Fogbow

sugar magnolia wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 10:57 am

MN-Skeptic wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 10:54 am Speaking of old technology… how many of you have started a vehicle by popping the clutch?

As recently as yesterday. Batteries don't stay charged forever during a pandemic unless you actually drive them occasionally.

My first car was a small clunker -- no power nothing. No AC. Anywho, our family lived on a street that was a hill -- I'd park on the street so that when I left in the morning, I just let it roll a bit then pop the clutch. In addition, I used to drive a friend home from HS who didn't have a car -- the deal was he had to push to get it rolling and I'd pop the clutch.

(oddly, I still have an affinity for that car)

I still have a 42-year-old push-button phone on the kitchen wall. I'm pretty sure it's the same one we had put in when we built the house that long ago. I cannot tell you the last time it was used. It has a short cord, so was never really practical. Come to think of it, I think there's one in the loft, too. I can't think of the last time I used that one either as I just remembered it's there.

Not too long ago, my 11-year-old granddaughter was playing with the one in the kitchen. She found it funny and fascinating. She called peoples' cell phones with it.

If it were up to me, I'd probably be cell only, but I can't drag my husband that far into this century.

AndyinPA wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 11:14 am If it were up to me, I'd probably be cell only, but I can't drag my husband that far into this century.

There is actually an argument for maintaining a traditional, hardwired landline. That infrastructure was built to stay-up, even when disasters struck (storms, whatever) that took out all the power in an area -- and cellphone service goes down, or if you have cable provided VOIP --cable line goes out, no internet means no phone. A landline might be a lifesaver.

When I had a landline, I never recall it going out -- always a dial-tone.

neonzx wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 11:25 am

AndyinPA wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 11:14 am If it were up to me, I'd probably be cell only, but I can't drag my husband that far into this century.

There is actually an argument for maintaining a traditional, hardwired landline. That infrastructure was built to stay-up, even when disasters struck (storms, whatever) that took out all the power in an area -- and cellphone service goes down, or if you have cable provided VOIP --cable line goes out, no internet means no phone. A landline might be a lifesaver.

When I had a landline, I never recall it going out -- always a dial-tone.

That's why I haven't really pushed him.

I used to earn my living as a Morse Code operator.

neonzx wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 11:25 am

AndyinPA wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 11:14 am If it were up to me, I'd probably be cell only, but I can't drag my husband that far into this century.

There is actually an argument for maintaining a traditional, hardwired landline. That infrastructure was built to stay-up, even when disasters struck (storms, whatever) that took out all the power in an area -- and cellphone service goes down, or if you have cable provided VOIP --cable line goes out, no internet means no phone. A landline might be a lifesaver.

When I had a landline, I never recall it going out -- always a dial-tone.

Our landline went out every time it rained hard. We never lost texting ability during Katrina, even when we lost power, water and gas.

Maybenaut wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 12:31 pm I used to earn my living as a Morse Code operator.

Do you think youth don't have an awareness of what Morse Code is? I don't know-it know it. And it's still referenced and used in present-day movies that have a military premise. Is it still used today, or does Hollywood just throw it in as something that sounds cool?

So far, in both homes that I have owned, the landline died. In my first home it was dead to the poll within a year of moving in. No idea where the fault was, never tracked it down, but the junction box inside the property didn't have a dial tone. In my current house, the wiring to the poll works, but the wiring inside the house failed within a few months of having it hooked up. in those few months I was so flooded with spam calls that I unplugged the phone and never set it up again anyway.

I guess it is a real 'luck of the draw' thing, but I have found my landline far less reliable than any of the internet types I've had over the years (save dial up of course).

MN-Skeptic wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 10:54 am Speaking of old technology… how many of you have started a vehicle by popping the clutch? How many have driven a vehicle with the starter button on the floor?

(Not that I have done these things personally, but my sweetie’s main vehicle for many years was his 1956 Chevy pickup, so I been with him as he started the pickup when coasting downhill. I’ve also seen him shift gears without using the clutch.)

I had a '50 Chevy pickup that was orginall my Grandpa's with the starter on the floor. My dad took it to the 4H fair when it was new. Ish. It also had split rims that were quite an ordeal to get someone to work on, I wouldn't be surprised if there were only a handful of people left who do. If even.

neonzx wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 12:43 pm

Maybenaut wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 12:31 pm I used to earn my living as a Morse Code operator.

Do you think youth don't have an awareness of what Morse Code is? I don't know-it know it. And it's still referenced and used in present-day movies that have a military premise. Is it still used today, or does Hollywood just throw it in as something that sounds cool?

The US military stopped using morse code as a means of communicating *among its own units* probably in the 1970s - 80s at the latest - when faster, more reliable, and more secure forms of communication became available. But it was still used for other purposes.

I was in the Coast Guard, and we used it to communicate with the merchant fleet for things like weather observations, position reports (which we collected and tracked in a database, because the nearest vessel to a vessel in distress was likely another merchant ship), and distress messages. Until the mid-90s the International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea required that certain government organizations maintain the ability to receive and respond to distress messages over morse code (SOS doesn’t actually stand for anything, it’s just rhythmically attention-getting). But morse code is slow, and it takes a good two years of doing it every day to be any good at it, so it’s expensive in terms of man-power. So as soon as SOLAS no longer required it, the Coast Guard dropped it.

Other services used it (and may still use it - I don’t really know) to keep track of (ie spy on) other government’s armies.

covfefe wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 3:24 pm

I had a '50 Chevy pickup that was orginall my Grandpa's with the starter on the floor. My dad took it to the 4H fair when it was new. Ish. It also had split rims that were quite an ordeal to get someone to work on, I wouldn't be surprised if there were only a handful of people left who do. If even.

One would only need to find someone that works as a aviation mechanic, most aircraft, from general aviation to commercial aircraft use split rims.

Maybenaut wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 4:18 pm ...
Other services used it (and may still use it - I don’t really know) to keep track of (ie spy on) other government’s armies.

... . . / .. / -- .- .. .. / -... . / . .. .. --. .... - ..--.. / .... . . ⸺ ⸺ .. .. .-- . . . . -.. / - .... . .. . . .-- ... / .. -. / .. . .- ..- ... . / .. - ... / .. . . . . . ⸺ ..--..

Sloppy, but I'd guess you get the idea.

I drove a car with a clutch for a year or so. We needed a new car in a hurry as my husband had just been transferred to Massachusetts for eight months. He had two days to teach me how to use a clutch, and then I was on my own. I actually enjoyed driving it when I was on flat ground. But this is Pittsburgh with lots of hills, and some of them really steep. There aren't many flat stretches here that go for more than a short distance. I was glad to see the last of that car, and get an automatic again. But I've often thought that I liked driving a car with a clutch, and if I lived in the flatlands, I might be happy to have one again.

neonzx wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 4:44 pm

Maybenaut wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 4:18 pm ...
Other services used it (and may still use it - I don’t really know) to keep track of (ie spy on) other government’s armies.

... . . / .. / -- .- .. .. / -... . / . .. .. --. .... - ..--.. / .... . . ⸺ ⸺ .. .. .-- . . . . -.. / - .... . .. . . .-- ... / .. -. / .. . .- ..- ... . / .. - ... / .. . . . . . ⸺ ..--..

Sloppy, but I'd guess you get the idea.

Here’s what I got out of that...

see / I / maii / be / eight? / hee — — i i w e e e e d / theieews / in / iease / it’s / ieeeee — ?

Even in my rusty state I'm good for 13wpm or so on the air.. but I cannot read morse written as dots and dashes.

Maybenaut wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 5:23 pm

neonzx wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 4:44 pm

Maybenaut wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 4:18 pm ...
Other services used it (and may still use it - I don’t really know) to keep track of (ie spy on) other government’s armies.

... . . / .. / -- .- .. .. / -... . / . .. .. --. .... - ..--.. / .... . . ⸺ ⸺ .. .. .-- . . . . -.. / - .... . .. . . .-- ... / .. -. / .. . .- ..- ... . / .. - ... / .. . . . . . ⸺ ..--..

Sloppy, but I'd guess you get the idea.

Here’s what I got out of that...

see / I / maii / be / eight? / hee — — i i w e e e e d / theieews / in / iease / it’s / ieeeee — ?

I used this:

https://morsecode.world/american/translator.html

Maybe it''s not so good?

AndyinPA wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 4:56 pm I drove a car with a clutch for a year or so. We needed a new car in a hurry as my husband had just been transferred to Massachusetts for eight months. He had two days to teach me how to use a clutch, and then I was on my own. I actually enjoyed driving it when I was on flat ground. But this is Pittsburgh with lots of hills, and some of them really steep. There aren't many flat stretches here that go for more than a short distance. I was glad to see the last of that car, and get an automatic again. But I've often thought that I liked driving a car with a clutch, and if I lived in the flatlands, I might be happy to have one again.

One of the many things I'm happy about is my father (while I had my learner permit, between 14 and 15) took me out regularly in his sporty little car (no, he wouldn't take me out in the Corvette lol) -- manual transmission -- and taught me on that. It's like riding a bike... just takes practice. Then, 16yo and full license -- and my orange clunker. And push-starts.

So one of the key bits of knowledge I had as a teenager was which cars with automatic transmissions could be push-started.

My '64 Valiant could be

That flips it a bit ... what we think they don't know about our generations -- we don't understand them often, either. Do you think I even know how to load a Playstation game? (and I'm a tech guy). It embarrassing a bit when I have to ask a 12 year old how such-and-such works. But, it's also teaching them inter-generational shared respect, so it's all good.

A few years back, I was in the Cafe and noticed one of the building engineers phone notification went:

... / __ __ / ...

I thought that was pretty clever.

neonzx wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 11:25 am
There is actually an argument for maintaining a traditional, hardwired landline. That infrastructure was built to stay-up, even when disasters struck (storms, whatever) that took out all the power in an area -- and cellphone service goes down, or if you have cable provided VOIP --cable line goes out, no internet means no phone. A landline might be a lifesaver.

I'm too rural to have cable, and my mobile service can be spotty (yes, I can often be seen wandering around the pastures trying to find a spot with a signal. Sometimes I have to drive a mile down the road to the elementary school, where there is a good strong signal.). My internet connection is DSL, through my landline.

Azastan wrote: ↑Tue May 18, 2021 1:04 am

neonzx wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 11:25 am
There is actually an argument for maintaining a traditional, hardwired landline. That infrastructure was built to stay-up, even when disasters struck (storms, whatever) that took out all the power in an area -- and cellphone service goes down, or if you have cable provided VOIP --cable line goes out, no internet means no phone. A landline might be a lifesaver.

I'm too rural to have cable, and my mobile service can be spotty (yes, I can often be seen wandering around the pastures trying to find a spot with a signal. Sometimes I have to drive a mile down the road to the elementary school, where there is a good strong signal.). My internet connection is DSL, through my landline.

I don't know what your cell phone is but many can direct connect with your home DSL wifi, including routing calls and texts via.You should not have to be roaming pastures to pick up a signal if you have DSL at home.

You do want to be careful about wifi calling, though..

Usually (I don't know if always) it will screw up your E911 location.. on verizon, you have to set an address to report to E911 when using wifi, and that address reports no matter where you do wifi calling from.

neonzx wrote: ↑Tue May 18, 2021 2:37 am
I don't know what your cell phone is but many can direct connect with your home DSL wifi, including routing calls and texts via.You should not have to be roaming pastures to pick up a signal if you have DSL at home.

'Should' and 'can' are two different things. I don't know why I don't have a reliable signal, but since I have a landline in the house, I generally use that.