Look at this FINE piece of craftsmanship!

[moonshadow]

Ribbons are on the way!

Sounds good, Moon. I'm curious... how much for them?

--Rick

About $17 each. A little more than some of those on Amazon or Ebay, but I'm hoping that by dealing with an actual office supply supplier I will be getting a recently manufactured ribbon, whereas ones from private sellers could be brand new yes, but still in a 30 year old package and thus... dried out.

[dillon]

I want an old Smith-Corona portable manual. I typed my first college term paper on one. It took me about three pages for every correct submitable page in the paper. I hired the typing thereafter. But I miss that old machine.

[moonshadow]

I want an old Smith-Corona portable manual. I typed my first college term paper on one. It took me about three pages for every correct submitable page in the paper. I hired the typing thereafter. But I miss that old machine.

I was aiming for a non-electric typewriter, but one takes what he can find. Still I'm happy to have found it. But I'll keep my eyes peeled for older ones all the same. I remember typing on one of this while I was little. It was pretty cool, but a slightly different typing experience as you're actually actuating levers, not just pressing keys on a keyboard.

I too like the little "ding" it makes at the end of the row. Sadly, this one doesn't seem to do that.

[Kilted_John]

Possible that the bell is missing, or there's something preventing it from dinging. I seem to remember ours doing it, just like the manual Smith-Corona it replaced.

-J

[Kilted_John]

I want an old Smith-Corona portable manual. I typed my first college term paper on one. It took me about three pages for every correct submitable page in the paper. I hired the typing thereafter. But I miss that old machine.

Here ya go... It's in the Asheville area, btw.

https://asheville.craigslist.org/atq/5434944166.html

-J

[moonshadow]

Here ya go... It's in the Asheville area, btw.

https://asheville.craigslist.org/atq/5434944166.html

Suddenly I want to take a trip to Asheville tomorrow. Only a couple hour drive....

y/k. Love to have it, but in March of 2016 I'm afraid my savings account needs some serious attention. It's yours for the taking Dillon if you desire.

[Kilted Musician]

I'm currently in Santa Barbara CA on business and whenever I come here I like to check out some antique stores downtown. Yesterday I went into a "retro" vintage type store, not necessarily an antique store and saw about 9 manual typewriters! Prices were anywhere from $85 to $135. I also saw one just like the one in Asheville but it didn't have a price. Considering that this is California, it was probably MUCH more than $50!

--Rick

[Kilted_John]

Antique shops are notorious for being expensive on most items. eBay is usually cheaper, and Craigslist even cheaper. Thrift stores are usually the cheapest, though.

One of my hobbies is collecting traffic signal hardware.. It's usually cheaper to buy a new one than to buy the same one, but used, from an antique store. The Seattle surplus store is usually the cheapest place to get them, unless there's a contractor taking the stuff down, in which case, you might get them for a case of beer, or if the workers are feeling generous, free. Below is a photo of myself standing next to one of the signal heads I've owned in the past.



Sold that one in late July 2014 when I received word that the city of Seattle was taking down one that was identical, but in better condition. Friend of mine who works there gave me the replacement head, plus a few others for free, partly because they didn't have to load them up in their truck and haul them to the shop. Instead, I hauled them home.

-J

[crfriend]

One of my hobbies is collecting traffic signal hardware..

And I thought I had an esoteric hobby...

Sold that one in late July 2014 when I received word that the city of Seattle was taking down one that was identical, but in better condition.

Good score!

One piece of municipal "hardware" I had for years was one of the photosensors that go atop street-lamps -- this one being a bit "dated" and which used vacuum-tubes. Two triodes, one photo-tube, assorted power-components, and a relay made the thing up. My aunts junked it when they cleaned out the place where I grew up.

[moonshadow]

Holy cow those traffic signals are A LOT bigger than they look from the street!

Such a hobby must take up some serious square footage!

[Kilted_John]

And I thought I had an esoteric hobby...

Troll your local craigslist and maybe grab a couple. Run them with an Electro-Matic tube controller.

Good score!

One piece of municipal "hardware" I had for years was one of the photosensors that go atop street-lamps -- this one being a bit "dated" and which used vacuum-tubes. Two triodes, one photo-tube, assorted power-components, and a relay made the thing up. My aunts junked it when they cleaned out the place where I grew up.

Thanks! Some of those are still out there, but will probably be coming down when the conversion to LED occurs.

Holy cow those traffic signals are A LOT bigger than they look from the street!

Such a hobby must take up some serious square footage!

They aren't that huge... Especially without the backplate.

Without:

That's the aforementioned replacement. Served at Union Bay PL NE & NE 45th St in Seattle, WA, as did the one on the left. The one on the right served at W 135th St & Hawthorne Blvd in Hawthorne, California.

The big monster is shown here, sitting on top of the brains of the operation. 3M model 131 Optically Programmed Signal head. Even so, only weighs 48 lbs. That one came from Kennewick, WA.



-J

[crfriend]

And I thought I had an esoteric hobby...

Troll your local craigslist and maybe grab a couple. Run them with an Electro-Matic tube controller.

My personal bent would be controllers from the purely mechanical/clockwork era. I still have active memories from when I was young(er) and seeing one of those in operation in the centre of Walpole, MA. The thing went green/amber/red the way we all know they do (now), but reversed it on the way back to green by going red/amber/green. If it wasn't in the centre of town...

One piece of municipal "hardware" I had for years was one of the photosensors that go atop street-lamps -- this one being a bit "dated" and which used vacuum-tubes. Two triodes, one photo-tube, assorted power-components, and a relay made the thing up. My aunts junked it when they cleaned out the place where I grew up.

Thanks! Some of those are still out there, but will probably be coming down when the conversion to LED occurs.

If you happen to get two (or more) please remember me!

The big monster is shown here, sitting on top of the brains of the operation. 3M model 131 Optically Programmed Signal head.

See my comments on mechanical controllers with cams and relays.

Yes, this definitely counts as "Off-Topic".

[Sinned]

Over this side of the Atlantic River our traffic light go green/amber/red then red and amber together/green. Supposedly because a single amber in red/amber/green would then be ambiguous.

[crfriend]

Over this side of the Atlantic River our traffic light go green/amber/red then red and amber together/green.

Over here, red/amber shown simultaneously is an obsolete aspect meaning "safe for pedestrians to cross". The aspect has been almost universally replaced with a simple red and separate pedestrian signals.

Also, a tremendous amount of effort goes into obscuring the aspect shown to intersecting traffic. The sad part about this is that without that added 0.01 of a second's-worth of advance warning it's altogether possible to miss three or more complete cycles thanks to opposing traffic. Deliberately telegraphing a change-to-green here is unthinkable, the object, I suspect, falling within the scope of the common motto of Departments of Public Works worldwide: "None shall pass."

I vastly prefer roundabouts to signalled intersections. But, those require drivers to pay attention and not be fiddling with coffee, fags, and mobile 'phones.

[moonshadow]

fiddling with coffee, fags, and mobile 'phones.

Well... first time I've heard that word used in this context... I admit, I had to google it.

Carl.... are you a time traveler?

I've got mixed feelings about traffic circles. They are very few and far between around here, normally in very "trendy" type towns. The closest one I can think of is in Blacksburg VA, but it's actually only intersecting a T intersection, so it's not as busy as a full blown 4 way traffic circle. I guess they're okay. I just don't drive them enough to be really comfortable on their flow, and rather tense up a little when I approach one, especially as I watch the locals breeze through it with ease.

The issue about replacing stop light intersections with traffic circles around here is a lack of available real estate. Many small towns have expressed interest in building them, but they greatly increase the overall area of the intersection, and many of the best places have sidewalks right off the curb, with a building right off the sidewalk, and the sidewalk is only about maybe 6-8 feet wide. It seems a traffic circle is something easier for a town to "build around" rather than "upgrade existing".

Regarding the traffic signals...

One curious question John.... what is the average wattage of a single lamp in a traffic light? I was walking in Pulaski one day and passed by the electric meter that feed a flashing caution light, I was quite surprised by how fast the meter turned when the light was "on".