Olin Lathrop

2,424 reputation

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bio	website	embedinc.com/olin
	location	Littleton, Massachusetts
	age	56
visits	member for	6 months
	seen	15 hours ago
stats	profile views	8

Electrical engineering consultant specializing in microcontrollers and the circuitry around them. Master of engineering in EE from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1980.

We are certified Microchip design partners, and have been in the top catagory consistantly since around 2000. Various free downloads related to developing PIC firmware and other things are available at http://www.embedinc.com/pic/dload.htm.

	2,424 reputation	bio	website	embedinc.com/olin	visits	member for	6 months
314 badges		location	Littleton, Massachusetts		seen	15 hours ago

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Jan 24	comment	How long does it take to hear back about a Grand Canyon Backcountry permit application Wouldn't asking them be the obvious thing to do?
Jan 23	comment	How can I make a snow shoe in the wilderness from commonly available materials and simple tools? Seriously, the old "bear paw" type of snowshoe was a bent stick frame with some type of cordage as webbing. I have never actually tried to make one myself though.
Jan 23	comment	How can I make a snow shoe in the wilderness from commonly available materials and simple tools? Nope, snowshoes can only be made by little elves in a hollow tree or a suitable factory.
Jan 20	comment	How can I acclimatize to cold? But that's the point, "90% mental" is a gross overstatement.
Jan 19	comment	How can I acclimatize to cold? While there is definitely a psychological component, you are ignoring the very real physiological ones. I know that in late fall when it first gets cold here, I find I have to put the sweater under my windbreaker at higher temperatures than I do by the end of the winter. I'm not pushing myself to tolerate the cold more, the sweater isn't a big deal. I'm just doing what's comfortable without willing it to be one way or another.
Jan 18	comment	Hiking popularity in North America vs. Europe Yeah, I've been downstream of the restricted area but still in the park after a thunderstorm upstream. Somehow the water got concentrated into something that resembled a tidal bore. Not only did the water level rise quickly, but the first bit came as a single wave, then went up over the next minute or so more after that. Very impressive.
Jan 15	comment	Is cougar hunting legal? Yes, cougars are allowed to hunt. If not, how do you expect them to catch food and survive?
Jan 10	comment	How much heat can a candle lantern provide while winter camping? @Russell: Oops. I was thinking 8x3 and somehow managed to write 8x4, then propagated that error further down. That is all fixed now. 8x3 feet is very small when considering the dissipation surface of a tent. Keep in mind we're talking about a tent, not a bivvy sack or the like, meant for winter use. Also, the dissipation area will be more than the footprint area. Again, I was being conservative with the numbers to point out that it clearly won't work. If you disagree, show where the math or the logic is wrong. Claiming "doubt" is no useful information at all.
Jan 8	comment	Can I mix fuels when using the MSR whisperlite international stove? @Nisan and whatsisname: Any stove capable of burning white gas is capable of burning regular gasoline as these are chemically mostly the same thing. The issue is the additives which can cause problems, some over the long term. As Nisan says, it's "not recommended", and as whatsisname says, burning white gas is "better". We are all saying the same thing here, so I don't understand the objections.
Jan 7	comment	Can I mix fuels when using the MSR whisperlite international stove? @Nisan: It seems like you are just repeating what I said. What point are you trying to make?
Jan 6	comment	How much heat can a candle lantern provide while winter camping? @sgd: Saying snow has any particular R value makes no sense. Perhaps some particular type of snow at a particular depth may have a reasonably repeatable R value, but just "snow" doesn't. In any case, for this snow to matter in the analisys above, it would have to cover the tent. A tent covered in snow would be better insulated than one that is not, but only for temperatures below freezing. Snow is essentially a infinite heat sink at its melting point.
Jan 3	comment	Kepler Track: Brod Bay to Iris Burn Hut in one day? What is the total distance you are planning on hiking in one day? The lettering is hard to see on the chart. Also, it you're not in such great physical shape, fix that before you go. Just running a few miles at lunch time or whatever can make a lot of difference.
Dec 29	comment	Adequate Shoes for Travel Hey, us American's aren't that dumb. We also know all Canadians wear plaid flannel shirts, carry large axes, end sentences with "aye", and are named "Nanook".
Dec 28	comment	Is it dangerous to sleep in a tent alone in a forest in -20? The tent size issue for heating makes no sense. The 30 W or so your body puts out raises the temperature in even a small tent a insignificant amount. See the recent discussion of a candle raising the temperature, and that was assumed to put out 100 W.
Dec 26	comment	What dried vegetarian foods have the highest ratio of calories to volume? Peanut butter may be a very dense food in terms of sustinance per pound, but it is also serious bear bait. Anything you manipulate it with will have a smell. It's not quite as bad as frying bacon and eating it in your tent in the evening, but I wouldn't take peanut butter to bear conntry.
Dec 26	comment	Adequate Shoes for Travel If it was southeastern Iowa urban village I might know, but sorry, don't know anything about Canadian urban villages.
Dec 19	comment	How long does mayonnaise last unrefrigerated in the back-country? Mayo, really!? Some things simply aren't appropriate for backpacking trips. My answer is to bring something else. There are plenty of foods. Is it really that big a deal to not have mayo for a few days? You wouldn't bring cans of diet coke, milk, ice cream, and a lot of other stuff either. What's the big deal?
Dec 18	comment	What is the proper way to tarp tent to avoid condensation? @Russell: Radiational cooling is a lesser effect, and pretty much a non-issue under a heavy canopy of leaves. Also, light or dark in the visible range does not necessarily map to reflectance in the IR range, which would be used by radiational cooling. Blue means it reflects at the short blue wavelengths and not at the longer red ones, so quite possibly is quite dark in IR.
Dec 13	comment	Trail maintenance: what is considered inappropriate when maintaining a trail? I'm not getting what you are trying to convey by not looking too hard in a national park.
Dec 13	comment	Are there any exceptions to the layer principle? @Mr.W: Also down is great insulating material, as long as you keep it dry. It is realy bad when wet in multiple ways. It gets very heavy, to the point that it could actually damage the garment, and looses much of its insulating property. A down jacket is therefore a great answer, but to only a rather limited set of conditions.