Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Borge,
I believe it is in one of the Nordic countries they have free EV hookups, and the benefit for their national grid is that somehow each car's battery is used as a battery backup as a huge bank of batteries.
Mighty clever.
I wonder if this could be scaled down to an individual home. Not so sure of how many amp-hours can be stored in a vehicle's battery, and also how big are the losses from voltage inversion.
I know in Westchester County where Peekskill is on the northern end that many homeowners buy generators.
I'm trying to be forward thinking. Going with a solar array and owning an EV certainly is in the future, but how cost feasible is it. Even if just for a backup it would be an asset.
BTW the stuff I learned in trade school was mostly analog. Computers were kinda new back in the late 70's. A Com-E-Door 64 was a consummer computer and people were learning "Basic."
I am obsolete for sure. Call me old school. I won't take it as an insult. LOL.
Cal
I believe it is in one of the Nordic countries they have free EV hookups, and the benefit for their national grid is that somehow each car's battery is used as a battery backup as a huge bank of batteries.
Mighty clever.
I wonder if this could be scaled down to an individual home. Not so sure of how many amp-hours can be stored in a vehicle's battery, and also how big are the losses from voltage inversion.
I know in Westchester County where Peekskill is on the northern end that many homeowners buy generators.
I'm trying to be forward thinking. Going with a solar array and owning an EV certainly is in the future, but how cost feasible is it. Even if just for a backup it would be an asset.
BTW the stuff I learned in trade school was mostly analog. Computers were kinda new back in the late 70's. A Com-E-Door 64 was a consummer computer and people were learning "Basic."
I am obsolete for sure. Call me old school. I won't take it as an insult. LOL.
Cal
Borge H
Established
Unfortunately, I have to dispel the myth, electric batteries are not used on a large scale in the Nordic countries for energy backup online. However, Norway has many electric cars, they have good access to hydropower and stimulate the purchase of electric cars. There are some attempts, the technology is called V2G (vehicle to grid). Personally, I would be reluctant to "lend" my future electric battery to the power company. Battery life depends on how hard it is discharged and how many cycles it goes through. Here in Sweden, the number of electric cars is increasing sharply, I myself am thinking of VW's new ID4, it is a station wagon that you can tow a trailer with. Range I have heard is up to 400 km. It's cheaper than Tesla.
An electric car battery for a large Tesla holds 100 kWh. Assume that you want to take power at the voltage 120 V and that the changer has negligible losses, then the battery holds: 100,000/120 = 833 Ah. But it is probably not good to deep discharge the battery.
Since we live at the far end of the power line on a hill in the landscape, we often have power outages, at least one or two longer per year. It can sometimes be up to a week's break during storms. We have a 19 kW generator that I connect to the tractor's power take-off and connect to the mains. I first disconnect our house from the mains. We can then cook on the stove and pump water to our and the animals' needs. To watch TV and have lighting, we have a small converter with sinusoidal output voltage that we connect to a car battery and directly to the TV and lamps. We then turn off the tractor.
We are considering setting up solar cells at ground level to the south that cover our electricity needs in the summer, perhaps a maximum of a few hundred watts. It is then easy to wash them clean and shovel snow. I will do the work myself and not apply for grants, then it will be inspected and examined.
Regarding darkroom, I made a panel for the window with seal that converts our bathroom. I have also installed an electrical outlet with earth fault protection for darkroom lighting and an enlarger. I have a Durst 605. I could have made a permanent darkroom in the basement, but I like the bathroom. It is the room that has the least dust because we shower in it and the moisture removes all dust. When I develop films I always dry them in the shower. The downside is that I have to clean out the enlarger every time. But it's nice to avoid dust worries.
Best wishes!
Borge.
Cal... hmmm, the 28mm F2 APO for L mount...
https://m.dpreview.com/news/7891145168/leica-introduces-apo-summicron-sl-28mm-f2-l-mount-lens
https://m.dpreview.com/news/7891145168/leica-introduces-apo-summicron-sl-28mm-f2-l-mount-lens
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Borge,
Mucho thanks for your response.
I have to deal with "woman-factor." When I developed film in Madhattan I had to do it when she was away. The apartment was only 650 square feet and there were lots of constraints.
I would use a changing bag and use a 2 liter stainless steel tank to develop up to 150 rolls of film a month. The bottleneck for me was drying space for the negatives. The shower rod loaded with tie wraps to secure bent paper clips was only so long.
So basically I'm stubborn. These were development "marathons" that were a bit crazy, and "crazy is good," I say.
So I'm kinda use to constraints.
"Maggie" destroys cell phones and computers by overcharging them. I'm aware that deep cycling batteries kills them. A BMW I3 is set up to only charge to 100% when extended range is needed, and like my SL and SL2 Leica has an 80% indicator. It seems 80% is the favored charging point for long life.
One thing I do is I use all my old electronics. This seems to annoy people. LOL. I have a Macbook Pro that I still use for writing that dates back to 2003. When I pull out my flip phone people laugh. Recently a woman told me, "No one uses them anymore."
"But I do. Call me a caveman," I said and she laughed.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
John,
I already own the APO 35 Cron in L-mount. Pretty hard to justify another wide.
If anything I would be more interested in a 75 Cron to have a 35-75 spread.
Don't forget I still have the monster 50 Lux. This lens has a slower AF than the APO 35 Cron, but it has F1.4 and a beautiful rendering with a smoothness from sharp to OOF that is like a Noctilux without the dark corners.
I wonder when Leica will come out with a SL2M and if it will have a 24 MP sensor or a 47.3 MP sensor.
The SL glass is said to be "future-proofed" to a 120MP sensor. How crazy is that?
BTW the SL2 is mighty crazy already.
Interesting rendering on the APO 35 Cron also. Seems that there is a contrast enhancement to the in focus that gives a percieved enhanced sharpness. The Cron is one of those perfect lenses. Both F2.0 and F5.6 are great, but there is something about shooting the Cron wide open that is magic. The AF is speeding and deadly accurate.
BTW I'm thinking of getting the 28 Cron one day, but for now I want a darkroom more.
Cal
Range-rover
Mentor
Not for me, I just purchased a Konica Minolta 7D digital SLR for a price
of $19.95
what's that you say. Yes and it was a little mess glue on the rear buttons and top knobs but it has Anti shake inside. so I charged
up the old battery, put it in and it works takes nice picture, very film
like and only 6 megapixels how will I deal with that.
Smart move... in a very un-John like move, I bought a cheap 4x5" camera. I will use transparencies so I can at least look at them as stand alone objects.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
John,
Real artists do crazy things. LOL.
Retirement means I can really dig in and do some serious work. I'm sure I will be doing some crazy things.
This idea of hiking around the lower Hudson Valley looking for good light seems like a great idea.
I have the itch to really exploit the gear I already have.
Cal
Dan
Let's Sway
Borge,
My knowledge of electricity is almost zero so I must say that reading your posts is both fascinating and frustrating for me. I find myself naively trying to understand what you write (from the obviously deep pool of knowledge you possess) even though I can't! But I'm entertained by wading into an ocean of information with barely a set of swim trunks -- please keep it going.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Saul,
We are nerds. We love details. LOL.
Also Borge has an interesting situation. A self reliant man.
Cal
Range-rover
Mentor
HELLO!!!!! I had a gear Alert above!!!!!
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Stephen G
Well-known
Re: V2G, Japan has this already with the CHAdeMO charging standard, on for example the Nissan Leaf.
They have just started shipping a home charger that supports this feature in US, though it is $4000 instead of the usual charger price of $500ish..
Makes the Nissan Leaf or their upcoming little SUV tempting, though to me they are pretty limited to commuter/town cars as the US network for CHAdeMO Charging on the road is pretty poor.. or really everything except Tesla network here is.
They have just started shipping a home charger that supports this feature in US, though it is $4000 instead of the usual charger price of $500ish..
Makes the Nissan Leaf or their upcoming little SUV tempting, though to me they are pretty limited to commuter/town cars as the US network for CHAdeMO Charging on the road is pretty poor.. or really everything except Tesla network here is.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Stephen,
I spoke with someone who was driving a BMW I3. He stated where he parks his I3 on the Upper East Side they have plug ins.
I had a field engineer from Vancover who owns an BMW I3. His advice was that Tesla's body panels indicated not the best Q.C. and that the gas powered generator offered as an option on the I3 was not worth it.
This info was about 2 or three years ago, and he suggested that I waited for the new offerings from Volvo and VW. He said by then (two years ago) that the range that is more practical should be within reach.
I recently bought a used 2015 Audi A4 Premium Plus with 16K miles on it. Bought it in the first week in December and I am close to getting my first thousand miles on it. Already I'm spoiled by the comfort, luxury, the handling, and the balanced performance.
When I bought the car home "Maggie" thought I went crazy and bought a brand new car.
Forensics are that this A4 likely was parked in a garage in the Hamptons for 6 years and seldom used before I bought it. Since I'm pretty much just a weekend driver I figure perhaps a decade or more I might buy an electric car.
I don't miss my 84 Jeep Scrambler with the Corvette engine anymore because that SUV was a beast and a monster. Kinda funny how I once filled up the Jeep and did everything I could to save gas and I only got 15 miles a gallon.
Then I filled her up with high test again and did everything I could to drain the tank with as much full acceleration as possible. Problem was that you could not stand on the gas too long. 350 HP, 400 foot pounds of torque, and the Scrambler with body armor, heavy half-tonne Ford 9 inch rear, and a 200 pound cast iron 5 speed tranny, still only weighed 3,000 pounds without the half cab and doors. I still go 15 miles a gallon.
Know that of course the Scrambler had a suspension lift and big tires. Sounded like a Nascar on a straightaway under full acceleration. Had a custom dual 2 1/2 inch aluminized exhaust system with Flowmaster mufflers. The engine had a loopy idle that sounded like a Cigarette boat. This Jeep was evil and was on steroids.
Today about half the vehicles sold in the U.S. are SUV's, but I don't see the charm. I will take an AWD car that has luxury, performance, and handling over any SUV. My Jeep really was not a practical vehicle, nor was it safe.
Augie
Range-rover
Mentor
Yep, old as it is it still takes great picture, you just can't get poster
size pictures for it, or can I?
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
Depends upon your viewing distance and how much you want to peep at the dots on the print. Nikon teamed up with whoever put out Jurassic Park III and hung up a 65x43 foot image for bragging rights and advertisement. The base photo was taken with a Coolpix 990 which was under 4 megapixels.
I made some great prints which were about 12x18" from my old issued Nikon D2H, which was less than 5 megapixels. I loved the D2Hs and wish I could find another one.
Phil Forrest
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Bob,
For small prints it should be great. How big is it?
Too bad we did not have a Beauty Contest this year due to the pandemic.
I'm sure Snarky Joe and Sam would bring out stuff to impress us.
I think I want to get another Nikon F3P. I have GAS for a Nikon 28/2.8 AIS with CRC which is a remarkable lens for little money.
The idea is to have my old F3P set up with the MD-4 motor drive along with the data back.
The new F3P would utilize the rare F3 grip and the like new Data back to be my compact F3P. This would get used with the 28/2.8 AIS and the evil black 45/2.8 P AIS I own to be a compact SLR.
Sometimes I don't want a motor drive and the weight. Also having two cameras to keep them rigged is a great asset.
The F3 HP I dressed in Prada leather I gave to a friend who was dumped by his wife. He need a pick-me-up.
The features and differences of a F3P over a F3 HP became a big deal for me. I'm kinda fussy. Some of my friends say worse than a woman, and I take no insult, because it is true. LOL.
I can see me bulking up on Kodak 5222, making my own ADOX PQ developer using all the lab equipment I have now in my basement, and blasting away. Happy-Happy.
Cal
Range-rover
Mentor
I alway's wanted a Nikon F3, since those early day's going to the Nikon Store in
NYC and seeing it on display, The Minolta 7d is a sweet camera and the lenses
by Minolta are really good I picked up a 50mm f1.7, 28mm F2.8, 20mm f2.8 and
now a Sony (Zeiss) 17-80 f3.5-4.5 really should be a nice system. By the way
do you have anymore of that Leather?
NYC and seeing it on display, The Minolta 7d is a sweet camera and the lenses
by Minolta are really good I picked up a 50mm f1.7, 28mm F2.8, 20mm f2.8 and
now a Sony (Zeiss) 17-80 f3.5-4.5 really should be a nice system. By the way
do you have anymore of that Leather?
Austintatious
Well-known
I have three of the old Minolta lenses I would like to use on digital. I peeked on Ebay, the 7D is listed from $100 to silly $500 for a camera this old !! ?? I would love to know where you found yours.
Range-rover
Mentor
Ebay, I went on last week and saw the one for $20.00US which was a
"Buy it now". Later that week there was one for Bidding for $40.00US,
so I waited and got that for $90.00US, it's close to mint shape and they
work great and have that film look you just have to wait and see what
comes up. I would also check Robert's camera, National camera their
pretty good with prices KEH is to expensive at times sometimes they
have good prices on ebay.