Interesting PC World Article

Greetings all,

It has been ages since I have engaged the forums here, but I wanted to share a link to an article done by PC World. It seems they did a test on cables and determined that while poor cables can cause a degrading signal, well made cables within a variety of price class do not make a significant difference. Their results were based on testing by signal generators.

It's an interesting read:

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article...77,pg,1,00.asp

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Originally Posted by sofsoldier

Greetings all,

It has been ages since I have engaged the forums here, but I wanted to share a link to an article done by PC World. It seems they did a test on cables and determined that while poor cables can cause a degrading signal, well made cables within a variety of price class do not make a significant difference. Their results were based on testing by signal generators.

It's an interesting read:

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article...77,pg,1,00.asp

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What does Astronomy have to do with cables.Gennerally you get what you pay for.

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Originally Posted by Fergymunster

What does Astronomy have to do with cables.Gennerally you get what you pay for.

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...I know sometimes I tend to space-out...did I miss something in the article...i.e. any reference to astronomy?

Re: you get what you pay for...You don't actually believe that...

jimHJJ(...do you?...)

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Originally Posted by Resident Loser

...I know sometimes I tend to space-out...did I miss something in the article...i.e. any reference to astronomy?

jimHJJ(...do you?...)

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Ummmm, Rick is the co-author of the astronomy website...duh...

And I thought I was bad, what with the hammer and the ladder and the head..

Cheers, John

Finally, someone who agrees with me. Stay away from the crap wires. But no need to mortgage your house either. A nice set at a reasonable price will do just fine.

RL, maybe if you drop a hammer on your head, you'll get to see stars too. Wow man, is that the big dipper?

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Originally Posted by jneutron

Ummmm, Rick is the co-author of the astronomy website...duh...

And I thought I was bad, what with the hammer and the ladder and the head..

Cheers, John

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...and here I thought it had something to do with the linked article per se, not the poster...

jimHJJ(...how foolish am I?...)

The reference to Astronomy is just the link to my site in my signature block. I am unsure as to how it was inferred that the post has anything to do with Astronomy - I was just sharing an interesting link to an article I read on Saturday in PC World.

Glad to see Resident Loser is still milling about.

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Originally Posted by Resident Loser

jimHJJ(...how foolish am I?...)

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Well, you read my posts...case closed..:)

Hows it goin??

I larned meeself how ta do crown mouldin..major cool..

Cheers, John

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Originally Posted by sofsoldier

I am unsure as to how it was inferred that the post has anything to do with Astronomy - Glad to see Resident Loser is still milling about.

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...since I'm your basic idiot, and given Fergymunster's response, I thought I'd missed some salient point in the article...like how fo feed your semi-Newtonian refractor to your tee-vee...never thought to look below the signature line since the two should be mutually exclusive...

Yeah, they took away my scissors and other pointed obects, so I'm forced to submit posts in crayon...

jimHJJ(...d@mn tasty them crayons...)

P.S. What's a good beginners 'scope?...any article you coud refer me to?...thanks...

I used to engage the cable forums regularly about 3 or so years ago. Kinda fell by the wayside with school and other things. I used to rave about the expensive MIT cables I used to own until I realized they really didn't make that much of a difference so I sold them. There was talk among other folks about double-blind tests and proof and all sorts of other goings on but I haven't kept up with the current trends.

Thumbing through the various catalogs I get from Acoustic Sounds and Audio Advisor has the business of snake oil alive and well - including cables (not to mention CD demagnetizers and cable elevators).

The point of the article is that while the testing of the various cables listed in the article did demonstrate some variance of signal, the overall impression was these minor variances did not translate to an audible improvement.

Perhaps someone is working on a dielectric that uses pre-biotic, chondritic material found in carbonaceous meteorites (there is your Astronomy reference).

Off subject, a good beginners telescope used the Dobson mount - these are pretty cheap, newtonian style (all mirror design) telescope that is easy to use and have good apeture. Orion Telescopes (http://www.telescopes.com/) is a good place to look for these. Start small and figure out what you want to do with it. As with all things related to hobbies, the features and prices can get a bit extreme.

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Originally Posted by jneutron

Well, you read my posts...case closed..:)

Hows it goin??

I larned meeself how ta do crown mouldin..major cool..

Cheers, John

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...for the tardiness of my response...Well, you have your ladder/hammer misfortune...I now have what, in years to come, will be known as the Memorial Day 2006 landscaping incident...Complete cartoon scenario...while grading soil to place some patio blocks, I had an unfortunate run in with a poorly placed bow rake...tines facing out...step on tines...whack! in face...lose balance...bounce off textured cement-block garage abrading my arm in the process...plus a black-eye...Looks like: One he!! of a weekend dude! P-a-a-artee on!

Crown moulding: Major cool indeed! I love the R&D, trial-and error of doing something new...box joints, doweling jigs, mortise-and-tenon...it's like actually accomplishing something of value...

jimHJJ(...woodworking/carpentry is a wonderful hobby/avocation...)

P.S. Oh yeah, to keep it legal...wire is wire...

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Originally Posted by Resident Loser

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jimHJJ(...d@mn tasty them crayons...)

P.S. What's a good beginners 'scope?...any article you coud refer me to?...thanks...

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Probably your best bet is to find your local astronomy club abd go play with their hardware for a while first.

-Bruce

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Originally Posted by sofsoldier

Greetings all,

It has been ages since I have engaged the forums here, but I wanted to share a link to an article done by PC World. It seems they did a test on cables and determined that while poor cables can cause a degrading signal, well made cables within a variety of price class do not make a significant difference. Their results were based on testing by signal generators.

It's an interesting read:

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article...77,pg,1,00.asp

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For a long time I've felt that once you get past the cheap stuff, at worst say, these ...

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search

Then differences were insignificant.

I'm writing this post in the hear and now.Just now reading the statement that I posted here.The reason now is.1) incomprehensible.2)Human.You can chew on that awhile.