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[00:46:20] <jmkasunich> jmkasunich is now known as jmk_away
[00:52:04] <SWPadnos> hi john
[00:52:06] <SWPadnos> bye john
[03:28:18] <jmk_away> jmk_away is now known as jmkasunich
[03:31:17] <SWPadnos> hiya jmk
[03:31:22] <jmkasunich> hi
[03:31:33] <SWPadnos> I got an email from JonE today
[03:31:44] <jmkasunich> * jmkasunich is happy - just finished a machining job, first one in a while that I didn't underestimate
[03:31:50] <SWPadnos> cool!
[03:32:02] <jmkasunich> I think I'll actually make about $55/hr (for 2.5 hrs of work)
[03:32:05] <SWPadnos> so you made more than $2.50/hr?
[03:32:09] <SWPadnos> woohoo!
[03:32:26] <jmkasunich> my goal when I quote 'em is about $40/hr
[03:32:37] <SWPadnos> when you get to $55/hr for 25 hours of work, (per week), you can quit your day job :)
[03:32:45] <jmkasunich> heh
[03:33:20] <jmkasunich> I tend to gross between $2K and $4K per year on the side jobs... my boss at the day job has nothing to worry about
[03:33:31] <SWPadnos> bummer
[03:33:40] <SWPadnos> but a good bonus nonetheless
[03:33:49] <SWPadnos> (and it lets you write off the fun toys)
[03:33:55] <jmkasunich> yes
[03:34:07] <jmkasunich> heh, it pays for the toys
[03:34:16] <SWPadnos> well - that, too
[03:34:36] <jmkasunich> I started my shop in 1998 with $1500 of "family" money for the Shoptask
[03:34:41] <jmkasunich> by 2000 I was in the black
[03:35:05] <jmkasunich> and now I'm about 4-5K up (and have significantly more machinery and toys)
[03:35:09] <SWPadnos> I bought the stuff for my company, so I was able to deduct the cost of everything (Bridgeport, Johnson bandsaw, tooling, measurement equipment, CNC conversion parts ...)
[03:35:12] <SWPadnos> that's cool
[03:35:27] <SWPadnos> one day, I'll make the first $1 off these machine tools ;)
[03:35:52] <jmkasunich> the trick is to find the right customers
[03:36:04] <SWPadnos> no - the trick is to find customers at all ;)
[03:36:07] <jmkasunich> (I'm sure you know that from your other business)
[03:36:11] <SWPadnos> yep
[03:36:32] <jmkasunich> my main customer is a friend (went to college with them and kept in touch since)
[03:36:53] <SWPadnos> that's cool
[03:37:00] <jmkasunich> she works in a lab where they occaisionally need some strange test jig or something
[03:37:12] <SWPadnos> most of my customers are holdovers from my previous business - since I was the software department ...
[03:37:19] <jmkasunich> the test procedure will have a napkin quality sketch, so normal shops aren't interested
[03:37:22] <SWPadnos> that's a great gig
[03:37:41] <SWPadnos> plus you can actually do some electronics in the things
[03:37:54] <jmkasunich> not to date - this stuff is pretty simple
[03:38:14] <SWPadnos> ah - I was thinking of bed-o-nails testers and the like
[03:38:34] <jmkasunich> more like "hold this piece of concrete block while we push on the tile thats glued to it to test the bond strengty
[03:38:38] <jmkasunich> strength
[03:38:49] <SWPadnos> ah - "stress testing"
[03:39:02] <jmkasunich> all kinds of differnet stuff
[03:39:25] <jmkasunich> one batch was molds to make grout samples that would later be squished or bent or something
[03:39:28] <SWPadnos> cool stuff nonetheless - most engineering (and breaking things) is pretty fun to do
[03:39:33] <SWPadnos> heh
[03:39:58] <SWPadnos> so - she works for a tile manufacturer? :)
[03:40:06] <jmkasunich> this last one was little tubes 50mm long, 20mm ID, they set them on the table fill with wet grout, then lift the tube and see how much it "slumps"
[03:40:12] <jmkasunich> grout maker
[03:40:18] <jmkasunich> (chem eng)
[03:40:22] <SWPadnos> ok - tile bondig stuff
[03:40:25] <SWPadnos> bonding
[03:40:31] <SWPadnos> cool
[03:41:23] <jmkasunich> the biggest things I ever did were "crack isolation membrane test jigs"
[03:41:38] <SWPadnos> ?
[03:41:46] <jmkasunich> I think I've built 80% of the world's supply of those
[03:41:51] <SWPadnos> all 6?
[03:41:51] <jmkasunich> ;-)
[03:41:55] <jmkasunich> 8
[03:41:59] <SWPadnos> ah
[03:42:04] <jmkasunich> but they were $2K each
[03:42:10] <SWPadnos> well - that helps
[03:42:38] <jmkasunich> spread out over several years, as different companies adopted the ANSI test that requires the jig
[03:42:57] <SWPadnos> gotta love ANSI
[03:43:03] <SWPadnos> unless you're trying to meet a spec
[03:43:11] <SWPadnos> or even get one
[03:43:47] <jmkasunich> the original test jig in the spec was horribly wrong... so I helped design the replacement (my friend is on the ANSI committee for that spec)
[03:44:27] <SWPadnos> they must have about 6000 committees
[03:44:32] <SWPadnos> maybe 60,000
[03:44:42] <jmkasunich> one for every spec, probably the latter
[03:45:02] <jmkasunich> she doesn't mind, the committee meetings are in Vegas
[03:45:09] <SWPadnos> heh - that's always fun
[03:45:13] <SWPadnos> for the first 3 days
[03:45:33] <SWPadnos> Embedded Systems is in San Jose next year - kind of a bummer
[03:45:45] <SWPadnos> but less expensive than San Francisco
[03:50:36] <jmkasunich> you can write it off, right?
[03:50:38] <jmkasunich> ;-)
[03:50:42] <SWPadnos> yep
[03:50:55] <SWPadnos> I'll just have to renta car so I can go to the House of Prime Rib ;)
[03:51:12] <SWPadnos> or get Jymmm or peteve to drive me to SF
[03:52:05] <jmkasunich> sounds like a plan
[03:52:43] <SWPadnos> yep - can't go to the other coast without visiting the HoPR - it's damned tasty food there
[03:57:45] <SWPadnos> so - the email from JonE - kinda funny
[03:57:57] <SWPadnos> he said he thinks that the latch pulses go out to all the cards when you strobe any unit - it doesn't have to be a master (the master just does a periodic latch)
[03:58:21] <jmkasunich> he thinks.... not "he knows"
[03:58:27] <SWPadnos> that's the funny part ;)
[03:58:36] <jmkasunich> you know, sometimes it seems like he didn't design the thing
[03:58:49] <SWPadnos> sorta
[03:59:03] <jmkasunich> granted, its been a long time (probably 4-5 yrs) since he first cooked it up...
[03:59:30] <SWPadnos> true. though there have been tweaks in the last year or so
[03:59:40] <SWPadnos> else our two USC boards would be the same
[04:00:58] <jmkasunich> yeah
[04:18:44] <SWPadnos> oh yeah - on the timedelay thing ...
[04:19:27] <SWPadnos> I think the delays need to either be floats or longs in milliseconds
[04:19:37] <SWPadnos> floats in seconds
[04:20:35] <jmkasunich> floats would be my choice
[04:20:54] <SWPadnos> ok. how about the resolution?
[04:21:07] <SWPadnos> obviously, the real resolution will be dependent on the thread period
[04:21:14] <jmkasunich> resolution is the same as the thread period
[04:21:28] <jmkasunich> you can ask for 123.34562343644 seconds if you want
[04:21:54] <SWPadnos> hmm - I suppose a float conversion isn't too costly
[04:22:06] <jmkasunich> no
[04:22:21] <jmkasunich> dT = period * 0.000000001
[04:22:29] <jmkasunich> delay -= dT
[04:22:35] <SWPadnos> yep
[04:22:43] <jmkasunich> if ( delay < 0 ) { delay = 0; set output }
[04:23:17] <SWPadnos> I think I'll do an up-counter though - it allows you to change the timeout and have an immediate reaction if the specified time has already elapsed
[04:23:27] <jmkasunich> good point
[04:24:12] <jmkasunich> oh, and make the actual counter a double, not a float
[04:24:13] <SWPadnos> how many do you think I should allow (before the person should be using ladder anyway ;) )?
[04:24:32] <SWPadnos> I was going to limit it to 8 or 16
[04:24:36] <jmkasunich> 8?
[04:24:44] <SWPadnos> ok -8 should be fine
[04:24:50] <SWPadnos> not -8, 8
[04:25:18] <jmkasunich> someday I hope that kind of limit goes away, and you can just ask for one more whenever you want it
[04:25:18] <SWPadnos> doubles aren't atomic - I hope there's no problem there
[04:25:24] <SWPadnos> yep
[04:25:38] <jmkasunich> the double is internal, only the component code can access it
[04:25:42] <jmkasunich> the delay is a float
[04:25:47] <SWPadnos> yep
[04:26:03] <jmkasunich> I dunno if the double is actually needed
[04:26:20] <SWPadnos> I was just thinking of the number of seconds you'd have to delay before it becomes necessary
[04:26:25] <jmkasunich> if delay >= 2^24 * dT, you would have a problem
[04:26:25] <SWPadnos> probably a couple of years
[04:26:32] <SWPadnos> or centuries
[04:26:56] <jmkasunich> 2^24 is only 16 million, if dT is 1mS, thats 16,000 seconds
[04:26:59] <jmkasunich> a few hours
[04:27:05] <SWPadnos> dT would be at least 10 microseconds (assuming a pretty fast machine, and a step generation thread)
[04:27:10] <SWPadnos> ok
[04:27:43] <SWPadnos> though a few hours is also pretty long
[04:27:57] <jmkasunich> with 10uS dT, it would fail after 160 seconds
[04:28:05] <jmkasunich> and get inaccurate after 10s of seconds
[04:28:13] <SWPadnos> true
[04:28:30] <jmkasunich> with a double, now you are talking centuries
[04:28:52] <SWPadnos> yep - do you know how bad the double -> float conversion time is?
[04:29:02] <SWPadnos> I'd like to have a parameter that shows the timer
[04:29:06] <jmkasunich> not enought to worry about
[04:29:08] <SWPadnos> ok
[04:29:23] <SWPadnos> I always think about cycles that way (when writing close to the hardware)
[04:29:30] <jmkasunich> yeah
[04:29:59] <jmkasunich> in the PC tho, unless you are in a loop so everything is already in cache, you are most likely memory limited
[04:30:13] <SWPadnos> true enough
[04:30:29] <jmkasunich> fetch time > execute time for anything except divides and such
[04:30:57] <jmkasunich> that what sucks about periodic RT code
[04:31:10] <SWPadnos> yep
[04:31:36] <jmkasunich> the entire RT thread gets executed 1000 times per second, but when its not running, the web browser, or GUI, or whatever, is flushing it out of cache
[04:31:40] <SWPadnos> it always amazes me that gigahert machines have multi-microsecond latencies
[04:31:48] <SWPadnos> +z
[04:32:17] <SWPadnos> yet a 10MHz microcontroller has sub-microsecond latency (an AVR has 0.4-0.5 at 10Mz)
[04:32:21] <jmkasunich> took me a moment to figure out what "+z" was about
[04:32:29] <SWPadnos> heh - it hurtz
[04:33:03] <jmkasunich> the AVR doesn't have a virtual memory
[04:33:11] <SWPadnos> it has virtually no memory
[04:33:31] <jmkasunich> even tho RT doesn't swap, the MMU still needs to be loaded for every context switch
[04:34:24] <SWPadnos> yeah - it's just hard to see where the 6000 cycles go
[04:37:32] <jmkasunich> save state, switch to kernel space (which involves changing from ring3 to ring0, and saving and reloading the MMU regs), invoke the scheduler, figure out what task needs to run, if the task uses floating point, save the interrupted code's FPU state, restore the tasks's FPU state, restore the rest of the tasks state....
[04:37:45] <SWPadnos> ok - I see that ;)
[04:38:41] <jmkasunich> the last time I did anything like that was before the PC had FPUs...
[04:39:00] <jmkasunich> and before flat memory models
[04:39:17] <jmkasunich> so it was just push all regs, change to new stack, pop all regs, done
[04:39:41] <SWPadnos> yep - it's amazing how much state needs to be saved these days, especially when you start getting into peripherals (which teh MMU anf FPU are, in x86-land)
[04:39:58] <jmkasunich> yep
[04:40:12] <jmkasunich> I miss doing stuff with micros
[04:40:13] <SWPadnos> I haven't done much low level code on the x86 - most of it has been on microcontrollers
[04:41:18] <jmkasunich> the last time I did low level code in x86 it was on DOS
[04:41:27] <SWPadnos> heh - OK, me too
[04:41:33] <jmkasunich> did some crude multitasking, just because I wanted to
[04:41:45] <SWPadnos> when the 286 was just getting into the PC/104 space
[04:42:18] <SWPadnos> we actually made an environment controller that used a Z80 or a '186 CPU card (user swappable)
[04:42:19] <jmkasunich> back in the day I did a RT/multi-tasking kernel on 8051 (that was for real, at my day job)
[04:42:37] <SWPadnos> * SWPadnos dislikes the 8051 almost as much as the PIC
[04:42:48] <jmkasunich> it isn't a nice arch
[04:42:53] <SWPadnos> nope
[04:43:08] <jmkasunich> but in the late 80's it was one of few choices
[04:43:14] <SWPadnos> kinda like a bastard child of an x86 and a PIC, actually
[04:43:32] <jmkasunich> except it predates both of those I think
[04:43:33] <SWPadnos> at least it knows what to do with a carry
[04:44:02] <SWPadnos> yep - I think it was based on the 4040 or 8080, just like the 8088 and the Z-80
[04:44:03] <jmkasunich> more like the crazy uncle of the PIC and x86, that nobody talks about ;-)
[04:44:07] <SWPadnos> yeah
[04:45:43] <jmkasunich> http://www.avtron.com/meters.htm
[04:45:51] <jmkasunich> heh, they're still selling that product
[04:46:22] <SWPadnos> was that a design you did way back when?
[04:46:32] <jmkasunich> I left there in 1991, and the design was several years old then
[04:46:33] <jmkasunich> yes
[04:46:56] <SWPadnos> well - it's probably got a 386 in it now ;)
[04:47:02] <SWPadnos> or a high-flying DSP
[04:47:06] <jmkasunich> doubt it
[04:47:14] <SWPadnos> or just 2 resistors and an FPGA ;)
[04:47:46] <jmkasunich> nothing modern in those products, they're built like brick shithouses and sold to people who care more about that than anything else
[04:48:02] <SWPadnos> the good old days
[04:48:19] <jmkasunich> you can hose that thing down (in front of and behind the panel its mounted on)
[04:48:20] <SWPadnos> they'll probably still work long after the last Pentium 4 craps out
[04:49:08] <jmkasunich> they replaced a product that used gas discharge displays (neon technology, not nixey tubes, but only a little more modern)
[04:49:43] <jmkasunich> we had a few special versions too (sw changes)
[04:50:03] <jmkasunich> one could measure the thickness of steel sheet, without any kind of thickness sensor
[04:50:12] <SWPadnos> cool
[04:50:34] <jmkasunich> two encoders, one on a conventional roll at a nip (where the steel passes between two rollers) and one on the coil that is getting wound up
[04:50:48] <jmkasunich> the first measures length, the second counts wraps
[04:50:57] <jmkasunich> length per wrap gives you diameter
[04:51:09] <jmkasunich> change in diameter from one wrap to the next gives you thickness
[04:51:24] <SWPadnos> yep - cool
[04:51:38] <jmkasunich> the meter could display feet, roll diameter, or average thickness of the last few wraps
[04:53:01] <jmkasunich> heh, of the three product lines listed under "speed and length measurement" only one is from after I left in 91
[04:54:47] <jmkasunich> http://www.avtron.com/dc_drives.htm is what I worked on the last few years I was there
[04:55:45] <jmkasunich> looks like the SW has advanced since then, but the power section and packaging looks exactly the same
[04:55:56] <SWPadnos> those are fairly big drives
[04:56:13] <SWPadnos> oh wait - it looke dlike it was on wheels :)
[04:56:42] <jmkasunich> the smaller part on the front has the controller board, we called it the briefcase
[04:56:54] <jmkasunich> it is about 9" wide by 12" hi x 3" deep
[04:57:06] <jmkasunich> the larger part in back has the power section, that varies in size
[04:57:15] <jmkasunich> the one in the pic is probably 50HP or so
[04:57:44] <SWPadnos> ok - still bigger than anything I expect to need, but not as big as I've seen on eBay (though the 2500 HP ones would be)
[04:58:11] <jmkasunich> for the really big ones, the armature bridge was separate, and the "power section" of the pictured unit contained the field supply only
[04:58:36] <jmkasunich> when I left I had just finished the 540HP frame, and the 800HP was on the drawing board
[04:59:19] <jmkasunich> correction, 540A (about 300HP) and 800A
[04:59:50] <jmkasunich> their target market is paper and steel mills
[05:00:07] <SWPadnos> interesting
[05:00:25] <SWPadnos> I know the large printing houses also would need stuff like that
[05:00:50] <jmkasunich> for paper, 30HP is small, 100-500HP is medium, and a few motors on a machine may be 1000+HP
[05:00:58] <jmkasunich> for steel, 100HP is small
[05:01:14] <SWPadnos> heh - harder to move the heavy stuff, I guess
[05:01:23] <jmkasunich> biggest installation I've been in myself was a steel rolling mill with 6 roll stands, 9000HP each
[05:01:35] <SWPadnos> that's a bunch
[05:01:52] <jmkasunich> yes - too much to directly control with semiconductors
[05:02:14] <jmkasunich> they use three stages
[05:02:37] <jmkasunich> there were four 23KV AV motors (synchronous, constant speed)
[05:02:51] <jmkasunich> each motor drove three 700V DC generators
[05:03:01] <jmkasunich> (total 12)
[05:03:14] <jmkasunich> two generators were paralleled to drive each roll stand
[05:03:32] <jmkasunich> and each stand had three 3000HP 700V DC motors
[05:03:52] <jmkasunich> the power electronics controlled the field currents of the generators and the motors
[05:04:09] <jmkasunich> the armatures were directly connected (thru big honkin' contactors)
[05:04:48] <jmkasunich> we would control 2-300A of generator field current at a 300V or so...
[05:05:09] <jmkasunich> and that controlled the actual armature current, which was 0-15 kiloamps at 700V
[05:05:45] <SWPadnos> the motors would probably not fit in my garage, especially with the drive system
[05:05:55] <jmkasunich> no
[05:06:08] <jmkasunich> motor shafts were 2ft + in diameter
[05:06:47] <SWPadnos> it was funny to look at the 4 MW power supply I did the DSP work for - it would have taken up about 1/4 of my house
[05:06:48] <jmkasunich> the shafts are about 3' off the floor, and the motor dips down into the basement
[05:06:58] <SWPadnos> heh - like Hoover Dam
[05:07:03] <jmkasunich> yep
[05:07:23] <jmkasunich> 4MW is pretty hefty
[05:07:29] <SWPadnos> yep
[05:07:31] <jmkasunich> 5000+HP
[05:07:43] <SWPadnos> I'd love to have seen the motor and generator they were going to drive with it
[05:07:58] <jmkasunich> it was for a motor?
[05:08:01] <SWPadnos> yep
[05:08:08] <SWPadnos> a 40MW DC servo ;)
[05:08:19] <jmkasunich> 40? not 4?
[05:08:25] <SWPadnos> yes, 40, with the 0
[05:08:30] <SWPadnos> that's what the fenerator was for
[05:08:33] <SWPadnos> generator
[05:08:45] <SWPadnos> they just wanted to test the viability of a 40MW motor
[05:09:28] <jmkasunich> the steel stuff is "servo" too... we did precise speed control
[05:09:29] <SWPadnos> so they were going to couple a generator to the motor
[05:09:32] <jmkasunich> even some position control
[05:09:38] <SWPadnos> and feed back the power from the generator
[05:09:47] <SWPadnos> using the 4MW as the "charger"
[05:09:59] <SWPadnos> and to help with the losses at full power
[05:10:10] <jmkasunich> ok
[05:10:25] <SWPadnos> I think the motor was for turning battleships quickly, or something like that
[05:10:26] <jmkasunich> AC or DC motors (and generators)?
[05:11:03] <SWPadnos> I know the supply was DC, so I'd assume DC for the rest as well
[05:11:14] <jmkasunich> turning, as in rudder actuator? or bow thrustor?
[05:11:29] <jmkasunich> rudder shouldn't take anywhere near that power
[05:12:04] <SWPadnos> like - actually making the ship turn, not directing the thrust of the normal motors
[05:12:09] <SWPadnos> I guess a bow thruster
[05:12:10] <jmkasunich> thrusters might (we've quoted bow-thruster drives for smaller ships, generally 500-1500HP)
[05:12:27] <SWPadnos> yeah - battleships and carriers are friggin huge vessels
[05:12:43] <SWPadnos> you wouldn't believe the way a carrier turns
[05:12:44] <jmkasunich> carrier probably has 100,000 total shaft HP
[05:13:17] <SWPadnos> well - I was on a day cruise on the Harry S Truman, and it was damned amazing
[05:13:44] <jmkasunich> cool
[05:13:44] <SWPadnos> apparently that class of carrier has been clocked at 60 knots
[05:13:57] <SWPadnos> and that's when they let someone close enough to see it
[05:14:05] <jmkasunich> that seems too high, but about 25 knots
[05:14:11] <jmkasunich> s/but/by
[05:14:20] <SWPadnos> yep, but nonetheless, that's what I've heard
[05:14:33] <jmkasunich> I just don't believe it...
[05:14:33] <SWPadnos> I'd bet the top speed is classified
[05:14:44] <SWPadnos> why, it's only 97 million tons displacement ;)
[05:15:05] <jmkasunich> power needed to move a displacement hull ship (non-planing) goes up as the cube of the speed or even higher once you reach hull speed
[05:15:05] <SWPadnos> or was that 97000 tons (can't remember)
[05:15:17] <jmkasunich> wasn't 97million
[05:15:37] <SWPadnos> but, but, it's nukular - just ask the prezzident
[05:16:08] <jmkasunich> nimitz class carrier (the latest I think) - 102,000 tons, 280,000HP
[05:16:15] <jmkasunich> (thanks google)
[05:16:43] <jmkasunich> max speed "over 30 knots"
[05:16:54] <jmkasunich> I can believe low 40's maybe
[05:16:59] <SWPadnos> ok - 97000 tons - I had partly remembered the poundage
[05:17:00] <jmkasunich> but 60, NFW
[05:17:41] <SWPadnos> I've got a friend who's a sailing and navy buff, he mentioned that a carrier with a broken screw was clocked at over 30, and he also mentioned a top speed of 60 kts
[05:17:50] <SWPadnos> I'm not sure the context though
[05:18:54] <jmkasunich> I can buy 30 on one screw
[05:19:02] <jmkasunich> again, that high power law
[05:19:21] <SWPadnos> ok - the Harry S Truman was the last Nimitz clss, apparently
[05:19:27] <jmkasunich> 50% power will give you 80% speed (or something like that)
[05:19:43] <SWPadnos> sure - for a cube law
[05:21:36] <SWPadnos> one of the coolest things on the cruise was going into a turn
[05:21:51] <SWPadnos> we were in the hangar, and I noticed an orange rolling across the table
[05:22:11] <SWPadnos> looked out the hangar bay door, and the ocean was pointing up at about a 30 degree angle
[05:22:21] <SWPadnos> I hadn't even noticed that we had tilted!
[05:22:33] <jmkasunich> heh
[05:23:22] <SWPadnos> I got a great photo of a fighter jet taking off - the front wheel was just off the ship, and I was about 50 feet off the wing
[05:23:43] <jmkasunich> nice
[05:23:48] <SWPadnos> maybe 100, come to think of it ;)
[05:24:03] <jmkasunich> how did you manage to get aboard?
[05:24:35] <jmkasunich> BTW, theoretical "hull speed" for a ship that is 1000ft long at the waterline is about 42 knots
[05:24:37] <SWPadnos> my brother in law was stationed on the ship at the time
[05:24:49] <jmkasunich> above that speed power requirement increases very quickly
[05:24:55] <SWPadnos> ok
[05:25:03] <jmkasunich> "tiger cruise"?
[05:25:07] <SWPadnos> it's probably only 800-900 or so at the waterline
[05:25:15] <SWPadnos> "dependent's day cruise"
[05:25:21] <jmkasunich> ah
[05:25:51] <jmkasunich> my stepson is in the Navy (just entered in Sept).... maybe someday I'll get a chance to do something like that
[05:25:51] <SWPadnos> I would liike to have known him when he was stationed on the submarine
[05:26:04] <SWPadnos> if you get the chance - do it, for sure
[05:26:13] <SWPadnos> take off work, buy the plane tickets, go!
[05:26:18] <jmkasunich> I will
[05:26:28] <jmkasunich> although its very unlikely to be a carrier
[05:26:41] <jmkasunich> he's training for gas turbine engines
[05:26:53] <SWPadnos> my wife hates military stuff, and it was one of the best days she's had (even though we were on the ship from 3:45 AM until 9:30 PM)
[05:26:53] <jmkasunich> that means cruiser, destroyer class ships
[05:27:01] <SWPadnos> ah
[05:27:14] <SWPadnos> it should be fun anyway
[05:27:18] <jmkasunich> yep
[05:27:25] <SWPadnos> military hardware is really interesting
[05:27:36] <SWPadnos> I was at Aberdeen Proving Ground in MD for my AIT
[05:27:48] <SWPadnos> there's an Ordinance museum there that's pretty cool
[05:28:07] <SWPadnos> they have everything from wooden tanks to Pershing missiles
[05:28:14] <jmkasunich> nice
[05:28:30] <jmkasunich> I think some of my co-workers were just at Aberdeen
[05:28:39] <SWPadnos> I had guard duty once or twice, so I took a few walks around the museum ;)
[05:28:54] <jmkasunich> we're working with Oshkosh Truck Co. to make a diesel electric heavy duty truck for the army
[05:29:06] <SWPadnos> ok - to replace their HEMTT?
[05:29:17] <jmkasunich> yes - it is a HEMTT
[05:29:28] <SWPadnos> I'd love to see a diesel electric hybrid car
[05:29:45] <SWPadnos> especially since you can then make it into a greasecar-electric hybrid ;)
[05:29:47] <jmkasunich> the hybrid HEMTT can start on and climb a 60% grade
[05:29:58] <SWPadnos> that's a lotta torque
[05:30:02] <jmkasunich> yep
[05:30:40] <jmkasunich> neat feature of the hybird - get where you are going, flip some switches, and it can become a 200KW genset to run a field hospital or whatever
[05:30:42] <SWPadnos> wow - they're thinking of making buildings to hold the museum pieces
[05:30:50] <SWPadnos> cool
[05:31:10] <SWPadnos> that would be good for the film industry
[05:31:59] <jmkasunich> except they would rarely need the off-road performance
[05:32:04] <jmkasunich> (or would they?)
[05:32:08] <SWPadnos> unless they're on location
[05:32:35] <SWPadnos> I've shot on top of mountains, and people I've worked with have been in some really bad spots ;)
[05:34:08] <jmkasunich> http://www.hybrid-vehicle.org/hybrid-truck-hemtt.html
[05:34:49] <SWPadnos> hmmm - I think I've seen that before
[05:35:06] <SWPadnos> I've ridden in a HEMTT (not sure I ever drove one though)
[05:35:13] <jmkasunich> I don't work directly on that project, but it is the same small group (liquid cooled drives group)
[05:35:24] <jmkasunich> were you in the service?
[05:35:27] <SWPadnos> yep
[05:35:33] <SWPadnos> national guard for 6 years
[05:35:46] <jmkasunich> I see
[05:36:01] <SWPadnos> I used to repair the fire control systems on M1 tanks
[05:36:19] <SWPadnos> (if we had any, that is - I actually never did a repair the entire time I was in)
[05:36:28] <jmkasunich> heh
[05:36:32] <SWPadnos> except helping some other guys change brakes and stuff
[05:36:38] <SWPadnos> on trucks
[05:37:03] <SWPadnos> that's another interesting thing - the M1 can go about 90 MPH
[05:37:14] <SWPadnos> it's governed down to 45
[05:39:12] <jmkasunich> dang, after midnight again
[05:39:21] <SWPadnos> yep - was just thinking that
[05:39:47] <SWPadnos> I gues sit's time to turn in - I'm trying to get back on a normal schedule (and you never left one)
[05:40:03] <jmkasunich> re: the governer.... would you give a who-knows-how-many ton vehicle that can do 90 mph to a 20 yr old driver?
[05:40:12] <SWPadnos> f*ck no
[05:40:18] <SWPadnos> 66 tons
[05:40:38] <SWPadnos> the turret is 16 tons, and can do a full 360 degree traverse in 5.6 seconds
[05:40:42] <jmkasunich> did you ever read the blog "armorgeddon"
[05:40:45] <SWPadnos> nope
[05:40:58] <jmkasunich> written (quite well) but a guy names Neil Prakash
[05:41:10] <jmkasunich> he's a Lt, commands an M1 in Iraq
[05:41:24] <SWPadnos> hm
[05:41:34] <jmkasunich> s/but a guy names/by a guy named/ ;-)
[05:41:52] <SWPadnos> funny - I didn't notice ;)
[05:42:21] <jmkasunich> http://www.avengerredsix.blogspot.com/
[05:43:20] <jmkasunich> he tells some wild stories
[05:43:29] <jmkasunich> they hit a mine once, knocked a track off
[05:43:30] <SWPadnos> interesting - thanks for the link
[05:43:39] <SWPadnos> that *really* sucks
[05:43:44] <jmkasunich> they did'nt realise it was a mine, thought they were hit by artillary
[05:44:21] <jmkasunich> until they were walking around getting ready to repair, and one guy kicked this thing that was next to the track... then he realized it was another mine
[05:44:34] <SWPadnos> oops
[05:47:01] <jmkasunich> ok, bedtime
[05:47:32] <jmkasunich> I was running around all day, I had hoped to talk to Alex today about run script stuff... hopefully tomorrow will be better
[05:48:00] <SWPadnos> yep -tomorrow is the meeting after all ;)
[05:48:12] <SWPadnos> time to rest after cleaning the garage today
[05:48:20] <jmkasunich> night
[18:17:34] <rayh__> rayh__ is now known as rayh
[20:24:01] <jmkasunich> jmkasunich is now known as jmk_away