Dakota Today

***LED Flashlights..Lux vs. Lumens, etc

Flashlights are kind of a necessary tool or necessary evil depending on your perspective and uses.  Today I saw a small "Atomic Lamp" flashlight that claimed 5000 Lux output.  I had a Maglite that is supposed to be 156 Lumens.  For comparison, I bought a Coleman flashlight claiming 250 Lumens.  With current Shopko sales, coupons,etc, they were all about $15.  Tonight after dark, I will see how these compare.  Shining them on the side of a white kitchen cabinet this afternoon, the results suggest there is no good way to compare these flashlights.  One Lux is supposed to be same light as 1 lumen lighting area of 1 square meter.  There are sites which will make a comparison, but making any good use of them may not be so easy. My curiosity was aroused enough to buy these for my own direct comparison.

The Maglite puts out a light that can be focused from flood to spot.  The "Atomic Lamp" (by as offered on TV) is also adjustable by sliding the head end out from the body.  This adjustment is not obvious just looking at the light.  The Coleman has two light levels but is not  adjustable from spot to flood.  Against the white cabinet with both putting about a 3 foot diameter spot, the "Atomic" seemed a bit brighter than the Coleman.  But the Coleman has more of a spot than a flood kind of output.  

I will have some photos tonight with a little luck.  Right now, it appears your use or uses of these flashlights may be more important than the advertised light output.  The "Atomic" light is smallest ..about 1 inch in diameter and about 6 inches long.  It uses three AAA cells. It has two light levels and two flasher speeds. If you are a lady carrying these in your purse, and using it to walk from car to house or in house, this might be the best choice.  

If you are often outdoors at night and indoors too, the Coleman might be a good option.  It has two light levels...I assume the lower levels on both these flashlights save battery life. The MagLite may be best if you are mostly outdoors with it and needing to spotlight something several hundred feet away.  It can be set to a flood position (and anything in between flood and spot).  These can be purchsed in two sizes-- one using 3 C cells and the other using 2 C cells.  The Maglight is a bit over one foot long and a bit over 1 inch in diameter.  The head end which can be twisted to adjust beam width is perhaps nearly 2 inches in diameter.  Below is a photo of these three flashlights and a fourth that may be free or two to five dollars.

Tonight at the farm, I tried these out after dark.  All of them, including the freebie) were good enough for changing a tire with somebody holding the light or perhaps on ground proped up a bit.  The number 4 light has a magnet, so it will stick to iron and steel.  When shone on a red car about 100 feet away, all three of the flashlights were bright enough to get a good idea of color.  The Maglite was best, the Coleman was next and the Atomic Light was least bright.  When flashlights were shined on a building about 300 feet away, all three made the building visible.  The Maglite could be adjusted for best light and would work with more distant objects.  I was surprised that the Coleman with no adjustment to spot was as good or better than the Maglite.  The Atomic Lamp was least bright when beam was narrowed all the way to spot, but building was still easily visible.

Obviously, your mileage will vary as they say.  If getting only one good flashlight for use in a car or outdoors, the Coleman is the simplest and probably most useful for distances under 300 feet.  The Maglite would be better for car and mostly longer distances.  For use in a woman's purse and car and waking from car to house, etc. the Atomic lamp might be most convenient and useful.  It has a cord so it could be hung on your wrist, etc.  At shorter distances 5 to 10 feet or so, it might provide best uniform from side to side light in the full flood position. It also has the flasher options for emergencies  If minimum expense and still functional for short distances, the Harbor Freight freebie might be the most economical yet good enough option.  And while not shown in the image above, the pen size lights for a shirt pocket provide just enough light to be handy.  They are also good for tight spaces and are usually available for $6 to $10.

I have seen flashlights claiming more output and other options, but many of them push into the $49 to $69 price area.  If you have found any other real deals or for other special or ordinary purposes, share your experience in a comment.

I found a flashlight at Harbor Freight, but have not had batteries to test it yet.  It does not use LUX or LUMENS for outful but specifies 11,000 to 13,000 CANDELA.  When I can compare these all again in the real world, I will add any new information.  I did find a site sort of explaining a few things.---  Comparing Candela, Lux, and Lumens. Hope you find it interesting and understandable even if it might not help much in real world comparisons.

***Stay tuned for just a little more light on the situation--- Doug Wiken

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*** HD Radio and a few feet of electric fence wire

SDPB has been broadcasting classical music on their Freq.2 HD signal.  Here that is 91.1 mhz and HD 2. Sounds more complicated than it is.  After SDPB-radio dropped classical music on their FM stations, I checked out the continuous classical music on their TV signal.  Their channels here are something like 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5 and 10.6.  The first four are TV channels.  The last two are "audio only".  10.5 is the regular FM radio signal, and 10.6 is continuous classical music.

It seemed a bit silly to have a 40 inch TV only producing audio, so I asked SDPB about their HD radio broadcasts.  With an HD radio, they can be found by clicking a tuning button something like " - HD Seek +."  I purchased a $50 Tabletop Insignia HD radio(NS-HDRAD2 ) at Best Buy . (Amazon may have it for around $32)  It worked perfectly in Rapid City on the 89.3 signal.  Back here in Winner atop a hill, it would work  next to a north window in a house with wire lath which makes it something like a Faraday Cage.   In our old farm house on the second floor, I could get it to work on the north side of the house (Reliance, SD TV-Radio towers are north of us about 45 miles).  But, if I moved it 10 feet south and south of a wall, it would pick up regular FM signals, but not the HD signals.  In other words, HD worked in a stairway and nowhere else.  Not quite what I wanted.

I did a search yesterday and got the dimensions for a dipole antenna tuned to 91.1 mhz. Dipoles output for a 300 ohm twinlead unless a balun transformer is used to convert to 75 ohm coaxial cable.  The transformers are only a few dollars.  But, the little Insignia portable has no port for connecting an external antenna.  I thought I would experiment with about 8 feet of electric fence wire..  I wrapped a spiral about 3/4 inch in diameter with 6 turns or so.  Stuck the wire over a door frame and slipped the loops over the 3 foot extendable antenna on the radio.  Worked like a charm.  The HD channels at 91.1 came in loud and clear.  I will probably make this arrangement a bit neater, but it works.  There are HD radios with antenna connections, but price is more in the $100 area.  This little Insignia radio will work with the included AC adapter or on 4 AA batteries.

So, if you want something like CD quality from a radio (and 24 Hour Classical or regular FM news aand music), this is probably a workable option for many areas of South Dakota.  We have been unable to find any other HD broadcasts in South Dakota.  Right now, SDPB appears to be only source.

*** Stay tuned and if you have any more info on HD radio and radios, please let me know--- Doug Wiken

*** "New?" electrical connectors..WAGO from Germany

These slick electrical connectors may have been around for years as far as I know, but we first saw them at Menards in Rapid City.  We checked for negative comments on the internet and really found none.  It appears to me that these "lever" connectors could save a lot of time and also space in junction boxes.  They can handle a range of wire sizes something like from #12 down to #22 both solid and stranded.  If you have used them, please let me know.  They cost more than wire nut type connectors, but look like they might be a lot better system.  You can find them at Menards and Amazon and I imagine at lot more places.  They look like they might be useful for tinkering with electronic and electrical projects similar to breadboard projects since the connections can be easily made and easily disconnected.

WAGO Site

The five-wire connector is about the size of your finger under your thumbnail.

***Stay tuned even if your connections are all with wires and none with political influentials--- Doug Wiken

 

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***Happy Thanksgiving preparation

I happened to see Dr. Oz oozing this morning about Thanksgiving cooking safety.  Most likely you have heard all this before, but, the best way to thaw a frozen turkey is to put it in a refrigerator a week or so before you plan to cook.   For those of us who can't seem to plan that far ahead, put the frozen turkey in cold water completely submerging it about a day before planning to cook.  We have done this and it works.  The best container we found was an insulated cold chest or picnic  chest.  Something heavy may need to be put atop the turkey to keep from floating out of the water.

The next bit of everyday wisdom was that it is better to cook stuffing outside the turkey instead of inside the turkey.  It is possible but a bit tricky to get the stuffing and the turkey both up to 160F degrees or.  They did do it, but turkey was up to 175F and stuffing was still not 160F, but putting it under an aluminum foil tent for a time got the stuffing temp up.   It seems like cooking the stuffing separately makes a whole lot more sense for safety and requires a whole lot fussing and fiddling.

And, just a little note about Thanksgiving spirit.  I bought vehicle license stickers today.  While I was writing the check, the woman behind the counter said she had to get cooking after she got out of work.  Her mother had taught her how to bake a good pie, and she planned to get that done.   Then she mentioned that her mother had died, but her father still wanted pies.  So the daughter taught her father how to make and bake the pies himself.  I thought that was kind of interesting and reminded me that my own mother pretty much taught my wife how to cook, which means, I can never gripe about how her cooking is not as good as my mother's.

Well, so much for that.  Good luck on your thanksgiving dinner.  Maybe the best idea is to skip the stuffing and the turkey and just cook a ham.  According to an ag report early Sunday morning, farm prices are down for chickens, turkey, and cattle.  Don't eat too much anyway, just have fun and don't make the affair a test of wills and perseverance just short of a complete nervous breakdown.

I gotta get those license stickers on while the temperature is still above freezing.

***Stay tuned and watch the weather reports before traveling--- Doug Wiken.

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*** Another shot at lenscap tether and cellphone tether

Finding materials exactly appropriate for making anything of any kind is a bit more difficult in small towns than in larger cities.  Anyway, sometimes necessity really is the mother of at least something close to invention.  The tethers below make use of dress shoe  shoe laces and electric clamp-on spade lugs butchered a bit.  I have used a shoelace like this for several years with my cellphone.  Cord was still good, but my twisted wire and shrink insulation was getting a bit ragged.  Both that tether or cord and the one I made for the Nikon in a previous post were both also just a bit short.  The images below give an idea of what resulted.

The camera tether:

I cut the clamp part of the spade lugs off and opened them a bit with a knife to get the doubled shoelace into them.  The crimp part of the lug had to be filed a bit to get rid of jagged edges.  Then once lace was in the crimp ends, the were crimped and squeezed with a plier.  I tested these by pulling hard on them, but they seemed to hold well.  This all wasted some time, and I am sure could have been done for less cost were such crimp ends were available for cords and string.  Anyway, it seems so far to have worked and is at least a bit neat in appearance at least.  I put the lace end through the hole I had made previously in the lenscap with a 1/16 inch drill bit.  It had to be enlarged slightly.  Once through the hole, I cut the plastic end off the lace and tied a knot in the cord so it could not pull out of the lens cap.  Pays to do some measuring with cheap string before cutting up a shoelace.

Cellphone tether:
The crimped metal was also from an electrical spade lug.  The clip is from an old ID name tag.  One like this clipped to my shirt collar has prevented this phone from being dumped out of my shirt pocket and nto waste oil and toilet water more than once.

I hope you can find easier solutions than these, but if you can't, I hope these gizmo how-to methods can be useful to you.

***Stay tuned for much less practical ideas--- Doug Wiken

 

 

***Nikon lens cap modification for tether

I found a "deal" on a new Nikon Coolpix.  It is a quite powerful point and shoot camera.  I will have some photos here soon as I learn more of the features.  What I did not like about the camera was the lens cap with no way to tether it to the camera.  It did not take me long to misplace that lens cap.  I did find it today after looking in a half dozen places.  I decided I would get it tethered to the camera strap similar to the Canon point and shoot I have been using (and used to shoot photos below).

I first bought a 1/16 inch drill bit.  Then I happened to have a broken Edie Bauer crank flashlight and it had a wrist strap.  I got that removed and it happened to be about the right length.  I drilled two 1/16 inch holes about an eighth of an inch apart with a small lenscap rib between them.  I drilled from the inside out which worked well.  Photo below shows the inside of the lens cap.

The doubled cord loop was pushed through one hole and back out and then the tether was threaded through the loop. That was a bit of a pain, but a toothpick helped. This is a bit like the Canon cap.  I suspect a thin shoelace might work as well and I may ultimately make one of that, but for today, this works.  Photo below shows outside of the lens cap.

Why Nikon did not make the lenscap with a tether is beyond me.  This is not a cheap camera (some say it is in fact over-priced), and this failure to include a tether appears to be a way of cheaping out and making the otherwise very good lenscap nearly useless in the real world.  It is substandard design for any real utility.  But, a simple remedy is available if you purchase one of these Coolpix cameras.

***Stay tuned even if this is late afternoon---- Doug Wiken

 

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** Electronics and Farm Equipment Nightmare

This noon, SDPB-Radio Midday was discussing the decline of Radio Shack and some farmer e-mailed about Radio Shack being previously Allied Radio with a really big really nice paper catalog.  Anyway.  After that, Osborne mentioned a link at Tech Radio Facebook page related to electronics and tractors.  It is interesting.  Take a look at link below:

WIRED MAGAZINE-- Farm Electronics puzzle and nightmare.

John Deere has ridiculous prices on electronic readout screens.  Stuff that should cost a couple dollars are priced for several hundred.  Deere is in company with auto companies adding more and more electronics which probably make most vehicles the equivalent of a self-destructing time bomb.  And, instead of only a "check engine" light designed to get you driving to one of their ripoff special dealers, cars should have a diagnostic readout with complete information.  If electronic dictionaries with a dozen other games, etc. can be sold for about $30, such a "dictionary" for auto error signals should cost next to nothing.   Of course, then we might not be tempted to head for the nearest company dealer.

*** Stay tuned even if electronic devices (and their manufacturers) are both blessings and wretched curses--- Doug Wiken

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*** Nearly worthless product documentation and design

In the last week, we have been working on a project or two that involves some electrical devices and tools.  Mostly what we learned is that the documentation that comes with many products has instructions in multiple languages all printed in type nearly too small to read without a magnifying glass and diagrams and details smaller than my little fingernail.  Those diagrams and illustrations were  all too small to actually provide  the necessary useful and useable detail necessary for "how-to-do it".

Fortunately, we found most of the needed information in technical books we had which had larger full-color illustrations and detailed text.  Another damned learning experience.

Problems with documentation are just part of the problem.  Look at electronic products like radios, TV remotes, car controls, etc. and often you will find small light gray type on only slightly darker gray plastic that is barely readable in good light let alone what is often the ambient light for such products.  An engineer friend who worked in the aviation industry said that they tested such designs in simulators to make sure accurate control and data reading was unambigous and easy.  Testing products with people totally unfamiliar with them might be a good idea.  If engineers and others intimately familiar with how the product is supposed to work, determine the interface and the documentation, it will seem as if it is working no matter how rotten the interface or the documention.  They know what it is supposed to do.

I suspect some of the problems with product documentation result because the products and documentation are produced in China and shaving a half-inch off the size of a documentation paper may save a few dollars even if it also makes the product unuseable by a significant percentage of ultimate consumer purchases.

Now to get into bright sunshine with magnifying glasses and study the documentation and crappy device interface on a battery backup/surge protector for computers and other electronics.

**** Stay tuned if you can see the controls--- Doug Wiken

 

*** SD Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Susan Wismer selects Suzy as Lt.Gov Candidate

Will "Susan" and a "Susan variation" combination make for a winning Democratic gubernatorial campaign in SD?  I don't really know, but the backward thinking of Republican Dennis Daugaard may make him particularly vulnerable to attacks by an accountant and a nurse.

Well, I hope the Susan Wismer-Suzy Blake  combination can campaign like tornadoes ripping up the GOP mythology, but right now, this two-woman combination appears to be the furthest thing from a successful strategy.

Of course, the type of press coverage of this combo may make a lot of difference. And, will more women vote for them because it is a female team, or will more men vote against them because it is a female team?  Or will SD perverse Republican tendencies and lazy Democrats make a Daugaard victory inevitable?

A nurse can be the attack dog on Daugaard's denial of "Obamacare" expansion in South Dakota and consequent loss of $45 million in health and economic impact on SD can both be territory for a medical specialist and an accountant. Do the numbers, do the damage assessment. Raise hell.

Democrats will continue to loose elections in South Dakota if they fail to perform the education function of a political party.  Democrats who think "Republican meek" is a winning strategy destroy current prospects for the SD Democratic Party and insure its future complete demise in South Dakota.   Make the real case for real Democratic policies, and real voters will come.  Build it.

*** Stay tuned for more in the exciting tale of Susan and Suzy on the campaign trail..but remember I have an affinity for "Susan".  Wife and I named our daughter Susan--- Doug Wiken

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***The ACE Hardware-Craftsman Not so Hot "deal"

I needed a bench grinder.  I have two of them..or had two of them.  Either I put them in such a good place I can't find them or somebody else decided they had a better place for them.  Whatever, I need to sharpen an axe.   So, when I saw the "deal" at ACE hardware for a Craftsman Bench Grinder coupled to a free thermometer, I decided to buy the grinder.   The image below shows the relevant sale bill information.  Click on image for a larger version.

So, I pulled the grinder in a box off the shelf and headed for the checkout.  Usually that doesn't mean waiting even a minute here in Winner's Outlaw-ACE hardware store.  But today the grinder was getting a bit heavy by the time I got to checkout and pay.

I asked about the free thermometer.  No deal I was told.  We don't have any of the thermometers and neither does the warehouse.  Hmmm.

I bought the grinder anyway.  I did not feel like wasting more time on finding a grinder.  I asked who do I write to in order to complain about this sham deal.  The clerks had no idea..ACE or Craftsman.  No links or phone numbers in the sale bill.

Then it took about an hour to get the left and right parts identified and then installed.  Not a real great design for ease of assembly coupled to a not terrible manual, but also not the world's greatest.  Anyway, it is done except for tightening the 16 or so bolts.

Apparently there is not enough penalty on regional and national sales corporations to prevent them from putting together sham "deals"  like the "free thermometer" Offer. Perhaps it is time Consumer Protection divisions of Attorney General offices or the feds start making this kind of sham "deal" impossible.

Now, to see if I can sharpen the damn axe (purchased at True Value) .  They don't come very sharp anymore.  Safety considerations mean they have a rather dull blade protected with a plastic safety guard and shaped to be really good for splitting jello in a pan, but not so great for branches.  They might be good for smashing ice in a stock tank or creek as is however.

***Stay tuned, but beware the not-so-hot deals--- Doug Wiken

 

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