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03-15-2004, 11:53 AM
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#1 of 15 
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Member
Join Date: Feb 2003
Local Time: 03:57 AM
Local Date: 10-14-2008
Posts: 439
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"Imperial" or "English" measuring devices illegal in Australia?
I was browsing one of those "movie mistake" sites and came across this in a Finding Nemo thread:
"Factual error: In the scene where the fish tank has been cleaned by the newly installed laser fish cleaner, the machine states that the water temperature is '82 degrees.' In Australia the celsius scale is used; therefore, it should be about '28 degrees.' It is actually illegal to import or sell any instrument using 'Imperial' scales. You couldn't buy a Fahrenheit thermometer if you tried."
Is this true? Is it illegal to own Imperial measuring devices in Australia? I find this very hard to beleive.
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03-15-2004, 12:25 PM
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#2 of 15
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Member
Location: Boise ID
Join Date: Oct 1998
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Local Date: 10-14-2008
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Sounds crazy to me. I know that English-measurement "headspace gauges" for those working on Lee-Enfield rifles are made and sold by an Australian firm. The .308 British cartridge is still made in Australia. Cars made in Australia (e.g. the early 1990's Ford Capri) are sold with many English-measurement parts (e.g. tire diameter - make that tyre dyameter). I'm sure some guys from OZ will check in here soon.....
Feline videophiles Susie and Dukie.
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03-15-2004, 02:55 PM
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#3 of 15
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Member
Join Date: Dec 1998
Local Time: 03:57 AM
Local Date: 10-14-2008
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It could be granfathered. Here in Canada we have metric weights and measures, but you can't, for the life of you buy screws, nails, etc. in metric units.
I went looking for an 11mm screw the other day, and could not find any. Had to resort to a 9/32.
Most thermometers are have c and f scales, although if anyone tells me what the temp in in F, I have to google to get the "real" temp.
Weights are similar. I know what I weigh in lbs, but not in kilos, even though my medical records have my weight in kilos. Same with height.
Firearms are still sold in caliper, with the exception of modern cartridges, such as a 9mm, or 10mm. You can buy .223 rounds either as .223, or 7.89MM, IIRC. Tires are sold using a combination of imperial and metric. Tread width is in mm, rim diameter is in inches...
\"Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it.\"
-- A.A. Milne \"Winnie-the-Pooh\"
Lance Nichols
The Nichols Collection, now showing.
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03-15-2004, 03:14 PM
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#4 of 15
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2000
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It can’t be illegal, our company uses Imperial measuring devices everyday. All measuring tapes have both scales on them and you go onto any building site or into any machine shop and no doubt they use both. Imperial is not taught in our schools so when I left it made it a bit hard to adapt, but it certainly isn’t illegal. However it would be hard to find a thermometer that reads Fahrenheit.
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03-15-2004, 03:44 PM
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#5 of 15
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Member
Location: Boise ID
Join Date: Oct 1998
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Lance,
The .223 and 5.56mm are roughly the same cartridge. See www.fulton-armory.com/556-vs-223-Chambers.htm for a safety caveat.
7.89mm is bigger than a .30 cal (7.62mm)!  Remind me to check all ammo you try to load into one of my rifles....
During WWII so many American SAE bolts and nuts were imported into the UK that they generally superceded the British-standard thread pitch. So nowadays the inch-pound system is called "American standard" in the UK whereas we in the US call it "English". I guess nobody wants to take the blame for it anymore.
Feline videophiles Susie and Dukie.
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03-15-2004, 04:28 PM
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#6 of 15
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CJ
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Join Date: May 2002
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Quote:
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my medical records have my weight in kilos. Same with height
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your height is in kilos too? better switch to a more qualified doctor! 
CJ
And then when I feel so stuffed I can't eat anymore, I just use the restroom! And then I CAN eat more!
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03-16-2004, 01:52 AM
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#7 of 15
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Member
Location: The Red Mile (Calgary, AB)
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Local Date: 10-14-2008
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Imperial measurements???
illegal: no
stupid: yes
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03-16-2004, 02:52 AM
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#8 of 15
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Member
Location: Arcadia, CA (L.A.)
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Local Date: 10-14-2008
Posts: 830
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Lance said...
Quote:
ere in Canada we have metric weights and measures, but you can't, for the life of you buy screws, nails, etc. in metric units.
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So....you are saying Canada is the "Jan Brady" of the measurement system? Always stuck in the middle?
......"All I ever hear is metric, Metric, METRIC! " 
Regards,
Brian W. Ralston
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03-16-2004, 07:26 AM
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#9 of 15
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Member
Join Date: Feb 2003
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Quote:
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However it would be hard to find a thermometer that reads Fahrenheit.
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That's strange. Your thermometers do not have both °F and °C? I think just about every thermometer I have ever seen has both. The only I've seen with one scale is in °F. |
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