Volunteer Oak . . .

We have an Oak tree that sprang up in the North side yard in the Jasmine Ivy.  It was next to a Hackberry we had cut down and has since sort of taken off.

We pretty much determined it is a Red Oak but not necessarily a Shumard like the two threes out front.  And I notice several of these volunteer Oaks in the neighborhood.  They have a peculiarity somewhat common to Post Oaks.  The term is Marcesecence.  It literally means the tree is deciduous, but it does not drop its dead leaves, it pushes them off in the Spring like a Live Oak tree which is an Evergreen tree.  The leaves turn color of red and then gradually to a brown but hang in there.

My research says it is a Barkely Oak Tree, a common variety of red oak that lives amongst us here in North Texas,  It will pretty much perform just like the Shumards out front and will in time interbreed with the Shumards. They are both North Texas Red Oaks.

The deer had at the young tree this winter but it seems to have withstood their rutting behavior.  They tore up the trunk in places but I painted over the damage and I am sure it will heal with time.

Right now the base of the trunk is about 2.5 inches in diameter.  It is said it will grow to perhaps 75 feet and spread about 50 feet, or about the same as the Shumards out front.  So we now know what it will look like in the out years.

I have fertilized it a couple of times and that will enhance its development.  It sprang up next to the old stump and the tree people said it will "feed off the old stump."  I figure it will not hurt to give some go juice so to speak and get it up and making a nice canopy to shade the house. 

A good replacement for the old trashy Hackberry trees.  And a fine complement to the Shumards out front.

Guns . . .

I do not think it is right for the President to issue edicts when there are specific references in the Constitution regarding gun ownership.  He is trying to skirt the Congress and the Constitution with his Presidential Directives.  There is no provision in the Constitution for Presidential Directives which are viewed as regulatory law. While Presidential Directives have been around for years it may bring the issue before the Supreme Court.  Never can tell what the court may do.

The Second Amendment is clear and President Obama does not take it on directly.  He can not do it legally with edicts.  And he knows the gun lobby is to strong for him to get an amendment change through the Congress.  Chicago, his adopted hometown, has steadily lost court battle after court battle over gun ownership.  So has the District of Columbia.  Both of which had banned gun ownership of firearms.  In both cases that has been over ruled.  Both local governments have slapped extraordinary restrictions like "you can own a gun but you can not take it out of your house" kinda of regulation.  Of course, how do you get it to your house?  I know the National Rifle Association has steadfastly attacked such regulations with success.  The Supreme Court has acknowledged "the right to own and bear arms" means just that in the Constitution.

Oh yeah, with all its stringent gun regulation, there have been over 500 murders in Chicago.  So much for the effectiveness of gun regulation.  It does not seem to be working, does it?

Gun issues have a lot of emotional baggage surrounding them.  Nobody wants gun violence but nobody wants to give up their firearms either.  So there is an impasse going on.  Not an easy issue. 

I think Obama is going to lose this one.  I think he will be attacked again and again over the issue.  It may just be another case of the camel getting it nose under the edge of the tent.  It is a start in the liberals mind to total gun control.  It certainly does not solve the issue of crazies doing crazy things.  That is part and partial to the Clinton era of emptying out the asylums and letting the benign crazies roam at will.  And it prohibits putting people in such places: it is frowned upon to send folks off to the loony bin now days, if you can find one anymore.  The states latched on to that and got rid of the crazy houses as a significant cost reduction.  Yes, there are still some private psychiatric hospitals around and they are building more of them but . . .

We know from some of the incidents that we indeed do have such lunatics floating around us just as there an equal number of sex offenders in our midst.  We do not like it but they are all around us. Some of them are obvious raving lunatics and some are just seething under the surface of respectibility.  They are every where.

Gun regulation does not solve this issue, does it?

Short Repreve . . .

Current outside temperature is 68 degrees F.  Made working in the garage pleasant for once.  No heat required to get me to my comfort zone.

Weather Gurus say an Artic Blast is on the way, to arrive Saturday after noon. 

We have a flying club meeting Saturday AM.  So things ought to be okay for the meeting.  Got to start the new year, pay dues, etc.  We are up to 50 members now.  Some no longer fly, some fly a lot and some don't get out to often at all.  All in all, it is a nice typical group, we enjoy each others company.

Foggy AM

As prdicted, it is foggy this morning.  It is the result of a slight warming and all the moisture we received.  We got around 3 inches of rain.  That will help.

Warmer tomorrow and then back down Saturday afternoon.

Badly Needed Rain . . .

We are getting a day and half of rain.  Some embedded thunderstorms included in the mix.  Temperature not bad, right at 50 degrees and winds out of the East North East at about 18 Miles per Hours.   We will amass something around two inches or so of rain, hopefully something better than three inches if we are lucky.

So it is brisk, damp and unpleasant to be out side today.  And it will be that way tonight coupled with fog due to the high humidity.  The rain is to taper off a midnight.

We really needed the rain.  Lake Weatherford, our primary source of water, is down maybe 7 or 8 feet at the present time.  So this will help recharge the lake and the aquifers.  We need to be reminded that we are really on the edge of the desert here, sort of semi arid.  The green we have is usually sporadic and those with green yards have water well irrigation.  The cost of water to use for irrigation around here is expensive at best and often limited in usage.

Thus it is well worth your money to drill a well.  Cost about $5,000 to $7,000 to do so.  But there are limitations imposed by the City of Weatherford and now a water district.  The water district requires you to have at least two acres of land.   Today I could not have a well as we are on only seven tenths of a acre.  Our well is grandfathered, so we can redrill it if we have must do so.

It costs about $200 to $400 a month to use city water that is if you are so allowed to use the water for irrigation.  So you can amortize your well easily in three years.  There after it only cost you up keep and a little electricity.  There have been a time or two that the city has cut off the water for maintenance.  Such times I can drink from my own well, get water to put in toilets and even to wash one's hands when all the other folks must do with out any water.

We are careful to keep the foundation of our home damp, not to let it dry out.  The cycling of dry versus damp cause the expansive soils to move and thus do series damage to one's foundation.  We have some cracks but that is normal concrete cracks.  We do not have stuck doors, sloping floors or other signs of damage.  Our neighbors across the street do.  They have learned the hard way to keep the foundation damp.

Any way the long over due rain is welcome.  We are behind about 20 inches for the year.  This will help start 2013 off to a good start for us.

Keep you powder dry!

Another Battery Charger Circuit

Circuit diagram:

A Low Cost Universal Charger Circuit Diagram

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Parts:

R1 = 120R-0...5W
R2 = See Diagram
C1 = 220uF-35V
D1 = 1N4007
D2 = 3mm. LED
Q1 = BD135

I will make the following changes to the circuit.  I will substitute a 50 ohm potentiometer (rated at 1/2 watt as all the various R2 values are in that range.  I have also substituted BD137G transistor as it has a little higher voltage ratings, it is basically the same transistor.   I have added a full wave rectifier rated at one ampere and a filament transformer (step down from 115 to 24~25 volts at 800 milliamperes.

I will move the  diode D1 up next to output jacks.  It will act as a blocking diode vice rectifier as shown.  The full wave bridge will be the rectifier coupled with the capacitor C1. 

I will add the jumper so that I can insert a ammeter to set the current values.  Current measurement requires one insert the current meter in the circuit.  So I will remove the jump, insert my VOM, set the value I need and then reinstall the jumper.   I could add a meter but that runs the cost up to high.

The transistor is in a TIP case, so one bolt will hold it to the chassis.  The case will be the ground side for everything.

I am not sure just how the LED works.  It is a device that allows positive current to follow one way, it is a current device.  As it is shown in the circuit, it appears to be fed by the negative output of the transistor.  Of course R1 has a voltage drop so the potential at the face to the LED is less than the output of the transistor.  I suppose the difference in potential is sufficient to show a positive to negative flow, that is the anode, the positive side of the LED will be greater than the negative side.  So in the world of real numbers it is positive (that is a less negative value. ergo is positive in relation to the remainder of the circuit).  The LED is there to keep the base of the transistor positive and allows the transistor to conduct current in relation to its input via the potentiometer.  It will also indicate the circuit is active (e.g. pilot light).

I have been getting components form Radio Shack, sort of expensive.  I found I could get the parts form Mouser, much cheaper if one does a "Will Call."   Will call means one will pick up the merchandise at the warehouse.  The warehouse is located in Mansfield not to far away.  The transistors, I got two of them, cost me $0.49 a piece and the 120 ohm resistors cost $0.14 cents each.  There was a little tax but the whole cost of the four parts was around a buck and half, about 4 to 5 times cheaper than Radio Shack and it was higher grade stuff.

Good Game, Bad Ending , , ,

This is sure to stir up the anti Miles crowd.  The Tigers lost to the Tigers - of Clemson.

We had a good turn out at Humperdinks.  They did a good business off us and we had a grand time - until the end.

Happy New Year to all.