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.

Category: Oddities

Who’d’a thunk it?

  • ANENG AN8008/AN8009 Current Sense Resistor

    Somewhat to my surprise, Aneng AN8008/AN8009 multimeter PCBS sport what looks like a reasonably accurate current sense resistor on the 10 A input:

    AN8009 10 A current shunt - top view
    AN8009 10 A current shunt – top view

    The legend says 0.01R and the conductor doesn’t look quite like pure copper:

    AN8009 10 A current shunt - side view
    AN8009 10 A current shunt – side view

    The indentations look like clamp marks from the bending jig, rather than “calibration” notches made while squeezing the wire with diagonal cutters and watching the resistance on another meter.

    One might quibble about the overall soldering quality, but one would also be splitting hairs. I doubt the meter leads could withstand 10 A for more than a few seconds, anyhow.

    If you buy enough of something, you can buy pretty nearly anything you want, even cheap precision resistors!

  • Poster Boilerplate: Whoopsie

    Spotted this in a lobby (clicky for more dots):

    Hannaford Reusable Bags - Poster Boilerplate
    Hannaford Reusable Bags – Poster Boilerplate

    I know no more than you do about the situation, but I’d lay long, long odds Hannaford created the poster with a more recent version of Microsoft Word (or whatever) than the recipient organization has available, making the file essentially read-only.

    Not casting shade on ’em; sometimes, you do what you gotta do.

    FWIW, I’d expect LibreOffice and any Microsoft Word version other than the exact one used to create the poster to mangle the formatting differently. Been there, done that.

  • A Bounteous Tobacco Harvest

    Spotted on a utility ride to a local shop:

    Shops at South Hills - planter butt collection
    Shops at South Hills – planter butt collection

    We decided an employee of the adjacent “nail spa” has been making the best of a bad situation.

    If it was easy to quit, there’d surely still be a few smokers …

  • Dutchess Rail Trail: Access Gate Control

    Five different agencies can drive through the Dutchess Rail Trail’s Overocker Rd trailhead vehicle gate:

    Dutchess Rail Trail - Overocker Rd ruts
    Dutchess Rail Trail – Overocker Rd ruts

    Well, four of them can, because whoever snapped the barely visible small lock around the long-shackle lock (horizontal, to the right) is SOL:

    Dutchess Rail Trail - Vehicle Gate Locks at Overocker Rd
    Dutchess Rail Trail – Vehicle Gate Locks at Overocker Rd

    Perhaps they’re from the DC W&WWA?

    The last time we rode past the Diddel Rd trailhead, there were zero locks on the (unchained) vehicle gate; evidently somebody forgot to relock the gate on the way out.

  • Frozen Fire Hydrant

    Spotted on a walk around the block:

    Frozen Hydrant - Rt 376 at Sheldon
    Frozen Hydrant – Rt 376 at Sheldon

    Hydrant valves attach directly to the water main, far below the frost line, which means the hydrant itself should be dry when it’s not in use; the ice reveals a nasty valve leak. The corroded paint suggests a longstanding leak, but I admit to not noticing anything before now.

    I uploaded the picture so I could include the URL in an email to the local fire department. I’ll take a look the next time we walk by to see what’s happened.

    It’s definitely not a shapely hydrant!

  • Bird Box: Flowing Ice Sheet

    It’s early springtime in the Hudson Valley:

    Bird Box - sliding snow sheet
    Bird Box – sliding snow sheet

    The birds have been making companionable springtime noises, but it’ll be a while before the nesting season starts up.

    Taken with the DSC-H5, diagonally through two layers of 1955-ish window glass.

  • Heatsink Fuzz

    This appeared while harvesting heatsinks and suchlike from a defunct Dell Optiplex:

    Clogged CPU heatsink
    Clogged CPU heatsink

    The only way to get access to that end of the heatsink is to break the heatsink’s thermal bond to the CPU, which seems like a Bad Idea if you intend to continue using the thing:

    Clogged CPU heatsink - fan
    Clogged CPU heatsink – fan

    I buy off-lease Optiplexes from Dell Financial Services (a.k.a. Dell Refurbished) and, although their interiors always look well-cleaned, Dell (or, nowadays, FedEx Reverse Logistics) may have decided against breaking the CPU’s thermal bond and just sent me an office’s dust collection.

    Doesn’t look like my dust. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.