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Replacing Fluorescent Light Bulbs With LED Tubes: Getting Rid of the Ballast

If you have fluorescent lights in your garage, shop, office, or just about anywhere else, chances are you have dealt with a burned-out bulb at some point. You pull the old tube out, take it to the hardware store, buy another one that looks the same, and put it back in. Problem solved. Or maybe not. Sometimes the new bulb flickers. Sometimes it takes a while to come on. Sometimes the light just quits working even though you know you installed a new bulb. When that happens, the problem may not be the bulb at all. It might be the ballast. The good news is that there is another option. You can replace those old fluorescent tubes with LED tubes that fit the same basic fixture and do not require the original ballast. This is commonly called a ballast-bypass retrofit , and it can be a great way to simplify your lighting while reducing energy consumption and future maintenance. Let's look at what is involved and why it might be worth doing. What Exactly Does a Fluorescent Ballast Do? A flu...
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Beer Pour Sizes: How Much Beer Are You Actually Getting?

Beer seems pretty straightforward. You order a pint, a schooner, a half-pint, or a bottle, and someone brings you a beer. But there's a small problem: those names don't always mean the same thing, especially when you move between countries. A pint in the United States isn't the same size as a pint in the UK. A schooner in Australia can mean different things depending on where you order it. And a bottle or can might contain 330ml, 355ml, 440ml, 473ml, or 500ml. Then there are smaller servings with names like pony, half-pint, and tasting pour. So let's look at some common beer pour sizes, what they're called, and how the numbers work out. 118ml: A Small Tasting Pour A small beer tasting pour might be around 118ml, or 4 US fluid ounces. It's enough to get a reasonable taste of a beer without committing to a full glass. This is particularly useful when comparing several beers at a brewery or taproom. The exact size of a tasting pour varies by venue. Some places serv...
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Wine Pour Sizes: How Much Wine Are You Actually Getting?

I started thinking about wine pour sizes and how much difference there really is between the various serving sizes you'll see at restaurants and bars. The numbers seem pretty straightforward, but when you start with a standard 750ml bottle, the math gets a little interesting. There are several common pour sizes, from small tasting samples to large glasses served with a meal. Some have familiar names, while others are simply described by their volume. Let's look at the different sizes, what they're commonly called, and how many servings you can get from a standard bottle. 50ml: The Small Tasting Pour (also known as staff shift drink or used for cooking) A 50ml pour is a small sample that might be used for a quick taste of wine. It's more commonly associated with a sample or tasting measure than a full glass of wine. At this size, a standard 750ml bottle gives you 15 pours. 750 / 50 = 15 Fifteen samples from one bottle is useful when you're introducing people to a win...
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Choosing appropriate phono preamplifer gain for a phono cartrage

Choosing the right phono gain is about amplifying the cartridge's tiny output voltage so it reaches approximately the same level as other line-level audio sources without overloading the phono stage or your preamp. The basic calculation Use this formula: Gain (dB) = 20 × log ⁡ 10 ( Desired output voltage Cartridge output voltage ) \text{Gain (dB)} = 20 \times \log_{10}\left(\frac{\text{Desired output voltage}}{\text{Cartridge output voltage}}\right) Where: Cartridge output voltage is the manufacturer's rated output (usually measured at 1 kHz, 5 cm/s). Desired output voltage is typically around 300–500 mV for a line-level input. Example 1: Moving Magnet (MM) Cartridge output: 5 mV Desired output: 500 mV 20 × log ⁡ 10 ( 500 / 5 ) = 20 × log ⁡ 10 ( 100 ) = 40  dB 20 \times \log_{10}(500/5) = 20 \times \log_{10}(100) = 40\ \text{dB} So a 40 dB phono gain is a good match. Example 2: High-output Moving Coil (HOMC) Cartridge output: 2.0 mV Desired output: 500 mV 20 ...
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How To Match Tonearm with Phono Cartridge - Compliance

To match a tonearm with a phono cartridge, you're actually matching the tonearm's effective mass with the cartridge's compliance . The goal is to achieve a tonearm/cartridge resonance frequency between about 8 Hz and 12 Hz , which keeps it away from both record warps (typically below 6 Hz) and musical bass frequencies (above 20 Hz). Step 1: Gather the specifications You'll need: Tonearm effective mass (M) in grams (from the tonearm manufacturer) Cartridge weight (C) in grams Mounting hardware weight (H) (typically 0.5–1 g unless integrated) Dynamic compliance (D) of the cartridge in µm/mN (or "cu") Step 2: Use the resonance formula The commonly used formula is: f r = 159 ( M + C + H ) × D f_r = \frac{159}{\sqrt{(M + C + H)\times D}} ​ Where: f r f_r  = resonance frequency (Hz) M M M = effective tonearm mass (g) C C C = cartridge mass (g) H H H = screws/hardware mass (g) D D D = dynamic compliance (cu or µm/mN) Example: Sup...
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