What have you been up to lately?

[turboscrew]

Sounds like bad luck. BTW, what seems to be wrong with the motherboard? The processor by-pass capacitor tops bulged? I've revived a couple of motherboards by changing them. Basically any low ESR elkos do, if the voltage rating and the capacitance are right.

Connecting the CPU power the PSU immediately trips its safety. Without connecting this certain things work on the motherboard but obviously there's no CPU... :p A cursory look around that area there's some blackness around some of the circuitry and below some heat sinks on the MB - It's actually difficult to see as the MB is dark anyway on the back-side. The capacitors are all fine. I bought a PSU originally thinking it was that (12v supply was actually fine...) but still the same thing. I'm thinking it just overheated at some point to critical amount and burnt out some of the passive heat sink areas.

Sounds odd. The currents are usually not enough to damage the tracks. Could it be that the PSU has too small wattage, or has some capacitors gone and overheats (too much ripple for the regulators)? Or maybe the processor, or some other component just had it?

The blackness is usually just old dust even if it looks like burn mark. The processor usually "boils" around 100°C (+/- 20°C) which in not enough to fry the tracks or heat sinks. Some power control chips can take more heat. You can, usually, tell if passives are gone. At least by the smell.

[davesellars]

Sounds like bad luck. BTW, what seems to be wrong with the motherboard? The processor by-pass capacitor tops bulged? I've revived a couple of motherboards by changing them. Basically any low ESR elkos do, if the voltage rating and the capacitance are right.

Connecting the CPU power the PSU immediately trips its safety. Without connecting this certain things work on the motherboard but obviously there's no CPU... :p A cursory look around that area there's some blackness around some of the circuitry and below some heat sinks on the MB - It's actually difficult to see as the MB is dark anyway on the back-side. The capacitors are all fine. I bought a PSU originally thinking it was that (12v supply was actually fine...) but still the same thing. I'm thinking it just overheated at some point to critical amount and burnt out some of the passive heat sink areas.

Sounds odd. The currents are usually not enough to damage the tracks. Could it be that the PSU has too small wattage, or has some capacitors gone and overheats (too much ripple for the regulators)? Or maybe the processor, or some other component just had it?

The blackness is usually just old dust even if it looks like burn mark. The processor usually "boils" around 100°C (+/- 20°C) which in not enough to fry the tracks or heat sinks. Some power control chips can take more heat. You can, usually, tell if passives are gone. At least by the smell.

Unfortunately, it's not the PSU - first suspected this and changed it for a new one with no luck. Could be that the CPU just died in that case - difficult to tell and not easy to buy such old components now to switch around.

[turboscrew]

Connecting the CPU power the PSU immediately trips its safety. Without connecting this certain things work on the motherboard but obviously there's no CPU... :p A cursory look around that area there's some blackness around some of the circuitry and below some heat sinks on the MB - It's actually difficult to see as the MB is dark anyway on the back-side. The capacitors are all fine. I bought a PSU originally thinking it was that (12v supply was actually fine...) but still the same thing. I'm thinking it just overheated at some point to critical amount and burnt out some of the passive heat sink areas.

Sounds odd. The currents are usually not enough to damage the tracks. Could it be that the PSU has too small wattage, or has some capacitors gone and overheats (too much ripple for the regulators)? Or maybe the processor, or some other component just had it?

The blackness is usually just old dust even if it looks like burn mark. The processor usually "boils" around 100°C (+/- 20°C) which in not enough to fry the tracks or heat sinks. Some power control chips can take more heat. You can, usually, tell if passives are gone. At least by the smell.

Unfortunately, it's not the PSU - first suspected this and changed it for a new one with no luck. Could be that the CPU just died in that case - difficult to tell and not easy to buy such old components now to switch around.

Yes, and the problem could still be somewhere else.
I guess, in that situation, getting a new board at least, is probably the most cost-effective way - at least if mental health and time are considered too.

[Butterfly Maiden]

Spent a nice relaxing afternoon mucking out the horses (someone has to do it ) and cleaning all the tack (much nicer job )

[Ylem]

It looks like my observation season is, again, over before it even started.
Just tried with the 102 mm, but the sky is not dark enough, and it's 11:40 PM and work week.

Well, there's the moon, but now it's far too low. 7° above horizon at highest around 3:00 AM.

Yikes! That would drive me absolutely nuts!

I love summer observing, in fact I don't even go out in cold weather anymore.

[turboscrew]

Here "summer observing" is an oxymoron.

[SkyHiker]

Did trail work for the 3rd weekend in a row to open up an old unmaintained trail in the canyon where the Montecito disaster flood started. It is now 5 years later and slowly the old hiking area is being restored. I found the old Middlefork trail leading up to Camino Cielo that forks off above Tangerine Falls to be precise. Someone had already made a new trail but that is so steep that you have to be on all fours going up and come down backwards, terrible and prone to erosion. The area up there is a little hidden paradise, really beautiful with a creek flowing through it.

[pakarinen]

Watched "Thunder Over Louisville" airshow. Quite impressive - four hours long and I think there was an example of every active duty plane the Air Force has except for a B1B and an AWACS. I can see where the B2 might have caused some UFO reports. Aside from its unusual shape and color, it's very quiet compared to other jets. A-10s doing mock attack runs were pretty cool and there was even a Raptor "in the flesh".

The Navy sent a couple of carrier-based F-18s and a CH-53 helo and the Marines sent a VTOL Osprey. The Osprey could probably cause some reports too. That thing went up, down, left, right, and so on like a helo until they rotated the engine nacelles to horizontal and blew out of here.

Also some fly overs by vintage planes - Corsair, Lightning, B-25, B-29, and a couple others.

[Star Dad]

What a weekend! Friday we had an opening ceremony for a small footbridge at the West Thompson Dam. It had been torn down as unsafe a few years ago and a new steel footbridge has finally been put in. The fare was billed as a hike, a paddle, and a bicycle event. My wife decided a nice bike ride would be easier than hauling out the canoe. We get there- and we're the only bikers. We are told yeah, you want to go across the way (we've been on that path/road many times). And then the last 0.1 mile is a path - it's wide enough for two and pretty easy. At the last minute MOUNTAIN bikers show up. They'd never been on the path, but ok. Our bicycles are hybrids. Not street and not really heavy duty mountains either. So we go for about 1 mile of the 2 and it's not too bad. But then we go off the road/path we have been on before and the "wide easy path" is now at least a mile and is barely wide enough for one hiker. Roots, rocks, steep climbs and drops. I made it (cursing all the way), but wifey didn't and ended up ditching the bike about halfway and hiking it in. I should have. Fortunately one of the US Army Corps of Engineers rangers gave us a lift in his pickup on the return after the ceremonial opening of the bridge.

I got out for AP that night - first time in 9 weeks. Huzzah!

Today we went for a bicycle ride on the "Airline Trail" - a former train track. Went about 7 miles in an hour. Much, much better, and has built wifey's confidence back in her ability. That Friday ride was quite terrifying for her (and me too). So this was a good thing to do - even though it sets me back on things I should be doing around the house.

There were a couple of clues we should not have done the bike event on Friday - The lead ranger hadn't been on the trail recently. Our bikes weigh twice as much as a mountain bike (costing 1/10 as much as well). Our contact had no clue what was being arranged for the cyclists- she was a paddler. There was no leader for the cyclists. And a bunch of them went on the "difficult" path. Hindsight is 20/20 and next time I think we will both be more wary of advice given and who is giving it.

[turboscrew]

What a weekend! Friday we had an opening ceremony for a small footbridge at the West Thompson Dam. It had been torn down as unsafe a few years ago and a new steel footbridge has finally been put in. The fare was billed as a hike, a paddle, and a bicycle event. My wife decided a nice bike ride would be easier than hauling out the canoe. We get there- and we're the only bikers. We are told yeah, you want to go across the way (we've been on that path/road many times). And then the last 0.1 mile is a path - it's wide enough for two and pretty easy. At the last minute MOUNTAIN bikers show up. They'd never been on the path, but ok. Our bicycles are hybrids. Not street and not really heavy duty mountains either. So we go for about 1 mile of the 2 and it's not too bad. But then we go off the road/path we have been on before and the "wide easy path" is now at least a mile and is barely wide enough for one hiker. Roots, rocks, steep climbs and drops. I made it (cursing all the way), but wifey didn't and ended up ditching the bike about halfway and hiking it in. I should have. Fortunately one of the US Army Corps of Engineers rangers gave us a lift in his pickup on the return after the ceremonial opening of the bridge.

I got out for AP that night - first time in 9 weeks. Huzzah!

Today we went for a bicycle ride on the "Airline Trail" - a former train track. Went about 7 miles in an hour. Much, much better, and has built wifey's confidence back in her ability. That Friday ride was quite terrifying for her (and me too). So this was a good thing to do - even though it sets me back on things I should be doing around the house.

There were a couple of clues we should not have done the bike event on Friday - The lead ranger hadn't been on the trail recently. Our bikes weigh twice as much as a mountain bike (costing 1/10 as much as well). Our contact had no clue what was being arranged for the cyclists- she was a paddler. There was no leader for the cyclists. And a bunch of them went on the "difficult" path. Hindsight is 20/20 and next time I think we will both be more wary of advice given and who is giving it.

But sounds like you are still alive. :wink:
And that's the important thing.

[GCoyote]

Put soaker hoses in the flower beds so I won't have to stand around with a sprayer in the summer heat.
Picked up some beer and got a pair of 20x50mm binos for $15 to check out.

[OzEclipse]

I feel like a cross between the little red hen, Paul Bunyan, Jon Snow, Basil. Fawlty, and Joe & the beanstalk!

made the beds for this weekends astrophotography course guests.
stacked a delivery of one ton of firewood in the winter wood store. (Juha - it get's down to -2C here on the coldest nights )

Collected and cut/snapped kindling & collected a box full of pine needles

Picked a big bowl of roma tomatoes - possibly my last Roma tomatoes.
Still have quite a few cherry tomatoes to pick!

baked bread - ok I confess, this was only because I'm too lazy to drive to the shop to buy some.

started to pull the hard dried beans from some green climbing beans that I left to sun dry on the vines over the summer.

Aye....Winter is coooming!

[Butterfly Maiden]

Very industrious Joe.

I am sure your house guests will appreciate the effort :smile:

[turboscrew]

I feel like a cross between the little red hen, Paul Bunyan, Jon Snow, Basil. Fawlty, and Joe & the beanstalk!

made the beds for this weekends astrophotography course guests.
stacked a delivery of one ton of firewood in the winter wood store. (Juha - it get's down to -2C here on the coldest nights )

Collected and cut/snapped kindling & collected a box full of pine needles

Picked a big bowl of roma tomatoes - possibly my last Roma tomatoes.
Still have quite a few cherry tomatoes to pick!

baked bread - ok I confess, this was only because I'm too lazy to drive to the shop to buy some.
started to pull the hard dried beans from some green climbing beans that I left to sun dry on the vines over the summer.


Aye....Winter is coooming!

Well, even at 0°C, the house gets cold quite quick without heating. And waking up with, say, +12°C inside the house, is not exactly nice. But you might consider it cool...

BTW, the bread looks good.

[OzEclipse]

Well, even at 0°C, the house gets cold quite quick without heating. And waking up with, say, +12°C inside the house, is not exactly nice. But you might consider it cool...

BTW, the bread looks good.

Thanks Juha,

the bread turned out very nice this time. I’ve only run out and baked bread 3 or 4 times since moving here. Still getting used to the best way to bake bread in these ovens.

I agree about 12 C being a cold interior. I have lived in group houses in Canberra when I was young that were as cold as 2-3C. No insulation! One house had frozen water pipes ten times in the mornings during one July. We got into the habit of filling kettles for morning coffee at night before we went to bed.

Europeans and North Americans in general, heat their houses much more than I do. If I can have the place at 16-18 C I am pretty happy and comfortable. Last winter, I heated my house with about 1300kg firewood for CO2 emissions of 130kg. My solar system generates and exports 3x the electricity that I consume.

Joe

[turboscrew]

Well, even at 0°C, the house gets cold quite quick without heating. And waking up with, say, +12°C inside the house, is not exactly nice. But you might consider it cool...

BTW, the bread looks good.

Thanks Juha,

the bread turned out very nice this time. I’ve only run out and baked bread 3 or 4 times since moving here. Still getting used to the best way to bake bread in these ovens.

I agree about 12 C being a cold interior. I have lived in group houses in Canberra when I was young that were as cold as 2-3C. No insulation! One house had frozen water pipes ten times in the mornings during one July. We got into the habit of filling kettles for morning coffee at night before we went to bed.

Europeans and North Americans in general, heat their houses much more than I do. If I can have the place at 16-18 C I am pretty happy and comfortable. Last winter, I heated my house with about 1300kg firewood for CO2 emissions of 130kg. My solar system generates and exports 3x the electricity that I consume.

Joe

It has happened, that in the autumn, the night temperature has fallen unexpectedly low, and I haven't turned the heating on yet. Next morning I have woken up with bedroom temperature of about +12°C. It's rough to let go of the duvet.
My room temperatures usually swing between +17°C and +23°C due to sunshine and my not realizing that I, maybe, should adjust the temperature.
Those are, roughly, the limits after which I usually notice, that it's time to adjust.

[pakarinen]

Back home, working remotely, which is good since I was was notified this morning that a close coworker is COVID positive and symptomatic.
Luckily, I've been away for 3-4 days and I don't think she had it last time I saw her.

[turboscrew]

Tomorrow morning I'll go to my parents' to make firewood. Back, probably, late Thursday.

[pakarinen]

Found a new to me Italian restaurant last night. Could be a new favorite, but it's in the city so not super easy to just drop in. Grilled polpo with pesto and potatoes!

[notFritzArgelander]

Opening discussions with elder daughter's family. They want me to join them in a summer road trip in the desert SW that will feature Anasazi archeology and dark sky sites. I've accepted in principle and details are to be negotiated.