All, This argument has been going on ever since I got out of Engineering school, and frankly, it's not going to stop until "my" generation is gone. I'm an EE and I work in my own machine shop in my (new) retirement. I work in Imperial units because I THINK in Imperial units - it's what I learned as a wee bairn. I KNOW what an inch and a foot are, instinctively, and although I have no problem working in metric, I prefer not to because the units are non-instinctive - to ME. I care not a whit if metric calculations are faster or somehow superior; I don't think in metric - period.
Now, two of my kids are 1990's vintage EEs, and they grew up on metric. I was taken aback when one of them - in high school - described a dimension to me by holding his fingers THIS far apart and stating: oh, it's about 10 cm. When his generation largely displaces mine in the workforce, metric will have won. It won't be better or worse than Imperial measurement - it will just BE. Me, I'll continue working - and thinking - in inches, feet, mils, and turning out good work to precise dimensions, while ignoring snobs that presume that "I just don't get it". 73, geo - n4ua On Thu, Nov 15, 2012 at 7:05 PM, James Rodenkirch <[email protected]>wrote: > Gosh, Paul.....why don't you simply keep measuring in our system and avoid > the obvious "mental wedgie" you keep forming PLUS you won't be so > "weary"?!?!?! > > 72, Jim Rodenkirch K9JWV > > > Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2012 18:58:48 -0500 > > From: [email protected] > > To: [email protected] > > CC: [email protected] > > Subject: Re: Topband: Vertical Array Over Uneven Ground > > > > > I suspect most Americans are more comfortable with our own measuring > system > > > plus our ham bands where antenna formulas are still published in feet > and > > > inches. > > > > I suspect most (or at least many) Americans are resistant to change > > and unwilling to give anything different than what they are used to > > a fair try before dismissing it. > > > > When I don't have to deal too extensively with materials made to > > specific sizes for the U.S. market, I do much of my measuring and > > work using the metric system. Why? Because once I got used to it, I > > find it much easier to work with. My notes on projects going back > > over 20 years usually give dimensions in metric (eg. plate line > > dimensions for a VHF amplifier in millimeters). I have grown > > somewhat weary of converting to another system just so that other > > Americans won't grumble about my choice of units. I may stop that > > practice. If other Americans don't understand the measurements and > > can't be bothered to do the conversion, they probably don't really > > want/need the information. > > > > Paul > > _______________________________________________ > > Topband reflector - [email protected] > > _______________________________________________ > Topband reflector - [email protected] > _______________________________________________ Topband reflector - [email protected]
