The Echo Rate

Nearly every trade I’m familiar with has some sort of “initiation” rites or procedures or activities associated with it. For example, an inexperienced carpenter may be asked by his lead technician to go fetch a nonexistent tool such as a 3 ft. meter stick, a board stretcher, or even a glass mallet. The two trades I’ve been involved in for most of my life: vehicle mechanic and machinist are no different. Well, to lighten the mood of my blog I decided to walk a reader through just a small handful of such activities as if he/she were just beginning their career in that trade. These activities I have participated in either as willing co-conspirator or as an unknowing victim.

So, as a new mechanic/machinist/technician/etc. you may be asked to start your day with a search for a can of P.E. psi fluid. This is highly valuable stuff and is normally refrigerated to keep its shelf life extended as much as possible (spell out P.E. psi with no periods and no capital letters). After you’ve been redirected from several shops and finally picked up the ice-cold fluid, it’s very important to return it immediately to your lead tech, who will then promptly open up the can and drink it.

Your next task will be to prepare the stall or work area for equipment, proper tools, or materials needed to complete the work. So, be sure to go to the supply section and order up several yards of flight line. This will allow you a solid working surface area to work on. Can’t have our creepers roll around underneath vehicles in mud now can we? It’s also crucial to make sure any fluids, materials, etc. are the proper weight for the current season. You’ll need to ensure that the air within a tire is proper winter-weight or summer-weight air depending on the season. Headlight fluid is also helpful to have handy should you need to make any adjustments to the lights; along with the more costly blinker fluid. Additionally, you may have to modify the job you are working on. Along with the normal tools expected to do a job, bring with you a standard bolt-stretcher because sometimes, you just may need a longer bolt when you don’t have one. Metric bolt-stretchers can be very hard to come by so you may have to sign a contract on penalty of death agreeing to return it to the tool room if you need it.

Now, let’s move onto “the meat” of the work. Being unfamiliar with the job may require flexibility. This can be helped with flexible tooling such as the ever-helpful metric adjustable wrench. Being able to work in both “standard” and “metric” can greatly increase one’s skill level. For the lefties out there, a little bit of searching will help you find the left-handed version of the metric adjustable wrench. Most shops do carry a line of left-handed hammers for the lefties in these trades. But do not expect to find a left-handed version of the any-sixteenths adjustable wrench. This is the U.S. we’re talking about and damn it we have standards that we adhere to.

For those really “tricky” jobs, specialized tooling is often necessary due to the complexity of the work. Having a sky hook can help with those really heavy duty jobs and can greatly lessen the stress on the back from heavy lifting. It can be so frustrating to drop a part or tool while focused on a particularly challenging operation of a job. Therefore, having a brass magnet will help the “clumsy” technician when he/she needs it. And for the highly intelligent beginner technicians, make sure you bring with you a cup of radon. To help ease on preventive maintenance, installing a tachometer filter will reduce the number of times you need to replace the RPMs, not to mention reducing the number of times the RPM oil will need servicing.

Replacing a component or reworking a component of a job can be tedious. Take the armored vehicle the M113; a principle armored troop carrier for the U.S. military. Replacing the armored valve stem for the wheels of this tracked vehicle can be extremely time-consuming. For this type of difficult job, it’s always beneficial to bring with you a box of pre-drilled holes for the valve stems.

A highly technical skill you may develop is the ability to check the echo rate. This is very complex and involves a great deal of coordination. First, remove the valve cover from the engine and crank it manually until the number 1 piston intake valve(s) is open. Next, lean in close to the engine head. Finally, yell your name into the open intake valve and very quickly run to the end of the vehicle and place your ear up to the tailpipe. If you can hear your name yelled back, then the echo rate is good. For vehicles with two tailpipes, you may need to perform this twice, once on each tailpipe, to determine the echo rate.

Well, by now your day will probably draw to a close. Keeping your work area clean will help you to do a good job tomorrow so go out behind your facility and gather up a full bucket of prop wash. But be sure to fill a bucket of dehydrated water to go with your prop wash. Never mix chemicals you’re not familiar with! You may also need to pick up some camouflage paint, just in case you needed to do any body work that you’ll have to touch up. Note: make certain the vehicle doesn’t require infra-red, camouflage paint. That would be disastrous! Also, this would be a good time to swing by the supply section and order the parts, materials, etc. needed to complete the unfinished jobs tomorrow. Things like muffler bearings, alternator hoses, and glove box filters should be ordered today so that they’ll be ready to install the next work day.

Usually about this time is when the customer comes around asking questions regarding the completion of the work. Now is the best time for you to brush up on your people skills. Be sure to let them know how difficult it was replacing the radiator filters. For the left-handed customer with a straight drive, let them know that you’ve placed an order through supply for a left-handed shifter handle and it won’t arrive until tomorrow. For customers wanting exhaust work, let them know that they could’ve sped up the time needed for service if only they had first collected an exhaust sample. This can be done by having the customer stand at the tailpipe with a trash bag and “gather” exhaust as the vehicle is running. Make sure the customer ties off the bag quickly. Don’t want to give the EPA or OSHA reason to perform a surprise inspection on the facility. If the customer simply wanted preventive maintenance, inform them that the windshield wiper lube hasn’t arrived yet and that you should be receiving it the next day. Never let a vehicle leave your care without all of its fluids topped off and ready to go! Make the customer feel like you’re working extra hard just for them by performing the 60,000 mile service to the cigarette lighter unit. Or that you’ve just replaced the snipe sensor for free and it needs to sit overnight in order for it to be properly calibrated. And if that doesn’t convince them, just tell them that you can’t complete the work because there is too much gas in the fuel lines.

Happy mechanic-ing!

BB

A Random Post - OR IS IT???

Wow. Has it really been that long since my last post? Hard to believe. But, the fact is, I've been working hard and playing hard. As an instructor, my work often keeps me late at school, although I try hard not to bring too much work home with me. And, as the dept. head and the only full-time faculty in my department, I often stay late just trying to catch up on paperwork. My time at school is thinned even more so as I am on our graduation committee. The great part about the graduation committee is that nearly all of the work we do is at the end of the school year. The bad part about the graduation committee is that nearly all of the work we do is at the end of the school year. And graduation is coming up in about another 5 weeks. And since we just happen to have started early registration for the upcoming fall semester, my time is stretched even further. This, naturally, has very strong effects on one's stress levels and in order to prevent myself from taking out that stress on student via hammer or some other blunt object, I direct it towards other things. As I said, I've been playing hard too, meaning our guild has completed 10-man ICC and we're starting heroic 10-man. Yay for hard modes! This means more wipes. This means more practice. And basically, more time needed to stay with the progression. But, I haven't forgotten about the great Blackbear's Cave. In fact, I intend to provide a (hopefully) decent article about warriors in the game. Am I an expert? Nope. Not by a long shot. But I can provide some ideas towards spec, gear, and professions for the leveling warrior. Also, I will either add or create another article about arms pvp spec. That article I simply intend to document my experiences with the spec and pvp. I don't intend for that particular article to be used as a guide for arms pvp as I will most likely include a number of expletives. I'll probably include the reasons why I decided to put tanking on hold for awhile. This means, be ready for more ranting. So, just bear with me (pun intended) and hopefully I'll get that underway soon. The end of the summer semester is approaching and I could really use some free time.

Now, onto the other reason I decided to post. A project I've really been wanting to complete for a long time. A simple video with a slide show of a set of photos I took while on my vacation last year in Alaska. Yes. It's finally time to post that up. I'll actually post it on 3 (hopefully) websites.

It's Been A Long Time Coming

It’s been a long time coming. Yes. It’s taken me a long time to finally complete this project. Some of my online friends will understand what that means. But, I simply could not post this video without the “perfect” accompaniment. While the music in this video is not technically Native Alaskan, primarily Native Americans perform it. I felt that this was important not only in principle, but also for aesthetic reasons. The music I was going to use with this video had to reflect the silent awe and the oddly, calming effect I felt seeing and photographing this great landscape for the first time.

Finding any music indigenous to Native Alaska is challenging enough. While I did manage to find some Alaskan singers/groups that were capable of performing very contemporary style of music, it did not carry the reverence I wanted to accompany this photo gallery. Sadly, a great deal of traditional Native Alaskan music has been lost to history via “modernization” of the Alaskan peoples. Some traditional music still exists. But, the meaning of some of that music is no longer understood. While this was a bit disappointing, I continued looking elsewhere for music I felt was appropriate. I also felt that, if contemporary music would better reflect the mood I wanted for the video, then so be it. The music I’ve chosen to accompany the photos seems to “fit” the mood I was trying to create. And, as I stated before, if I couldn’t find just the “right” music, then I wasn’t going to complete this project.

I’ve heard of the performers Verdell Primeaux and Johnny Mike. I’ve also heard of Robbie Roberston. However, my search for the best music to my video didn’t initially lead me to these performers. But I remembered hearing awhile back a song that I would later learn was called Peyote Healing and tried to track down its authors/performers. It wasn’t easy, as I had no idea, at the time, what the name of the song was or even the artists’ names. Finally, after a bit of online searching, and listening to A LOT of samples, I managed to come across the album: Contact from the Underworld of Red Boy by Robbie Roberston. The other album I drew from was: Dancing Into Silence. The first song in the video is: The Way Home from Dancing Into Silence by R. Carlos Nakai, the second song is Amazing Grace in Sioux from Walk in Beauty by Verdell Primeaux and Johnny Mike. Finally, the last song is: Peyote Healing from Robbie Robertson’s Contact from the Underworld of Redboy feat. Verdell Primeaux and Johnny Mike.

This small video only represents a small section of the best photos I took while in Alaska during my vacation in 2009. The few photos I’ve placed in this video are the ones that made the final cut so-to-speak. Some of the photos include: a small plane trip to the Chickamin Glacier, a Misty Fjords National Monument boat trip, as well as hiking photos around Revillagigedo Island, Ward Creek Trail and Lake Harriet Hunt. Overall, I took nearly 750 total photos. I had to trim a lot of photos out. This trip cost me a bit financially. But, the experience was well worth every penny. The trip has had such a profound impact on me that, I decided almost immediately upon returning home, I should go back again the following year. And, I am! Hopefully, by the time I return from that trip, I’ll be a little better at Windows Movie Maker. Yes, I am a WMM newb! Enjoy the pictures.

Blackbear (Bear5177)

Aka BB

I sure hope this works.