I remember it well. Standing in the last field that was part of SGC up in Bellevue, Washington. It was, gosh, about 1997, or so.
We were demonstrating an HF SSB Manpack to some para-military customers. I was showing off how a single operator with nothing more than a radio (like ours) on his back could talk great distances somewhat reliably.
I called KMI – the high seas station that used to be open to private calls – and no answer.
“Retune the antenna.”
I protested – I had done everything by the book. But, the company president (Pierre, now a silent key) insisted I had goofed. “No, you didn’t get it right – retune – the numbers never lie.”
I did the tuning process again – 12 foot whip antenna on the manpack – and sure enough on the first call I raised KMI – around 800 miles, maybe more.
Later, Pierre shared one of the finest secrets of HF single sideband, electronic troubleshooting, and – as it turned out this week – about fixing greenhouses.
The Numbers Never Lie!
OK – really they do – but that’s on the extremely rare occasion when there’s a “subspace error” and those are infrequent enough glitches in the force that they may be safely ignored.
Just not this week.
As you remember, or maybe don’t, I have been tuning up the lean-to greenhouse because I wanted the tomatoes, peppers, squash, and bok choi growing right next to the house behind a transparent wall the deer can’t nibble through.
The problem I was having? The daytime temperatures, even with the new Vevor evaporative cooler, were not getting consistently cool enough.
At first, I thought maybe it was the Vevor – somewhat smaller than the Hessaire 38 series units we’d used in the past. Which would have made logical sense. The Vevor is a bit smaller, and although handling the same 3,100 CFM of air flow, the Hessaire might have had more evap media surface.
I’d find, though, that the new Vevor is just fine. It was something else.
“Trust Numbers, Not Thinking”
This was a profound lesson coming around again. I have found it true in radio engineering, in 3D printer trouble-shooting, in growing plants, and even in flying airplanes which we’ve done lots of.
Before you remember the saying “Trust the Numbers” you might be tempted – as I was – to solve the wrong problem.
See, I assumed that the reason the room was running on the “hot side” was that the two smaller 10″ fans that I’d stacked, didn’t have anywhere near the swept area and airflow to keep up with 3,100 CFM of cooled air.
So, I promptly set about ripping up the north end of the “grow room” and putting in a serious commercial shuttered fan. It wasn’t a waste, mind you: the small fan bearings were starting to make noise and they wouldn’t have lasted another full summer in the Texas heat.
It took only an hour to toss in this beast and lay a serious bead of high-expansion foam around it, ensuring no air leaks:
It only takes a minute with a sharp serrated “everyday carry” knife to whittle everything down when dry. Which takes under two hours on a warm day. Same on the inside:
That shiny wall on the left is a space blanket – which is about the cheapest high reflectivity radiant barrier you can buy. (Ask your, um, grower.) Again, I’ll spend a bit of time this week trimming down the excess foam.
Great Work! But It Didn’t Help!
Now comes the lesson. There I was, big fan in on a warm day, and realizing that I still was not getting any temperature drop inside. I figured after all this monkey-motion, I would at least be down to break-even. Which would have been the inside air temp being at – or under – the outside air temp with solar gain less my cooling scheme.
Nope. It was still running hot – about 4-5 degrees above outside ambient.
WTF?
That’s when I remembered the day long ago in the field southwest of the SGC building.
I had run the numbers through two AIs – enough to trust them:
“The room has a sloped ceiling, so use the average height to calculate the volume:
Average height = (11.5 ft + 8 ft) / 2 = 9.75 ft
Room Volume
Volume = length × width × average height
= 20 ft × 10 ft × 9.75 ft = 1,950 cubic feet
Air Changes per Minute
With 3,100 CFM (cubic feet per minute) of airflow:
Air changes per minute = CFM ÷ room volume
= 3,100 ÷ 1,950 ? 1.59 air changes per minute
OK, this was nuts. I was forcing 3,100 CFM out of the north end of the room and changing the air completely three times in two minutes. Unless I wasn’t really changing the air…
The “Rule of Pierre”
Or, better known as Conan Doyle’s rule from the Sherlock Holmes series.
“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
I went over the whole wall structure on the house side with a fine-toothed comb. Looked fine. Then I got out the ladder and that’s when I found it:
A couple of dozen roof fasteners had been torn up by the local raccoon population.
After an hour with a pilot hole drill and an impact driver plus three dozen fresh fasteners (with larger rubber and steel washers) the roof was again sealed.
I also found that the house-end had been ripped up, again, by the raccoons in a way that wasn’t visually obvious.
More fasteners. Three more cans of spray high-expansion foam and the room was back to pulling all 3,100 CFM of exhaust air in through the house-end (shaded) air intake.
The room was cooling. I may not even need the new sun shade to solve the “heat tunnel” problem on the ceiling side.
Sure, this may seem like a trivial story this weekend except for two things.
First, repairs & modifications like this take time. Maybe 3 hours by the time I get done – four if I count covering the (butt-ugly) foam, with trim.
Second is that it explains why my focus on the roof-side “heat tunnel” had been misplaced/misguided. That energy should have been spent out on the rifle range, zeroing in the .22 LR with a game scope on it.
Yeah – I know – animal lovers and I take no pleasure in reducing their population.
But I’m also of an age where I don’t want to keep redoing the same work, and if the “right answer” is a .22 long-rifle? Sorry. Guns are tools, sometimes, too.
When the hate mail comes – as in today’s world seems likely – I will offer any whiners a reminder about mouse traps and insect killers, sticky traps and more. Not saying any of it is right, but that’s how you roll out here in the woods. You don’t pet the possums or the copperheads, and you steer clear of the cottonmouths down at the creek.
Write when you get rich,
George@Ure.net
No Shit Sherlock Sunday !
Yeah I hear ya about not petting copperheads and possums, though copperheads up here in Pennsyltucky are pretty docile compared most other Snakes both poisonous and non-poisonous. Copperheads make decent pets, cept for the god awful smell when they tRUMP(deficate). Make Ure eyes water, while choking down uprising bile.
Sidewinders ? Always shoot first when comes to Haterz, dont cha know. Like those tango’s in the gulf, setting up tbs for some BIG scores.
You see the Iran war is unique in that the only people who can stop it, compromised connedgress critters, get even bigger campaign contributions (kickbacks) from aipac and defense contractors (read TRAITORS) if they support war.
The good news – if you bet on DISASTER (I am)and lose you will be able to make it back (and then some)in Q3 and Q4 when inflation kicks in and Precious metals skyrocket.
* hear the one about Abe last night ? centcom aint talking, but then again neither have nuke regulators been talking ANYTHING bout dimona, since burning for 3 days straight now. Youse all can see the smoke plume on commercially available satellite feeds of ME. Really feel for the folks living next door dimona, breathing in all that nasty scheisse 24/7, yerp can you feel the concern in my words ? JudasPriest – You Got Another Thing Coming -https://youtu.be/JISQMhtXiSM?
Copperheads local are more aggressive than in other locations. They climb, are a bit more territorial, and in general act a lot more like cottenmouths. And yeah, I can usually tell the difference, although juveniles look a lot alike, but once they are up past 18″, you should be able to distinguish.
This at least this has been verified by the BBC. Once again the Brits are doing what the US media either cannot or will not do.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyd07m7e1xo
BBQ’d racoon is delicious. Not kidding. Hunted on my grandfather’s farm in east Texas when I was a bit younger. Not a lot of meat, but much better than squirrel.
did not know – good to know though, as trash pandas are real pain down in Belize. Down there they come out during the day light hours, have no fear Humans or Dogs, and will stand and fight You over a garbage can.
..pulled up to house in Placencia last year, and there 3- 4 raccoons around trash can out by roadside. 3 of em were on their hind legs standing up trying to get in lidded trashcan. I jumped outta of Toyota Hilux, start yelling at the offending Coons and coming straight at em waving my arms, with only weapon at my disposal , a dive knife stuck between seat cushions of truck. Those gansta ass Trash Pandas just turned around, looked me in the eyes and said FU buddy!
By the time I got inside my house and retrieved the PCP pellet rifle, they had already split the scene..huminahumina.
I can attest to Whistle Pigs (Groundhogs)being VERY greasy..dont ask.
Y’all can have ’em. One of the dogs killed a groundhog but got bit in the process. The vet patched her up, and cautioned me that whistle pigs and bandits were very “dirty” animals whose flesh and body fluids carried all sorts of bugs which were incompatible with dogs, cats, and humans. She also said opossums were surprisingly clean…
Never saw a Racoon that wouldn’t have been better off D.E.A.D.!!
I absolutely HATE racoons … they are one of the most destructive small animals out there and will swiftly cause thousands of dollars of damage to a property if you don’t bring them under control … QUICKLY.
My rule of thumb when I lived rural was to SHOOT EVERY ONE I SAW.
Dear [not a] Possum Petter :
“… energy should have been spent out on the rifle range, zeroing in the .22 LR with a game scope on it …”
Wow. I have a brand new, not shot, not broken in Smith & Wesson 22LR with ginormous analog scope (German glass). The thing needs a highly controlled break in / sight in. There’s no need to bother without the scope. I have a very nice 22LR bolt action with 6-7 hard clip if in me-to-you iron sight range.
Before any criticize, irt the scope and being proficient on iron sights. Sure. I want to know where rounds land at 100m for coyotes (4-legged version). Maybe soon? I can join a neighbor who has Gucci Range privileges but it’s all outside. C’mon Spring!
Rough week in our wake (OBSCON). There was that one melt down day, both tech (x3 devices) and … the 220v line which serves our boathouse. I am still eliminating possible pauses (to burn a trusty 20A fuse). It’s the refrigerator or … a 30 year old fuse went past good-on date, out of warranty? TBD. We are still cleaning up from storm #3 that roiled the area. A week that made me feel weak.
Friday night we lost 40 degrees F and it hurt. Yesterday I lit a bit of fire, sorta 9-ish to not make early clatter. It went from puttering while projecting to a semi obsession. I torched most of the white oak inside the home. It was 75F in the family room. Was tempted to wear shorts. C’mon summer.
You strange outlanders griping about high temps. Come back to the heartland. It’s always frosty here. The other grump about _possible_ drought? Uhm, when aren’t you in drought, exactly? Build in desert? Learn to live like Navajo or … Come back to the heartland. We have plenty of water and rain always in the 10-day.
I’m out. Literally.
Enjoy today,
Egor
Herebouts we have been having some daily temp swings that would do justice to the Sahara. 45 degrees from late afternoon to next morning .. and then gravity keeps taking it further down. ENOUGH ALREADY!!
I don’t care what it is … just steady the ship, PLEASE! These yo yo’s are going to get me sick.
Friends down in Tucson have been having record temps, temps I didn’t see until late May when I lived there. They are NOT happy campers to say the least since usually spring is great weather (and beautiful with the desert breaking out into fine greenery and flowers everywhere) and a time to go hiking in the desert or in the mountains.
If that Arizona weather is any indication we could be in for one HOT summer … of course first we have to get past Tornado Season and I am reminded with Good Friday coming up that often in this neck of the woods Good Friday often mean Tornado Friday (multiple ones with at least a few in the 3 range and a couple at times in the 4 range – a 5 is not unheard of either).
OK, ya Schott me, what scope did you get?
totbDarrell : ugh, it’s been long enough I don’t recall. Will pull it out of the bag to report in 1st oppportunity ~ E ~
“Come back to the heartland. It’s always frosty here. ”
Been there, done that. Grew up in Wisconsin. Now after two-thirds of a lifetime spent here in the tropics I get to complain about a 10 degree shift in overnight temps. “Hawaiian Freezing” is 70F here.
quitter
~ E ~
LOL! You’re just jealous. :-)
Dam…garbage night..hauling the trash out I thought dam this trash is awful heavy…at the bottom of the bag was a stack of books..grrr.. I have a real issue with books..down to couple three hundred in paper.. more books on the book reader than there is at the library.. I will have to visit with the wife see what ones she tossed out..
books, kitchen gadgets, and tools my three biggies..
she made me vet rid of a few so she could park in the garage..grrr..
As we downsized, parting with all the books I accumulated over the years (a coast to coast flight usually took 3 pocketbooks) was hard. There used to be used book stores where you could exchange several books for a few, but they are all gone now. My failing vision has stopped me from reading even large print editions, so even my most cherished books that I kept to read again, became a waste of shelf space, and my reading is now restricted to my Kindle or a large monitor.
As an author, I appreciate that you are a reader of books, in any format.
Thanks.
Like my Kindle but still prefer to read an actual book printed on paper.
I use my Kindle to do “light reading”, you know things like some dime store vacation type book. For REAL reading of anything serious I seem to retain the material better if I read it from a REAL book than if I have read it off of my Kindle. I have absolutely no idea as to why my brain works that way, but it does.
I am however awaiting the Color Kindle since I believe it will greatly enhance what a Kindle can do, but will actually wait to buy one until the SECOND version comes out since I am sure there will be some serious teething problems with the First version.
I am surprised that there hasn’t been a merger of the Magazine Industry and a Magazine Sized COLOR reader where you can read a magazine (or newspaper) by a portable device of that size.
I think the newspaper industry in initially fighting the computer world lost their chance to survive by pushing such a device out the door for their subscribers to use instead of reading a paper newspaper. The entire newspaper industry was too wedded to their expensive printing plants and didn’t want to switch from paper to an electronic reader device (and such a device of the quality of a Kindle still does NOT EXIST even 35 years into the transition from paper to screens)
YES … the modern newspaper or magazine printing plant was a technological wonder … from the late 1800’s right up through the late 1980’s (I used to work in one) but their stubbornness about leaving paper behind was the death knell for both industries. (sorta like an old stubborn scrivener refusing to move from hand copying documents and moving to movable type)
re: Numbers 23:19
feat: Golden
Multiple msm outlets noted the closed door congressional hearing testimony on 3/11 from Epstein’s accountant. Interestingly the accountant’s Wikipedia page had been deleted on February 15th by a senior, perhaps German, Wikipedia editor. A preceding historical February 8th edit update by a cautioned junior editor can be seen via the following public Wikipedia link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Kahn_(accountant)&diff=prev&oldid=1337318632
If one scans that page for “November 3, 2013” (11/3/13), a public U.S. DoJ download link will appear which points to a public State of Colorado registry copy of an alleged convicted sex offender. That document shows alleged forwarding in 2016 to Deutsche Bank as an rdc item.
Uh-oh…
“Iran is mobilizing one million soldiers to repel any potential ground invasion launched by the US army against the Islamic Republic, an Iranian military source told Tasnim News Agency on 26 March.”
https://thecradle.co/articles-id/36784
WORLD WAR III SERIES
A MILLION PERSIAN SOLDIERS
DEFEAT OF THE ARAB PRINCE OF WAR
Nostradamus Quatrain V-25
The Arab Prince Mars [of war], Sun [Christianity], Venus [Islam], Leo [July 20th – August 20th],
The rule of the Church will succumb by sea:
Diverted the Persians (Iranians) well near a million men,
Byzantium (Istanbul, Turkey), Egypt. the true Serpent invades.
Nostradamus and The Third Age of Mars, The Prophecies of World War III, G. A. Stewart, 2019, Page 796
According to Nostradamus, Israel is not going to be saved by some miraculous, heavenly intervention. Israel’s greatest cities will be devastated by war, and its citizens will flee Israel for what remains of Europe. Historically, the British army evacuation of Dunkirk may pale in comparison.
I believe that if we translate Quatrain V-25, as “diverted the Persians (Iranians) well near a million men”, Nostradamus hints that the Iranian army will be “diverted” from its original intention of defeating NATO and the 41-Nation Sunni Alliance. They will see the conquest of Jerusalem as the new goal.
This is also found in Islamic Hadith. “From Khurasan (Northern, Iran)… a man named Shuayb, the son of Salih, from Tamim… will defeat the companions of The Sufyani… he comes to the House of Jerusalem where he will establish his power for the Mahdi…”
https://theageofdesolation.com/nostradamus/2026/03/22/g-a-stewarts-nostradamus-timeline/
“Sigh. Smooth sailing matey. Let us know if you get any Noah tips for us home boys to narrow down possibilities. I’ve been needing to take a vacation. I don’t think Antarctica is going to be on the tour list.”
The only adivice i can give you is, Abandon yourself to God as you understand God to be. clean house, Trust God and help others. Pray often. Pray and meditate often and Trust, you are right where you are supposed to be doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing with everything you need to do it. if you dont have it? you dont need it. because if you needed it? you would be given it in Advance. Be where you are at. You are there for a reason. complete that purpose and God will take you elswhere. The only advice i can really give anyone is, Know God and seek to do what He created you to do? if you do that? You can not fail. God will help you!
See, I know i was created for a Greater Purpose. That Purpose is more important than anything else in this world.
That doesn’t mean i don’t get to live and enjoy life. On the Contrary, I get to live and enjoy a life that most never do.
and I know! At Any time THE DUDE has my full permission to radically alter my personal Trajectory and send me to places i never knew existed. and occasionally HE does exactly that.
often times when i dont know, i ask and wait for the answer. the answer always comes to me.
like what Did that Penny on my chest mean? when I went to Childrens Hospital to pray for a friends daughter.
then a few weeks later i read this quote from The Adventures Of A Reluctant Messiah,
“You are not that side, you are not the other side, either. You are the coin”
These 4 things i Know,
it is only through The Blood of Christ Jesus that I am redeemed
All True Power is The LORD.
I live and Breath by the Will of God.
(if i didnt, i would already been dead)
I Win with God within.
the 5th thing i know is, the closer i get to God, the more i can do what God does.
off to grab 18 gears and get ready for my trip to the Future!
I went on a long driving trip to see a friend. I asked another friend to come with me but she couldn’t. A friend of my friend (an acquaintance of mine) said “What trip? I’ll go).Big mistake. Glad I will be home tomorrow.
Chose your travel companions carefully