Once you learn to do it, you never forget how.
Got a slide rule this year at Deerfield. It's a really nice Pickett Power Log Exponential, Log Log dual base. Must have set the original purchaser back a bit. What's happened for casual calculations is that I'll reach for that before I call up he Windows calculator -- it's much more convenient. That's not simply an OF nostalgia thing -- it really is faster.
Image here.
Scroll down to, or search "Pickett N3-T - Power Log Exponential"
Cost me $20.
If it's a war on drugs, then free the POW's.
Yeah, but can you draw straight lines with it?
A clear conscience is usually a sign of a bad memory
RIP ALBI-W3MIV RIP RUSS-W5RB RIP BOB-VK3ZL
The lines you got from a French Curve were far sexier.
If it's a war on drugs, then free the POW's.
My favorite is still a Smith Chart slide rule distributed by Microlabs/FXR in the sixties. A bit rough on aging eyes, though.
Got a pic? I'd love to see one. Sounds cool.
If it's a war on drugs, then free the POW's.
Not of the one I own, most of my belongings are in random file storage boxes. It came is a dual-pocket folder with instructions on how to use it printed inside, and a list of distributors on the rear cover.
I'll take a look for it, but if you don't hear from me soon, it means I've stumbled across the Lost Ark of the Covenant and I'm being distracted...
On edit:
Found a picture of it on the Web, let's see if the link works.
http://www.rfcafe.com/references/ele...lide-rules.htm
It's about half way down the page.
The other weird slide rule I have isn't nearly as nice, made of paper with the bit rivets at the corner, used to calculate blackbody radiation parameters.
What I'm really looking for is books on nomography, which, like the slide rule, trades off precision for speed and simplicity, and lets you get on with the job. I'm afraid that's going to become a truly lost art very soon, which would be a shame.
73,
Last edited by ab1ga; 12-01-2011 at 05:38 PM.
Let us know what gopod says.
If it's a war on drugs, then free the POW's.
Yeah, every now and then I play around with my old slide rule. It's fun but inferior to electronic calculators or, simply using approximations on paper, both of which are faster and more accurate. Nonetheless, the slide rule had its place and time and is worthy on the merit of how it functions.
I keep my 2 feet on the ground, and my head in the twilight zone.
Yea, but how many times do you really need n-digit precision? 2 or 3 digits is usually more than sufficient for what you're doing. For example, I did the 275x4 for the Matchbox on the slide rule. Because I was publishing the number, I checked it with a calculator. But, say, power input. Never need more than 2 or 3 digits.
Faster? Gotta find it or bring it up on the screen, then go through tedious keystrokes.
If it's a war on drugs, then free the POW's.
The slide rule was good enough for the designers of the SR-71 but I don't think I'd remember how to use mine any more.
All the world’s a stage, but obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.
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