Posts Made By: Tinchi Lee

October 4, 2006 10:05 PM Forum: Mounts

3 or 4 bolt configuration for a concrete pier

Posted By Tinchi Lee

Bryan Raser said:

I have someone lined up to pour a concrete pier for me. I'm planning on 3 3/4"-10 bolts spaced 120 degrees apart.

Now I'm wondering. Would there be any advantage to putting in 4 bolts @ 90 degree spacing? I know 3 point support is the most stable(for mirror support and tripods), but wouldn't 4 be stronger? the telescope is attached to pier via adapter plate similar to Dan's pier plates.

Thanks.

No difference whatsoever wink

Your friendly neighborhood structural engineer

October 15, 2006 09:41 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

News On Sky Scout?

Posted By Tinchi Lee

i wonder if celestron ever thought about pairing it with a pair of medium aperature, hand-holdable binos (say 10x50). it'd be incredibly neat to have a hand-held, grab-and-go push-to observing system.

and if celestron does make a 2nd-generation skyscout like that, they now know who the patent holder is 8)

December 13, 2006 02:19 AM Forum: Investment Discussions

Fidelity 401k loan from hell

Posted By Tinchi Lee

i recently borrowed from my 401k for to augment the down payment of my new house. i applied for the loan 2 months before closing. needless to say the check arrived a month AFTER closing. fortunately i foresaw their incompetence and had enough reserve to carry through closing, and that the loan was only for "extra" reserve and to furnish the place.

yes it took so long i actually started REPAYING the loan before i RECEIVED the loan check.

they're lucky i was so busy with closing that i didn't pursue my complaints.

March 14, 2007 03:32 AM Forum: Astro-Physics

Made in America-press release from AP

Posted By Tinchi Lee

need...torrent...badly... sad

May 10, 2007 01:34 AM Forum: Off Topic Discussions

Vee-dub gas mileage

Posted By Tinchi Lee

german cars are a lot of things, but fuel efficient they aint!

for the north american market models that is.

my german compact sedan with a 3L straight 6 weighs MORE than a toyota avalon my uncle has, and gets worse mileage (20/30 vs 22/31) than the land yacht.

yet that being said, german cars are simply SOLID. it rides through bumps and potholes with nary a rattle. no other sub-100k cars i've been in are remotely comparable.

and the HANDLING, the BRAKES, the STEERING FEEL wink

June 13, 2007 02:39 AM Forum: Bad to the Bone Autos

0-60 in 1.04 seconds

Posted By Tinchi Lee

Roland Christen said:

1/4 mile in 8.168 seconds

http://www.killacycle.com/

mama mia!

hmm something isn't quite right...
assuming constant acceleration, you need almost 3.0g to push the car (ehh... bike) to 60mph in a second

(60mph ~ 100km/h = 27.8 m/s. v = a*t where v = 27.8 and t = 1.04 gives a = 26.7 m/s^2. knowing 1g = 9.8 m/s^2 the acceleration is 26.7/9.8 = 2.7g.)

downforce can push the bike to the ground, increasing grip at the tires. but at low speed i doubt there's much downforce to be generated. most spoilers are useless until you hit 50mph or more. (and that's why most hypercars top out the 0-60 time in 3 second. there's just not enough grip at the tires no matter how many horses the car's got)

is there something wrong with their numbers? :S

September 5, 2007 12:14 PM Forum: Star Parties

Black Forest Star Party 2007

Posted By Tinchi Lee

I'll be there, with my Teleport 7 grin

September 15, 2007 02:13 PM Forum: DVDs and Music and Books That You Recommend

Best Science Fiction Book or TV Series

Posted By Tinchi Lee

jess tauber said:

Expanding the scope here, as it were (SF aperture fever?).

What was your favorite SF BOOK or TV SERIES?

TV series- Dr. Who (though a lot of the stuff late in the original sucked wind). EXTERMINATE!

TV miniseries- the newer Dune, Children of Dune. Much more intelligent than the Italian Dune movie. I liked most of Herbert's books as well. Very ahead of its time. His son's stuff not so much.

Books- Ender's Game and so on, Blood Music, that whole Shrike/webworld thing. Simple-minded but I like em- the Ringworld series, and the Mote in God's Eye series.

Jess Tauber

the recent Doctor Who series is among the very best TV i've seen in a long time. it's even better than Battlestar and Enterprise (season 4). R.T. Davies and Steven Moffet did an excellent job with the script and the Doctor's acting, while a bit (intentionally) cheesy, fits the current Doctor's personality well.

the upcoming 3-part series finale is TREMENDOUS 8) (sorry i couldn't wait for the Scifi channel broadcast. i bit-torrented it).

Torchwood (BBC America) is great too.

September 21, 2007 08:10 PM Forum: Politics

Re: University censorship

Posted By Tinchi Lee

Jim Babcock said:

>>> and that's EXACTLY why anyone who may disrupt the ahmandinejad (sp?) speech should be locked out.

I understand your logic completely. However here in the political forum we have had several threads complaining about those who would surely disrupt the President of the United States when he gives a speech being locked out. Is this not a double standard?

>>> kudos to Columbia for giving ahmandinejad a chance to speak, however unagreeable many may find.

Should the KKK be given a chance to speak at the University if they would like? Should Hitler have been given a similar opportunity? Is there any limitation to this concept that anyone, no matter how repugnant, should be given the opportunity to speak?

>>> if you dig deep enough, you can find charges of censorship everywhere

I agree. By definition, there is not enough time on anyones calendar to allow anyone who would like to speak to have their 15 minutes of glory. However, there is a pattern of behavior with certain Universities that are more inclined to have a tyrant speak than a conservative. In this case we are fighting a war where Iran is having our men in arms killed, and he is being treated at CU as a hero.

i agree that known troublemakers should be locked out from the president's functions. however, this is NOT the same as handpicking the most ardent supporters in those staged "townhall meetings" throwing softball questions. the former is a legitimate concern, the latter is just... lame. of course, some who disagree with the president will scream double standard at the drop of a dime anyway.

those with significant relevance should be afforded a platform, however repungent they are. after all, nothing exposes their hypocrisy and ridiculousness better than having them confronted (with civility and order) in an open exchange. in this regard, hitler... definitely. KKK? not quite enough relevance these days. ahmandinejad is the head of a nation, a very important one in the region at that. (and a nation that i don't mind seeing turned to dust, but that's another matter)

i don't think anyone's treating ahmandinejad as a hero either.

October 12, 2007 12:17 PM Forum: Politics

Income redistribution is alive and well

Posted By Tinchi Lee

agreed. i am working my tail off and still can't afford a tiny little place to live in.

http://www.brownharrisstevens.com/detail.aspx?id=228094

or a beater just to get to work

http://www.mbusa.com/models/main.do?modelCode=SLR

what justice is that >sad