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Radio Shack and my education
Slightly OT, but kinda fun anyhow.....
I'd been trying to locate a reasonably priced USB cable over the weekend It seems that you often pay as much for the cable as you fo for the device you are connecting to the computer. Has stereo voodoo physics entered the computer realm? Anyhow, I ended up in a Radio Shack store, found the cheapest cable I could, (20 bucks) and made the mistake of mentioning something to the salesman about the funny claims on the packages. Big mistake, I had blasphemed his religion. In the next couple minutes I learned that: Turns out that different frequencies travel at different speeds down the cable. Good cables have special formulations of wire that compensate for this. Everybody knows that! He didn't know what velocity factor was, but let me know that he had taken physics classes, so he knew what he was talking about. So why have u antenna gurus been misleading us?! Now that my eyes have been opened I understand.... Looking at an antenna, it becomes obvious that the lower the frequency, the slower the signal moves. The extra length of the antenna allows the RF to accellerate enough so that when it reached the end of the antenna, it has enough velocity to shoot out and not float straight up. Those really high frequencies are zipping by so fast that they hardly need any wire to get to TOSP (Take-off speed) Wow, I have reached true enlightenment............... - Mike KB3EIA - |
Radio Shack and my education
On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 14:28:47 -0500, Michael Coslo
wrote: Slightly OT, but kinda fun anyhow..... I'd been trying to locate a reasonably priced USB cable over the weekend It seems that you often pay as much for the cable as you fo for the device you are connecting to the computer. Has stereo voodoo physics entered the computer realm? Anyhow, I ended up in a Radio Shack store, found the cheapest cable I could, (20 bucks) and made the mistake of mentioning something to the salesman about the funny claims on the packages. Big mistake, I had blasphemed his religion. In the next couple minutes I learned that: Turns out that different frequencies travel at different speeds down the cable. Good cables have special formulations of wire that compensate for this. Everybody knows that! He didn't know what velocity factor was, but let me know that he had taken physics classes, so he knew what he was talking about. So why have u antenna gurus been misleading us?! Now that my eyes have been opened I understand.... Looking at an antenna, it becomes obvious that the lower the frequency, the slower the signal moves. The extra length of the antenna allows the RF to accellerate enough so that when it reached the end of the antenna, it has enough velocity to shoot out and not float straight up. Those really high frequencies are zipping by so fast that they hardly need any wire to get to TOSP (Take-off speed) Wow, I have reached true enlightenment............... Mike, sounds like he is well on the way to a ham licence... did you sign him up? Owen -- |
Radio Shack and my education
"Michael Coslo" wrote in message ... Slightly OT, but kinda fun anyhow..... I'd been trying to locate a reasonably priced USB cable over the weekend It seems that you often pay as much for the cable as you fo for the device you are connecting to the computer. Has stereo voodoo physics entered the computer realm? Anyhow, I ended up in a Radio Shack store, found the cheapest cable I could, (20 bucks) and made the mistake of mentioning something to the salesman about the funny claims on the packages. Big mistake, I had blasphemed his religion. In the next couple minutes I learned that: Turns out that different frequencies travel at different speeds down the cable. Good cables have special formulations of wire that compensate for this. Everybody knows that! you didn't know that? its called frequency dispersion. fortunately it is a relatively small effect and in normal bandwidths hams use it can be ignored. for very high bandwidth signals like high speed digital stuff it can badly distort the waveforms and can be the limiting factor in determining maximum cable lengths without repeaters. |
Radio Shack and my education
On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 19:43:15 GMT, Owen Duffy wrote:
On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 14:28:47 -0500, Michael Coslo wrote: Slightly OT, but kinda fun anyhow..... I'd been trying to locate a reasonably priced USB cable over the weekend It seems that you often pay as much for the cable as you fo for the device you are connecting to the computer. Has stereo voodoo physics entered the computer realm? Anyhow, I ended up in a Radio Shack store, found the cheapest cable I could, (20 bucks) and made the mistake of mentioning something to the salesman about the funny claims on the packages. Big mistake, I had blasphemed his religion. In the next couple minutes I learned that: Turns out that different frequencies travel at different speeds down the cable. Good cables have special formulations of wire that compensate for this. Everybody knows that! He didn't know what velocity factor was, but let me know that he had taken physics classes, so he knew what he was talking about. Mike, sounds like he is well on the way to a ham licence... did you sign him up? Too much ruckus has been focused on the 'No Code License' issue. The ruckus should, instead, be focused on the 'No Clue License'. Jonesy -- Marvin L Jones | jonz | W3DHJ | linux Pueblo, Colorado | @ | Jonesy | OS/2 __ 38.24N 104.55W | config.com | DM78rf | SK |
Radio Shack and my education
Dave wrote: "Michael Coslo" wrote in message ... Slightly OT, but kinda fun anyhow..... I'd been trying to locate a reasonably priced USB cable over the weekend It seems that you often pay as much for the cable as you fo for the device you are connecting to the computer. Has stereo voodoo physics entered the computer realm? Anyhow, I ended up in a Radio Shack store, found the cheapest cable I could, (20 bucks) and made the mistake of mentioning something to the salesman about the funny claims on the packages. Big mistake, I had blasphemed his religion. In the next couple minutes I learned that: Turns out that different frequencies travel at different speeds down the cable. Good cables have special formulations of wire that compensate for this. Everybody knows that! you didn't know that? its called frequency dispersion. fortunately it is a relatively small effect and in normal bandwidths hams use it can be ignored. for very high bandwidth signals like high speed digital stuff it can badly distort the waveforms and can be the limiting factor in determining maximum cable lengths without repeaters. Oh yes, I've heard of dispersion. But that isn't what the guy was talking about in our context. He was talking about gross effects. - Mike KB3EIA - |
Radio Shack and my education
On 23 Nov 2005 20:29:37 GMT, Allodoxaphobia
wrote: Too much ruckus has been focused on the 'No Code License' issue. The ruckus should, instead, be focused on the 'No Clue License'. I never mentioned the no-code licence... we got over that over a year ago down under. I suggest it is not a matter of the no-clue licence, but the no-clue licensee, who could be licensed in any grade. Owen (Spelling correct for country of origin!) -- |
Radio Shack and my education
Next time try an outfit called "Big Lots"-- they had packs of 3
USB cables- for about 8 bucks, if memory serves!! And, their clerks are dumb, and KNOW that they are dumb, so no lecture from them, if you can even find one that "speaka d' english " ! They are an overstock/closeout specialty store, and have everything from food to computer disks and small handtools! Relatively inexpensive, too-- Jim NN7K Michael Coslo wrote: Slightly OT, but kinda fun anyhow..... I'd been trying to locate a reasonably priced USB cable over the weekend It seems that you often pay as much for the cable as you fo for the device you are connecting to the computer. Has stereo voodoo physics entered the computer realm? Anyhow, I ended up in a Radio Shack store, found the cheapest cable I could, (20 bucks) and made the mistake of mentioning something to the salesman about the funny claims on the packages. Big mistake, I had blasphemed his religion. In the next couple minutes I learned that: Turns out that different frequencies travel at different speeds down the cable. Good cables have special formulations of wire that compensate for this. Everybody knows that! He didn't know what velocity factor was, but let me know that he had taken physics classes, so he knew what he was talking about. So why have u antenna gurus been misleading us?! Now that my eyes have been opened I understand.... Looking at an antenna, it becomes obvious that the lower the frequency, the slower the signal moves. The extra length of the antenna allows the RF to accellerate enough so that when it reached the end of the antenna, it has enough velocity to shoot out and not float straight up. Those really high frequencies are zipping by so fast that they hardly need any wire to get to TOSP (Take-off speed) Wow, I have reached true enlightenment............... - Mike KB3EIA - |
Radio Shack and my education
Jim - NN7K wrote:
Next time try an outfit called "Big Lots"-- they had packs of 3 USB cables- for about 8 bucks, if memory serves!! And, their clerks are dumb, and KNOW that they are dumb, so no lecture from them, if you can even find one that "speaka d' english " ! They are an overstock/closeout specialty store, and have everything from food to computer disks and small handtools! Relatively inexpensive, too-- Jim Good tip, Jim! We have one of them here, and I'm going to check on Friday. - Mike KB3EIA - |
Quote:
The Man in the Maze QRV from Baboquivari Peak, AZ |
Radio Shack and my education
On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 14:28:47 -0500, Michael Coslo
wrote: Slightly OT, but kinda fun anyhow..... .... Wow, I have reached true enlightenment............... - Mike KB3EIA - My favorite RShack items are the $100+ "Monster" cables to hook up TV/DVD players. Gotta get those optical electrons flowing just right... bob k5qwg |
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