The Mighty 477 Blog

Juliet in Slow Motion #1

2011-03-10T16:02:00.000-08:00

Barrel racing on a Draft Horse

2008-09-29T22:05:00.000-07:00

Rounding the last barrel and heading for home

2008-09-20T22:55:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of photos lately, there hasn't been that much work, and to be honest, I've been lazy about the photography lately. My wife was a horse enthusiast from way back and after she recently got a new horse, I got suckered in myself. When I'm not working, I'm down at the equestrian center, which is often since work has slowed down. I also managed to spend a month up in Buellton at the Dierberg Winery, working for Thoma Electric. It's a very nice local and the weather was cooler compared to San Bernardino. Also, I heard a rumor that Diablo Canyon Powerplant was having a shutdown, so if you need overtime, that's the job to have.

Photo By Kelly Collins

2008-05-25T13:47:00.001-07:00

William Johnson Jr, III, Esquire

2008-05-25T13:45:00.001-07:00

Greg Temple and Bob Whiteside

2008-05-25T13:43:00.001-07:00

Craig Gildart Sr.

2008-05-25T13:41:00.001-07:00

Craig Gildart Jr. and Artie Mann

2008-05-25T13:40:00.001-07:00

Artie Mann (Left) and Gavin Kohnle (Right)

Union Meeting

2008-05-25T13:36:00.001-07:00

Swearing in at the Hall

Kaiser Expansion Project

2008-05-02T07:28:00.001-07:00

Located off the 60 fwy and Vineyard Ave in Ontario, the new Kaiser Hospital is just coming out of the ground, with the basement floor having been poured. It will be a while before the job will truly get going, but at least there is progress in the forward direction. Morrow Meadows, and Dynalectric are both on the project, with Dyna doing the site lighting. Once it gets going, it should take a few people.

Kaiser Expansion

2008-05-02T06:19:00.001-07:00

Jose Biaz(Left), Rudy Palacios (Right), and Gavin Kohnle (Manhole), all working for Dynalectric on the new Kaiser Hospital, located at Vineyard just off the 60 fwy.

Verion Expansion

2008-04-17T20:46:00.001-07:00

Mark Akin running 3/4 inch pipe off a scissor lift.

Verizon Expansion

2008-04-17T20:21:00.001-07:00

Ray Wenner (Right) and Tom O'halloran (Left) inspect the inside of a Makeup Air Unit, outside the New Verizon Expansion

Verizon Expansion

2008-03-21T05:31:00.001-07:00

Sean Roberts installing lighting along the walls in Battery Room #1

Verizon Expansion

2008-03-21T05:25:00.000-07:00

Sean Roberts

Verizon Expansion

2008-03-20T17:56:00.001-07:00

Travis Risner installing lighting in one of the Battery Rooms.

Verizon Expansion

2008-03-20T17:35:00.001-07:00

Jose Gamez showing his Martial Arts: Tae Kwan Leep, Boot-to-the-head pose.

Verizon Expansion

2008-03-19T19:39:00.001-07:00

Rubin Heredia in Battery Room #1, installing Building Management System conduit

Verizon Expansion

2008-03-19T19:37:00.001-07:00

Kris Sindar in Battery Room #1

Verizon Expansion

2008-03-19T19:31:00.000-07:00

Orlando Rodriguez running 1/2 inch EMT, and installing lights in Battery Room #1

Big Tesla Coil

2008-01-19T10:15:00.001-08:00

2007-12-20T06:27:00.001-08:00

Jason Rushlaw

Verizon

2007-12-20T06:26:00.001-08:00

Juan Rodriguez

Verizon

2007-12-19T06:15:00.001-08:00

Cathy Peterson/Simpson, mother of 6

Verizon

2007-12-18T12:44:00.001-08:00

Luke Enriquez

Verizon

2007-12-18T12:41:00.001-08:00

Paul Shedor

2007-11-10T16:52:00.001-08:00

I frequently do maintenance work and troubleshooting/problem solving at Friant Dam. The dam creates Millerton lake and is the beginning of the San Joaquin river straddling Fresno and Madera counties. I took a few photos last time I was out there with your web site in mind. Enjoy!

Photo By: Darren H.

2007-11-10T16:50:00.001-08:00

2007-11-10T16:48:00.001-08:00

Photo By: Darren H.

2007-11-10T16:46:00.001-08:00

Photo By: Darren H.

2007-11-10T16:42:00.000-08:00

Photo By: Darren H.

2007-11-10T16:40:00.001-08:00

Photo By: Darren H.

2007-11-10T16:39:00.001-08:00

Photo By: Darren H.

2007-11-10T16:37:00.001-08:00

Photo By: Darren H.

2007-11-10T16:36:00.001-08:00

Photo By: Darren H.

2007-11-10T16:34:00.001-08:00

Photo by: Darren H.

2007-11-09T16:52:00.001-08:00

Photo By: Darren H

Mountain View Power Plant

2007-11-07T08:56:00.001-08:00

John Cruz, on top of Gas Turbine 4a with Steam Turbine in background.
During this shut down we basically cleaned and re-tightened electrical connections.

Mountain View Power Plant

2007-11-07T08:53:00.001-08:00

Jim Rogers, working on top of the Gas Turbine building.

Mountain View Power Plant

2007-11-07T08:46:00.001-08:00

Ron Wright, re-connecting a 480 volt motor, atop the generator turbine building during a shut-down. The HeRSiG can be seen in the background.

Mountain View Power Plant

2007-10-27T18:46:00.000-07:00

Ron Wright atop one of the main transmission transformers, doing a little housekeeping.

Mountain View Shutdown

2007-10-27T18:19:00.000-07:00

Jim Rogers discusses a plan of attack for the partial shutdown of the Mountain View Power Plant in San Bernardino, Ca.

Altaloma Transmission Towers

2007-10-22T05:37:00.000-07:00

Mountain View Power Plant

2007-10-20T09:22:00.001-07:00

Jim Rogers

High Voltage

2007-10-18T05:45:00.001-07:00

Cleaning insulators on the 230,000 volt transformer.

Burned out Bucket

2007-09-03T09:32:00.000-07:00

Took a few interesting photos at work today, thought you might want to post them on your blog. Pictures of what happens when 4000A, 480V switchgear decides to find other ways to ground...

Let me know what you think.

Darren H.

Photos by Darren H.
L.U. 440

All I can say is I'm glad I wasn't there when it happened. I've seen a few things blow up in my day, and it puts the fear of God in me each and every time. It looks like it arced for a while (relatively speaking)

Scott Collins

First Arcing Location

2007-09-03T09:30:00.001-07:00

Photos by Darren H.
L.U. 440

Melted Bushing

2007-09-03T09:28:00.001-07:00

Photos by Darren H.
L.U. 440

Not Reusable

2007-09-03T09:26:00.001-07:00

Photos by Darren H.
L.U. 440

Safety First

2007-09-03T09:24:00.000-07:00

Photos by Darren H.
L.U. 440

Second Arcing Locaton

2007-09-03T09:20:00.002-07:00

Photos by Darren H.
L.U. 440

Section 3

2007-09-03T09:17:00.001-07:00

Photos by Darren H.
L.U. 440

Smokey Transfer Switch

2007-09-03T09:10:00.000-07:00

Photo by Darren H.
L.U.440

Toasted Fuses

2007-09-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

Photos by Darren H.
L.U. 440

For those who missed the eclipse

2007-08-28T05:03:00.000-07:00

2007-08-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

Hey Scott I found some job pics you might like, might not, just thought I'd pass them on and do what you like with em.

Ill try to start taking more pics.

JOEL HUNTER AND KIRK WILLIAMS (3RD YEAR)

Brian Marsteller

Keep em coming Brian!

Scott

2007-08-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

BISHOP IS BEAUTIFUL BUT COLD, THIS DOESN'T COUNT WIND CHILL!!

Brian Marsteller

2007-08-18T09:29:00.000-07:00

BISHOP HIGH SCHOOL CAMPUS IS BEAUTIFUL!!

Brian Marsteller

2007-08-18T09:28:00.000-07:00

2007-08-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

HARD TO TELL BUT I THINK THE DATE ON THIS CORNERSTONE IS FROM THE 20'S

DALE RADELEFF WOULD LIKE THE MASONIC SYMBOL.

Brian Marsteller

2007-08-18T09:23:00.000-07:00

WOW I CANT BELIEVE I DID IT, I SUCCESSFULLY ZOOMED IN, LOOKS LIKE 1922, THE BUILDING WAS

BUILT IF MY MATH IS CORRECT. WE SAW SOME OLD STUFF IN THIS BUILDING. THERE WAS SOME

BIG LUMBER UP IN THE ATTIC, IT WAS BUILT BEFORE GLUE LAMS!! SEND THIS PIC TO DALE R. IF YOU

HAVE HIS EMAIL ADDRESS.

Brian Marsteller

2007-08-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

VAULT MADE UP BY KIRK WILLIAMS LAST SUMMER, PRETTY NICE WORK WITH THE

FOREMAN BIRDDOGGING YOU TO DEATH!!

Brian Marsteller

2007-08-18T09:14:00.000-07:00

2007-08-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

KIRK WILLIAMS AT BISHOP PINE ST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL REMODEL, THIS TIME IT WAS DAMN HOT!!

YOU MIGHT HAVE SOME FUN WITH THIS PIC AND PHOTOSHOP!!

Brian Marsteller

2007-08-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

I DON’T REMEMBER WHERE THIS WAS BUT KIRK WILLIAMS AND I DID THEM, DATA GUYS ALWAYS NEED A 4 INCH FOR

THEIR LITTLE CAT 6 CABLE!!

Brian Marsteller

Ameron Steel

2007-08-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

Gantry crane.

Doug Childers

2007-08-17T20:37:00.002-07:00

Scott

i finally got your email address. i knew if i waited long enough i would get it in a forwarded email.... lol.... anyways here's some pictures of
me at work.
Doug Childers

2007-08-17T20:37:00.001-07:00

2007-08-17T20:32:00.001-07:00

2007-08-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

We all have our hobbies, and Steve Kendall's is cars, and in particular custom cars. Presently he is working on this 1958 Ford Apache 3200.

2007-08-11T07:57:00.000-07:00

This 1958 Chevy Apache 3200 truck will sport a 1955 front, and has a Chevy 383 Stroker motor, Mustang II front suspension with rack and pinion steering, replacing the original straight axle, Ford 9-inch rear end, Weld Wheels (15-4s in front and 15-10s in the rear), Tilt Column, and a 1968 Mustang tank mounted in the rear, replacing the stock tank that was behind the seat.

2007-08-11T07:55:00.000-07:00

This photo shows the 55 front mounted on the chassis

2007-08-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

2007-07-28T16:25:00.000-07:00

Air shows are one of my favorite events to attend and photograph, so here is a compilation of different events I have gone to in the past.

Another Tilt-up for Gregg

2007-07-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry Steve, my camera batteries must have been on their last leg, I usually have better pictures than this one, I'll have to do better next time.

This photo was taken at a tilt-up in Rialto during a tenant improvement project.

2007-07-22T01:32:00.000-07:00

2007-07-18T07:08:00.000-07:00

SCOTT THIS IS YOU AND I BENDING 4" ON THE TABLE BENDER, LIKE MY 3RD DAY IN THE TRADE.

WE ARE ON THE DECK OF SOLAR TOWER AT SOLAR II PROJECT, AUG 1995.

2007-07-05T04:56:00.000-07:00

THIS IS A GREAT PIC, (L-R) JIM SAUER JR., JIM SAUER SR., SKEET DEAM

BLACK MOUNTAIN SHUTDOWN 1997

Nikola Tesla

2007-07-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

Tesla Anti Theft protection

2007-07-01T09:52:00.000-07:00

2007-07-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

This is a simple Tesla Coil design. The neon sign transformer provides current to the capacitor which stores a charge. As the voltage and current reach their peak, an arc forms across the spark gaps which allows all the stored energy to transfer to the primary coil. The primary coil creates a magnetic field which is absorbed and stepped up by the secondary coil. The magnetic field in the primary then collapses and its energy is transferred back to the capacitor and the process repeats until resistance in the circuit depletes all the stored energy. This transfer of energy from the capacitor to the primary is called resonance and it's frequency is determined by the values of both the capacitor and the primary (inductor). For every arc, which occurs 120 times a second (one for every positive and negative sine wave) there are thousands of cycles of charging and discharging between the primary and capacitor, so not only does the Tesla coil step up the voltage, it also steps up the frequency as well. Tesla coils can operate in the range of 50,000 to 500,000 Hertz depending on how they are tuned.

The secret to creating the greatest output is in tuning. A person on a swing mimics a Tesla coil in operation. If you give someone a push they will swing back and forth until resistance due to friction causes them to stop. If you push them on every cycle the amplitude of the swinging will increase each time provided that each push is greater then friction which causes them to slow down. If you can time the arc in a Tesla coil to coincide with the waves in the resonant circuit, you will increase the output exponentially. This is done by adding or decreasing the number of turns in the primary, changing the value of the capacitor, or increasing the frequency of the neon sign transformer. In our classroom design, the easiest way was to use an alligator clip on the end of the wire to attach to the primary. Depending on where we attached the wire to the coil varied the size of the coil and therefore changed the tuning of the coil.

Tesla Coil Slideshow

2007-06-30T09:50:00.000-07:00

Our First Coil

2007-06-30T08:59:00.000-07:00

This was a group class project by the students in my 4th year apprenticeship class. Every year I gave Nikola Tesla a plug since I always found it unfair that the creator of every AC electric motor that we use today, plus all of the other inventions i.e. radio, radar, x-rays, blade-less turbines etc. went unnoticed while lesser inventors like Thomas Edison literally stole the spotlight. I was a little hesitant to build one since in the past it was difficult to find construction information, but it was the Internet to the rescue. After a lot of research and experimentation we came up with our final design. The primary coil was #8 copper ground wire wrapped around a plastic bucket, and the secondary was a six-inch PVC pipe with 1000 turns of #22 gauge wire. We used a neon sign transformer to feed the resonant circuit at 15,000 volts. I estimated the final voltage output at 750,000 volts at 50,000 Hertz.

In the photo you can see a student (right) holding a florescent lamp which is in no way connected to the circuit itself, but lighting because of the electricity flowing through the air, and another student (left) holding a copper rod drawing an arc from the antenna. Even though the charge was 750 kV, the shock was barely felt because the discharge was in the micro amps, and because the high frequency increased the "skin effect" which is the tendency for electrons to migrate closer to the surface of a conductor. The higher the frequency the greater the effect, so at 50,000 Hertz, most of the electrons were traveling over the surface of the person and not through him. All this knowledge still didn't comfort me when I was the first one to poke a rod next to the antenna.

Tesla's original concept was to build a large Coil to transmit electricity wirelessly though the air to receiving coils elsewhere across the earth. In Tesla's final design the Earth itself was the capacitor and the ionosphere was the return path for the current. All one needed was a receiving coil and you could have wireless power anywhere in the world you went. Cars wouldn't need batteries, your cordless drills would never need recharging, no more ugly transmission lines criss crossing the country, there was only one fly in the ointment: How do you charge people for the electricity. Tesla's dream of wireless transmission of power (and communications) ended when funding for the project was discontinued after the Wardencliff tower was almost completed.

2007-06-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

2007-06-30T08:56:00.000-07:00

2007-06-30T08:53:00.000-07:00

Our first topload was a dryer hose placed on top of a board to hold it's shape. What looks like hair is sparks from the topload during a long exposure by the camera.

2007-06-30T08:42:00.000-07:00

The Telsa coil needs a capacitor to store a charge and to form a resonant circuit with the primary coil in order to boost the frequency up (50,000 Hertz). After a failed attempt at using glass plates and aluminum foil, I discovered another "coiler" was using a salt water capacitor. The salt water, since it is conductive, acts like a plate in a capacitor, and the glass is the dielectric insulator between the two plates. One plate is in the bottle, and the other is the pool of saltwater outside the bottle. We used a copper pipe to bring the current to the capacitor. In later designs we used multiple smaller glass bottles because it increased the surface area of the capacitor thus making it larger. There are of course much more efficient designs, but we had limited time and money and it did serve it's purpose.

2007-06-30T08:36:00.000-07:00

This shows the capacitor under operation. The light you see is spark discharge inside the bottle. This was probably not the most efficient operation since a lot of energy is being lost here, but it made an impressive display.

2007-06-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

Antenna "Top load" made from two heavy duty pie tins and dryer hose with metallic tape over the surface. The Top Load has dual functions, it acts like a capacitor storing a charge between arcs, adding capacitance to help create a resonant circuit, and transmitting the electricity through the air to a receiver antenna.

2007-06-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

Steve (Doc) Bernard putting the final touches on the primary coil which consisted of twenty turns of 1/4 copper tubing.

2007-06-30T08:20:00.000-07:00

Secondary coil after the final coat of varish. The secondary consisted of 1000 turns of 22 gauge magnetic wire.

Close-up of Spark Gap

2007-06-30T08:10:00.000-07:00

Electricians will recognize the parts used to make the spark gaps. Fender washers, 1/4-20 nuts, barrel nut and a Hilti concrete pin for the point. I used angle brackets to mount them on a board and to form a series circuit.

2007-06-30T08:05:00.000-07:00

The spark gaps are arranged in series. Our original design only had a single spark gap, but after doing some research I found that multiple spark gaps increased the power of the coil, probably because the arc quenches faster. It also keeps the unit cooler since the arcs are spread over multiple points. Our original spark gap used to get red hot.

2007-06-30T07:58:00.000-07:00

Photo of spark gaps during operation. The fan has a dual purpose of cooling the spark gaps and blowing out the arc after the gap has fired.

2007-06-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

View of primary and secondary coils

2007-06-29T07:54:00.000-07:00

Aluminum foil covered plastic ball. Tesla's original coil used a polished metal sphere as the top load and later used a toroid.

2007-06-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

Mercury Vapor Lamp as the "Top Load"

2007-06-29T07:49:00.000-07:00

Zapping a belt buckle

2007-06-29T07:36:00.000-07:00

Tesla Coil Video

2007-06-28T05:20:00.001-07:00