The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

Day: October 21, 2012

  • Alarm Controls: The Right Way

    Those aren’t alarm pushbuttons. These are alarm pushbuttons:

    Submarine Albacore - alarm pushbuttons
    Submarine Albacore – alarm pushbuttons

    They’re in the USS Albacore and obviously intended for use by someone in a hurry: the tactile shapes tell your fingers everything they need to know. If I understand the ship’s history, the Collision Alarm switch contacts closed only during tests, although they did have a close call with the sub towing the (unpowered) Albacore from the Philly boneyard to its final resting site.

    According to the information we saw, the control board was refitted / replaced / redone to remove classified hardware, so the woodgrain Formica background may not be original. On the other hand, this was a sub intended for extensive experimentation, so maybe they used a cheap and easily machined material.

    (Headfake to the Crocodile Dundee knife meme.)