What I did today -instead- of Rocketry.

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Potential cures depend on the type of button. Is it a conducive pad type and the pads deteriorating? If so, replacement is pretty easy. Clean the metal contacts while you're at it. If the conductive pads are in good shape, clear the metal contacts anyway. If it's some other type, and you can get at the contacts of whatever sort they may be, clean them. It's amazing how often cleaning something fixes whatever ails it. Also, check for bad solder joints.
Not relevant to electronics, but my daughter maintains that 90%+ of old non-working sewing machines can be made to work after removing lint and applying oil. Old in this case means mechanical--once they started bringing in electronic controls, all bets are off. She says that everything started going downhill with the zigzag stitch in the 1950's.
 
I bet cleaning and properly oiling still fixes a good 50 percent even though not 90. After all, no matter the controls it's still a mechanical device.
 
I bet cleaning and properly oiling still fixes a good 50 percent even though not 90. After all, no matter the controls it's still a mechanical device.
It definitely helps. One of the big problems with sewing machines in the last 20 years is that they made them "easy to use" by taking away thread tension adjustments. In some cases, adjusting bobbin tension can void the warranty if it's even possible at all. Since the vast majority of sewing machine problems are either tension related or a bent needle, it can be very hard to fix without professional assistance. The worst offenders for this are the super cheap "learn to sew" machines. They have 50 different stitch patterns available and none of them work well.

[shakes cane] And you kids with your newfangled machines can just get off my lawn! :D
 
my wife mounted the small fan under the shelf of the Tanker desk for me. I went through drawers of audio cables and got a tupperware container filled full of cables for my stereo friend who is coming to buy 7 speakers and a receiver in April. Installed the headphone extension cable so that my HiFi Man headphones can be used at the desk. Slowly getting there after 5 years in this Condo.
 
went through a closet and was able to get rid of a lot of old stuff that would never be used again, and we only have 4 closets in the condo, so you have to maximize your space
 
Got my flu shot yesterday. They said the (senior) version was 5x stronger. Felt so crappy, not even venturing into the rocket room. The build pile/projects can stay there while I'm in bed all day. Good day for it anyways, it's raining all day long.
 
My wife put a new banana jack plug on the rear LH speaker cable. then ran a composite cable to an adapter that has a USB plug so that the audio/video signal will go into the Desktop PC.
Finally found the Yamaha receiver calibration mic and ran the setup since I have all different speakers now.
 
My wife put a new banana jack plug on the rear LH speaker cable. then ran a composite cable to an adapter that has a USB plug so that the audio/video signal will go into the Desktop PC.
Finally found the Yamaha receiver calibration mic and ran the setup since I have all different speakers now.

I recently got a new Yamaha receiver. The setup with that mic was nice and easy!
 
I recently got a new Yamaha receiver. The setup with that mic was nice and easy!
if you have a subwoofer you will find it 90% of the time it always sets the sub level way too low, as mine put it at -6 and it needed to go up to + 6 on the scale to sound normal. I've have been doing these setups for many years and every time, the factory set up always leaves the subwoofer too low.
 
if you have a subwoofer you will find it 90% of the time it always sets the sub level way too low, as mine put it at -6 and it needed to go up to + 6 on the scale to sound normal. I've have been doing these setups for many years and every time, the factory set up always leaves the subwoofer too low.

Yeah, found the same result!
 
Put the remote control back together for the Sony TV, after fixing the conductive pads on the keypad. Works now. On to the next project...
Did you use a conductive rubberized paste? I've been looking for some to fix a hand held wind speed indicator. What is it called? Where from?
 
Speaking of replacement pads, skip ahead to about 14 minute into this video. Coincidentally, I'd watched it just last week, before the TV remote repair came up.
 
I discovered that someone took exception to my mail box. They had pretty good aim took it in the center of the grill. Heh, they left a license plate behind, the deputy was planning to visit them.
A few years ago, driving home from the winery with the whole family in the car, I noticed the car behind us drift off the road a bit. As in way off - squarely whacking a mailbox at 55-70 mph. And he didn’t stop. At the next stop sign, he was creeping up on my bumper, and I could see the huge hole in his windshield in my rear view mirror. I deliberately started slow when it was my turn, and sure enough, he jumped on it and bumped us. I stopped and put it in park. He started to back up (presumably to go around) and the pickup behind him pulled up tight so he couldn’t. I got out and chatted with the pickup driver, and called the police. Then we both waited for them to come and collect the very stoned driver. The mailbox has gone through his windshield and was sitting in his back seat. He hadn’t noticed. He told the cops that maybe he was having a medication interaction- but the fun little ‘pipe accessories’ in the front passenger seat didn’t impress the cops.

Man, did people trying to get around us in that intersection yell nasty crap at us- but I couldn’t let that kid drive any further.
 
A few years ago, driving home from the winery with the whole family in the car, I noticed the car behind us drift off the road a bit. As in way off - squarely whacking a mailbox at 55-70 mph. And he didn’t stop. At the next stop sign, he was creeping up on my bumper, and I could see the huge hole in his windshield in my rear view mirror. I deliberately started slow when it was my turn, and sure enough, he jumped on it and bumped us. I stopped and put it in park. He started to back up (presumably to go around) and the pickup behind him pulled up tight so he couldn’t. I got out and chatted with the pickup driver, and called the police. Then we both waited for them to come and collect the very stoned driver. The mailbox has gone through his windshield and was sitting in his back seat. He hadn’t noticed. He told the cops that maybe he was having a medication interaction- but the fun little ‘pipe accessories’ in the front passenger seat didn’t impress the cops.

Man, did people trying to get around us in that intersection yell nasty crap at us- but I couldn’t let that kid drive any further.
Thank you for taking one for the team.
 
A few years ago, driving home from the winery with the whole family in the car, I noticed the car behind us drift off the road a bit. As in way off - squarely whacking a mailbox at 55-70 mph. And he didn’t stop. At the next stop sign, he was creeping up on my bumper, and I could see the huge hole in his windshield in my rear view mirror. I deliberately started slow when it was my turn, and sure enough, he jumped on it and bumped us. I stopped and put it in park. He started to back up (presumably to go around) and the pickup behind him pulled up tight so he couldn’t. I got out and chatted with the pickup driver, and called the police. Then we both waited for them to come and collect the very stoned driver. The mailbox has gone through his windshield and was sitting in his back seat. He hadn’t noticed. He told the cops that maybe he was having a medication interaction- but the fun little ‘pipe accessories’ in the front passenger seat didn’t impress the cops.

Man, did people trying to get around us in that intersection yell nasty crap at us- but I couldn’t let that kid drive any further.
That reminds me of a similar experience many years ago. I was in heavy traffic on US 46 west bound in Fairfield NJ, on my way home from work in rush hour. Because of the heavy traffic, the slightly erratic speed of the car in front of me didn't seem very odd, but the way it was weaving onto and off of the shoulder did. Then I noticed the flat tire. I flashed my lights and waved and gor the driver to pull off the road into a parking lot. I told her she had a flat, and received a vacant, quiet, lethargic "What?" A flat, I told her, let me help you. But soon I saw the dent, paint scratches, and fresh grass on the right side of the car, and came to realize that she was drunk, stoned, or both, and if got the tire changed I'd be doing neither her nor anyone else a favor by putting her back on the road.

So, I found some very minor damage under the car, and lied through my teeth. Now, I'm a very honest person by nature, but when faced with a good and ethical reason to lie I can do so with a completely straight face. "This is very bad" I told her. "You absolutely can't drive this car in this condition. You're going to have to get it towed."

"What?"

"You can't drive. You have to get it towed." I had almost got her to understand when a cop came into the parking lot to see if there was a problem. I told him the situation and he told me he'd handle it and I could go. Which I did. And that's the end of the story as far as I know, except for this one note: during my interaction with her, I learned that the car was her boyfriend's Mercedes.
 
Last edited:
Booked our camp sites in Banff and Lake Louise for one of our summer camping trips. Ended up in the website as # > 45000 in line, took an hour to get in and barely got sites. Lake Louise we have two sites and need to move once (which is easy with our Aliner).

Now I need to send in my Sigma 10-20mm camera lens for repair (zoom ring is stuck)....gonna need that there.
 
Last edited:
I met my cigar buddies down at the Gazebo midday when it was 78° here, then my good friend from Ohio drove down today and got here in time for supper where we met him. so tomorrow he's coming over to the condo and we're going to go through the 7 speakers and receiver that he's buying from me, and he's going to help me with the wire management in the back of the audio rack. I have two wire management tracks but due to moving things around and troubleshooting, most all of the wires have been pulled out. he's going to put things back in order so I can put the covers back on and I won't look like a big mess of spaghetti.
 
Inspected the traps in the attic for dead rodents. None found, but they've eaten some of the peanut butter used as bait. /sigh

I'm going to need to find alternate methods of handline them.
I don't know how a handline works with rodents but try fine tuning those traps so they have a "hair trigger".
 
Let's start with yesterday. I went to the Post Office and sent in an altimeter 3 to Jolly Logic. It took a ride across the lake bed in a rocket that was blowing away on a strong wind. Went to Home Depot for a couple of light bulbs and to have some keys made. I stopped by the gun store for a chat and to see if my lower came in. Went to Walmart for some bird seed and cat litter and to have a new tire put on a wheel off my lawn tractor. Today I put the tire on. Then mowed the lawn. First time this year. I pruned a tree that the branches were hanging low over the grass. Fixed a Malibu light. And that's that.
 
Back
Top