A book entitled "Thoughts to my Boys, Alex Orme and Mike Orme"

Motorcycle needs help! Have parts, need sons to help.

2011-07-23T13:16:00.000-07:00

I crashed my bike. My muscles don't work sop well, and I suppose I was an idiot to cruise the extra windy part of Muholland Drive.

If either of my boys, Mike Orme or Alex Orme wants to come help me fix it (I have all the parts but am not strong enough to move it), They can take it with them. I have everything but riding pants, which I would hope they would buy. I have the armoured jacket, boots (size 14), Helmet etc.

My legs got all scrapped up when I laid it down, so If it gets fixed I'll be sure to buy armored pants.

So kiddos, please come help me fix it even if you don't want to ride it. I loved taking it to the beach and would like to ride it again while I still can.

Home Made Precision Stylus Force Gauge

2011-07-09T20:36:00.000-07:00

I love my Thorens TD-145 turntable, but it has one glaring idiosyncrasy. The stylus force is set with a dial gauge on the mount that is connected to a spring on the rear of the tonearm via a thin cable. As you turn the dial to change the force, you tighten/loosen the spring attached to the cable.

What this means is that when you raise the tonearm, you pull harder on the cable, stretching the spring, and the force increases. If you lower the arm, the force decreases.

So, checking he force with a scale can only be done with the scale pan at the same height as the record surface.

Originally I just took the platter off and set the scale on something to raise the pan 1.25" from the plinth (turntable base)

Looking at scales online, I saw a $100 scale that was made with a pan with an extension that is a better version of what I made.

I copied the design by using a cut up credit card with wood toothpicks gorilla glued on for stiffness.

When you take the record off the platter, and put the scale on the mat, the weigh point is very close to the same height as the upper surface of a record. Now, measuring the force becomes very easy.

This all started because my tracking force was significantly off when using the dial force gauge. I suppose the spring has weakened over the last 40 years. You can use a screwdriver to change the spring tension. There is a small tube on the back of the tonearm that is threaded on the inside. You can see the counterweight cutout for the tube. When you screw in the plug from the rear, you reduce tension on the spring, and reduce stylus force.

I knew that I wanted 1.75 grams, so I balanced the tonearm to zero by moving the counter weight, with the dial set to zero. Then I set the stylus force to 1.75 grams, and adjusted the spring until the scale read 1.75g. The scale reads to within a couple hundredths of a gram where ever the scale is set. Now I can trust the dial gauge when I change cartridges.

I have several good Phono Cartridges. I have seen them all at $350 (each) on eBay. The designs out of the 70's seems to command a premium. It was the height of demand for vinyl. The 80's saw the introduction of CD's.

I read about shops that stopped setting turntables 30 years ago that are starting to sell lot of them again. Audiophiles are rediscovering the sound of vinyl.

I just bought Allison Krause and Union Stations "Paper Airplane" album. It came with a free digital download card. I then downloaded the album as a wave files (the same as a CD). I look at it as a digital download with free vinyl album.

Goldring G900SE by far my favorite
Shure V15 type 3 (Type 3G body with .3x.7mil elliptical stylus. The "G" indicated a conical stylus.
Goldring G900E grey body, designed for high mass tonearms to track at up to 3 grams. This cartridge with a black SE stylus
Audio Technica AT13Ea
Audio Technica AT15XE and a separate ATN15 stylus with a Shibata stylus from an AT15Sa cart.
Micro Acoustics 2002E (good electret type)
Ortofon M20E Super
Ortofon VMS 20E Mk II

The cartridge is a Satin M-117G high output moving coil cartridge. Worth about $350 ish today. Tracking force is recommended 1-2 grams, but I find heavier tracking force reduces mist-tracking which makes the sound suck, and damages the record.

I really hope one of my kids grabs the hi-fi and record collection. You might not like Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" at 19, but you probably will at 25, and for shure by 29.

There is a wealth of wonderful music available at used record shops. Things you will never find on CD or digital. Listening to a record is a very relaxing thing to do. It becomes an activity like watching a movie, and makes the music much better.

I miss my boys so much

2011-05-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

Give me wings. Let my flight.

Michael is in a lot of pain. He needs my help, but I am helpless to do anything. I don't know anything about Alex. I wish he would just go for it, and come see me. At least they should have bargained for new cars. If their grandfather could spend 1.5 million fighting me in court, he can spend the cost of new cars to bribe them to stay away from me.

Look at what has become of them. Good Job mom.

When I look of photos of them when they were with me and Mia, they were happy. Sailing, hanging out at the beach, trips in a Winnebago, visits to the aquarium and the squirrels, whatever, but they were happy until they were sucked into the nelson world. What a change.

They can be happy again.

One of the most happy times in my life before they were born was when my dad came to live with me in Seattle. I had a 1bd + den apt on the east side of lake union with a view of the Space Needle out the left in the living room, Queen Anne, and all of Lake Union in the center, and the orange Fremont Bridge to the right. It was a wonderful apartment.

My dad lived in West Hills in the same house my mom lives in now, but he was subcontracted to Boeing, so he spent weekends in LA, and workdays in Seattle. Instead of staying in a long term hotel, he came and camped out in my den. I think I was working for Speakerlab at the time, but might have had my own business, Marine Support, working on yachts. I made about $40-50 an hour, which was pretty good in the late 70's 0r early 80's.

Anyway, having an adult relationship with him was great. I am so sorry that I probably won't be here long enough to have the same kind of relationship with my boys.

Call me, come see me, write to me. I need to hear from you while I am still alive.

Home Made Lead Hardness Tester for Casting Bullets

2011-03-03T07:30:00.000-08:00

Homemade Lead Hardness Tester (click on images for full sized view)

I bought a Lee Hardness Tester, and it was just too hard for my old eyes and shaky hands to use. So, I used what I had around and made one myself.

I have a 1/2 ton arbor press which is perfect as a starting point. Unfortunately, the mechanical advantage ratio was a PIA to calculate because my postal scale only goes to 5 pounds, and the force of the handle alone was more than that. I ended up using cast iron pipe on the back side to counter balance the weight of the handle and used a hanging pan on the end. I just added bullets until I got to the scale limit, and then weighed the bullets, and did the math. (all science is math).

I just checked the force using some better tools. I went online and bought a digital scale off of ebay. Check this out. The scale was only $3.97 including shipping, so I bought 2. I just checked, and they are now only $3.46. No wonder we buy so much stuff from china.

I needed a flat scale instead of a hanging one to measure the force of the scale, so I tool it apart and placed the load sensor assy under the press ram, and measured the force made by a 1 pound weight after I tared for the force of the arm alone.

It seems that the force mechanical ratio is about 18:1.

I ordered 5/32 and 9/32 chromium steel balls from Small Parts on Amazon (about $2-3 per pack of 25) .

The weight I use is cast from lead contaminated with zinc. It weighs more than my scale can measure, but back calculating produces a result of 128.5 lbs of force at the press (including the weight of the handle)

I use a bit of soft bullet lube to "glue" the ball to the test piece, then wipe it off and measure the indentation diameter with calipers.

I plugged the formula into my G2 cell phone, which has the QuickOffice spreadsheet included, and just plug in the indentation diameter and it gives me the hardness. I double checked with the Lee hardness tester, which I will sell. Since 5/32 is the size of the ball in the lee tester, I could use the spreadsheet to replace the chart Lee provides (which does not go below BH 7, so it can't measure pure lead)

I made the spreadsheet on my PC, then copied it to the MicroSHDC card on the G2.

Here is the actual spreadsheet formula entry
=B3/(PI()*C3*0.5*(C3-SQRT(C3*C3-A3*A3)))

BHN = P / {pi * D * 0.5 * [D - sqrt(D*D - d*d)]}

where:

P = the imposed load in kilograms (63.0 kilograms in our example, and it should be approximately one to five times D*D) (13 to 65 kg)

pi = 3.14159

D = the diameter of the ball in millimeters ( 0.143" or 3.63 mm in our example)

d = the diameter of the indentation in millimeters (0.177" or 2.9718 mm in my example)

I love my boys more than anything

2010-12-10T19:31:00.000-08:00

I hope that my boys get this message somehow. I want them to know that I love them very much.

I think it is harder on Alex. This post is mostly for him. We have been dealt a pretty crappy hand these last 3 years. We just have to deal with it. I do not blame either of them for how things are. I know that they love me and, like me, wish things could be different. Michael always preferred his mom, so this is not so hard for him.

Don't be sad. As my dad used to say, "don't let the bastards grind you down". I am doing my best to be able to see you.

PLEASE don't do anything stupid. I have been going through hell trying to stay alive so we can spend some time together. Don't do anything to spoil our reunion.

It is hard to exert power over your own life when you are in the situation that you and I find ourselves in.

Find a girl that you can talk to and tell her how you feel about everything. A girlfriend should be able to keep confidences, and give you comfort.

I love you. Come see me on your birthday. I am waiting for that day to come. Be there when it comes.

The only thing I want is grand-kids. Like my father, I probably won't live to see them, but I really want you to have many children, and to tell them all about me. Our job as parents is to raise you the best we can. You have the bad luck of having parents that can't get along. Don't make the same mistake.

Your job as children is to not make our bringing you into this world in vain. You do this by suffering the crap life has dealt to you, and to try to not make the same mistakes your parents did with your children.

Children are as close to immortality as it gets for parents. Promise me several grand kids, and I will go to my maker as a happy father. Live up to the promise, and make me proud.

GROW OLD!!!!!! That is what I want more than anything in the world. I have a guardian angle that has watched over me, and I pray that my angel watches over you, and keeps you safe.

Life gets better as we get older. When we are young, we have no idea what is going on. We get a little better idea as we get older, but still don't really know.

I cherish life. When things get really bad, I look around and remember how lucky I really am. I marvel at the colors on the HD TV, and think how lucky I am to be able to lie in bed and watch Star Trek reruns. Even with all the crap, I thank God every day for the gift of life. My biggest regret is that I did not know how to be a better man when I was young. I am jealous of my high school sweetheart's being married 30 plus years to the guy she found after me. I pray that you will find someone to share your life with like that.

Your loving father, Matthew

Morons that try to hack my accounts

2010-11-01T14:46:00.001-07:00

Apparently those that continuously try to access my email, facebook, and other accounts don't realize that I am notified every time. Randomly generated passwords are a PIA, but I guess it is the price that must be paid.

One good thing is that the extra hits generate more revenue. The ad reports give I.P. Addresses of those making the attempt.

A letter to a liberal friend

2010-10-26T21:12:00.000-07:00

11-08-2010. Updated to include some links requested by a reader.

Here is a letter I wrote to a friend. I could have sent it to several of my Liberal friends. I have tried to edit out any personal references. Someone might recognize themselves, but hopefully no one else will know.

What's going on? I have always thought of you as one of my closest friends, yet I seem to bring out a great deal of anger in you. Why do you think?

Life is a wonderful gift. Look at how lucky you are. You are better off than most people on the planet. The world is a better place with you in it. Be happy that you have such a comfortable place on this planet. I love and care for you, and hate to see you in pain. It might help to talk about it. I hope you do me the courtesy of actually reading all of this, warts and all.

My idea of friendship means that when you essentially ridicule and disparage everything I am about, I just let it slide. Think about it, you even slept with, and wreaked my relationship with a certain woman. She cried a lot when she told me what happened. I mean really, what was the point? Everybody lost. But you will have to work a lot harder for me to not welcome you into my life or my home. I would do nearly anything in my power to help you if you needed me, and you are always welcome where ever I am.

When you say that no rational person could be a Republican, what does that say about what you think of me? Or the fact that fewer people believe in man caused global warming shows just how easily the stupid masses are to manipulate, or when you say the cable news network I watch tells nothing but lies, and people are idiots because they watch it, what do all those statements say about me? When I challenge those assumptions, and ask how someone can have a valid opinion about the accuracy of a newscast without watching it, the response is just anger.

Yet, I don't let your routine disparagement of basically everything I believe in get to me on a personal level. I believe that friends should be able to debate issues even when they strongly disagree with each other. It's a better world when people with opposing beliefs can converse about them. Intolerance does not make us happier, just angrier. I recommend less anger and more happiness.

I wanted you to tell the story of our adventures in writing for my kids. I want to tell the boys my story, and part of that includes you. I apparently can not comprehend your desire to erase any knowledge of your existence from the rest of the world when I am trying to preserve my memory for my kids.

It seems that I can't have a rational debate with most liberals on topics where we disagree, so don't feel singled out. Their typical reactions to my beliefs are to say I am either an idiot, or evil, or a mix of the two. Your response to my question that you never discuss topics with folks that disagree with you was telling to me. It's seems to be the universal response lately.

I have literally been told that I want to destroy the world for my kids. No kidding. What I never get is the rational explanation of why I am mistaken. I get the feeling that liberals think that my opinions make me a bad person. If I don't like Obama, it is because of a personal failure as a human on my part, not because I have a legitimate concern for what his policies mean for this country.

Same with my belief that CO2 does not have any measurable affect on global temperatures. Bad man.

I have the audacity to question two key tenets of the "progressive" wisdom about global warming; 1. I am skeptical of the idea that we are facing the apocalypse (I also think warm is better), and I don’t accept that the only solution even if the premise of AGW is true, is to mandate drastic cuts in carbon emissions (I actually believe that more carbon is better).

Even if I assume worst case scenario re: global warming, I believe that mankind's best answer comes through wealth. In other words, deal with the change in temperature through wealth, instead of by trying to control the weather. Air conditioners vs. open windows (=poverty)

The way it is with heresy is that there is no middle ground. Either you believe global warming is the worst problem mankind has ever faced and that cutting carbon is the only solution, or you are an anti-scientific ignoramus who probably thinks the Earth is flat.

Why is that? I am happy to listen to anyone's rationale about anything they want to talk about, from political viewpoints (conservative) to environmentalism (I think oil gave us the ability to advance from a non technological civilization (cook over a fire in the living room fireplace) to the one that allows me to write this blog) .

The problem is, is that most people don’t really have a reasoned opinion about a subject, but a sacred belief in that subject, and when challenged, they just get angry because they don't know how to argue the point except to call the other person an idiot.

Example. A million and a half people die every year of respiratory disease because they burn wood or other things like cow pies indoors to cook and heat. Providing these people with electric power with the heaviest CO2 emitting source there is will save more lives than any CO2 reduction up to and including a reduction to zero emissions.

Same with Vitamin A rice. It will also save a million and a half folks a year from blindness then death, but the irrational (my opinion) worries about "Franken Foods" seem to outweigh the actual benefits. So, in reality it is not about saving lives.

I have a degree in geology, and a near genius level IQ. I am not a moron easily swayed by Fox news or anyone else. I actually research issues I care about before making up my mind.

A close woman friend and her husband are such global warming believers that they bought a house farther from the beach than they wanted because they are concerned with the ocean's rise. (If the sea level was rising, don't you think someone would have noticed by now?)

The husband who is a professor at a northern university told me that he saw the data put together showing the sudden rise in global temperature. Yet, when I mentioned that Phil Jones had just admitted in a BBC interview that the Medieval Warming Period was warmer than today, and that there has not been a statistical rise in temperature in the last decade, had no idea who Phil Jones or the CRU was. Mr. Jones is the head of the Climate Research Unit (CRU), whose data was the basis for the hockey stick graph created by Michael Mann, which we were discussing. (which data was "lost" according to Mr. Jones when it was requested via a 'freedom of information request', which means my brother in law could never have seen it, but I didn’t bring this up).

In other words, both this friend who is also a professor and her husband hold themselves out to be scientists, but have never actually examined the science. He actually told me he worked as a scientist and my opinion was meaningless. I would contend my Geology degree is about as relevant as it gets.

When I mentioned that The Maldives Islands have actually grown since the WWII aerial photographs taken in the 40s, and are not on the brink of being submerged in a rising ocean like has been reported, she told me that she did not want to hear my bullshit. To these folks (and a LOT of other friends of mine), it is a religion that brooks no heresy.

Let me walk you through my Global Warming evolution. If you are actually open to a rational explanation of my viewpoint, and why I believe my position has merit, keep reading. I gladly listen to others viewpoints. I do not want to get stuck in my own group-think, so I need to hear opposing views. If I can rationally counter other arguments to my own satisfaction, I stick with my opinion. But, that requires hearing the other arguments in detail, not just a general "CO2 is bad" kind of way. I even try to go back to the motivation of the person. i.e., just keeping the temperature stable is not enough. What is the reason for that? Not always saving lives as I demonstrated.

When I first heard the AGW theory, it made sense to me.

I didn't start to suspect the “world is going to end claims” until I saw the Hockey Stick graph that was the cover of the 2001 IPCC (the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report. If you saw Al Gores movie, it played a predominant part.

I have a BS in Geology. Having actually studied anthropology, archeology, paleoclimatology, and paleontology, I wondered why the Medieval Warming Period which lasted from 900-1300 AD ish, and was up to 4 deg C warmer than today, did not show up on the chart. So, I started researching on my own. In short, I found;

1. For Small CO2 changes (100-200 ppm). There actually is an 800 year lag between temperature and minor CO2 changes. In the time period shown in both Antarctic and the Greenland ice cores, (meaning not a local northern hemisphere phenomena), CO2 rises slightly about 800 years after temperature rises. Vikings still farmed in Greenland in 1200 AD, which means we would expect a rise in CO2 today based on ice core history.

2. For Large CO2 changes (300-7000 ppm). There is no relation between large swings in CO2 and temp in the history of the planet. i.e., high levels of CO2 during ice ages, and low levels when really hot, and visa versa. I think there is a chart in an earlier posting. Any graph over geologic time shows no relationship. So I ask myself, what physical process would suddenly make a causal relationship between CO2 and temperature where none previously existed? (where CO2 indicates temperature)

3. The computer programs that predict the changes in temp due to CO2, and are the basis for all the alarm, do not even come close in predicting the past, so their predictions about the future don't make sense. i.e., if we plug in past data, the programs don't even come close in predicting what actually happened. Was this (2010) the hottest summer you can remember? I'll believe the computer predictions when they are able to model what we know actually happened.

Read Kevin Trenberth's emails where he even says that the data has to be wrong because the earth has not warmed like the computer models predicted. He said, writing from Boulder, Colorado, “where we have broken records the past two days for the coldest days on record,” and worried that “we can’t account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can’t.” He pointed out that a set of data from 2008 “shows there should be even more warming.” But he concludes: “The data are surely wrong. Our observing system is inadequate.” Good Link here.

4. The global temp pretty accurately follows sunspot activity combined with cyclical ocean currents. The Chinese recorded sunspot activity thousands of years ago, and the more sunspots, the more heat output of the sun. The temp goes up when the sun gets hotter. Duh! Sunspot activity is way down lately, which is why Phil Jones acknowledged that there has not been any warming since 1998 (more on this later when I talk about how "global" temperature is calculated)

5. Decadal ocean currents make a big difference. The PDO Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the Atlantic's MDO Multi Decadal Oscillation both just switched to their cooling mode btw. Again, how was the summer?

The recent release (by either a hacker or whistle-blower depending on your bent) of emails between Jones and Mann show that the MWP was intentionally suppressed to demonstrate that the recent rise in temp was unprecedented. There would not be a controversy if the headline was that the temp was going to return to Viking era temperatures. It’s all about funding. No funds for studying squirrels, unless you make the study about the squirrels change in behavior due to Global Warming. And, let’s at least acknowledge that it is about warming and not “change”. ALL “solutions” that have anything to do with CO2 are to “prevent” warming, not to combat cooling.

The only accurate temp record of recent years is the satellite data (3 different sets).
The MET (England govt. weather) just said that 2010 was the coolest summer in 17 years in England while NASA said 2010 was the warmest on record. No wonder folks stopped listening. Was it the coldest in 17 years or the hottest ever? How about the Seattle summer of 2010? Here in LA? I didn't have to sleep on any wet towels this summer like a couple years ago. WSU had "snow days" for the first time in decades the last couple winters.

I believe man does better when warmer. So, even if we are making it warmer, it is a good thing based on history.

Extra Cold. The laurentide ice sheet retreats about 8000 years ago. Life sucked. Cavemen in furs type of lifestyle. Google "Japanese pyramids" These structures are 60-100 feet underwater and 8,000-12,000 years old. As a geologist, we know that straight lnes like these are never seen in nature, so the presumption that they were man made is pretty strong. This gives one an idea how much the sea level can change due to natural climate changes. They were above sea-level when the laurentide ice sheet covered Europe.

Warm. The rise of the Roman Empire coincides with a warming period up to 4C warmer than today. (Google “Roman Warming Period” and "bivalves")

Cold again. The Roman Empire and the Roman Warming Period both ended (500AD ish) when it cooled, driving the Mongols south, creating the onset of the dark ages, known for famines due to the cold and severe winters killing crops.

Warm again. The Renaissance came with the Medieval Warming Period (900-1400AD ish) We get such things as the great cathedrals being built all over Europe.

Cold again. Brutal winters, famines, cold makes the Vikings abandon Greenland about the same time Columbus came to America. Starting around 1450 ish the Little Ice Age ended around 1850 when we see a general warming trend with 30 year minor warming/cooling cycles incorporated. (The MWP was seen in both Greenland and Antarctic ice cores which means it was a global climate event in extent and not local to Europe as those that dispute it's existence in order to make today's warm weather a unique event, contend.)

Minor warm/cool fluctuations. The 20 century sees warming in the 40’s, cooling until the 70’s, warming until about 1998, then a slight cooling until today (Google Phil Jones BBC interview) End of mini ice age = warming. Duh! That's why it it is important for those with an agenda to eliminate the MWP. Ice ages either mini or maxi end because the earth warms. Want to see photos of nuclear subs surfaced at the North Pole in winter in the 50's, with no ice in sight?

USS Skate. North Pole, March 17, 1954 http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08578.htm

On a geologic level, the earth is in an unusually cold period. This has happened for 2 very short periods (geologically) in the past. It occurs when continental drift arranges the land masses so land stretches from pole to pole like we see today. This blocks global ocean currents. Nothing for us to worry about, since the continents move about 6 cm/year.

Roman Warm Period (250 BC-450 AD),
(450-950 AD), the Dark Ages
Medieval Warm Period (950-1400 AD)
the Little Ice Age (1400-1850 AD)
recent warming (1850 AD to the present)

Basically, I believe that life is short and brutal without cheap energy. I am for fracking. If it needs cleaning up, clean it up. There is no controversy to me. According to the New York Times, It has been used in more than 90 percent of 450,000 operating natural gas wells, mostly without incident. There may be issues, but with over 400,000 wells using fracturing, it does not seem to be a big problem. Analogous to Toyota’s sticky gas pedal problem I think. Cars used to be big polluters. We didn't stop using cars to fight pollution, we just made them cleaner. Dollars to doughnuts, a 2011 Ford Explorer SUV is cleaner to drive than your car.

I believe the world is a better place with a strong BP (oil company). They used to contribute a huge proportion (17%) to British pensioners, which is why I believe they will start paying the dividends again soon.

I believe that cheap energy in the form of hydrocarbons is the reason we have the high quality of life we see today, and that is good. Places without abundant cheap energy are bad places to live with high mortality.

I believe in supply side economics. California collects 77 billion a year in sales, use, and income taxes. It collects 10 billion in corporate taxes. I agree with the State Commission that recommended eliminating corporate taxes. I believe the growth in the economy here for all business should more than offset the loss. Roughly an additional $270 per person in additional sales and income taxes is needed to offset the corporate tax loss. Pop 37 mil. Democrats would have nothing to do with it.

But back to us. Why so much hostility? Why can't we act like friends? I think if we act with kindness we will be happier. Why do we need to tiptoe around one another? Who can we discuss controversial subjects with? Limiting ones conversations to those that agree with us is the definition of “group think”. I am on the right side of the political spectrum but I read many left wing publications so I can know what they think, and to understand their viewpoint.

I doubt that I will ever get you to agree with me on global warming, most likely because we never hear the counter arguments in the mainstream media. But, I would like folks like you (progressives and many liberals) to acknowledge that I have a legitimate basis for my beliefs, and am working from a place of knowledge, not ignorance or meanness or evil. Go to petitionproject.org sometime to see a list of scientists like Edmund Teller (Atomic Bomb) who agree with me. We are not all idiots.

Take my thoughts on guns as another example. According to the FBI, the higher the concentration of legally carried firearms in a community, the lower the violent crime rate. Folks just don't care. Firearms = bad. We never saw the headlines "Violent crimes rise in DC after handgun ban ruled un-constitutional". Note that ALL gun massacres (in the USA) happen in "gun free zones" including Fort Hood, since Clinton banned the carrying of firearms on military bases by all personnel except the Military Police and at the gun range during training exercises.

I am of the A.E Van Vogt philosophy. “The right to buy weapons is the right to be free”

That’s sort of a high point’s description of my political beliefs. I would just like folks to acknowledge I have valid reasons and am not an idiot. I respect others beliefs whom I disagree with, and would like them to respect mine. And, don't be offended when I defend my beliefs.

AND, I would live to be able to sit down and have a rational conversation about these things.

The explanation of why reported temperature is skewed artificially high is simple. All “cold” weather stations are gone (high altitude and high latitude, etc). Yet, the original temps that took into account mountain top temperature readings have not been corrected to use the same weather stations that they use today. From a peak of 1,850 thermometer stations in 1968, there now exists a paltry 136 surviving American stations as of December 2009. (GISS/NOAA data sets)

There is also a lot of urban island heat affect (thermometer over asphalt at an airport) which required "adjusting", so the temps can be "adjusted" with an outcome in mind.

In the 1970s, nearly 600 Canadian weather stations fed surface temperature readings into a global database assembled by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Today, NOAA / GISS only collects data from 35 stations across . Only one station -- at EurekaArctic Circle, ccording to Environment Canada. All easy to check.

Hang in there, it gets better

2010-07-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

I am so worried about Alex. I pray that the Angels watch over him and give him strength to get through the next few years. It gets better. In fact it gets a lot better. Even if I don't live long enough to see him, he should know that I love him and his brother very much, and want him to live a long, happy life. Don't ever give up.

A beautiful woman will find him, and I hope they have many kids. I have a few things from my dad that I hope to end up with my grand kids.

Life is such a wonderful gift, even with all the crap it can bring. Hang in there

Like my dad used to say "Don't let the bastards grind you down".

College and your 20's will rock. Keep plugging away.

Rebirth of the Cool

2010-04-17T00:24:00.000-07:00

One of the most fun jobs I ever had was working at Speakerlab in it's glory days. This was the late 70's, which coincided with some of the best music ever recorded.

Since I am pretty restricted in what I do because of the cancer tumor in my spine, I finally got out my old stereo equipment, and unboxed the 600 or so Vinyl LP albums. I have been lugging these around since college. Most are in the garage, but I bring in favorites.

I dug through all the albums, and could not find "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis, one of my favorites. I went online intending to buy a used record, and I found a new "audiophile" pressing that was released Feb 2010. It turns out that a lot of new releases are released on vinyl at the same time as a CD. In fact, Vinyl sales are increasing about 30% a year, while CD's are decreasing almost as much. (Amazon sold out, but it is still available here)

I can't say how much listening to a LP rocks over CD's or downloads. The mere act of putting a record on the turntable and "listening to music" is entirely different than listening to a crappy itunes download.

People don't "listen" to music much anymore. They put it on as background, or listen to headphones while jogging, etc., but when was the last time you got together with friends and put a piece of music on and just listened to it like you would watch a movie?

Itunes downloads are the sonic equivalent to a transistor AM radio, while the LP retains all the warmth and image of the original recording. (Imaging is when you play the music, and the speakers disappear. If you close your eyes, you can picture the sound-scape of the musicians.

CD's are quieter, but not as pleasant to listen to. I also have a flac digital version of "Kind of Blue", and can hear big differences. Not in the high end as you would expect, but in the bass. The CD/FLAC versions are much tighter. So much so that it sounds artificial. Remember, Miles recordings were all on analog tape. I wouldn't listen to the digital, except that it has an alternate take of "Flamenco Sketches", which I really like.
My minimalistic HiFi.

8 watt per channel tube amplifier kit power amp kit that I build to relieve boredom. It's driven by a phono pre-amp which is needed to raise the output of a phono cartridge high enough to drive an amp. Unfortunately, most stereo receivers don't have a phono input anymore, so you need to use a stand alone phono preamp with most newer stereo's. I am not using a preamp (where tone controls, balance etc would be) since the phono preamp's output is high enough to drive the tube power amp to full output.

I built a Hafler DH-220 power amp somewhere around 1980.

I still use it a lot. It sounded great then, and still does. These can be found for about $200 on ebay. A year ago, they were around $400-$500. Next to the amp is the 6" powered subwoofer I use to pick up the stuff the Rodgers can't reproduce. (50Hz and below)

Thorens TD145 MkII turntable, and Rodgers LS3/5A speakers.

Like most vintage HiFi, this stuff is worth more now than when new. The turntables sell for $300-$400 on ebay when you can find one, and the Speakers go from $1600 to $2000. Just knowing what the Rodgers speakers are gets you into a "secret handshake club". The current Thorens TD350, which is essentially the same is almost $4000! Wow!

Rodgers LS3/5A speaker.

Thorens TD145 Mk II

My favorite phono cartridge. G oldring G900SE.

I have a half dozen cartridges, and always go back to this one. Like all vintage stuff, they sell for a lot more than new. Typically, these go for about $350. I tried to get a new stylus (needle) for my Shure V15 type III, and they are $350 for just the needle alone!

Google Ortofon. They sell cartridges from $35 to $6500! (and they are doing well!) I would like to try the 2M Red. It's "only" $100

The last thing that one needs (and this is a "must have"), is a DAC (Digital to Analog Converter). Computer sound cards just plain suck. No matter the quality of the digital record, playback using a soundcard will be FM quality at best. I currently use a Nuforce uDAC 48kHz, 16-bit DAC. ($100). A 24bit DAC will cost around $500 ish

Anyone with an ipod should try this experiment. Find a track you are familiar with that you own both as a digital file on your ipod, and as a CD. Plug the ipod into the HiFi (stereo) and listen. Now try the CD. I am assuming you have a reasonably good Stereo system. The differences will be huge.

CD's are 44 kHz/16 bit recordings. The best available digital recordings are 96 kHz/24 bit. Several classical labels are re-releasing recordings in this 24bit FLAC format. This is significantly better than CD quality and was available for a while as DVD-A (audio) disks. Stores did not want to stock them, since audiophiles are a small market. You need the equipment, but the quality is the best.

Memorial Services for Rozie

2010-02-16T11:44:00.000-08:00

Who ever reads this, please let as many know as you can. Rozie touched so many.
Rosalind Pinney Rambus memorial services

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Memorial Services @ 12:00 & 8:00pm

'Registered Nurse'- Employee of 33 Years with

Northridge Hospital Medical Center

Northridge, CA

FAMILY SERVICES

Friday February 18, 2010

The services are currently scheduled for Friday as follows:

Viewing will be at Halley Olsen Murphy Mortuary

44802 North Date Ave

9:00 am - 11:00 am

(661) 942-1139

Services to Follow

Joshua Memorial Cemetary

12:00 or 1:00 pm (to be confirmed)

808 East Lancaster Blvd.

Lancaster, CA 93535

Lancaster Church

4020 E. Lancaster Blvd

Lancaster, CA 93535

Rosalind Pinney Rambus 11-29-1956 to 2-11-2010

2010-02-13T13:23:00.000-08:00

Roz was not supposed to go before me. In my selfishness, I counted on her to be by my side at the end. I hope my boys learn of her death, and her mom does the christian thing, and lets them come to her funeral.

I count myself fortunate to have had her as a part of my life all these years.

I met Roz around 1980, a few days before I went back to Washington State University to make up all the incomplete I took when I dropped out. I had left school nearly 10 years earlier when my sister Margaret was killed in a snow play accident.

We met at a club in the Valley (Balboa and Roscoe). She was dancing, and everyone's eyes were on her. Boy, did she look beautiful on the dance floor, and boy could she dance. It is a real pity that she stopped. It was one of the few ways she could really express herself. She was, by far, the most beautiful woman there. Sometimes you can just look at someone, and just know.

I went up to her and asked her to dance. It did not go over too well with the guy she was with, but she ended up leaving with me. Before she did though, we went to my car, where she basically grilled me about everything. She learned more about me in that time than most people ever learn. later, I took her to a 24 hour restaurant in Reseda, and we talked most of the night.

The next day, I met her at the hospital where she worked, and the first thing she did was ask me for my drivers license. She took it and photocopied it and gave the copy to her head nurse, and said "good,now you can come home with me".

We had a wonderful week or so together, and then I drove to Pullman WA for the semester. We did not really stay in touch while I was at WSU, but as soon as I got back, I called her and we started dating.

We were married on her parents anniversary, 11-26-1983. The marriage lasted about a year. I wish I could have lived up to her expectations. The road not taken always seems to be better in retrospect.

Roz and I differed in life philosophies which is what made living together difficult. She lived in black and white, while I am all about shades of gray. I just could not feel strongly about some of the things she felt strongly about, and she had a difficult time with my lack of concern for some things she believed strongly in.

Our marriage ended, but our feelings for each other never did. We became lifelong friends and confidants. She could talk to me about her life, and I could talk about mine. We each knew that the advice we received from each other was from the heart, and with the others best interest in mind. For me, it was great to have a woman to talk to about other women. A woman's perspective can be enlightening compared guys.

These photos are of how I will always remember her. She aged very little over the years, until the last when the personal drama in her life took a toll.

She always loved the "Wizard of Oz". She was my little scarecrow. I will miss her most of all.

My rant on "anthropomorphic" Global Warming religion

2009-09-07T16:30:00.000-07:00

"You can lead a person to knowledge, but can't make them think" My own paraphrasing of an old adage. or, None so blind as those that will not see.

Here is a post that I made on realclimate (a pro AGW website). It was "moderated out". I was told that they stack the deck against skeptics, and now I know that to be true.

****
Matthew Orme says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
19 February 2010 at 9:51 PM

Start with this. CO2 is the building block for life. If we eliminated it, life (carbon based) would cease to exist.

Here is a simple truth. Climate models predicting AGW can/could not predict the past. (ie., plug in all the data, and get a “prediction” that matches what actually happened (warming in the 40’s, cooling in the 70’s, warming in the 80/90’s and nothing in the late 90’s to today (per Phil Jones, argue with him if you disagree).

BTW, the models do not include insolation as a variable. And we do not understand the role of clouds. Do they trap heat, or reflect sunlight? You have an opinion I am sure, but the science is uncertain.

If the models cannot explain what actually occurred, how can we rely on them to predict the future?

What does any credible scientist do when observations do not fit a theory? Throw out the theory. that’s the basis of science. Propose a theory, collect data, see if the data fits the theory, if not scrap the theory and come up with one where the data actually fits the model.

I became a skeptic the moment I saw the hockey stick graph. I have a degree in geology (an actually relevant science). I studied in the early 70’s and later in the 90’s. We studied the MWP, and LIA (remember CO2 is the basis for limestones etc). When those climate changes were “erased”, I knew that something was afoot. Geologists as a whole do not support a causal link between CO2 and Temp. The record actually shows that CO2 follows temp, with a lag of 800-1000 years. In 1000-1200 AD, there were vineyards in Northern England, and farming in Greenland.

It’s all about the money, not the human condition. IPCC predicts 130,000 additional deaths due to warming with a doubling of CO2. (feel free to correct my recollection if incorrect). However, taking the dirtiest/cheapest coal fired power plants, and building enough of them to provide electricity so that people that burn wood/dung indoors could cook with electricity would save 1.5 MILLION lives a year. That’s just from cooking, not all the other life shortening things that are due to lack of cheap energy. A simple cost/benefits analysis says that you do not invest trillions do do essentially nothing.

To quote a scientist, “lack of cheap energy makes for short brutal lives”
****

Freeman Dyson, physicist and member of the Institute for Advanced Study said, "The climate-studies people who work with models always tend to overestimate their models... They come to believe models are real and forget they are only models."^[56] "My objections to the global warming propaganda are not so much over the technical facts, about which I do not know much, but it’s rather against the way those people behave and the kind of intolerance to criticism that a lot of them have."^[57]

There is absolutely no evidence that CO2 drives temperature. When you take this assumption out of the picture, everything else falls apart. When you put incorrect assumptions into a computer model, you get false predictions.

Anyone with an open mind should watch the BBC special "The Great Global Warming Swindle" email me and I will be glad to lend you my copy. I watched an inconvenient truth, you should watch the counter argument. Here is a reprint of an article from the San Francisco Examiner (a republican hot bed if ever there was one) that summarizes the documentary http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1945

Global temperature has declined since 1998. Meanwhile, atmospheric carbon dioxide has gone in the other direction, increasing 15–20%. (see link below)

Has anyone noticed that the last couple winters have been particularly cold? Of course The Holy Church of Global Warming says that cold winters are evidence of Global warming. Nice isn't it. If it gets warmer, global warming. If it gets colder, global warming.

At no time during our planet's history have increases in CO2 preceded an increase in temp. In fact the following chart shows that compared to former geologic times, our present atmosphere, like the Late Carboniferous atmosphere, is CO2- impoverished! In the last 600 million years of Earth's history only the Carboniferous Period and our present age, the Quaternary Period, have witnessed CO2 levels less than 400 ppm. Click for a clearer image. (Black line = CO2, Blue line = Temp.)

This subject has now become a religion. Religions refuse to listen to anything that does not conform with the persons beliefs. Science differs because it constantly tests a hypothesis. Mann's "hockey stick" graph has now proven to be a fraud btw.

When the prophet Al Gore put up the CO2/Temp graph in his movie, he failed to tell viewers that CO2 lagged temperature by 800 to 1000 years. Paleoclimatologists believe that this is because it takes this long for the oceans to warm up/cool down. When the oceans warm up, they release gasses including CO2, and when the cool, they absorb gasses. This is why there is so much marine life in cold water.

Gore, by the way, owns a cap/trade brokerage house and stands to make a bundle. The Wall Street Journal summed it up by saying that Cap and Trade was a giant revenue generating machine exceeding income taxes, in the guise of saving the planet. No wonder the Dems are salivating over it. Read the article showing that it won't work here
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124587942001349765.html

In simple terms, CO2 rises because the temperature warms, not the other way around.

Guess how warm the planet was 1000 years ago. It was in the middle of the Medieval Warming Period. There were vineyards in northern England, and the Vikings were farming in Greenland. This was followed by the Little Ice Age, which caused the vikings to abandon Greenland, and life for Europeans was miserable. Look at the paintings during the period. The Thames river froze, as did the Delaware River (look at the painting of Washington crossing the Delaware). Neither of these rivers freeze today. Depending on who you believe, the Little Ice Age ended around 1900 (some put it as late as 1950). Guess what happens to the planet at the end of an Ice Age. It warms up (duh).

IPCC discounts both these as products of the Northern Hemisphere only, yet they are tracked in the Antarctic Ice cores (where the 1000 to 800 year CO2/temp lag is recorded). this is a perfect example of cognative dissonance. (Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind's made up)

One must also ask why water vapor is ignored by global warming alarmists. Water vapor constitutes 95% of the green house gas in the atmosphere, while CO2 makes up 3.6%.

Role of Atmospheric Greenhouse Gases
(man-made and natural) as a % of Relative
Contribution to the "Greenhouse Effect"

Based on concentrations (ppb) adjusted for heat retention characteristics	Percent of Total	Percent of Total --adjusted for water vapor
Water vapor	-----	95.000%
Carbon Dioxide (CO2)	72.369%	3.618%
Methane (CH4)	7.100%	0.360%
Nitrous oxide (N2O)	19.000%	0.950%
CFC's (and other misc. gases)	1.432%	0.072%
Total	100.000%	100.000%

http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/greenhouse_data.html

Water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas. If you get a fall evening and the sky is clear, heat will escape, the temperature will drop and you get frost. If there's cloud cover, the heat is trapped by water vapour as a greenhouse gas and the temperature stays warm. If you go to In Salah in southern Algeria, they recorded at noon 52°C. By midnight, it's -3.6°C. That’s a 56°C drop in temperature in 12 hours. It's caused because there is very little water vapour in the atmosphere and is a demonstration of water vapour as the most important greenhouse gas (source: Interview with Tim Ball). see this article http://www.skepticalscience.com/water-vapor-greenhouse-gas.htm

"During the 20th century, the earth warmed 0.6 degree Celsius (1 degree Fahrenheit), but that warming has been wiped out in a single year with a drop of 0.63 degree C. (1.13 F.) in 2007. A single year does not constitute a trend reversal, but the magnitude of that temperature drop — equal to 100 years of warming — is noteworthy. Of course, it can also be argued that a mere 0.6 degree warming in a century is so tiny it should never have been considered a cause for alarm in the first place. But then how could the idea of global warming be sold to the public? In any case, global cooling has been evident for more than a single year. Global temperature has declined since 1998. Meanwhile, atmospheric carbon dioxide has gone in the other direction, increasing 15–20%. This divergence casts doubt on the validity of the greenhouse hypothesis, but that hasn't discouraged the global warming advocates. They have long been ignoring far greater evidence that the basic assumption of greenhouse warming from increases in carbon dioxide is false." http://ilovecarbondioxide.com/2009/04/termites-emit-ten-times-more-co2-than.html

Now take a look at insolation. The chart below shows the sun's output over time. Notice how well it tracks historical temperatures, and what the relative output is today. This graph speaks for itself.

People just love catastrophic reasons for change. As a geologist who studied paleontology, I never believed in the asteroid dinosaur killer either. There is just no evidence that all the dinosaurs just dropped dead one Tuesday afternoon. I believe that they died as a result of the planet calming down, which slowly cut atmospheric oxygen by half. During the dinosaurs reign, volcanic activity was extremely high, spewing out lots of CO2. This caused a major growth in plant life, who converted the CO2 into O2. Atmospheric oxygen was double what it is today. Dinosaurs do not have diaphragms like mammals, but breath like birds. It takes a lot of O2 to run an engine the size of a Seismosaurus, and essentially, they suffocated (slowly over time as the fossil record shows) Mammals can survive with much less O2, since they can easily breath in more air.

I'm tired of writing. more later.

Test 2 from G1

2009-07-26T12:16:00.001-07:00

Pix

2009-07-26T12:06:00.001-07:00

Test email from G1

317 W Blaine, Seattle WA, 1976

2009-07-15T11:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of the gang at 317. The house is at the top of Queen Anne Hill in Seattle. It's surrounded by everything. After college, I moved in with some college friends. John Streeter, David Baker (deceased unfortunately), Dana Woodward, Brooks Burford, Bill Spaulding, and a few others. It is where I lived for the first year or 2 when I was working at Speakerlab. I finished a room for myself in the basement.

I checked out the street view on Google maps, and it looks exactly the same today as it did then.

We all drank nothing but Olympia beer since John's step father worked at the brewery in Tumwater, and saved up the bottles. We cashed in a years collection in order to buy a keg. We threw an end of the 1976 summer party, just before John Streeter left to go to Loyola Law School in LA.

We measured the success of parties by how many people "slept it off". In the morning, there were 18 people crashed all over the house.

John Streeter, Matthew Orme, Brooks Burford

John Streeter, Matthew Orme

Ray Sundstrom, who took most of the photos

John Streeter, Matthew Orme

John Streeter, William Spaulding

Brooks Burford, Matthew Orme, John Streeter

Brooks Burford, Matthew Orme, John Streeter

The Usual Suspects

My Second 1964 MGB in British Racing Green. You can barely see my first one in the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity parking lot around 1972. There is lots of room even for a tall guy like me. I wish I could buy another one today. Note that these are both MK1 (the first) versions of the MGB. Chrome Bumpers, a 3 main bearing engine, Smith Electrics, 2 x 6V batteries in series with a positive ground, wire wheels, twin SU side draft carbs, generators instead of alternators, etc. A great car, easy to work on and a lot of fun to drive. I could pull the head, get it ground, and replaced with the car running again in a day. Both cars I had were early 1964 models. Today I would look for a 1964 1/2 to 1966 model, the engine was upgraded to 5 main bearings. Anything before 1974 when pollution/safety standards mucked up the car and the chrome bumpers were replaced with ugly rubber ones. Here is a guy restoring a 1973. http://www.my73mgb.com/index.htm
wikipedia

More of the crew.

Empties loaded in the pick up to take to the recyclers.

Delt days at WSU

2009-07-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

Here is what Steve Tytler, Class of '78, says about the Washington State University Epsilon Gamma chapter of Delta Tau Delta about the "Golden Age" of the 1970's. "It was called the "Golden Age because it was a time when WSU authorities literally let the students run wild on campus! There was NO attempt to enforce laws against underage drinking. We actually had kegs of beer on the front lawn of the Delt house -- right across the street from the WSU President's house -- and nobody cared! It was a great time to be in college."

I am trying to find more pix of WSU, but these are all I could find at the moment.

My boys, Michael and Alex are "legacies" and can join any chapter of Delta Tau Delta they want, if the Greek way appeals to them.

Photos courtesy of http://www.wsudelts.com/Don_Grazzini_76.html

An attempt to Study.

What every frat guy needs, a well stocked bar

My high school Sweetheart Barbara Long. The gal by which all others in my life were measured. I'm sure that she made the costumes for the Fraternity costume party. I still have some of the ties she made. Now a grade school teacher in Klamath falls Oregon, with grown kids and grand kids I think. The worst thing that happened to me was chasing her away. Probably best for her though. She wanted the white picket fence, and I wanted adventure. It would be really nice to see her again while I am still around.

My friend Bruce Eliott. We had a bar in the house called the Slipper Inn. Quarter beers for anyone in the house.

the keg

Shi-Shi Beach (Point of the Arches) before becoming part of the Olympic National Park

2009-06-29T12:20:00.000-07:00

SpeakerLab Days

2009-06-21T16:37:00.000-07:00

I worked for SpeakerLab in the University District of Seattle from 6/1975 to 6/1979. I met one of my best friends Garth, there, and we remain good friends today. At 22, I looked pretty geeky, but after I got contacts and a hair cut, it was a bit better.

Here are a few photos

This one was taken in the house I rented with Chris Pisarcik (Gal) some time around 1977 in the University District in Seattle. It was 2 blocks from the Speakerlab store I worked in which was on the corner of NE 50th and Roosevelt Way. 816 NE 53rd St Seattle WA 98105

Around the same time in the SpeakerLab stors at the speaker re-coning dept.

Garth at the controls in the sound-room in the Lynwood store he managed.

Garth at the sales counter

Lunchtime beer in the stock room.

Me with a Pethouse Pet (promotion at the Lynwood store) around 1978/1979

Anyone with photos from this era, please email them to me.

American Hi Fidelity

2009-06-19T18:30:00.000-07:00

In 1979, Matthew Orme, Tim Cahn, and Tom Harris formed a small speaker manufacturing company named American Hi Fidelity in Seattle.

We all contributed to the Manufacturing costs, and we assembled the speakers and crossover in Tim Canh's basement. The cabinets ere made by a now defunct company in Industry CA.

Matthew Orme designed the speaker and crossover. It was a remarkable speaker, rivaling the sound quality of the Rogers 3/5a, which was the goal.

The speaker used a Quasi 2nd order Butterworth (12 db/octave) series crossover instead of the more common parallel crossover.

The idea (feel free to post corrections) was that with the series crossover, both drivers were in phase for the frequencies where they overlapped. This greatly enhances imaging. Listening tests showed that the use of zobel networks to flatten the impedance of the tweeter made the speakers "look" as though they had a flatter response, but did not sound as good.

The more components we added, the worse it sounded. The design was finalized in 1979 after many many iterations.

Like the Rogers LS3/5a, they sound best when set on stands at sitting eye level about 2 feet away from the wall. For years I used an 8" transmission line subwoofer with a passive crossover. I have since replaced it with an active subwoofer, only for it's smaller size, not better sound. In fact, the TL sounds a bit better. the Crossover diagram is supplied below.

We were fortunate in that 2 of us were ex Speakerlab employees and had the use of all their test equipment. The spectrum analyzer and it's calibrated microphone was the most useful. Using a pink noise generator, we could measure the frequency response of the system. As you see from the crossover design listening tests were used to fine tune. (The different placement of the resistors showed the same flat response, but there were audible differences.)

I just discovered all my crossover design notes, and thought it would be a good idea to publish what I had done in case anyone wished to copy the speaker design. I still had one set of speakers that I had left in my parents home for their stereo, which is where these photographs came from. They still sound great after all these years.

I do not know if the Audax drivers we used are still available, but I assume that they still make similar models. The data sheets are provided to allow you to choose drivers with similar characteristics. The 5" "woofer" was treated with an acrylic compound to dampen the cone. It looks much like white glue, and we just smeared it on with our fingers (very scientific).

As a hobbyist, I might start with something like the Tang Band W5-1685 5" Underhung Midbass Driver which is available at http://www.parts-express.com. Of course the Crossover values would need to be recalculated for a 4 ohm driver. Tweeters are readdily available. My favorite is the KEF t27, but we used the Audax to control costs.

Component values were calculated from this article http://razormotors.com/Constant%20Resistance%20Networks%20for%20speaker%20systems.pdf

Pat Snyder, the then CEO of SpeakererLab got me started when I was employed there from 6/1975 to 6/1979. Here is an article he wrote which was a free handout (the price had something to do with tax consequences) http://razormotors.com/Crossoverdesign.pdf

The attenuation (resistor) networks were based on trial and error.

If you make a similar speaker, you will not be disappointing. Click on any image to get a full sized photo.

Enclosure Interior 0.23 cu ft ish

Final Crossover Design

Front baffle with mounted components. Notice crossover is over tweeter.

Me (Matthew Orme) after 30 years.
Like the speakers, still working.

Alex, Mike, if you read this, I miss you both very much. Apparently you are allowed to contact me, but not the reverse.

This passive croossover was designed for an 8" TL subwoofer to be used with the 2 bookshelf speakers

Kind Words

2009-02-03T18:49:00.000-08:00

This arrived in my email in box today. Things like this really mean a lot to me. I am leaving the last name out to keep it anonymous.

"Dear Mr. Orme,

I would like to first thank you for making my RC Hobby experience one that I will never forget. Aveox was and still is one of the reasons why I'm in this Hobby still. I wish you the best and hope you can get together with your boys soon. I'm a single father of a beautiful girl with Autism and I would not know what to do if she wasn't here with me. I was born in Brasil and we don't have many people with cancer, but one of the facts about the people that do have it, they include Enzymes in their diet and some have been living well past of what most doctors have told them. Please look into it as you are the reason why the hobby is where it is today. I just wish Aveox would still make more products for the RC Hobby industry. People are asking for you in rcgroups (I'm lutach in there).

Regards,

Luciano."

Once more into the breach!

2009-01-25T22:39:00.001-08:00

Typing this on my G1 phone, so it will be short. I had typed a really long post, and of course I screwed up and lost it. I'll use my own advice to others ans save early and save often.I tried riding the Suzuki motorcycle for the first time since my legs were paralized in August. It was a scary proposition. I don't have enough control over my legs to hold the bike up when I stop. I have to look at the shifter to see if my toes are on/under the peg to shift since I can't feel them.I can ride pretty well, but stopping is a scary thing. I think it will be quite a while before I am really able to get up on the bike with confidence. Riding the bike again was one of my goals in fighting the disease. Just being able to ride around the block a couple of times gives me hope. Now, all I need is to see my boys again and I can go happily.

Lost my gal

2008-11-17T17:15:00.001-08:00

I really miss Mia L

The times that I spent with her were the happiest times in my life.

When we lived together as a family was when I was able to really get to know my boys again.

I will be forever grateful for those times. Even with all the crap that the custody battle brought into our lives, there were a lot of happy moments.

I just had to add this photo.

It reminds me of what we had, and what I threw away.

Mia I will always love you.

The origins of the name Orme

2008-10-31T15:37:00.000-07:00

Orme Coat of Arms - English

From http://www.orme.ws/genealogy/origins.html

Orme derives from the Old Norse word 'Ormr' and it means Serpent or Dragon.

The earliest records of Orme are in Scandinavia carved on memorial stones in Runic lettering, though there may be others that have not come to light yet. The Runic alphabet (or more correctly the futhark) was used from approximately 300ad to 1200ad.

'Orm' looks like this in Runic lettering:, it can be translated as 'Orm' or 'Urm', sometimes as 'Arm'.

In Swedish Latin and Danish Latin records the name appears as Ormus or Vuormo. In British and Irish records it usually appears as Orme, Orm, Urm, Arm, Horm, Horn, Oram, Orum, Orem, Ormer, or Ormarr.

As the people of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark explored, traded, and raided, they founded settlements in many other European Countries, taking the name Orme with them.

During the Viking era (generally considered to be 798ad-1066ad.), Norwegian Ormes settled in Iceland, the Orkney Islands, the Shetland Islands, the Hebrides, The Færoe Islands, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Ireland, England, and North Wales. Written records and archæology show that there were also Norwegian settlements in Greenland and North America, but these were abandoned.

Danes settled in England and along the west coast of mainland Europe. They reached Spain and Portugal, and then continued into the Mediterranean Sea. In 1002ad, during a single day, the Saxon King, Æthelred (the unready), had all of the Danes living in England put to death. This resulted in a major invasion by King Sweyn of Denmark, and under his successor Knut the Great (Canute) England became part of a Kingdom that also included Denmark and Norway.

Meanwhile Swedes (known as the 'Rus' and the 'Varangi') explored and settled to the East, then South through Russia and Byzantium to the Mediterranean Sea. An Arabian document (written by 'Ibn Fadlan') describes them cruising along the Russian rivers to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Once again, there would have been Ormes amongst them who may have settled in some of the countries.

Old Norse Sagas, written principally in Iceland, and concerning the history of Norway, provide records of several Ormes. The relevant stories, or extracts from them, are included on this website.

Emigration from Europe, especially from Great Britain, Ireland, and Scandinavia, has resulted in large numbers of Ormes in the United States of America, and others in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. A few adventurous individuals went to live in more exotic locations.

There were a few who did not go voluntarily and were transported from Britain as convicts. From 1615 to 1776 the destinations for transportation were North America and the West Indies, from 1787 to 1867 the destinations were Australia and Tasmania.

The most recent major migration of Ormes was in the 1950's and 1960's, when the British Government encouraged families to relocate to Australia by offering to take them there for £10 per family ('Ten Pound Poms' as they were affectionately called on arrival).

As one might expect, not all felt the urge to travel and Ormes can still be found in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
In Scandinavian countries the original name was often translated to the Roman alphabet as 'Arme', there are more than 30,000 'Armes' in Scandinavia.

The associated coat of arms is recorded in Sir Bernard Burke's General Armory. Ulster King of Arms in 1884. Registered at Abbey Town County Mayo; confirmed by Betham, Ulster to William Henry ORME Esq. of that place.

The name ORME was a baptismal name from the Old Norman ORMR, originally a byname meaning 'Serpent or Dragon'. The name was brought into England and Ireland by settlers from Denmark and Dauphine, France.

Following the Crusades in Europe a need was felt for a family name. This was recognized by those of noble blood, who realised the prestige and practical advantage it would add to their status. Early records of the name mention Orm (without surname) listed in the Domesday Book of 1086. Augustas Orumme, 1327 County Surrey. Richard Oram, registered at Oxford Univerity in 1609. John Oram married Sarah Lamb at St. George's, Hanover Square, London in 1778.

Family names are a fashion we have inherited from the times of the Crusades in Europe, when knights identified one another by adding their place of birth to their first or Christian names. With so many knights, this was a very practical step. In the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries the nobles and upper classes, particularly those descended from the knights of the Crusades, recognised the prestige an extra name afforded them, and added the surname to the simple name given to them at birth. The associated arms are recorded in Sir Bernard Burkes General Armory. Ulster King of Arms in 1884.

It has long been a matter of doubt when the bearing of coats of arms first became hereditary and it was not until the Crusades that Heraldry came into general use. Men went into battle heavily armed and were difficult to recognise. It became the custom for them to adorn their helmets with distinctive crests, and to paint their shields with animals and the like. Coats of arms accompanied the development of surnames, becoming hereditary in the same way.

Most of the European surnames were formed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The process had started somewhat earlier and had continued in some places into the 19th century, but the norm is that in the tenth and eleventh centuries people did not have surnames, whereas by the fifteenth century most of the population had acquired a second name.

On Motorcycles

2008-10-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

I think that what I miss the most about not having control over my legs is riding the motorcycle. If you read my first post, a metastatic tumor on my spine partially paralyzed me.

The solitude, speed and pure pleasure of riding over Topanga Canyon to the beach at Malibu, and back into the Valley via Las Virgenes (Malibu Canyon) Road has been one of the most pleasurable thing I have done in years. You feel like no one can touch you. The experience is almost religious. Sometimes I would take PCH all the way to Port Hueneme and then come back to the Valley.

It's funny to think that the most important thing for me, aside from seeing my boys, is being able to ride the bike again.

I bought a 1997 Suzuki VS800 (pictured) with 7,860 miles on it for $3500 right after the Fourth of July 2008. I paid way over bluebook for it ($3,500), but I had been looking for a 800cc Suzuki for several months. This was about the time that gas was nearing $5.00 a gallon in Santa Barbara, and there were none to be had. Every ad I responded to had been sold immediately. The bike shops were not even getting that size of bike in trade. Everyone was hanging onto them. When one shop called me and told me that they had taken one in trade (after a few months), I grabbed it. I figured, wtf, it was something I had wanted to do for a long time.

Almost exactly 30 days later, my legs became paralyzed. By that time, I had put over 2000 miles on it, and had several rides of over 100 miles. The previous owners averaged less than 700 miles a year (assuming the bike was sold in 1996), and I was doing 2000/month.

When I told my sister Marianne that I hoped I would be able to ride the bike again, she said that she was afraid that I would kill myself on it. I am not suicidal (it's a religious thing), but I told her that it would probably be better than the slow lingering and very painful death that awaits me down the road.

I have also come to the realization that I would rather have Mike and Alex (the Orme twins) ride motorcycles to school than bicycles. I have known more people killed on bicycles than motorcycles.

When you get hit on a bicycle, there is a large velocity difference. What seems to happen the most is that the driver of a car going 45-50 mph doesn’t see the bicycle going 10 mph on the side of the road and slams into the back of the bike, or turns into it.

The motorcycles biggest threats are cars turning into its path. Left turns at intersections, or right turns right in front of the bike. The closest calls I had were cars in front of me slamming on the breaks on country back roads to make u-turns.

I learned that your best chance of avoiding a crash is to increase your visibility. A white helmet and very light colored jacket help a lot. The shop owners tell me that wearing chartreuse colored vest (light neon yellow green), like the guys working on the side of the road really works.

I went with the Olympia Recon jacket in khaki and the KBC FFR Modular Cruz Helmet, which is wonderful. The jacket has armor panels in the shoulders, elbows and back (like a skater wears, but inside the jacket). I could not find an all white modular helmet in my XXL size. The Jacket is light enough to get me seen, and when I go into a restaurant, or a store, I can unzip the arms and leave them with the bike. I lock them with a cable lock through each arm. I also leave the entire jacket with the bike this way. To steal the jacket, you would need something to cut the cable.

The helmet is great in that you flip up the face to get a ¾ helmet, which makes filling up with gas, or just walking with the helmet a lot easier. It is also easier to put on and take off.

As you must notice, I am bored not being able to walk. Anyway, Alex/Mike, I hope you take a bit of this advice if you get a bike, or inherit mine.

Keep up the Acting Michael

2008-10-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

Michael, I hope that wherever you are, and whatever school you are going to, that you are still involved in theater.

Don't let that person who told you that your voice was not good for acting get to you. There is a lot of opportunity for anyone.

I have not seen you any happier than you were when you were on stage. You were also very devoted to the productions, and wanted to rehearse more than you wanted to do anything else.

Don't let that feeling die. There are a lot of movie stars that went to Chatsworth high school like Kevin Spacey, Val Kilmer, Mare Winningham, and Stephanie Kramer for instance. The area you are living has produced a lot of good actors.

By the way, all the photos are links to larger images. I will post more soon.

The big thing is that you do not loose the interest in theater. If you keep pursuing it, I think that you will be successful. I hope that I will be able to see you in a couple more plays before I leave.

I will write more soon, but I just wanted to remind you of your love for the theater. Remember, 95% of life is just showing up, so if you pursue your desires, success will follow.

Remember that I love you and miss you a lot. I wish I could hear from you.

Stories to Tell

2008-10-14T15:09:00.000-07:00

Here is a short list of stories I want to get down in writing while I can.

Reinell 24 Sailboat
Trips to San Juans
Speakerlab
trip to WSU in the MG
Marine Support
Lake Union Apt
Hurricane Allen, and the girl
Sofie Bravo storm
Storm off of Cape Hatteras
Galveston Tx and Marianne (girl I met)
New Bedford
Savana
hitch hiking in Mexico
Girl at Mt. High with streeter
Alaska
Dutch Harbor
flight to St. Paul Island and landing
trip to Belize, and the way it ended
Barbara Long
Rosalind Pinney
St Clarens Ireland
Fishing
R/C Models
Music (Records vs MP3)

Trip to Mexico with Garth
Catching the halibut
Catching the BigEye

Drop Box

Trip in the White Bird to Canada

2008-10-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

Let me think of my trip to the San Juans in the White Bird Sailboat.

Sometime in the mid 1970's, I bought a 19 foot Adkins design, gaff rigged sailboat with a good friend of mine named Brian Bylenok. The boat was a wood planked boat with a small cabin. cabin had 2 berths for sleeping, and had comfortable sitting headroom.

We originally purchased the boat from a woman in Port Townsend Washington. I was working at Speakerlab as a Stereo Store Salesman, and Manager.

I sailed the boat across the Puget Sound to Seattle where we had arranged to dock it in the ship canal between Lake Union, and Lake Washington at a houseboat that belonged to another Speakerlab friend. (Brian also worked there)

The boat was a very nice little sailor, after we added a bit to the full length keel. We just shaped a large piece of wood about 6" thick at the stern, and tapering to nothing at the bow, and bolted it to the lead keel. This increased the draft to about 2 to 2.5 feet. We also pulled the boat, and re caulked all the joints between the strip planks.

After repainting, and re varnishing all the exposed mahogany wood work, I decided to take a 2 week solo vacation in it to the San Juan Islands.

If you look at a map, you will see that to get from Lake Union to the Puget Sound, you must go through the locks in Fremont between the Puget Sound, and the 2 freshwater lakes. This trip takes at least an hour or 2 depending on the traffic through the locks.

The boat has a little 5 hp British seagull outboard on it so I was able to motor from our moorage at the houseboat to the locks. Starting the Seagull motor is something in of itself. It has a place on the top to wind a starting rope, so you can pull it, just like an old fashioned lawnmower. There is no recoil mechanism like a lawn mower, so you wind it each time. Once it starts, it is pretty reliable, although it broke down at the beginning of the sailing portion of the trip. The prop is attached to the drive shaft with a big coil spring to act as a shock absorber, and it broke. The motor would start, but the prop just spun freely.

Once I passed through the locks into the Sound, I stopped the motor, and raised the sail and started my journey by sailing back to Port Townsend.

The boat was a very primitive all wood boat with no modern accommodations, or electronics. It has a little wood burning stove in the cabin for warmth, and for cooking, but I really only used if to keep warm, and to heat water for coffee. Since there was no electricity, I hung a small kerosene lantern from one of the stays near the sail, instead of using electric running lights,. The light from the lantern would light up the sail at night to let other boats see me. I was also careful to hang a good radar reflector from the mast as high as possible so the very fast freighters would see me on their radar,and avoid running me down.

I never had any close calls, so it seemed to work just fine.

The little boat pointed pretty high into the wind after the addition to the full length keel, and was a pleasure to sail. The only navigation I had was dead reckoning with a compass, a watch, and some charts.

When I got to Port Townsend in the late evening, I decided to dock at the local marina for the remainder of the evening, to get some sleep. The next leg of the journey would be to the San Jauns across the Straight of Juan de Fuca.

Of course, being the Northwest, the weather decided to get a little rough the next day. Since the winds and seas were from the south, and I was heading north, I decided to press on with my little trip. Sailing solo with no radio or other survival gear other than a life vest may not have been the wisest thing to do, bit I was young and unafraid. In retrospect, If I was to do the same today, I would have a GPS receiver, and a good hand held radio along with a cell phone, but in those days, one did with less.

I woke up in the morning, and made a little fire in the stove. Although the stove was a miniature version of a large wood burning stove, I just burned charcoal in it. This was much easier to get, carry, and it made a lot less smoke. It also produced a fire that was a bit hotter so my morning coffee didn't take as long to make

I also carried a small white gas stove for cooking, but I usually refrained from using it in the morning, since I had a fire going anyway for warmth.

Once I was warm, and awake, I put on my Shetland Island Sweater that my mother gave me, and my rain suit. The winds were 25 to 35 knots from the south, and the swells were about 10 feet, which I didn't think was to bad for the trip. I know now, after working offshore s a navigator for seismic exploration vessels, that 25 knots and 10 foot seas is a pretty rough ride. But, with following seas, the little boat rode pretty well.

Once I was back in the sound, I found that the little boat would surf in the swells, and with my back to the wind, I made pretty good time.

My target was San Juan Island, but with the drift from the swells, and no real navigation, I really didn't know where I was when I saw the Islands after several hours of sailing. I don't really know how long the crossing took, but since the White Bird could not do much more than 6 knots, It was quite a while. The distance to Lopez Island from the Port Townsend Marina is a bit more than 20 miles, so the trip was probably about 4 hours, but it seemed a lot longer in the rough weather.

When I saw land for the first time that day, I found that I was near a little bay with three small fishing boats in it. I believe that they were fishing for salmon, but I am not really sure, However, from the shape of the inlet, I could see that it matched a bay on Lopez Island. While I had missed my target by several miles, it was really not a concern since I was not in a hurry to get anywhere.

As I sailed to the west, I could hear the fisherman shouting at me, but they were too far away to hear what they were saying. I was very near the shore, and suddenly I went aground. What the fisherman had been shouting was a warning to stay away from the shallows I now found myself stuck in. I was really fortunate that the White bird Was a shallow draft vessel, since all I needed to do was to lower the sail, and use my boat hook as a pole to push myself off the rocks. Once I was a little farther away from the shore I hoisted the sail, and continued sailing.

I had not recognized the shallows, since I had misidentified the little inlet that I was in on the chart. I was a little farther off course than I had thought, but it still was not important. Since there was no difficulty getting off the rocks, I was not too concerned. If the boat had been a fin keel type, I would have been in a bit more trouble.

To be continued
(met a girl in Friday Harbor, Lost a mast stay sailing back to Port Townsend, and had to hide (anchor) in the lee of Little D'Arcy island until the storm blew over, and I could repair the boat)

To Alex on Joining the Marines

2008-10-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

Hey guy, the minimum age to join the military is 18, and 17 if you get permission from your parents. If I can, I will sign for you at 17 if I am still around, and you still want to join up. It might take both parents. If you go this early, you have to graduate high school first, and enter a program that pays for college when you get out for me to be on board.

I would be very proud of you if you joined the military, but you know how I feel about the different branches. I would REALLY prefer it if you got into a college ROTC program, or some other college program where you go to school, and then enter the service as an officer.

In this order from best to what I think is the worst. It is based on civilian careers afterward, and the least possibility of getting blown up or shot.
Coast Guard
Air Force
Navy
Marines
Army

I think you should take steps to become an officer no matter which branch you join. the last thing you want to be is a grunt. There are not a lot of jobs waiting for a rifleman.

My first choice would be to join the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard academy is the hardest academy of them all to get into for a reason. But, when you get out, you will have a civilian career waiting for you. Any branch of the military will teach you a lot.

The Air Force academy also is pretty hard, but even if you become an ordinary airman, life on an Air Force base is pretty good. It is the most like civilian life of them all. It will also lead you go a good job after you get out.

Unfortunately, you are going to be too tall to be a pilot. Your eyes may not pass the test either, but that can be corrected. There should not be any restrictions for anything else. Do a lot of research, don't just sign up.

The Marines are really a branch of the Navy. You even to the the naval academy, and choose to be Marine officer at graduation. The marines don't have medics for instance. They are naval personnel.

My least favorite for you would be for you to become a private in the Army. There are the fewest career paths for a grunt. An Army officer would be just fine.

BUT, no matter what you do, I think the military is a good option for you. Be sure to get into a program that will pay for college. I have always hoped that you would go to The University of Washington in Seattle. I really think you would like it there.

Cancer finally caught up with me after 8 years

2008-10-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

This is a book entitled "Thoughts to my boys Alex Orme and Mike Orme", which I am self publishing online. It will be a work in progress available for anyone to read, since I don't expect to have the time to publish it in the normal manner.

I have so much to tell my boys, and so little time to tell it.

I am writing this in early October 2008, flat on my back, unable to walk, having been diagnosed as a paraplegic. It seems that the Prostate Cancer that I have been fighting for the last 8 years has reared up its head.

On August 11, 2008, I suddenly could not move my legs. It was very sudden. I went from shaky walking to not walking in an hour or 2.

I called my ex girlfriend Mia in Santa Barbara, and she drove out to see me. She called Dr. Juli Taguchi, my oncologist, and explained what was happening. She said to get me to an ER asap, so Mia called 911, and got an ambulance to take me to West Hills Hospital.

After a Cat Scan and an MRI, I was diagnosed with a tumor on my spine. The Doctors recommend radiation to shrink it, but also gave me the option of surgery, which it was very apparent that the surgeon did not want to perform. I insisted on the surgery.

It turns out the the tumor was metastatic (cancerous), and had damaged the nerves in my spine, which is why I could not walk (or even move my left leg). Sucks for me. I will be in the hospital, and then in a nursing home for quite a while. I can wiggle my toes, so there is hope for partial recovery. I may be able to walk, but the cancer is growing still (not all of the tumor could be removed), so my prognosos is poor. That's doctor speak for "He is going to die soon"

Now, for the thrust of this book.

All of what I relate in every blog post is to be taken as my opinion, and not necessarily as fact for any lawyers reading this.

This blog will be a little bit like the movie "Life without me", since I have no other way to talk to them.

But first some background to set the stage.

Their mother has the boys, and will not let them talk to me. She took away their cellphones and strictly monitors their internet access. Even though they are 15 year old twins, she maintains strict control over them. She home schools them so that they don't call me from school.
She has been diagnosed as having "Borderline Personality Disorder" (google it), and lives in her own reality as far as I go.

I can't help but be very disappointed that the boys have not found a way to contact me in all this time.

She and her father spent over 1.5 million dollars in court to prove that I was abusing them. When the boys psychologist testified that the boys strongly denied to him that I ever abused them, they flew in an expert from Boston at the cost of $25,000 to testify that they only said that because I had had custody of them for the last couple of years.

The Judge that heard the 27 days of testimony was out of his league. He was a retired prosecutor, with no family law experience. He evaluated the case like a criminal case, and since their mother Sandra Nelson, and her father George Nelson hired a dozen experts to testify, and I was a broke father defending myself (in Pro Per), the preponderance of the evidence was in their favor. He would not let the 14 year old twins come to court to testify, but relied completely on the testimony of hired guns.

It was like Hitler invading Poland. I did not stand a chance. It was as though 20 experts testified that the rabbit was male, even though it was a female, and the judge ruled it was male because most of the experts said it was. It does not make it true. One thing you learn in the legal system is that fact and truth are not the same thing.

It's been a year now since I have seen them. My prostate cancer finally metastasized to my spine. The tumor paralyzed me from the waist down, and I could not move my legs. My first wife Rosalind Rambus went with my sister and asked Sandy (their mom) to let them come and see me before the surgery.

She told them that she needed a letter from the doctor saying that I was dying and only had a few days to live before she would let them come and see me to say good bye.

What a bitch. She destroyed my life. She sued the wonderful woman I was living with, and destroyed our relationship. I am sure that she is laughing now that I am in the hospital without my boys or the woman I love. Yes, there is evil in the world.

I am now living in a nursing home, and can't even see my teen aged boys. My condition is listed as poor. There is nothing that I want more than to see my boys and have some time with them before I die.

I am hoping that they will read this blog sometime in the future, and know that I love them very much and miss them greatly. I know that none of this is their fault. They just happened to have the bad luck to have a mother that hates their father.

I am easy to get a hold of online, if they can.
my email is morme@gte.net

IM user names
AIM mikeandalexsdad
Yahoo mattheworme
MSN morme@gte.net

Webpages
http://www.orme.org
or
http://www.razormotors.com/orme/
if the above does not work

Future posts will be to them. Hopefully they will be able to read the advice that they won't be able to hear from me directly.

Mike, Alex, I love you very much, and miss having you in my life. The years that the three of us lived together were the best yeas of my life. I hope that we can spend some time together before I leave this earth.

Matthew