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A variety of maps, writings, and photos on a various topics that can’t easily be categorized into a county or place.

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Does This Homemade Electric Mousetrap Work?

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This trap has some problems. For one, when the mouse touches the trap, the fur limits the the amount of current passed. Second, because this uses alternating current, every 120th of a second, the voltage drops to zero, which gives the mouse a chance to get away. Third, the initial shock is not lethal because most of the current doesn't pass through the heart. Moral of the story -- most modern electric mouse traps use direct current and an ever higher voltage to break down the resistance of the fur.

Honeywell Redi-line Electric Generator Inverter DA14L-1600 watts

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Back in the day before pure sine wave inverters, motor-generators were sometimes used to convert DC from batteries into alternating current with units like these. They weren't real efficient, and required a decent current draw before they'd even spin up.

Old Sylvania 300watt Clear Incandescent Light Bulb

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I remember at Plattsburgh State that some of the campus meeting rooms had these massive light fixtures with 300 watt bulbs. Each campus meeting room had two of these bulbs for lighting -- while bright, they sucked down 600 watts per hour, or a kilowatt hour every hour and a half in relatively small rooms. But they were getting a lot of cheap Canadian hydropower on the campus, so replacing these luminaries with modern energy saving fixtures probably wasn't worth the cost.

Three-Phase Power Explained

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This video will take a close look at three-phase power and explain how it works. Three-phase power can be defined as the common method of alternating current power generation, transmission, and distribution. It is a type of polyphase system, and is the most common method used by electric grids worldwide to transfer power.