Shdwdrgn

@[email protected]

A person with way too many hobbies, but I still continue to learn new things.

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Shdwdrgn ,

SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments in Season 5, Episode 1 of “Star Trek: Discovery,” now streaming on Paramount+.

Guess I won’t be reading this until after I get a chance to watch the episode.

Re-sealing shower surround

I am stripping and re-sealing a corner shower stall, and am having a hell of time removing all the old caulk. I also discovered the previous homeowners decided to just caulk over the previous caulk that was on there, so I am removing 2 or 3 layers depending on the location. It was leaking in the spots that had 3 layers so I...

Shdwdrgn ,

Afraid I can’t offer any tricks, and unfortunately I will be doing this task myself soon. However one thing that concerns me about you seeing leaks is that if there is a full pan in the bottom, that pan should have a lip on it that goes up behind (and higher than) the edge of the tile. This means any water at the height of the caulk should not be causing a leak. Is it possible that the mess of caulking you are seeing is due to a previous owner attempting to cover over actual holes in the pan?

I had a plumber out to look at my basement shower right before Christmas. The drain was backing up and we couldn’t get it to clear, but even when running the water slowly (nothing appearing to come back up the drain) I was seeing water running out onto the floor after a couple minutes. Well it turns out there is supposed to be a seal between the drain pipe and the larger pipe that drops down from the pan. My seal was completely missing so the water was running onto the packed earth under my cement floor and then backing up underneath the shower pan. He told me I could seal this with silicone and this has been working just fine so far, but I’ve also found rubber seals I can buy to hammer into place for a more permanent seal next time it fails. Not sure if any of this helps with your situation, but I figure good knowledge should be passed around!

Shdwdrgn ,

Best of luck to you then!

I did think of one thing I’ve seen at the hardware store… they make a tool with a triangular tip, which I believe was for removing caulking from corners. You might take a look for one of those?

Shdwdrgn ,

Not sure if this is helpful to you or not, but I actually learned a lot about used equipment by searching ebay. Most camera sellers are pretty honest about any flaws in their equipment, so through their close-up shots I learned about spotting fungus and mold inside a lens, checking the mirror for any damage, and that shutter count is important. The things I learned from searching through those listings provided the direction needed for further research and eventually I was spotting things not mentioned by less scrupulous sellers. If you’re just starting out, browsing through hundreds of sales can teach you a bit.

Sorry I can’t help with the particular cameras you are asking about (I actually shoot with Canon equipment), but I’m sure someone else will be along that can help with that.

Shdwdrgn ,

Ah cool, I’ve only been using a DSLR for a few years now. It’s not my primary hobby, but I’ve put a bit of time into learning various techniques and have a handful of used lenses. So far I haven’t had a reason to go mirrorless, but I imagine some day I’ll probably get there.

Shdwdrgn , (edited )

You can find a million different circuits online with a simple google search. The problem is you haven’t given any useful info about what it is you need. You want to generate a sound outside? Cool, I can point you to a circuit that you can’t hear from five feet away, but it meets your criteria because it was used “outside” and produced a garbled mess that still counts as a “sound”.

If you want help, you need to provide an idea of how much power needs to be generated, how many speakers you are driving, how clear you need the sound to be (and this distinction will be quite different depending on if you are generating a tone, music, voice, etc), how FAR away you want to hear the sound, and it wouldn’t hurt to show what you’ve already tried and how that varied from what you were expecting. If you plan to leave this outside long-term, then you should describe what your plan is for weather-proofing as that will have an effect out the output also. And since I don’t know jack about analog circuits, there’s probably more information required to build what you need.

Sorry, even if you want nothing more than a siren sound there’s nothing easy about your question.

Shdwdrgn ,

The Adafruit solution below looks like a good suggestion if you need something pre-built. However if you’re interested in the DIY approch, you could also take a look at something like www.ebay.com/itm/404254884824

Pair this with an arduino nano and you’ll have a fairly compact programmable device (I assume for your purposes, you only need mono output). You could also add a lithium-ion battery, solar panel, and charge controller to make something completely self-contained, but that would take a bit more work to figure out how much power is required to play each recording, and how many times per day you want to be able to play them so you can have enough battery power and a large enough solar panel to keep them charged.

Also remember to put your speakers in a box as that will make a huge difference in the volume of the sound being played.

Shdwdrgn ,

“Disorganized”

Shdwdrgn ,

If you know someone with an air compressor, try blowing the dust out of the motor. Check for hair wrapped around the metal shaft of the motor.

Also check for hair wrapped up around the brush (take off the bottom plate and remove the whole brush, there’s usually a lot of crap around the ends where the brush spins).

Why are tele converters so extremely expensive? ( www.bhphotovideo.com )

I got the new Sony 70-200 mm F4 Macro G OSS II and it’s amazing, even though very expensive. Anyway while looking at all those YouTube videos about it people were very often mention that it’s compatible with tele converters and you’d get basically double the size lens (with half the light) + 1.0 macro instead of 0.5....

Shdwdrgn ,

Yeah but from what I read, the type without glass is also cheap because of the inherent problems problems with it, like typically cutting off the corners due to the edge of your lens being visible in the view.

I would also mention that there are really cheap teleconverters you can find on amazon and such for around $20 US (the type that screw onto the end of your lens like a filter), which will be a massive disappointment. These are never actually made for telephoto lens, so like if you try to couple one of these teleconverters with a 200mm telephoto lens, you’ll never actually be able to focus your shot. Just don’t even bother with these, they are a complete waste of money even if they claim to work with a telephoto.

On the other hand, there are teleconverters that mount between your camera and lens, which have their own glass in them. For the price OP quoted, this is most likely the type they found. This is like a second stage of lens, and you’ll find a good one will not only focus perfectly without bringing the edge of your primary lens into the shot, but they also tell the camera about the change to the focus range and any other parameters so that the camera can properly adjust the shot and the EXIF data is correct.

With that said, $548 still seems really extreme? I have a Canon camera and I found a really good quality doubler on ebay (used) for $100 with Japanese glass which looked brand new when I got it. I use it with my 300mm lens to take pictures of the sun and moon, and cannot tell the difference between images with and without the teleconverter because it focuses so cleanly. Since OP mentioned this is also a new camera, maybe it’s just too new and nobody has had a chance to make aftermarket products for it yet, or the used market doesn’t exist yet? My camera is over 10 years old so there’s a ton of cheap items available.

Shdwdrgn ,

Yes you are correct on the mount, although of course the teleconverter I have isn’t all that old. Thirteen years is still quite a long time for a mount to be available and not have a wide selection of aftermarket and used components available though, none of my equipment (except the body) is that old so I would think OP should have similar items they could buy?

Shdwdrgn ,

I didn’t even know about this show until news came down about it being cancelled… Figures. I started watching it and already like it more than Lower Decks. Really hoping they find a new home!

Shdwdrgn ,

Yeah once I figured out the characters it seemed pretty obvious it was geared towards a younger audience, but I still like the show. I think my interest is mainly in it being the grittier side of the Star Trek universe where not everything is all hunky-dory. DS9 certainly had that feel to it.

Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | 2x09 "Subspace Rhapsody"

LoglineAn accident with an experimental quantum probability field causes everyone on the USS Enterprise to break uncontrollably into song, but the real danger is that the field is expanding and beginning to impact other ships—allies and enemies alike....

Shdwdrgn ,

Oh god, “Once More With Feeling” was the first musical TV episode that stuck with me. So much passion in that episode and it brought to a head so many issues the characters had been dealing with up to that point. It still stands out as my favorite episode of the entire series.

Guess I’m going to have to rewatch this episode, I missed the bunny reference!

Chair repair--looking for advice ( lemmy.cafe )

I have an ancient and rather ugly office chair which I love to pieces. Unfortunately, on Thursday morning, the chair attempted to make that literal, as I sat down and heard a nasty splintering sound. Now, I got this thing secondhand, and it’s always had a vertical split up one wooden leg. My brother had run four large carriage...

Shdwdrgn ,

Dowels glued in place will almost certainly be stronger than the bolts. However, depending on whether you care how pretty or ugly it is, it might be worthwhile to get 2-3 large hose clamps to wrap around the joined pieces, and cinch them up tight. That should provide support around the wood to minimize the chance of the wood trying to split out in the same direction as before.

Note that it might help to show a picture of how things are supposed to go together? I originally thought these were two separate pieces which mated together (which is why I suggested gluing dowels through “both” pieces), but I just realized that it is actually two separate shots of the same piece, so I’m not quite sure what this is supposed to be attached to.

Shdwdrgn ,

Every single time I see him show up! Dude looks way more like Carrey than he looks like Shatner.

Shdwdrgn ,

Wow, fancy, you have a PLUG for your TV antenna? I just have the wire coming through the wall from the attic. Although I did think it was rather modern that my antenna was mounted in the attic instead of on the roof.

Shdwdrgn ,

I think the problem with that is a TV show has a limited amount of time to set up a problem and then solve it. The truly great writers can get around this by spreading information out over multiple episodes through a season, and it gives them more time to deal with incorrect information, allowing the characters to recognize that some information is actually false and then adjust course. In fact it can make for a great plot twist to build on bad information through a season and then reveal everything we’ve been told is in fact wrong!

However when your plot is limited to a single hour, you simply don’t have the time to find out something is wrong, the characters just have to charge forward with what they know, assume everything is factual, and execute a plan to fix the problem. And in many episodes the build-up barely leaves any time for getting things resolved.

It would be nice to see more huge multi-episode plot arcs though. I’ve seen it happen in some seasons of Doctor Who and it’s just incredible when they pull it off smoothly because you get little hints along the way about something but no real context about what it means until it all gets put together at the end of the season. Would love to see more of that in Star Trek. I think Discovery used that in the first couple seasons but then lost it, and nothing else really stands out for me in previous shows.

Shdwdrgn ,

I guess I just feel like there’s something to be said when you have what seems to be a minor side story taking place through multiple episodes, where you get a little info here and there that doesn’t seem to be related, but then it all gets pulled together. And sure, there are some fantastic stories that take place in a single episode. Still one of my favorite episodes is ST:TNG “Cause and Effect”, and I remember being so pissed at the TV station at the time for totally screwing up the airing of the new show until I figured out what was going on.

I just feel like ST in general adheres too much to the doctrine each episode being completely self-contained. Sure there are some broad-stroke changes that occur, but there’s also an awful lot where you can watch episodes in any random order and not miss a thing. Or maybe I’ve just missed a lot over all these years and simply not realized it.

Shdwdrgn ,

It’s been a long time since I watched that series, it wouldn’t surprise me if I’ve forgotten a lot.

Shdwdrgn ,

Are you actually up on a higher floor where there’s little chance of anyone trying to get in that way? If the lock has a key, maybe you could hide a copy on the balcony? Alternatively I would wedge something into the lock, it’s not like it actually DOES anything. Anyone who wants in your house will simply go through the screen without making enough noise to alert the neighbors.

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