User talk:Heron/2004H1

SMPS

Thanks for the additions to my power supply articles. There's so much more I could say, I don't know where to start :-) -- Alaric

Yes, that's often a problem. More needs to be said on SMPS, but I'm reluctant to present myself as an expert because my graduate SMPS project blew up! Perhaps I'll stick to the linear page. -- Heron

I hope you did not think I was "lecturing" you though. I did not mean to :-). The very different measurement methods used across the world are quite embarrassing :-) Thanks for the help setting them. Have a very good day Heron user:Anthere

That's all right. Your tone was a bit strong, but I think that's just your writing style, which I am beginning to get used to :-) You are right: measurement units are tricky, and they can be an emotive subject. -- Heron

san ferry ann. LOL. Very fun. Yes, my writing style is sometimes impertinent and often agressive. I am sorry about that. I don't mean to be. I am quite similar in real life, but I can smile and laugh at the same time, so that is seen differently. I am said "lively" with a very expressive face. I am also from the south where people are quite noisy. Italian style with big waving of arms. Do you see what I mean :-))). If you are understanding, that is for the best. Thanks for that. So...do you speak french ?User:anthere

I speak basic tourist French when I go to France, but I don't want to raise your expectations. I was good at French when I was at school, a long time ago, but sadly my skill has not improved since then. Learning French properly is one of those things I mean to do "some day". -- Heron

Heron, Thanks for chiming in on one of the cypher v cipher things. We who prefer ghoti for marine animals with vertical tail fins often feel beset. sigh. On another topic altogether, which is why this note is here, why did your SMPS blow up? I've never dared one myself, sticking to kludgy old linears. ww 18:58, 4 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

You're welcome. I've decided not to lose sleep over a semi-vowel, so I won't complain whatever the outcome.

My SMPS disaster was a long time ago, but if I remember correctly, the thing blew up because there was too much ripple current in the electrolytic capacitors, causing them to overheat and boil over like gremlins in a microwave. I've been scared of SMPS ever since, but when I'm forced to use one I try to make sure it's in a metal box. I would hate to have to design another one myself, although it has got easier over the years with the introduction of new topologies and smarter control ICs. The most memorable example I've seen of the superiority of switchers over linears was the BBC Microcomputer (a British machine of the 1980s). The early units had a linear whose heat output caused the computer's plastic case to turn brown and bulge upwards over the course of a few years. Later models had a nice cool switcher, exactly the same size as the linear, that got rid of the problem. Keep on using the linears, and may you enjoy many years of explosion-free design! Regards -- Heron 19:49, 4 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

What is "switched" in an SMPS? Heavy chariot 16:28, 7 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Consider the most commonplace type of SMPS, the off-line converter, which converts AC to DC. It first rectifies the AC using a simple diode circuit to produce unregulated DC. It then 'chops' the DC (switches it on and off, hence 'switching') using transistors to generate a high-frequency current, which drives the primary of a transformer. The current from the secondary of the transformer is rectified again and smoothed to produce a DC output. The reason for this complex design is that, by adjusting the times at which the transistors switch on and off, the output voltage can be regulated. Heron 20:11, 7 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Logic gate

Hi Heron. For the symbols on Logic gate, did you use a schematic editor? If so, does it also have the IEC symbols avialable? Talk:Logic gate rightfully requests these, and it would be cool if we had symbols with the same style. Thanks also for you work on Runt pulse. Colin Marquardt 11:14, 4 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Hi. I used Microsoft Word, because the schematic editor I use at work has only the IEC symbols, which I don't like. I agree that Wikipedia needs to show both sets of symbols, but I just didn't feel like drawing them all. I have just drawn some using a schematic editor, and I'm in the process of uploading them. -- Heron

Cool, thanks. Colin Marquardt

Hello. It seems that you are an extremely valuable contributer to Wikipedia, but I have not made your acquaintence yet, so I will now say, "Nice to meet you.", --Alexandros 16:55, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

You are very kind. I look forward to working with you. -- Heron 17:13, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

County maps

Hi. I note you were the kind person who supplied the county maps for various English counties. Could you please point me at the CIA source map you used as a basis? Morwen 23:37, Jan 20, 2004 (UTC)

That was some time ago, and I can't remember exactly where I got it. I shall have to dig into my records to find out, and then I will get back to you. Meanwhile, if you like, you could try searching the Web for "CIA World Factbook". -- Heron 09:36, 2 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Eureka! The map I used was from an old edition of the CIA World Factbook, which has since been taken off the web, but luckily you can still find it here. If that doesn't work for you, I have a local copy that you can have. Be warned: the county boundaries are those that were in use from 1974 to 1986. -- Heron 21:07, 2 Mar 2004 (UTC)

rocks and minerals project

Since you've contributed in the rocks and minerals area before, wanted to let you know that I created a WikiProject Rocks and Minerals if you'd like to join. Elf 05:04, 5 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Thank you, Elf. Standardised fact boxes are a Good Thing! -- Heron 09:38, 2 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Fluid Power -> Hydraulics and Pneumatics

Both hydraulics and Pneumatics are sub-categories of Fluid Power. The discussion of the general principles should be in a new page Fluid Power with hydraulic and pneumatic covering specifics and referring back to Fluid Power. Your hydraulic entry stands well on its own, if you'll add a link to Fluid Power. I'm willing to tackle Fluid Power. -RatOmeter

I added a link, as you suggested. I also took the liberty of renaming Fluid Power to Fluid power, in keeping with Wikipedia's standard style. -- Heron 22:09, 5 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Thai alphabet

Hello, Heron. Kudos for all your material on Thai topics. Do you think the table of vowels under Thai alphabet could be enhanced by adding the short vowels such as โกะ, and a column of (very) approximate pronunciations? David K 12:46, 29 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Thanks, David. I am only a beginner in the Thai language, so my contributions are bound to be incomplete. I would be happy for you to make any improvements you see fit, and I look forward to learning more! -- Heron 09:44, 2 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I presume that you live in Thailand. Would this be anywhere near the mark? --KayEss 21:41, 29 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Hello KayEss. No, I don't live there, but I have some Thai friends and have visited Thailand several times. I have spent about three months there in total. I hope that by contributing to these articles I can learn more about the language and culture. Feel free to edit my words when I get it wrong! Regards -- Heron 08:14, 30 Mar 2004 (UTC) P.S. Thanks for your contributions. We need more knowledgeable editors like you!

Microwaves

Thanks for answering the question about ISM band wireless devices -- Heavy chariot 16:53, 9 Apr 2004 (UTC)

You are welcome. I should warn you that my explanation, although reflecting the majority view, is not accepted by everyone. There are some who would say that microwaves are "radiation" and therefore deadly at any power level. -- Heron 10:19, 10 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Encypher vs. encipher

Hi, I replied to a comment of yours regarding the spellings of encipher and encypher at Wikipedia talk:List of common misspellings. If you have anything to add about the issue, it would be appreciated. Thanks! Wmahan . 21:38, 2004 May 3 (UTC)

Vanilla vs French Vanila

From http://www.vanilla.com/html/facts-faq.html: Q. What is French Vanilla? A. French vanilla is not a type of vanilla. It is a term used to describe an egg-custard base for ice cream. However, because it sounds exotic or romantic - especially in the perfume industry - it's often used to describe perfumes, candles and other specialty products.

- Yours in inquisitiveness - UtherSRG 16:10, 25 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. It seems my comment about "USism" in the vanilla article was wrong, so I deleted it. I have found the same meaning used in British writing, although mainly in marketing-speak. -- Heron 21:24, 25 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Transistor

I just want to make sure you realized that the transistor article was doubled a while ago ([1]) (scroll down halfway and see the picture is there again), and you deleted one half just now ([2]). I imagine different edits were made to each half, and Gwimpey said he would merge the two halves, but I guess didn't. I just don't want a bunch of edits to be lost because you thought you did the doubling just now and quickly reverted it. - Omegatron 21:34, Jun 9, 2004 (UTC)

Oh. You DID do the doubling, but it was on June 3rd, not just now. I didn't realize that was you, too. Look at links 1 and 2 and their place in the history if you are confused... - Omegatron 21:36, Jun 9, 2004 (UTC)

Good point, Omegatron. I'm sorry about that doubling: must have been a cut-and-paste error. I just looked at the last doubled version, before I deleted the bottom half, and the two halves were different. I am assuming that all recent editing has been done to the top half, and that the bottom half can therefore safely be forgotten. I shall check anyway, just in case my assumption is wrong. -- Heron 21:56, 9 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Wonderful work with Tile!

It's always nice to see a stub expanded properly. Wonderful, conventional wiki-work. :-) ✏ Sverdrup 16:26, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Thanks for your appreciation, Sverdrup. Some credit must also go to you for that rather attractive photograph. -- Heron 16:50, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Your edit to Cowboy

Thank you for editing Cowboy, but this article can still be made even better. A good article title for this is Cowhand, which is the gender-neutral term. 66.245.90.177 13:44, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)

I have some sympathy with your point, 66.245.90.177. You can change the title if you like, but I'm a Briton, so I don't feel entitled to make this judgement. ;-) -- Heron 14:12, 14 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Please be careful

A few minutes ago you duplicated Cleanup. Please try to prevent this from happening. - SimonP 18:52, Jun 22, 2004 (UTC)

Oops. I remember receiving an "edit conflict" message when I edited that page. The duplication must have happened then. :-\ -- Heron 20:08, 22 Jun 2004 (UTC)

UV history

I am glad you added a section on UV history. In fact, I would really like to know more.

I never appreciated so much the intellectual powers of Henri Becquerel before. Imagine, helping to resolve the nature of the optical spectrum prenatally ;)

Fair cop. It was actually his Dad, Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel. -- Heron 13:21, 25 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Seriously though, I have been thinking that a general discussion of the history of the scientific understanding of the nature of light would be very interesting. The nineteenth century seems to have been dominated by wave theories. Apparently the impetus away from Newtonian particles began with Young's experiment and the theory of polarization near the beginning of the century and ended, abruptly, with the problem of the photoelectric effect near the end. I would like to know more about how UV fits into this picture, and how the unification you mention was achieved. I believe 1842 was also around the time that light and electromagnetism were shown to be related.

AJim 01:59, 25 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Yes, there is more to be said on this subject. The change in the understanding of light probably reflected the general trend of science at that time away from philosophy and towards experimentalism. When I wrote that throwaway comment about unification, I realised that I had bitten off more than I could chew, so I cut the article short. -- Heron 13:21, 25 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Oh, and have a look, if you will, in the light article under 'Theories about light'. There is some historical information there, which is in need of amplification (by the stimulated emission of information). -- Heron 13:37, 25 Jun 2004 (UTC)

License

Hi, you've been involved in creating the Image:Microscope diagram.png but there's no information about license. Could you tell me more ? Is it GFDL ? We use it on french wikipedia and wonder what license it is. Thanks in advance. fr:Utilisateur:Tipiac

User:Theresa knott drew the original diagram for Wikipedia, and I merely made a small correction to it. It is available under the GFDL licence, so please feel free to use it. -- Heron 14:50, 27 Jun 2004 (UTC)

ettiquite

I reverted your change to Talk:Switch because it's generally "not done" on Wikipedia to delete other people's comments on Talk pages, even when the comments become obsolete. Please don't be offended. -- Heron 19:48, 26 Jun 2004 (UTC)

I'm not at all offended. I'm happy that someone is recovering potentially useful bits whenever they are deleted. However, I don't see why anyone needs obsolete comments. Would it be OK for me to move those comments to the Talk page of the original author (User:Huwr) ? -- DavidCary 20:56, 30 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Certainly. And I apologise for deleting your joke ;-) It wasn't my place to censor it. -- Heron 21:06, 30 Jun 2004 (UTC)