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April 3[edit]

Con't from Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2020 March 25#Pocket radio[edit]

There is a am/fm switch there is no difference between the both, the radio only connects fine if I push the tuning knob in and hold it the entire time. --Thegooduser Life Begins With a Smile :) 🍁 01:41, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Take the board out of the radio if you can. The tuning knob will be mounted on a rotating shaft or disc that's part of a component, either a variable capacitor or a potentiometer, most likely mounted on the pc board. Check the solder connections of that component on the board very carefully and touch them up if you have to. 2601:648:8202:96B0:E0CB:579B:1F5:84ED (talk) 03:12, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Here's the instruction manual for that radio by the way: [1]. I don't see a service manual there though. If the tuning control is basically a trimpot the wiper could be losing contact when it's not pressed down. OP, if it's the open style of pot or you can get it open, you might be able to fix it with a pocket knife (bend the wiper downwards) and a little contact cleaner. User:Guy Macon, do you have any ideas about this? Do they still use variable capacitors in cheap radios like that instead of doing everything on a chip? 2601:648:8202:96B0:E0CB:579B:1F5:84ED (talk) 09:34, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

It doesn't make financial sense to design a new radio using a variable capacitor that cost more than the entire electronics would cost using a modern integrated circuit, but it is also expensive to completely change a production line that is already putting out the old design, so cheap analog radios are still being made in China. In general, if there is a LED or LCD display, it's digital. If there is a window with a little pointer that moves mechanically when you turn the dial, it's analog.

Also, no digital radio can match a good analog when it comes to picking up distant stations, so the true AM connoisseur generally has a Superradio and a CCRadio:

Combine one of these with a good external antenna (available at C Crane[2] and you get amazing performance, especially at night.

--Guy Macon (talk) 15:51, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

On the other end of the spectrum from "cheap radio" there is this $800 beauty for use in an AM broadcasting facility: Inovonics INOmini 674 AM Broadcast Receiver... --Guy Macon (talk) 16:21, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Guy, thanks, and I just saw your talkpage message about your health incident so I'm glad you're back and editing again. OP is trying to fix an existing cheap radio that does have a moving pointer dial rather than buy a new one. What I was wondering was whether that style of radio is still made with a variable capacitor (which, as you mention, is relatively expensive) rather than using a potentiometer and some fancy integrated electronics. I don't know if it's relevant that the radio uses two AA cells, while older ones tended to use 9 volt rectangular batteries. 2601:648:8202:96B0:E0CB:579B:1F5:84ED (talk) 21:11, 4 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I want to fix this radio cause the new ones get cheaper and cheaper, on my old one the antenna broke off, so when I got this new one, they changed the circuit design and cheaped out on the antenna, and now is not really a good time for me to go buy one... I have more pictures here Thegooduser Life Begins With a Smile :) 🍁 23:40, 4 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The white thing over the tuning knob in photo 4 does look like a variable capacitor. Try pressing on the connections around it with a non-metal object (maybe a chopstick) while the radio is turned on and seeing if you can identify the flaky connection. Also check the solder joints on the PC board above it. A photo of the component might be helpful here. 2601:648:8202:96B0:E0CB:579B:1F5:84ED (talk) 09:32, 5 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

It is not possible to do it when radio is on, as when case is removed batteries do not fit Thegooduser Life Begins With a Smile :) 🍁 15:25, 6 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Lions[edit]

Who was the fastest elephant in the world? Who was the fastest lemur in the world? 68.129.97.180 (talk) 13:49, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed pressing questions. Also, Who was the fastest aardvark in the world? Who was the fastest baboon in the world? Who was the fastest caribou in the world? Please also split by continent and by decade, like, Who was the fastest aardvark in Africa in the 1990's? --Lambiam 14:30, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

wolframalpha.com finds that the African Bush elephant Loxodonta africana has a maximum speed of 40 km/h (24.85 mph). The OP may also be interested in the lion Panthera leo whose maximum speed is 50 mph (80.47 km/h). DroneB (talk) 16:30, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Horton ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:37, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

What is the rational for this threads header? There is no mention of this animal or tigers or bears for that matter :-) MarnetteD|Talk 18:17, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

MarnetteD, yes, but you can just about smell the planes, trains, and automobiles in that header. At least, I can. Can't you? Mathglot (talk) 20:00, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

HeeHee Mathglot MarnetteD|Talk 20:42, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Divorce - which states issue a divorce decree before the separation paperwork is started?[edit]

Hello.

Searching on-line for which US states - besides Delaware - grant divorces BEFORE the separation process starts. Read your article on divorce, but did not see a single website that addresses this issue.

In everything I have read, including OPM information written for federal employees who are divorcing, the separation agreement always comes before, or with, the divorce decree.

This is NOT the case in the state of Delaware.

Are we alone in the US in doing the process “backwards”?

Just curious.

Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Stephbw (talk • contribs) 18:11, 3 April 2020 (UTC) — Stephbw (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic. [reply]

Be aware that is it possible to be separated but not divorced, and to be divorced but not separated. By "separated" I mean "living apart". The legal definition is likely different. In areas where rents are very high, sometimes a couple get divorced and become roommates, sharing a rent bill neither could handle alone. --Guy Macon (talk) 19:23, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Presidential ballot Washington DC Electoral College[edit]

Hi, here's my question: is the ballot similar to that of Texas, that is, a cross to be affixed on the winning candidate and another to be affixed to the unfaithful voter, who will then write his canidate? Can that be the model? The ballot seems to be rectangular, the lady in the photograph is a member of the District of Columbia Electoral college, but I can't understand. Thank you. https://www.google.it/search?q=barbara+lett+simmons+2000&sxsrf=ALeKk01xQMrXPZ3QmoOqNtrCEspOnN5biw:1585938602441&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj1vaLY8czoAhUHyoUKHS2NAWAQ_AUoAXoECAoQAw&biw=1964&bih=985#imgrc=PT66_HV7rYdePM — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.41.100.198 (talk) 18:38, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Unfaithful voter? MarnetteD|Talk 18:44, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

No, sorry, I mean it says faithless elector.

That still doesn't make any sense. Are you saying that there is something wrong with the voter. MarnetteD|Talk 19:37, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The voters here are the members of the Electoral College. They sometimes vote differently than how they have pledged. See Faithless elector. The late Barbara Lett-Simmons, the lady in the photograph, was a well-known faithless elector. The photograph shows her "faithlessly" abstaining from voting. --Lambiam 19:51, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Why didn't the party kick her out? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:59, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Why should they? She was making a gesture of protest (that had no practical effect) in support of a position that her party agrees with completely. --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆 𝄐𝄇} 19:40, 4 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I very much doubt the party's position was to not get their candidate elected. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:47, 4 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the explanation Lambiam. MarnetteD|Talk 01:24, 4 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you all. My question was this: how is it done inside, the ballot of Electoral College (the presidential electors) of the District of Columbia? Can someone help me? Thanks a lot. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.41.100.198 (talk) 12:40, 4 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

You could try sending an enquiry to the Secretary of the District of Columbia (currently Kimberly Bassett) at secretary@dc.gov. --Lambiam 06:53, 5 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Coronavirus - will it be over?[edit]

When will this coronavirus end? 86.128.244.223 (talk) 21:22, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, we can't help you. Wikipedia cannot predict the future. HiLo48 (talk) 23:03, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

This is all speculation, and hence inappopriate.

The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

I think it will take one more month of quarantine. After that, the economy would be so affected (and people would be so broke) that they might allow people to go out if they wear a full protection. I think there are more chances to see people wearing full combinations this summer than seeing the streets totally empty. Business must go on. Ericdec85 (talk) 03:03, 4 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

COVID-19 will end when COVID-26 mutate and outperform it. If we are all hidding in our house right now it's mostly because we like to elect older people. They look wise :D . And some of them may live an extra summer if we are all frightened to death about a chance to die about 0.3-3.0 of what we risk daily taking the car to go to the job. COVID-19 is like allowing Alzheimer people to drive cars and the social distancing is like banning cars because it's too dangerous now. Except, COVID-19 can't be stopped by law and it force all the elders on the road. As Eric said, we gonna quietly stay home until science can figure out if they drive motorcycles or hummers. IF they drive motorcycles, we'll definitively be out soon :D . Iluvalar (talk) 03:57, 4 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

"if we are all frightened to death about a chance to die about 0.3-3.0 of what we risk daily taking the car to go to the job" - if that was true you'd have been dead long before you had a chance to utter this gem 93.136.17.76 (talk) 11:48, 5 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Comparing cars to viruses is a very weak argument. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:07, 5 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

True, the virus would be unable to infect people if it was car sized, and if a car was virus sized it would be quite difficult to drive Rmvandijk (talk) 06:33, 6 April 2020 (UTC) [reply]

I assume that you mean to ask when the current pandemic will be over. That also depends on the measures taken by governments and the cooperation of the affected populations. This differs considerably between countries, and unless all countries cooperate, it is almost impossible to get the outbreak under control in a country that allows travellers to come in from countries where the outbreak remains largely uncontrolled. This should clarify why it is not possible to predict the course of the pandemic – it requires one to predict the future decisions of governments all over the world. The pandemic will end in any case when a sufficient number of the world population has acquired a fair degree of immunity. This will be greatly expedited if an effective vaccin is developed and large-scale vaccination programmes are undertaken everywhere. Many teams are working day and night on that, but even optimistic scientists think it may still be more than a year ahead before this can get into swing. The virus (SARS-COV-2) will likely not be eradicated by this; some epidemiologists think the disease (COVID-19) may become endemic after that, like several other diseases caused by other species of virus in the group of coronaviruses. See e.g. here. --Lambiam 06:42, 4 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

It was perfectly clear what the OP meant. Your clarification was entirely unnecessary. --Viennese Waltz 08:41, 6 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

"The pandemic will end in any case when a sufficient number of the world population has acquired a fair degree of immunity" - or if a large part of the world eradicates it through quarantine. Unfortunately it's probably too late for this in many Western countries. 93.136.17.76 (talk) 11:48, 5 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]