Tru-Tone LED C9 Christmas lights unboxing yuandrew 2023-12-01 | Tearing into a package of Tru-Tone LED "Classicolor" C9 bulbs along with the "salesman" in the background.
I didnt know you could use this yuandrew 2023-08-27 | Drew Hoffman's Train Throttle app with Xbox Controllerapps.microsoft.com/store/detail/train-throttle/9NBLGGH4VF5J
Turbotrain High Speed Runs yuandrew 2023-05-01 | HO scale Rapido UAC Turbotrain high speed test runs past Fullerton on Rob's layout
Slappys Back! yuandrew 2023-03-13 | This squirrel has been getting into my Uncle's attic. We set up a camera near where we believe it was entering and caught it eating the insulation.
Metrolink 664 departing Fullerton Feb 4, 2023 yuandrew 2023-02-06 | Southbound Metrolink train with MP36PH locomotive #892 departing Fullerton station
HO scale diesel meets full sized engine (Warning, Loud Whistle) yuandrew 2022-11-08 | Number on model not to be confused with the one on the steam engine
EcoSmart LED flood with DuoBright (5000k to warm white color temperature controlled by dimmer) yuandrew 2022-07-29 | Home Depot EcoSmart 100 watt equivalent (1400 lumens) LED BR30 reflector flood lamp with switchable fixed color temperatures (2700, 3000, 3500, 4000, and 5000K) plus a DuoBright feature which allows some control of color temperature using an existing dimmer. Full-On down to 3/4 on the dimmer gives a 5000K "Daylight" color temperature which then transitions to what appears to be 3000K "Bright White" then 2700K-2000K the lower the dimmer is set.homedepot.com/p/EcoSmart-100-Watt-Equivalent-BR30-CEC-Dimmable-LED-Light-Bulb-with-Selectable-Color-Temperature-Plus-DuoBright-1-Pack-A20BR30100T2001/315605323Demonstrated with Eaton-Cooper Lighting SAL06P dimmer (SAL-Slide "All Load" dimmer). eaton.com/us/en-us/skuPage.SAL06P2-W.html
So-Fa-Mi-Re-Do decoder (Singing Train) yuandrew 2022-07-29 | Older LokPilot V4.0 DCC decoder makes the motor sound like a backwards musical scale when starting up.(Air brake sound effects are from a Tsunami SoundCar in the boxcar behind the engine)
BNSF Freight Fullerton Station yuandrew 2022-06-26 | Westbound BNSF intermodal train passing by Fullerton station with 5704 in tow
Canyon Meet May 7, 2022 yuandrew 2022-05-15 | Saturday night operating session at California Southern Model Railroad Club in NorwakSanta Fe GP40 #2964 along with GP35u #2825 meets Union Pacific Turbine #5 at Canyon
Malin RR Crossing yuandrew 2022-05-15 | BNSF and CSX trains at Malin Crossing at California Southern Model Railroad Club in Norwalk.
Hydroflame 7920-II Test yuandrew 2022-02-20 | (Previously recorded in Jan 2021)Test run of an Atwood Hydroflame 7920-II heater before it was installed in a buddy's popup camper.Also had some fun with the propane gas detector that came with it
2011 Southwest Blackout on paper yuandrew 2021-09-09 | Ten years ago, a widespread power outage affecting the southwestern region of US and the northern part of Baja California, Mexico occurred. Particularly affected was the San Diego area as well as Imperial Valley, and Tijuana in Mexico. It was considered the largest outage in history to affect Southern California. At the time of the 2011 outage, the San Diego area only had one 500 kV transmission line which originated in Arizona providing the majority of electrical power to the region. There were (and still is) no other interconnections at the 500 kV transmission level between San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and other adjacent utilities like Southern California Edison (SCE). Rather, the only other major route for power to the San Diego region is Path 44, a set of five separate 230 kV transmission line circuits which interconnected with SCE through San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. A 500kV line interconnecting SCE with an existing SDG&E power line which ran along the Interstate 15 corridor to Escondido through the N. San Diego county community of Rainbow was proposed in 2001 but opposition from residents of the areas the new transmission line would be routed through resulted in the project being abandoned a few years later. A mistake during maintenance at the North Gila Substation near Yuma Arizona lead to the accidental shutdown of an incoming 500kV line from the Hassayampa Substation located by the Palo Verde Nuclear plant in Tonopah, Arizona. With that line disconnected, most of the power to the San Diego region was then rerouted through SCE's transmission system. At that time, the San Diego region was importing more power than what could be supplied through San Onofre's Switchyard and this would progressively get worst throughout the event; eventually resulting in a safety system activating which disconnected Path 44 lines leading into San Diego.
Sylvania Daylight Harvesting Control yuandrew 2020-09-29 | Sylvania Elogic 45030 Sensor for Daylight Harvesting. A neat little daylight harvesting control for use with 0-10 volt controlled fluorescent ballasts/drivers. Sensor mount clips onto lamp for retrofit applications. Size and shape is similar to a preheat fluorescent lamp starter.
EVI ICS-200 Charging Station first test yuandrew 2020-08-17 | I got this old EVI (Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Inc) ICS-200 charging station with an Avcon paddle. This is the first time I energized it using the welder socket at my Uncle's shop.It did not appear to be working correctly as it just made a rapid ticking sound and all the indicator lights just blinked.
Seal Beach/Calectric O line yuandrew 2020-05-09 | A power line which once went from Seal Beach to San Bernadino. Some of the original facilities are still being used for local power distribution in my area.
Feit Electric Battery Backup LED Bulb Experiment yuandrew 2019-12-20 | A quick description on how the "backup" mode works and a trick* I came up with to get such a bulb to automatically illuminate in the event of a power outage*You will need an illuminated light switch (Levition 5611 or GE Lighted Handle Mercury Switch) that puts a neon lamp in series with the load when in the "OFF" position and a wall-wart AC adapter or door-bell transformer in parallel with the bulb.
LED bathroom light repair yuandrew 2019-10-10 | I was asked to check this LED light fixture. My first thought was that the driver was bad (typical) but it turned out one of the LED arrays in a series circuit of three had gone open circuit
Riverbend LPS startup; New neighborhood with Low Pressure Sodium streetlighting yuandrew 2019-01-15 | Despite the proliferation of LED streetlighting and Philips recently announcing they would discontinue production of SOX/LPS lamps by 2020; a newly developed neighborhood in my area, for some reason, is lit with 55 watt Low Pressure Sodium street lights.This tract is also located about 30 miles north past the light pollution controlled zone around Palomar observatory.
Southern California; 70 years of 60 hz AC yuandrew 2018-10-26 | Prior to October 27, 1948; much of the Southern California region's electricity operated at 50 hz rather than the 60 hz alternating current we use today throughout North America.gizmodo.com/before-1948-las-power-grid-was-incompatible-with-the-r-1683629042waterandpower.org/museum/Mystery_History_Answers(April_2015).html
SoCal Electricity Teaser yuandrew 2018-10-20 | If you lived in Southern California prior to October 28, 1948; there was something particular about the electricity in the region(To Be Continued)
Emerson Quiet Kool Hot Weather testing yuandrew 2018-07-06 | Early 1980's Emerson Quiet Kool 6100BTU Window A/C running during hot weather. Already 100°F outside as of 11:00 AM. Temperature peaked at 114°F around 3:00pm
Cooling Season Begins yuandrew 2018-07-05 | Weather typically starts warming up in my area shortly after July 4th and this weekend was forecasted to reach over 100°F. This is also the first "real" use of an early 80's Emerson Quiet Kool window air conditioner that I acquired through OfferUp back in the beginning of May. I had wanted to wait until the outdoor temperature was at least 95°F before I checked performance.
Telephone Fluorescent Light Starter yuandrew 2018-06-30 | Back in the days of "The Bell System" the telephone company would also charge for how many phones were hooked up to your line. The way the telephone company found how many phones one had hooked up was by measuring the impedance that was imposed by the bell/ringer on each connected phone. A common trick some people did was to disconnect the ringer in the extension phones in order to make them "invisible" to phone company equipment when the line was tested. Someone mentioned to me that when he "acquired" an extra phone during the bell system days, he wired either a neon pilot lamp* or a fluorescent light starter in series with the ringer on that phone. The lower voltages used when the phone company tested the line was not enough to ionize the gas in the starter so his extension could not be "detected". However, when an incoming call was received, the higher voltage ringing signal would ionize and light the starter causing the bi-metal switch to heat up and close, completing the circuit to the bell and allowing the extension to ring.I tried a FS-2 starter for an 18 inch or 2 foot fluorescent tube and although it briefly flashed when an incoming call was received, it did not pass enough current to ring the phone I used. A starter from a 5 watt compact fluorescent lamp did pass enough current to allow the phone to ring.I want to (or would like someone to) try this on a mechanical ringer*Note: A NE-2 neon indicator lamp did not pass enough current to allow the phone to ring
Microwave Turntable Motor Generator yuandrew 2018-05-18 | Response to one of jaykay18's videos.I remembered I had a motor for the turntable in a microwave oven that would generate a considerable amount of voltage if manually driven. Although it does not produce a lot of current, it will still light a string of LED Christmas lights.CAUTION: Open circuit voltage may reach or even exceed 200 VAC depending on how fast you turn the shaft and will administer a nasty electric shock if contacted. Be careful around the connections!
Fan Coil/Ptac ECM motor Revisited yuandrew 2018-05-14 | I had originally planned to convert a late 90's Fedders but the fan motor mounting on an 80's Emerson Quiet Kool seems better suited for this motor.
Thoughts on designing new window air conditioners; Vintage look with modern features yuandrew 2018-05-07 | My concept on the user interface. Controls based on an 80's EQKECM (Brushless Motor) driven fan with "Conventional" compressor sound effects
CoolMart mini split heat pump line freezing yuandrew 2017-06-22 | I'm not too familiar with mini-split type units but I was asked to look at this particular heat pump which wasn't cooling inside. My first though was a restriction on the liquid line before the service valve but I'd like some opinions from anyone more familiar with mini-splits.Obviously, whoever installed it was an absolute hack job.
Window A/C ECM motor retrofit teaser yuandrew 2017-06-19 | I've had the idea of fitting a room air conditioner with an electronically commutated (brushless) motor for a while and so far, have not heard of any manufacturer using such a motor in a window-type unit. The motor I picked is a dual shaft AO-Smith/Century CS89 Comfort Select FC ECM motor meant as a drop in retrofit for a fan coil or packaged terminal A/C unit but will definitely require modification to work in the 90's Fedders I obtained for this project.
3N34 Dishpan Springs Biff pt1 yuandrew 2017-06-05 | Biff going up the first half of this hill (plus me slipping and falling)
Dishpan Springs Trail 6/3/2017 yuandrew 2017-06-05 | Jeeps and Toyota Trucks on the trail between Lake Arrowhead and Green Valley Lake
Onan 4MJA Marine Generator yuandrew 2017-01-28 | Supposedly a rare model. This is my attempt at starting this genset up after it had sat in storage for who knows how long. I didn't run it for more than a few seconds at a time since it had no cooling water supply or oil in it not to mention it wasn't bolted down and wanted to "buck" its way across the ground
Single Point Urban Partial Cloverleaf Interchange yuandrew 2017-01-28 | 210 freeway at Base Line Rd in Upland. A rather unusual type of interchange; probably the only one of its kind.[ http://www.kurumi.com/roads/interchanges/oddities.html ]
2017 Rose Parade Opening yuandrew 2017-01-05 | Brought the "battery powered" TV out to the parade route again this year and caught the opening show plus the B2 Spirit stealth bomber flyover. It didn't take long for the B2 to arrive after seeing it on the TV but the front of the parade didn't get to my location at Colorado Blvd and Bonnie Ave until 1 hour and 15 minutes after passing the cameras by Orange Grove and Colorado. This year also marks the 70th anniversary of the Tournament of Roses parade on television from it's first broadcast in 1947 by W6XYZ (now KTLA) as well as the first coverage by Leeza Gibbons and Mark Steines, who both took over from Stephanie Edwards and Bob Eubanks when they retired after last year's parade
Sidemarker Turnsignal With Wiring yuandrew 2016-12-26 | I decided to re-upload this video with the wiring being performed.Hopkins 48895 trailer light converter used to get the front marker lights on a friend's truck to flash with the turn signals. Wiring Diagram: http://smg.photobucket.com/user/yuandrew/media/markerflashwithtrailerconn_zpskdetaldi.jpg.html
Indoor Streetlight Display yuandrew 2016-09-05 | Found this on an old memory card. This is the indoor streetlight demonstration area in the in the Innovation room at the Irwindale Southern California Edison's Energy Education Center. The streetlights as well as other lighting fixtures in the room are controllable by visitors.Lights featured:1. LEDway by BetaLED 2. HPS GE-M250R2 3. Induction; likely based on AEL-1254. ReLume Technologies R-series
