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  1. J

    question PC may have died-need some feedback on MB/CPU/RAM

    Here's what I would need here: 1) Decent PSU (I'd rather err on the side of getting higher wattage so it'll last longer running at lower power levels). The Seasonic Coug linked to seems pretty good-quiet, active PFC, Gold Plus Certified. 2) CPU with decent integrated graphics (so far only AMD...
  2. J

    question PC may have died-need some feedback on MB/CPU/RAM

    I'm bumping this thread because the PC has been having the same problem again. It started about 6 months ago and today it finally got to the point where the system is unusable. I suspect it's the power supply this time because all the caps were replaced last year. The power supply is a Seasonic...
  3. J

    Cycling

    That's pretty decent for someone who only rides weekly, and not for speed like me and Dave. Just for kicks I made a mental note to see where the 18 mile mark came up on last night's ride around midnight (much too hot here to ride during the day). I was there at 65:34. And at the 70 minute mark...
  4. J

    An LED lighting project

    That lights the room up pretty nicely. It also looks like it renders colors reasonably well.
  5. J

    48V DC LED wiring for a new build; XM-Ls, etc.

    I'll send you a PM when you're ready to order the drivers so we can exchange info. I should also be able to recommend a transformer, although the one Dave ordered looks pretty good. For 8 LEDs you'll probably need to go higher than 24V if they're in series (or you could just do 2 parallel...
  6. J

    48V DC LED wiring for a new build; XM-Ls, etc.

    I'm going to guess that the dimming input on the 2100 mA driver needs to have a voltage applied. The driver has 0 to 10 V dimming, and the dimming input may default to 0 volts when open.
  7. J

    48V DC LED wiring for a new build; XM-Ls, etc.

    That looks good to me. I'm estimating the heat sink will be dissipating 25 or 26 watts (this assumes about 1/3 of the the power to the LEDs comes out as light, the rest as heat). The heat sink will get warm, but probably not too hot to touch, and the LED junction temperature should be just fine...
  8. J

    48V DC LED wiring for a new build; XM-Ls, etc.

    I used to have the same line of thought as SD but that was back in the days when LEDs have wide variances in Vf. Nowadays it's likely Vf from the same bin will match to within 0.1V or better. An alternate arrangement is to connect each triple in parallel, and then use two groups of three triples...
  9. J

    48V DC LED wiring for a new build; XM-Ls, etc.

    That one wouldn't work at all on 12 VDC. It would work fine on 24 VDC. Each string would get 1050 mA. Yes, 6 strings of one triple each per driver. I assumed when you said "series of 6", you mean a series of six triples. I think that's where the confusion came in. Anyway, connecting them like...
  10. J

    48V DC LED wiring for a new build; XM-Ls, etc.

    Yes, that would work just fine. Actually, 2 series of 6 if the input voltage is 12 VDC, 4 series of 6 is it's 24 VDC. Each 2100 mA driver can drive 6 LED strings in parallel at 350 mA per string. With 12VDC you're limited to 3 LEDs per string, or one triple wired in series. With 24 VDC you can...
  11. J

    48V DC LED wiring for a new build; XM-Ls, etc.

    That seems like a good power supply but since it's constant voltage instead of constant current I'm assuming using a dimmer will lower the output voltage. This means the dimming feature will only work if you don't use DC-DC drivers in between the power supply and the LED. Basically, you would...
  12. J

    48V DC LED wiring for a new build; XM-Ls, etc.

    I'd say my drivers have a proven track record at this point. I have several thousand running in an automotive environment with relatively few failures. An automotive environment is much more severe than a household environment. My drivers don't cost any more than anyone else's either.
  13. J

    48V DC LED wiring for a new build; XM-Ls, etc.

    I still manufacture drivers. Once you settle on specs, let me know and I'll see if something I have is suitable. It should be as I make automotive LED drivers but the chips I use can operate way above 12VDC if necessary. In fact, most of them can operate to at least 30 VDC, a few even to 60 VDC.
  14. J

    48V DC LED wiring for a new build; XM-Ls, etc.

    Yep, that's pretty much how it would work. The point of using one constant voltage supply for an entire room, versus individual 120VAC drivers for each LED fixture, is it makes the wiring if you have a bunch of fixtures in a room much simpler (i.e. most of the wiring is low voltage). By using an...
  15. J

    48V DC LED wiring for a new build; XM-Ls, etc.

    I'm tempted to say the same ones I used in your and my chandelier projects but those might not be useful here if the number of LEDs in the string needs to be less than three or more than six. Truth is I haven't really looked at what else is available in a while. For the purposes of this project...
  16. J

    48V DC LED wiring for a new build; XM-Ls, etc.

    I think it makes more sense to just switch the transformers on the 120VAC side. If you switch on the 12V side, the transformer still draws power even when the lights are off.
  17. J

    Cycling

    No 15% grades here in NYC, or at least none on the roads I'm familiar with, but I've dealt with 8% or 9%. Not fun at all. I could easily see how if the grade was much steeper I'd encounter the problems you mentioned. I'd guess that the best time to TT would be after maybe 5 to 10 minutes of...
  18. J

    48V DC LED wiring for a new build; XM-Ls, etc.

    I didn't catch this thread because I haven't been around much. Mom was hospitalized in late February. Thankfully she's doing OK now but I needed to take on pretty much all the responsibilities of the household for a while. That doesn't leave as much time for sites like this. Anyway, I'll start...
  19. J

    CRISIS 8

    China is starting to have labor problems of their own. My brother collects die-cast cars as a hobby. They are mostly made in China. Right now all the major companies who make them are having trouble getting parts from the factories. The factories can't get enough workers at wages which would...
  20. J

    Cycling

    Don't know if it'll help much, but I try not to look up when I'm climbing a hill. It's less demoralizing seeing the next 50 feet, as opposed to looking up and seeing the hill going on for hundreds or thousands of feet. I figure I'll know when I hit the top once it gets easier to pedal. The other...
  21. J

    Cycling

    31 miles in 2 hours today, 27 miles in 1:43 yesterday. Typical Eastern Queens daytime traffic slowing me a bit both days. I was pretty spent towards the end today, and my butt was hurting big time (might need a gel seat cover unless someone has other suggestions).
  22. J

    FREE Radeon 9600 128MB AGP Passively Cooled (2)

    First class is perfectly fine with me. I'm definitely in no hurry here.
  23. J

    FREE Radeon 9600 128MB AGP Passively Cooled (2)

    I'll gladly take everything. I don't really have any spare DDR. Thanks! :)
  24. J

    FREE Radeon 9600 128MB AGP Passively Cooled (2)

    Yeah, that's exactly what I was looking for. I'll PM you with my address. Let me know what the shipping will be (I assume these would fit in a small Priority Mail flat rate box unless you prefer to ship them some other way).
  25. J

    FREE Radeon 9600 128MB AGP Passively Cooled (2)

    Are these AGP 8x? If so, I would be interested.
  26. J

    Desktop pc freezes when using either Win XP or Win 7 OSs

    I second time's recommendation to run Memtest. I ran it for a few days after I replaced the caps in my motherboard just to make sure everything was OK. Bad RAM could most definitely be causing these random freezes.
  27. J

    Desktop pc freezes when using either Win XP or Win 7 OSs

    While we're on that subject, I only spent the amount of time I did because I was reasonably sure the caps were the problem. If the problem could have had many potential causes, I highly doubt I would have bothered. BTW, about 2 months ago I replaced the remainder of the caps when the...
  28. J

    Desktop pc freezes when using either Win XP or Win 7 OSs

    Another suggestion here-try removing the TV card as time suggested earlier and see if you still get freezes. If not, that's your problem right there. Even if the software isn't installed for it in Win7, the card might still be interacting with your system in ways which make it unstable.
  29. J

    Desktop pc freezes when using either Win XP or Win 7 OSs

    In case it is only the MB, a cheaper route might be to look for used motherboards which support your processor on eBay, or perhaps some of the members here have a spare MB of similar vintage which they would be willing to sell. If you're going to buy a brand new motherboard, might as well spend...
  30. J

    Blood pressure

    One more thing-BP rises if you're ill. I've had a mild case of the flu for the last few weeks which accounts for my higher than normal readings.
  31. J

    Blood pressure

    Try to get an average of many readings before anything. My BP can be all over the place, so I don't put much stock in any one reading. Just now it was 152/92. A few days ago it was 133/80. I've seen it as low as 90/60. A lot depends upon what I eat, how much I drink, how much I exercise...
  32. J

    Cycling

    Reminds my of my days cycling on the country roads around Princeton when I was in college. Not much advice to give you on cleaning the bike other than to be thorough, especially regarding the drivetrain. Mud seems to work itself into literally everything. :(
  33. J

    Computer-related stuff you bought in 2011.

    $94.99 for 16 GB of RAM my next upgrade, about $15 in parts to repair my A7N8X-E, and $70 for a second hand laptop. That was it for me in 2011. Normally I'll spend a few hundred at least.
  34. J

    Cycling

    I love tailwinds. I once hit 65 mph in a descent with a tailwind to assist me. As you say, pretty intense, but in this case I only momentarily touched 65 mph, then quickly slowed as the hill leveled off. So far, the highest I've pushed my Airborne to has been 36 mph, but winter clothing and...
  35. J

    Bicycle LED headlight

    That would be full cycle every day which would be great. I don't ride quite that much, although when the weather cooperates I might get in 30-35 hours of riding in a good month. One thing I'll be doing on my end is testing the durability of the entire mounting system. The roads here resemble a...
  36. J

    An LED lighting project

    Maybe. I think Deal Extreme has 120VAC drivers small enough to fit in that. Like everything else from them though the quality is a crapshoot.
  37. J

    Bicycle LED headlight

    Thanks Dave. That actually sounds pretty good, especially the part about selling the team on the lights. I sent his engineer an email a few days ago on what I had in mind but he hasn't gotten back to me yet. I'll start working on the preproduction prototypes for you and me. Before we even...
  38. J

    An LED lighting project

    I don't think anybody makes a 120 VAC LED ballast that small which is dimmable with a regular triac dimmer. I'm not even sure if it's possible. If I find out differently, I'll let you know. The best way to have a small, dimmable light source off 120 VAC would be to use a wall wart (12V, 1 amp...
  39. J

    Bicycle LED headlight

    To make a long story short, a friend of mine whom I do quite a bit of work for is interested in my concept for possible production (we'll need to see if the numbers work). In the end this will mean a better product than I can make alone but of course a longer wait (for the final version...
  40. J

    Cycling

    Here's the elevation profile from Saturday's ride. This is typical for the routes I usually take.
  41. J

    Cycling

    2K feet in 15 miles is around 2.5%-shallow enough not to be obvious that you're climbing, but steep enough to slow you off your "flat" pace by quite a bit. Winds can have the same effect as hills. Yesterday riding out of the city I was getting into the high 20s quite a bit on roads which were...
  42. J

    The destruction of liberty

    Extradition to the US is fine if the person is a committing or plans to commit crimes which cause injury or death to US citizens. What we're talking about here is at best financial loss, and even that part is debatable. The majority of people who download stuff illegally aren't people who...
  43. J

    How to deal with wind chill?

    Incidentally, the time I felt the coldest in my life was one day in February 2007 when I went to Chinatown for Chinese New Year with my mom. It was about 15°F when we left that afternoon. By the time we came home late that night, it was single digits. To make things worse, when we got off the...
  44. J

    How to deal with wind chill?

    Don't know whether this belongs here or in the cycling thread, but I did an hour on the Airborne yesterday when it was hovering right around freezing. Today it was 23°F when I went out but I still lasted 6 miles and 23 minutes. In both cases I only stopped riding when my fingers were numb to...
  45. J

    Cycling

    Thanks for sharing. Sounds like an epic ride. What sort of data did you need to upload to the site, and would I be able to do the same (I have Garmin .gdb files of my rides)? Nice ride earlier today. 24 miles on the Airborne, about 4 miles past city limits and back, in 1:31. Nice tailwind...
  46. J

    RIP FIC AU13

    This thread may be of interest. If you see bulging caps and are handy with a soldering iron, you can probably effect a repair yourself for under $15 (plus some of your time). Other than that, I agree with Coug. It's just not worth investing large amounts of cash in otherwise obsolete...
  47. J

    Cycling

    I rode my Airborne this past Saturday and Sunday in 36° to 38° F temps, 42 miles in total, both rides averaging in the high 15s. If you're not already wearing them, gloves are a must for any riding when it's much under about 45°F. Even with that, my tolerance for riding in this kind of weather...
  48. J

    Synchronizing to an NTP server over LAN

    /setsntp: wasn't even a valid switch in Vista for w32tm. Before I even started this thread, I did try net time /setsntp: which worked just fine for setting the NTP server ( so does w32tm /config /syncfromflags:MANUAL /manualpeerlist:time_server_name /update ), but w32 time refused to synchonize...
  49. J

    Synchronizing to an NTP server over LAN

    I recently set up my desktop PC as an NTP server ( don't ask-it's a really long story ). Everything works well, time seems to match my G-Shock solar atomic watch exactly. I even set up my laptop to synchronize to the desktop over the LAN every 15 minutes. I used task scheduler to run the net...
  50. J

    How to deal with wind chill?

    Layers works for me. If it's really cold, I need a nylon windbreaker somewhere among the layers. We're actually finally getting into good cycling weather around here (by my standards, anyway), so long at it stays above about 35°F.
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