the signal that they are trying to capture. They are optimized for a frequency or band of frequencies, like a TV antenna. Also when looking at an outdoor TV antenna, notice that each conductor is a different length. This is to try and capture all of the frequencies that are available in the range.

So a dipole is a type of antenna that has a specific length of conductor that is optimized for one frequency. The most familiar dipole is the ‘rabbit ears’ type antenna. I wont go into all of the science on this version, however the principle is that you extend or adjust the length of the antenna and orientation to maximize reception of a particular frequency.

The length of a dipole is determined by matching the size of the radio wave to the frequency that you are trying to capture. Looking at the picture above, it would be an antenna that is one of the horizontal members sized for a specific frequency. There are calculators online that you can use to determine how long your antenna needs to be in order to capture the frequency you are looking for.

There is also a concept of directional or unidirectional. Directional means that your orientation of the antenna matters in the reception ability. Dipoles are directional, but it seems like the features where it matters, like Ham radio are not really affected for FM reception. We will find out.

The good news about all of this is that this is a novice look at all of this, so if you decide to build a dipole for FM, and your antenna is between 4’3″-5’3″ feet, you should be able to get most of the available stations. I will be posting about what I think makes a good antenna in the near future as I finish building it.

May 18, 2020 – It’s Alive!

May 18, 2020 /

I don’t have a ton of time lately. My schedule has been cruise the different job websites, apply for relevant jobs, write a blog post and then work on getting my rental house together. Even on the weekends, I have been doing this. I may get an hour or two some days and I have been spending it looking at my audio equipment.

The receiver is now working, which means the receiver and tape deck are now working. I also replaced the connection from the computer to the OEM speakers and run the sound through the receiver. I hooked up the surround sound and did a Dolby test, wow it has been years since that experience. I also have been playing my podcasts through the receiver as I putter around in the basement. That has lead me into investigations into building antennas and other things that I will talk about in a later post.

First, I thought that there was a component blown out in the receiver and that proved to not be true. Taking the cover off and looking around, I found a piece of dried grass that was laying across the speaker conductors (I couldn’t really get a good picture of it because it was too deep into the box). I used some compressed air to flush it out and viola, it works.

The same cannot be said with the CD player. That is currently in parts. I think I may have damaged it by not knowing what I was doing. A couple of things that I have learned so far… There is a downloadable service manual which has been helpful in not breaking things further. The CD player has diagnostics on-board which has told me that the table position sensor has failed (I think I damaged it when I tried to force the table back in). It is not easy to find parts outside of drive belt.

Looking around, there are some ‘local’ authorized service people. I may pursue that because it seems that this unit is still worth $200 according to Amazon. At the very least, I am going to look at the board and the sensor a little more carefully to see if a solder job is a quick remedy.

This journey has kind of fascinated me. There are people who are really into this sort of thing. I have to admit, seeing old units from the seventies next to an old magazine add is pretty cool. Learning the history and mystique that is attached to some of the old units is pretty interesting.

Lastly, unexpectedly and kind of serendipitously my wife received a record player for Mothers Day. It isn’t a real high end one, but I thought it would be fun anyway. I do still (think) that I have some records at my parents house, like “Thriller”. Unfortunately, the are travelling for a couple weeks, so I will have to wait until they get back to get them.

Last year, vinyl outsold CDs for the first time ever. It is definitely a growing trend. There is something in my head that seems wrong to play today’s music in vinyl. I am thinking of purchasing something like “The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra: All Over the World”. That seems like an appropriate maiden voyage.

May 15, 2020 – Progress is faster than the documentation

May 15, 2020 /

A quick update for today (I know that I need to do more than take pictures). So much has changed in the last couple of days. The siding on the south and east side is done, the island is demo’d, the new heater is in and the drywall is installed.

With rain in the forecast this weekend, I will probably spend more time on the drywall finishing. We also got a new refrigerator today. It doesn’t fit into the space it is supposed to go. I will have to shorten the water supply which will require a bit of modification of the plumbing.

More pictures and info to come… have a good weekend.