For the record, the imperial system (ft. and inches) was invented in England in
the 1800s.
The metric system was invented by the French in 1799.
So people are kidding themselves by thinking it is an American system.
The US officially sanctioned the metric system in 1866 but remains the ONLY
industrialized country that has not adopted the metric system as its official
system of measurement.
As a native American, I preferred the imperial system when I first moved to
Germany.
Within a short time I got used to the metric system and quickly saw its merit.
People who think they don't like the metric system because it is too difficult
are basically admitting they are not smart enough to count the fingers on their
own hand.
If you can count to 10, you already know the metric system, you just don't use
it.
73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Gary J
FollettDukes HiFi
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2016 11:36 PM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Come On Guys
Well, a little fairy tale never hurt anyone.
There is no justifiable reason for the USA to remain with the antiquated BSA
standard.
However, in reality, there is, sadly, some portion of the population that
thinks the fact that the rest of the world uses the metric system is the reason
why we should NOT use it.
That would be admitting that someone outside USA has a better idea.
Believe it or not, there are even folks here who rant about an occasional
roundabout on the roadways, when they are the very most efficient way to move
traffic, far better than our old stand by, the 4 way stop sign, whose only
purpose is to impede traffic flow equally in all directions.
Let’s see how simple this is: inches can be either divided by tenths, thousands
and millionths etc., or 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, and so on. Then there are 12
inches per foot. Three feet to the yard. 5280 feet to the mile (unless you are
talking nautical mile (6070 feet).
Certainly the metric system is much more difficult - 1 micron, 1 mm, 1 cm, 1
dm, 1 m, 1 km and so on… pretty tough math!!!
Gary
> On Apr 25, 2016, at 4:18 PM, rick@dj0ip.de <Rick@DJ0IP.de> wrote:
>
> I don't think that's the reason Gary.
>
> If I remember correctly from my army days, The AK-47 used ever so
> slightly larger ammo than our M16. As a result, they could use our
> ammo in their rifles, granted with a little less precision, but we
> could not use their ammo in ours.
>
> I don't think the decision was based on tools.
> Most likely, like most everything else, there was a lobby behind that
> decision.
> IMO it was a BIG mistake not to go to the same system the rest of the
> world uses.
>
> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
> (Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Gary
> J FollettDukes HiFi
> Sent: Monday, April 25, 2016 10:34 PM
> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Come On Guys
>
> It was once explained to me that the uS refuses to switch more for
> military reasons than any other.
>
> By having all BSA parts and fittings, the tool used by an adversary
> would not properly fit, nor would any so-called standard replacement parts.
>
> As far as Kg as a weight unit, you are correct, it is a mass unit,
> equivalent to 2.2 pounds at standard elevation and conditions.
>
> For most important measurements, the mass is more important than the
> weight (as in purchasing a gram of Gold).
>
> Torque is still in force-length units such as foot-pounds,
> ounce-inches, Newton-meters and so on.
>
> Gary
>
>
>> On Apr 25, 2016, at 12:09 PM, Paul Littleton <ka5biw@swcp.com> wrote:
>>
>> Normally, I am a stickler for proper units. But not when someone is
>> asking
> for help. Now to address a few things.
>>
>> When talking to gear-heads, the terms pounds come up in tire pressure
>> and
> in torque output of the engine. I usually bite my tongue and insert
> the proper units.
>>
>> As for kg weight. Have a look at cereal packages. And, there are
>> metric
> systems that use kg as a unit of weight. That is just as confusing as
> Americans using pound for a unit of mass and a unit of force. The only
> saving grace is that 1 kg (1 lb) mass weighs 1 kg (1 lb) force on
> earth, at sea level. Still, the introduction of a constant to Newton's
> famous equation is a pain.
>>
>> Finally, kilocycles per second is still a valid and descriptive unit.
>> It
> isn't in the SI system, but it makes understanding frequency easier.
>>
>> I would like to see the United States join much of the rest of the
>> world
> and adopt SI. We would crash fewer probes on the surface of Mars that way.
>>
>> Best Regards,
>> Paul
>>
>> tapped out on an iPad
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