I have owned this stereo microscope since I was a teenager. At first used for examining rocks and minerals in my collection, it has found many uses over the years, mostly used during assembly and inspection of various bits of electronic gear. It has been a workhorse microscope, well used, and well loved.
An American Optical model 40 stereo microscope
Despite this it bit me!
I know the feeling all too well, that little 60Hz nibble of 120Vac electrical power, a feeling anyone who has worked with electricity like I have recognizes instantly. Somewhere in this microscope 120Vac power is shorted to the frame.
As I sit typing away I have a slight interferece to deal with. Rasalhague is sleeping just above my keyboard.
Rasalhague dreams atop the compter desk
He came for the scritching, then eventually fell asleep as I worked on a user manual.
Not much interference… Just push his tail under the monitor rather than in front of the screen. There is a soft paw to push out of the way if I need to type numerals at the top of the keyboard.
Ras is deep asleep, his paws twitching slightly as he wanders in an unknown dreamland. Chasing Geckoes about the house? Or running off the doves that frequent our lanai? I have only guesses.
Whatever his dreams I am sure it is more fun that configuration registers, control loop settings, and relay connections.
Around this island the observant hiker will become attuned to various clues that give a view into the natural history or human history of the landscape.
An ʻopihi shell found along a utility line access road far from the ocean
One such clue is the presence of seashells, these are usually a giveaway of ancient Hawaiian occupation of a site or locality. The bleached and broken bits of shell a long lasting remant of meals harvested from the shoreline and brought to places well inland. Often found around lava tubes or water sources these shells let you know that others have passed here before.
An ʻopihi shell along a power line access road near Waikoloa? This is a bit unexpected. I have to stop and pick up this shell, pausing my trek to puzzle out this anomaly.
For someone who works with their hands tools are important. We all have our favorite tools, that one we always use as we have for so many years. There may be a dozen screwdrivers in the rack, but that one is used almost every time.
A veteran Weller WES50 soldering station
Thus is with great sadness that I announce the death of my longtime soldering station.
A good soldering iron is a basic tool for an electronics engineer. A multimeter, a soldering iron, and a set of basic hand tools are absolutely necessary for any electronics workbench. To this end I had bought a very good iron, one that has served me well for several decades.
I wonder just how many soldered connections I made with this old soldering iron… Thousands upon thousands certianly, so many circuit boards, connectors, and wires.
There are no available spare parts for this long obsolete soldering station. There are many conversations on bulletin boards and chat rooms lamenting this as others have had their beloved soldering irons fail. The WES50 was long ago replaced by the WES51, and the parts are not interchangable.
With sadness I remove the old soldering station from the bench. I replace it with a new Weller WE1010NA station. I wonder just what work awaits the new soldering iron, how many solder joints will it see in the coming decades. I hope that this new iron will outlast me.
After a couple years of use the Jeep Compass has been a fairly good vehicle. A decent daily driver, good gas mileage where gas is $5 a gallon, and able to do rough back roads with little worry.
A damaged cargo bed support in a Jeep Compass
I do have a few complaints, one of which had to be dealt with this week… The cargo area bed supports simply failed. I had noted signs of stressed plastic before, some cracks appearing after hauling heavy loads.
The final straw was Deep Violet, my 18″ telescope… Weighing in at well over 100lbs. When unloading the ‘scope after a night at Kaʻohe I found that the bed seems to have collapsed under the weight. The molded plastic bed supports simply ripped away from the cargo bed side panels.
An SUV where the cargo bed supports are two protrusions molded into the thin plastic side panels? Yeah, not impressed.
