RVA
Ambassador
I am very sorry for your loss. My best to you and the family for some piece in this difficult time.
Your friend likely has a long road to recovery on front of him. I wish him a speedy recovery
So Anyway...
- Thread starter Sp8ctre
- Start date
Your friend likely has a long road to recovery on front of him. I wish him a speedy recovery
Sorry for the
ty news, you know I've been there on Blues St myself not to long ago. My heart goes out to you, and all concerned. May your high school buddy heal quickly and completely!
What a terrible day. Best wishes and prayers to your family and friend. Life is precious and we should enjoy every day we have with family and friends.
Ditto, Spectre....
Sorry to hear of this sir. Condolences, and well wishes.
ChasFred
Ambassador of Smooth Operations
That is a crappy way to start the day, you, your family and friend are in our thought.
ChasFred
Ambassador of Smooth Operations
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING A HORSES ASS
The US standard railroad gauge (width between the two rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That’s an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used?
Because that’s the way they built them in England, and the US railroads were built by English expatriates.
Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that’s the gauge they used.
Why did “they” use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons which used that wheel spacing.
Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that’s the spacing of the wheel ruts.
So who built those old rutted roads? The first long distance roads in Europe (and England) were built by Imperial Rome for their legions. The roads have been used ever since. And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots first formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for (or by) Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.
The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Specifications and bureaucracies live forever. So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse’s ass came up with it, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses. Thus, we have the answer to the original question.
Now the twist to the story . . .
There’s an interesting extension to the story about railroad gauges and horses’ behinds. When we see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs might have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory had to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track is about as wide as two horses’ behinds. So, the major design feature of what is arguably the world’s most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a Horse’s Ass!
The US standard railroad gauge (width between the two rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That’s an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used?
Because that’s the way they built them in England, and the US railroads were built by English expatriates.
Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that’s the gauge they used.
Why did “they” use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons which used that wheel spacing.
Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that’s the spacing of the wheel ruts.
So who built those old rutted roads? The first long distance roads in Europe (and England) were built by Imperial Rome for their legions. The roads have been used ever since. And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots first formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for (or by) Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.
The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Specifications and bureaucracies live forever. So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse’s ass came up with it, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses. Thus, we have the answer to the original question.
Now the twist to the story . . .
There’s an interesting extension to the story about railroad gauges and horses’ behinds. When we see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs might have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory had to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track is about as wide as two horses’ behinds. So, the major design feature of what is arguably the world’s most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a Horse’s Ass!
syscokid
Ambassador of War & Peace
It was certainly a problem for them when they invaded Russia. Russia had WIDER tracks!
4 feet 8-1/2" center-to-center here in the USA.
jtcnj
Ambassador of the Crossroad
That sounds like what I was vaguely remembering, associating it with going east.
jtcnj
Ambassador of the Crossroad
So, anyway I was playing the Silkyn Saturday, both channel volumes on 3.
About an hour in, slight pop followed by silence. Power light still lit.
Popped the B+ / HT fuse.
This is with the new / replacement PT from O'netics.
Guessing, dont think I have more than 30 or so hours total on the amp.
Pretty sure I have spares but yet to track them down.
I'm not going to just call it good if the new fuse holds; it merits some investigation.
More to follow when I get time, likely late Oct.
About an hour in, slight pop followed by silence. Power light still lit.
Popped the B+ / HT fuse.
This is with the new / replacement PT from O'netics.
Guessing, dont think I have more than 30 or so hours total on the amp.
Pretty sure I have spares but yet to track them down.
I'm not going to just call it good if the new fuse holds; it merits some investigation.
More to follow when I get time, likely late Oct.
jtcnj
Ambassador of the Crossroad
My thoughts exactly.
Only mod is swapped the reverb cathode resistor and running a 12at7; that was way back and with the old PT.
I did put new matched pair of tung sol 6l6 STR that are supposed to tolerate the high plate voltage 480v ish I think.
The B+ and current through both tubes is not exaclty the same based on the transformer measurement method.
The new and old PT both have the same variation, so it may be the circuit component tolerance.
The bias pot on these is very touch and not easy to dial in, as you may know.
I biased these at I think 80/85%, I dont have my notebook here to look.
Didn’t someone fry a grid resistor...like a 3watt on one of the power tubes? I think he gave up on his though...I remember him asking for help identifying it, with pictures, his was all black and white from being cooked.
I hope yours is an easy fix.
Yes, I remember biasing mine in the kitchen...touchy little donut rig.
syscokid
Ambassador of War & Peace
That's a really hot bias. Personally, I try to avoid anything over 70%.