The US Navy's old training materials are fantastic for learning about various technologies. I think their masterpiece is "Basic Hand Tools" a handbook written in plain English that describes the use of practically every hand tool ever invented. "Basic Hand Tools" on the hammer: >Whoever conceived the idea of cracking a nut with a rock unknowingly invented a tool. When a later genius tied a stick to the rock, he inven…
I just downloaded (thanks to other commenter below) and would question the "use" part. What is the "peen" end used for? Having read the section on hammers I still don't know. (Just re-skimmed the section and I still don't know.)
Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]
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Re: Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
By the end of WW II American torpedoes were automatically programmed (direction, speed, fusing) before firing. The heavy calculations would be done by the shipboard firing computer while the parameters set would be used by the simple computer on the torpedo (which had inertial guidance). I struggle to imagine how people managed to design such things with just pencils and slide rules.
WW II American torpedoes didn't have inertial guidance. They used gyros for directional control and just ran in a straight line after making a single turn onto the set course. Occasionally the torpedo would get stuck in that turn and run in a circle. Towards the end of the war the Navy also started introducing homing torpedoes, but those didn't use inertial guidance either.
A gyro by definition IS inertial guidance.
Re: Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Battleship New Jersey has a good youtube channel where the head curator walks you through some things. https://www.youtube.com/@BattleshipNewJersey They also sell broken parts of the ship that they fix up as souvenirs, like the entire deck's worth of wooden planking, and for $1000 you can take a tour where the mildly charismatic head curator takes you into the smallest and hardest to reach parts of the ship! Or f…
> Or fire a 5 inch gun, you know, if that's more your speed. Depends on what the target is.
For $1k it's just a blank round.
But if you donate $1M, you're allowed to shoot the USS New Jersey's curator Jordan with an HE shell from the 16" guns.
Re: Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]
#74Modern educational videos/films feel lower quality (in terms of content) even with all the modern tech at their disposal. Better technology doesn't seem to improve education. The quality of the content is 99% the skill of the teacher.
Agreed. Check out all the popular historical war documentaries on YouTube. They are labeled "simplified, learn in 10 minutes etc", also use childlike cartoons. Never any interviews with real world experts.
It's almost like the concept of making technology easy enough for a child to use has spread to other areas.
Re: Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]
#75The US Navy's old training materials are fantastic for learning about various technologies. I think their masterpiece is "Basic Hand Tools" a handbook written in plain English that describes the use of practically every hand tool ever invented. "Basic Hand Tools" on the hammer: >Whoever conceived the idea of cracking a nut with a rock unknowingly invented a tool. When a later genius tied a stick to the rock, he inven…
Not just military training videos, older ones in general are often superior to what gets made today. My favorite is probably this one on vehicle differentials: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yYAw79386WI
Jam Handy films were amazing. You could show this to an audience who was morally opposed to learning about differentials and they’d still learn about differentials.
Re: Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
50 years ago that was true. Sometime ago though (I don't know when, but I'd guess starting in the 1990s) they changed to electronic computers. Using electronics makes some things simpler and puts the complex parts in standard hardware (a CPU is much more complex but it isn't custom designed for you), or software (easy to change if you get it wrong.
For the fuel injection and ignition (spark) timing yes, but the camshafts to open and close the valves are still driven by a gear, belt or chain. Even variable valve timing is mostly controled by mechanical or hydraulic means, though I'm guessing some electronics may be involved.
FreeValve
Re: Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]
#77Can anyone find parts 2-4? This seems to just be part of 1!
Re: Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]
#78To get a direct feel of how it is working with such a 'computer': the UBOAT game on Steam (spiritual successor to the Silent Hunter games) has somewhat recently added a Torpedo Data Computer as used on German Type VII submarines:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/494840/view/37127138...
The user interface is surprisingly intuitive even by today's UX standards.
Re: Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]
#79I wish I grew up with educational videos like these. Simple, to the point, foundational videos that teach complicated topics from building blocks. I love the practical demonstrations. If I saw these as a child, I would have certainly considered majoring in engineering.
Re: Basic Mechanisms In Fire Control Computers (1953) [video]
#80In 1989 I was a data systems tech on a Destroyer going through some overhaul at the shipyard in Pascagoula Mississippi. Moored right next to us was the battleship Wisconsin. Huge relic from WW2 but still going through modernization. A bunch of us that worked on combat systems got invited for a tour of their fire control systems. Wow. Just wow. All mechanical computers calculating fire control solutions for the big 16…
By the end of WW II American torpedoes were automatically programmed (direction, speed, fusing) before firing. The heavy calculations would be done by the shipboard firing computer while the parameters set would be used by the simple computer on the torpedo (which had inertial guidance). I struggle to imagine how people managed to design such things with just pencils and slide rules.
Not exclusive to the US though, check out the "Torpedovorhalterechner" ;)
http://www.tvre.org/en/torpedo-fire-control-system-on-german...
Scrolling down there's a nice photo with removed cover.