Why are capstan wheels different size?

[DaveC]

Oh, smarter-than-I people,

http://imgur.com/WPEoOu1

The 2 belt-drive capstan flywheels in an auto-reverse cassette mechanism are
different sizes. (Motor drive pulley will be in the small loop end of the
belt in illustration above.)

How does that result in the same tape speed in both directions?

Confused...

[Jasen Betts]

do they have the same capstan diameter?

--
\_(ツ)_

[M Philbrook]

In article <0001HW.1C936E810...@news.eternal-
september.org>, n...@home.cow says...

Its been a while since I've seen the inside of a cassett drive.

But memory tells me you have a pinch roller with pin shaft that governs
the actual speed.

Jamie

[Les Cargill]

Yep.

--
Les Cargill

[MJC]

In article <MPG.314d1a13f...@news.eternal-september.org>,
jamie_...@charter.net says...

>
> Its been a while since I've seen the inside of a cassett drive.
>
> But memory tells me you have a pinch roller with pin shaft that governs
> the actual speed.
>
> Jamie

And I have long thought that with the small diameter of the capstan it
must be the availability of excellent, and cheap, bearings for the shaft
that made it possible to keep the wow and flutter down to acceptable
levels...

Mike.

[Phil Allison]

MJC wrote:

>
> And I have long thought that with the small diameter of the capstan it
> must be the availability of excellent, and cheap, bearings for the shaft
> that made it possible to keep the wow and flutter down to acceptable
> levels...
>

** The vast majority use plain bearings and rely on a flywheel to do the rest.



.... Phil

[DaveC]

Jasen Betts asked wisely:

> do they have the same capstan diameter?

I was just about to say “Silly question!” but instead thought better...

one 2mm, one 2.2mm

I guess the difference is driven (c; by the fact (stated by Phil) that the
flywheels are different diameters to discourage mechanical resonance.

Thanks Jasen!

[Tim Wescott]

Presumably the belt speed changes, or the capstains themselves are
different diameters.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

[Look165]

One (the small one) is the motor capstan.

The other one is the pressure capstan.

Direction is given by the rotation of the first one and speed is
servo-controlled.

Generally there is a lever for the tension of the tape.


DaveC a écrit :

[stra...@yahoo.com]

Looks like my Nakamichi cassette deck. They used 2 different sdiameter
capstans / flywheels running at different RPMs BUT the same tape speed
closed loop drive (both pinch rollers always engaged). They said they did
that so that the capstans won't slowly go in and out of phase which causes
wow and flutter to go up and down. By running different RPMs they go in and
out of sync so quickly we don't notice it. As the belt stretches and
contracts around the flywheels, the lead capstan will alway run slightly
faster (tape speed wise) than the trailing capstan which keeps the tape
tension correct on an auto reverse machine regardless of the direction. My
deck is only single direction and the wow/flutter is nearly imperceptible.

Then I went digital so who cares about cassettes?

G²

[DaveC]

> Then I went digital so who cares about cassettes?

Need a source to digitize the analogue media...

[Adrian Caspersz]

I did initially think closed loop but then capstans would be revolving
in opposite directions? It would be an extreme way to apply tension to a
tape.

--
Adrian C

[mike]

The tape speed is controlled by the motor drive capstan.
Doesn't matter which way the tape is going.
The two flywheels are different sizes, but have the same
rotation speed. That causes the belt to
stretch on one side and compress on the other to account for
the different sizes. That belt tension creates the tape tension.
That's independent of the direction of the rotation.
Tape speed across the heads is always controlled by the drive motor.

[N_Cook]

May seem pedantic , but there is a rationale.
Having been here before, to standardise to using a strobe to set tape
speed, in the absence of a test tape of known goodness, ie not
stretched, as the people wanting cassette players repaired these days
tend to be musically on the ball as regards being perfect pitch.
You'll probably find the spindle diameters are 1.99mm and 2.19mm .
I got a precision mechanical engineer to measure a dozen or more random
spindles and they were all *.*9 mm , presumably because the available
bearings are *.*0 mm

[MJC]

In article <c132015e-fe0f-4a70...@googlegroups.com>,
palli...@gmail.com says...

Sure, but my point was that any chatter in the bearings is just as bad
as rotational variation and is not damped by the flywheel. So the plain
bearings have to be accurate and long-lasting.

Mike.

[jurb...@gmail.com]

Because of the thickness of the belt.

[jurb...@gmail.com]

>"I did initially think closed loop but then capstans would be >revolving
>in opposite directions? It would be an extreme way to apply tension >to a
>tape. "

Do you understand mechanics at all ? It helps. Those things are turning in OPPOSITE directions and therefore that deck is NOT a true dual capstan. It has two but the other one is used to regulate tapes speed in reverse. That is all.

It does not have the the qualitative edge over a single capstan deck at all, that part of the mechanism simply facilitates the reverse function. It is not dual capstan at all. To me, and anyone who knows tape, dual capstan means they both work at the same time, and in that the deck, THEY DO NOT. It is either one or the other, depending on if it it is in the forward or reverse mode. At no time are both pinch rollers engaged. Only one at a time.

When it's running look and see, and you will see.

[Phil Allison]

Look165 wrote:
>
> One (the small one) is the motor capstan.
>
> The other one is the pressure capstan.
>
> Direction is given by the rotation of the first one and speed is
> servo-controlled.
>
> Generally there is a lever for the tension of the tape.
>

** You on crack ??

[Phil Allison]

MJC wrote:
>
>> >
> > > And I have long thought that with the small diameter of the capstan it
> > > must be the availability of excellent, and cheap, bearings for the shaft
> > > that made it possible to keep the wow and flutter down to acceptable
> > > levels...
> > >
> >
> > ** The vast majority use plain bearings and rely on a flywheel to
> > do the rest.
> >
> >
> >
>

> Sure, but my point was that any chatter in the bearings is just as bad
> as rotational variation and is not damped by the flywheel. So the plain
> bearings have to be accurate and long-lasting.
>

** You have completely forgotten the damping effect of side-ways pressure from the pinch roller.



.... Phil

[Adrian Caspersz]

On 12/03/16 12:31, jurb...@gmail.com wrote:
>> "I did initially think closed loop but then capstans would be
>> >revolving in opposite directions? It would be an extreme way to
>> apply tension >to a tape. "
>
> Do you understand mechanics at all ? It helps.

:)

Those things are
> turning in OPPOSITE directions and therefore that deck is NOT a true
> dual capstan.

Sorry, you can see I goofed up my sentence. Should have written

"I did initially think closed loop but then capstans ARE
revolving in opposite directions? (So not)"

It has two but the other one is used to regulate tapes
> speed in reverse. That is all.

> It does not have the the qualitative edge over a single capstan deck
> at all, that part of the mechanism simply facilitates the reverse
> function. It is not dual capstan at all. To me, and anyone who knows
> tape, dual capstan means they both work at the same time, and in that
> the deck, THEY DO NOT. It is either one or the other, depending on if
> it it is in the forward or reverse mode. At no time are both pinch
> rollers engaged. Only one at a time.
>
> When it's running look and see, and you will see.

Agreed.

--
Adrian C

[Phil Allison]

jurb...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>
> >"I did initially think closed loop but then capstans would be >revolving
> >in opposite directions? It would be an extreme way to apply tension >to a
> >tape. "
>
> Do you understand mechanics at all ? It helps.
> Those things are turning in OPPOSITE directions
>
>

** Self evidently false.

Yawnnnnnnnnnn................


... Phil

[pf...@aol.com]

The capstan is a passive device. The motor pulley diameter via the *pinch roller* determines the tape speed. The capstan wheel can be any size at all.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[MJC]

In article <83973214-241c-42fc...@googlegroups.com>,
palli...@gmail.com says...

I certainly was not taking it into account. Probably because it is
movement along the length of the tape and not sideways that gives rise
to speed modulation at the pick-up.

Mike.

[DaveC]

jurb...@gmail.com wrote:

> Those things are turning in OPPOSITE directions

Yikes! You’re right...

(op)

[DaveC]

pf...@aol.com wrote:

> The capstan is a passive device. The motor pulley diameter via the *pinch
> roller* determines the tape speed. The capstan wheel can be any size at all.

By my mind that is backward: the pinch roller is passive (not being driven).
The capstan shaft (~2mm diam) is driven by capstan flywheel/belt/motor
pulley.

No?

Thanks.

(op)

[N_Cook]

Aiwa AD WX888 , 1997,I worked on once, spindle to one capstan 2.49mm
diameter and the other 2.69mm

[legg]

Aiwa ADR470, forward flywheel was inside the loop, reverse was outside
the loop. Both always driven. choice of pinch rollers determine
direction. Flywheel diameters compensate for inside/outside belt
diameter. Only speed adjustment was screw-driver inside the motor
housing itself.

Harman Kardon HK300 had a single flyheel, spindle impressed
alternately on fw or rev through a clutch that was always
disintegrating. Same in-the-motor adgustment.

RL

[M Philbrook]

In article <nc0r83$tjh$1...@dont-email.me>, ham...@netzero.net says...

Really?

Then what is the use of that little pinch roller and drive shaft that
the tape fits between, for?

Jamie

[John Larkin]

All those mechanical means of reproducing sound - wax disks, tinfoil,
shellac, plastic, wire, tape - were all awful. Chemical photography
was a nuisance, too. Ditto typing and carbon paper.




--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

lunatic fringe electronics

[Martin Riddle]

Yeah but look at the bit-error rate you can tolerate.
A CD would be worth less with that many errors.


Cheers

[DaveC]

On 12 Mar 2016, John Larkin wrote:

> All those mechanical means of reproducing sound - wax disks, tinfoil,
> shellac, plastic, wire, tape - were all awful. Chemical photography
> was a nuisance, too. Ditto typing and carbon paper.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Gotta have a source platform in order to digitize all that media...

[Phil Allison]

MJC wrote:
>
> >
> > >
> > > Sure, but my point was that any chatter in the bearings is just as bad
> > > as rotational variation and is not damped by the flywheel. So the plain
> > > bearings have to be accurate and long-lasting.
> > >
> >
> > ** You have completely forgotten the damping effect of side-ways
> > pressure from the pinch roller.
> >
>

> I certainly was not taking it into account. Probably because it is
> movement along the length of the tape and not sideways that gives rise
> to speed modulation at the pick-up.
>

** Just to rub it in, the SIDEWAYS pressure from the pinch roller forces the capstan shaft against the bearing and inhibits any "chattering".

I really works and I see machines ( ie Roland Space Echos) with noticeable play in the capstan bearing that have low W&F.


.... Phil

[Phil Allison]

DaveC wrote:

>
> By my mind that is backward: the pinch roller is passive (not being driven).
> The capstan shaft (~2mm diam) is driven by capstan flywheel/belt/motor
> pulley.
>

** Tape speed is determined by the surface speed of the motor pulley divided by the flywheel to capstan diameter ratio.

That ratio might be 20:1 making the pulley surface speed 37.5 inches/S for a standard cassette speed of 1-7/8 inches/S.


.... Phil

[jurb...@gmail.com]

>"The capstan is a passive device. The motor pulley diameter via the >*pinch roller* determines the tape speed. The capstan wheel can be >any size at all.
>
>Peter Wieck
>Melrose Park, PA "

Absolutely false. the pinch roller can be any damn diameter is want. The tape speed is controlled by the driven element of the system which is that capstan and is exactly its RPM times its diameter and of course Pi.

Alot of people misunderstand this, especially in the US. Same thing with the idler wheel on a turntable, it can be bigger or smaller, doesn't mean shit. the ratio that matters there is the motor to the rim, which is the driven element. On tape, the speed is precisely controlled by the capstan and that is based on the capstan diameter. ONLY. The pinch roller can be as big as a truck tire and it still goes the same speed.

Y'know, when I was in school they gave me this test. Turns out I was in the 99th percentile in mechanical reasoning. I liked that part of the test, gears n shit. When I started corresponding internationally, I thought that too high. People in some countries are smart as all hell. So in the world maybe I am just a 50. But the thing is, here we got guys who cannot figure out how to change a flat tire. (tyre for you oppressive folks across the pond we had to kick out of our jungle because of your damn taxes)

I did not learn any of this shit in schools. The schools here don't teach that useful information, or as far as I could see any useful information. You can plainly see those flywheels move in opposing directions, but there was a disconnect. I can't fault people for that, it is a deficiency in their education. In this country, peoples' Parents worked too fucking much and thought the schools would teach their kids. Didn't work.

I am not trying to put anyone down, I understand how it is, but the bottom line is this question should never have been asked.

[Look165]

Wrong !

The linear speed is RPM/60*pi*D (D in meter), eventually *100 if it's
given in cm/s ; for a cassette it is 4,75 cm/s.
It is determnied by the little axis that tha tape is pinched to.



jurb...@gmail.com a écrit :

[legg]

On Sat, 12 Mar 2016 12:19:34 -0800, John Larkin

I can't think of a single method of 'reproducing sound' that doesn't
involve mechanical means.

Sound is a mechanical phenomenon. Humans use flapping meat.

Perhaps you mean recording? No, still mechanical. Storage? Maybe.

Of course, there's nothing mechanical in electronics, is there...

It's the programme material, the idea and its conception that's
important; not the means of conveyance.

RL

[DaveC]

On 12 Mar 2016, jurb...@gmail.com wrote
(in article<ad5cfe86-5261-4c1f...@googlegroups.com>):

> I am not trying to put anyone down, I understand how it is, but the bottom
> line is this question should never have been asked.

OK I’ve learned from you how to determine tape speed by measuring the
capstans.

But you have not answered the question (that apparently should never have
been asked) why the 2 flywheels are different sizes.

(op)

[MJC]

In article <2m0beb1lgja42278t...@4ax.com>,
le...@nospam.magma.ca says...

>
> I can't think of a single method of 'reproducing sound' that doesn't
> involve mechanical means.
>
> Sound is a mechanical phenomenon. Humans use flapping meat.

I can imagine a method that used heat to move the air, perhaps with a
plasma to make it fast. (Like a modulated lightning flash.) But I cannot
be bothered to construct a search to find out if it has been done
successfully...

Mike.

[Don Bruder]

In article <MPG.314f98...@news.plus.net>,

I recall a conversation from years ago with a *VERY* old theater
projectionist, who spoke of what he called "flame speakers". Don't know
if it was an artifact of his (at the time) 80+ year old mind going, or
reality, but what he described made sense to me on several levels,
though I've never bothered to try chasing it down. Apparently, back in
the early days of talkies, one method of sound production involved a gas
nozzle (unsure if he meant gasoline, or something like propane/LP gas)
"tuned" to produce a blue flame (he was very clear on that point - lots
of the conversation came back to how he had to tinker with the flame at
each showing, otherwise the sound wasn't good) several feet tall in a
combustion chamber, into which was shoved a set of tungsten electrodes.
The 'trodes were driven at high voltages by any of several amplification
methods (frequently varying by theater, if the old guy's tale was to be
believed) to charge the plasma of the flame, which apparently caused it
to "dance", driving a diaphragm like that of a speaker. Supposedly,
amazingly high volumes with very good fidelity could be achieved.

Like I say, I've never actually gone to the effort of tracking it down,
and I have no idea if it was a failing mind's invention, or reality,
but... <shrug> Seems to me like it COULD work.

--
Security provided by Mssrs Smith and/or Wesson. Brought to you by the letter Q

[jurb...@gmail.com]

>"I can imagine a method that used heat to move the air, perhaps with >a
>plasma to make it fast. "

The singing arc.

However it depends on how you want to be about this. If someone want no moving parts that is fine and the singing arc works for that.

But your eardrum still moves as well as the linage from it to the cochlea.

Plus the fact that the air itself moves.

[legg]

On Sun, 13 Mar 2016 15:34:07 -0000, MJC <gra...@mjcoon.plus.com>
wrote:

See Thermoachoustic Technology.

www.lanl.gov/thermoacoustics/Pubs/

RL

[Look165]

I heard from many girls that size doesn't matter !! LOL

DaveC a écrit :

[N_Cook]

Wasn't there some scheme to generate sound for large area advertising by
using aurora? presumably someone realised polar bears don't buy much stuff.

[MJC]

In article <5aae6e94-41fc-4a9a...@googlegroups.com>,
jurb...@gmail.com says...

That recalls some old saw about whether anything is real if not
observed. I think sound has been reproduced even if no-one hears.

As to moving air counting as a "part"... In space no-one can hear
spurious arguments!

Mike.

[Chris Jones]

http://www.roger-russell.com/ionovac/ionovac.htm#ionofane
http://www.ebay.com/itm/171837115818

[pf...@aol.com]

THE *MOTOR PULLEY* DIAMETER..... Not the pinch roller.

[legg]

Question was re flywheel diameter differences. Motor pulley drives
both. Same belt on two different dia flywheels, yet obtains same
spindle rotation at their separate pinch rollers.

Identical belt speed should drive a smaller dia flywheel faster. Motor
speed does not account for this physical difference, as it is uniform
for both functions.

Supposition is that the difference in flywheel dia is related to belt
thickness, as one flywheel is inside, and other is outside the drive
belt loop.

RL

[N_Cook]

That would be lead to a much closer pair of pulley diameters.
But then although you have a free range of pulley sizes, as cast and
machined, the sintered metal bearings come in only discrete sizes of * x
0.1mm , so you have to increase/decrease the pulley diameter ratio to
then be compatible to 2 available bearing diameters and hence spindle
diameters.
That is the reason i'd go for

[DaveC]

On 14 Mar 2016, N_Cook wrote
(in article <nc6p5h$3hp$1...@dont-email.me>):

> That would be lead to a much closer pair of pulley diameters.
> But then although you have a free range of pulley sizes, as cast and
> machined, the sintered metal bearings come in only discrete sizes of * x
> 0.1mm , so you have to increase/decrease the pulley diameter ratio to
> then be compatible to 2 available bearing diameters and hence spindle
> diameters.
> That is the reason i'd go for

I (op) have accepted the theory that difference is to avoid additive
resonance of the capstan shafts in bronze(?)--not ball--bearings. Difference
flywheel sizes plus different capstan shaftssizes (2mm and 2.1mm) results in
same tape speed (in opposite directions--this is an auto-reverse mechanism)
and different resonances.

[pf...@aol.com]

On Monday, March 14, 2016 at 12:28:26 PM UTC-4, legg wrote:

> Question was re flywheel diameter differences. Motor pulley drives
> both. Same belt on two different dia flywheels, yet obtains same
> spindle rotation at their separate pinch rollers.
>
> Identical belt speed should drive a smaller dia flywheel faster. Motor
> speed does not account for this physical difference, as it is uniform
> for both functions.
>
> Supposition is that the difference in flywheel dia is related to belt
> thickness, as one flywheel is inside, and other is outside the drive
> belt loop.

Um... A flywheel is a momentum device attached to a system to provide smoothing. Many (very much most) DC motors are pulse driven. The flywheel removes these pulses. Tape speed is determined by the capstan motor pulley diameter. FULL STOP.

[legg]

In these machines a single motor with a pulley on its shaft, drives
the outer rims of the two differently sized flywheels, through a
single belt.

I've measured the spindles at the pinch rollers and they are a
different diameter, as was suggested by DaveC, so belt thickness isn't
responsible for compensation of the flywheel sizes - the spindles are
scaled with the flywheel diameter.

Never occurred to me to wonder about this, before, or to check it out.
Happy just to keep them going.

RL

[Phil Allison]

N_Cook wrote:

>
> >
> > Supposition is that the difference in flywheel dia is related to belt
> > thickness, as one flywheel is inside, and other is outside the drive
> > belt loop.
> >
> > RL
> >
>
> That would be lead to a much closer pair of pulley diameters.
>

** The supposition is nonsense.

Where the drive belt is curved, the outside radius is greater - but both flywheels are on the INSIDE of curves.


.... Phil

[mako...@yahoo.com]

to the op..



only one pinch roller is engaged at a time, depending upon which direction the tape is traveling?

so the two flywheels turn in opposite directions?

How do they get the second flywheel to spin in the opposite direction?

Maybe that has something to do with the need for a different size?

M

[pf...@aol.com]

On Tuesday, March 15, 2016 at 9:29:42 AM UTC-4, mako...@yahoo.com wrote:

> Maybe that has something to do with the need for a different size?

Mpfffff... Let's get down to it.

The most likely reason the two similar-function parts are of a different size is that the physical parameters of the entirety suggested/led to this decision. As neither have *one damned thing* to do with the actual tape speed, the reasons may be no more complex than that.

[Phil Allison]

mako...@yahoo.com wrote:
>
>
> so the two flywheels turn in opposite directions?
>
> How do they get the second flywheel to spin in the opposite direction?
>

** Look at the diagram - the belt goes most of the way around the larger flywheel ( 153 ) but only a small part of the way around the smaller one ( 152).

IOW it fits where the "151" is shown, where the belt is curved the opposite way.


.... Phil

[DaveC]

> only one pinch roller is engaged at a time, depending upon which direction
> the tape is traveling?

Yes

> so the two flywheels turn in opposite directions?

Yes

> How do they get the second flywheel to spin in the opposite direction?

look at the diagram (in the original post). The Belt goes around the 2
flywheels such that the belts are driven in opposite directions.

> Maybe that has something to do with the need for a different size?
>
> M

Flywheels are differentdiameters AND capstan spindles (pressed into the
center of the flywheels) are different diameters. The flywheel/spindle
diameters are calculated such that the resulting tape speed is the same for
both, only in opposite directions (one for Side A, one for Side B).

The reason for the differences, it seems, is to help avoid (or minimize)
resonant frequency set up by the spindles turning in their bearings.
Different diameters/speeds = lower resonance.

(op)

[jurb...@gmail.com]

So let me get this straight. The consensus now is that it has nothing to do with the thickness of the belt but is to avoid resonance, Logically resulting in less wow and flutter I would assume.

Interesting. I remember the old Walkmans that had two flywheels going in opposite directions, not for autoreverse, but so that when the unit was moved, turned whatever, it would maintain the speed. But in that case of course the two flywheels were the same weight and diameter so the angular forces would cancel out.

Really, on the surface is seemed that the thickness of the belt was the reason for this but that has been eliminated. Would be nice to look at a few other models and see how they are put together. Ha, there is only one autoreverse deck on the property and it doesn't belong to me. That'll learn me to throw shit out.

[Phil Allison]

jurb...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> So let me get this straight. The consensus now is that it has nothing
> to do with the thickness of the belt but is to avoid resonance,
> Logically resulting in less wow and flutter I would assume.
>
>

** The OP also posted his Q on sci.electronics.design and in my first reply there I pointed out the possible resonance issue as the reason for differing flywheel diameters.

A rubber belt and flywheel system has a resonant frequency - resulting from the springiness of the belt and the inertia of the wheel. I figured that where two flywheels are coupled by the same belt, it is better if their inertias are non identical so the resonant frequencies differ and so do not reinforce.

>
> Really, on the surface is seemed that the thickness of the belt was
> the reason for this but that has been eliminated.
>

** A really dopey idea based on a fallacy.


.... Phil

[Michael A. Terrell]

jurb...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> Y'know, when I was in school they gave me this test. Turns out I was in the 99th percentile in mechanical reasoning.

Only two students in my school system got every question right on
that part of the aptitude tests. Myself, and a girl who like to work on
cars. I also got the top scores in math and science. I only got a 90 for
English. I took every math, science and shop class that they could fit
into my schedule, each year. Several years later I tested out of an
Electronics Engineering school while serving in the U.S. Army. I've
worked with very intelligent people who only finished high school, and
I've had the misfortune of working with those who can pass tests but who
are so @#$%^&* stupid that they set the shop on fire with a soldering
iron.

[thekma...@gmail.com]

Michael Terrell wrote: " Only two students in my school system got every question right on

that part of the aptitude tests. Myself, and a girl who like to work on
cars. I also got the top scores in math and science. I only got a 90 for
English. I took every math, science and shop class that they could fit
into my schedule, each year. Several years later I tested out of an "

I envy people like you - seriously! It shows
how influences(chemical and otherwise) during
and after conception, and after birth and during
childhood - chemical and otherwise - can have
an effect on a child and later an adult.

"Only got a 90 for english"??? I was lucky to
get 90s in THAT - and 60s to 70s in all my other
subjects. Math? They had to make up a grade
just so I wouldn't have trouble later on getting
in to college. My single biggest regret in LIFE -
not being able to even read numbers, let alone
add, subtract, multiply, or do anything Greek
with them(!) And I trace it all back to some
activities my expectant folks were engaged in
back in the late '60s, and some choice names
my Dad coined me post-toddler-hood.

[Michael A. Terrell]

I had health problems from an early age, so I spent a lot of time
reading and experimenting since I couldn't play in any sport. I was born
in the early '50s, when poorly trained doctors continued to prescribe
DES to pregnant women in the false belief that it prevented
miscarriages. It caused many health issues in the children, like my life
long problem with infections. The last one required a trip to the
hospital. I was also born with poor eyesight, and have worn glasses
since elementary school. I now have to sit about 12 inches from a 24"
monitor to see what I'm typing. :(

I taught Boolean Algebra to myself, to be able to write software to
track the C band birds. tHe program asked for your Latitude & Longitude,
then it printed out a two page report with the Azimuth and Elevation for
every bird you could see from your location. The program let you enter
your name, so the report stated, Prepared by:----- ---- to make people
think it came from an engineering service.

The Commodore 64 didn't have several functions I needed, so I had to
create them, as well. I always enjoyed a challenge, and often got what
others had given up on. That is why I have seen so many odd conditions
in equipment, in the last 55 years.

I was a Nerd, long before it was cool. :)