Help Identify a Computer-Related Toy
Gene Wirchenko
can not remember the name of it and have been unable to find out
anything about it despite a number of Web searches.
It was sold by Radio Shack. It was plastic, about 15" wide and
and 12" deep. It was about 2 1/2" high except for the display part
which was another 2". The surface had hundreds of holes to stick
wires. Wires were used to program logic. It had a number of sliders
which were used as logical not. It came unassembled. There was a
book of "programs" for it.
I would like to get one, but without knowing its name, I can not.
It is really an oddball item. I can not even think of what category
it fits in. This makes it even harder to search for relevant
Websites.
Does anyone remember what this thing was called?
Sincerely,
Gene Wirchenko
Computerese Irregular Verb Conjugation:
I have preferences.
You have biases.
He/She has prejudices.
Louis Krupp
> In the '70's, I got a toy that was a precursor to a computer. I
> can not remember the name of it and have been unable to find out
> anything about it despite a number of Web searches.
>
> It was sold by Radio Shack. It was plastic, about 15" wide and
> and 12" deep. It was about 2 1/2" high except for the display part
> which was another 2". The surface had hundreds of holes to stick
> wires. Wires were used to program logic. It had a number of sliders
> which were used as logical not. It came unassembled. There was a
> book of "programs" for it.
>
> I would like to get one, but without knowing its name, I can not.
> It is really an oddball item. I can not even think of what category
> it fits in. This makes it even harder to search for relevant
> Websites.
>
> Does anyone remember what this thing was called?
A Google search turns up 100-in-1 and 200-in-1 electronic project kits
and/or labs. Does that sound close?
Louis
Tim McCaffrey
Tim McCaffrey
says...
I had one those. I remember it had "computer" in the title, but I
don't remember the exact name, sorry. And to answer another post,
there was nothing electronic about it, it was, IIRC, some batteries,
lightbulbs, and a bunch of double throw, n-pole switches (that was the
sliders).
- Tim
Frank McCoy
> In the '70's, I got a toy that was a precursor to a computer. I
>can not remember the name of it and have been unable to find out
>anything about it despite a number of Web searches.
>
> It was sold by Radio Shack. It was plastic, about 15" wide and
>and 12" deep. It was about 2 1/2" high except for the display part
>which was another 2". The surface had hundreds of holes to stick
>wires. Wires were used to program logic. It had a number of sliders
>which were used as logical not. It came unassembled. There was a
>book of "programs" for it.
>
> I would like to get one, but without knowing its name, I can not.
>It is really an oddball item. I can not even think of what category
>it fits in. This makes it even harder to search for relevant
>Websites.
>
> Does anyone remember what this thing was called?
>
Nope ... and I had one too.
;-{
--
_____
/ ' / ™
,-/-, __ __. ____ /_
(_/ / (_(_/|_/ / <_/ <_
mensa...@aol.com
> In the '70's, I got a toy that was a precursor to a computer. I
> can not remember the name of it and have been unable to find out
> anything about it despite a number of Web searches.
>
> It was sold by Radio Shack. It was plastic, about 15" wide and
> and 12" deep. It was about 2 1/2" high except for the display part
> which was another 2". The surface had hundreds of holes to stick
> wires. Wires were used to program logic. It had a number of sliders
> which were used as logical not. It came unassembled. There was a
> book of "programs" for it.
>
> I would like to get one, but without knowing its name, I can not.
> It is really an oddball item. I can not even think of what category
> it fits in. This makes it even harder to search for relevant
> Websites.
>
> Does anyone remember what this thing was called?
Drat, Edmund Scientific used to sell such an item (don't know if
it was the same thing). I found one recently on eBay, but it
was several hundred bucks, so I passed on it. A search on
eBay and Google came up empty, so it's probably gone now.
blst...@bellsouth.net
> It was sold by Radio Shack. It was plastic, about 15" wide and
>and 12" deep. It was about 2 1/2" high except for the display part
>which was another 2". The surface had hundreds of holes to stick
>wires. Wires were used to program logic. It had a number of sliders
>which were used as logical not. It came unassembled. There was a
>book of "programs" for it.
>
[runs upstairs for a moment, and tells wife not
throwing things away is a virtue]
The one I have is labeled SF-5000 Electronic Digital
Computer. In the back of my head I want to say that
someone else also marketed the same thing, probably
with a different name.
BLS
Eric Sosman
Google to the rescue: The SF-5000 (a designation applied
to a remarkable number of entirely different designees) was
"a rebranded Kosmos Logicus." That name elicits several
promising-looking hits, including at least one for-sale offer:
http://myoldmac.net/SELL-div/KOSMOS-LOGIKUS-computer.htm
In a.f.c. we recall them thar Olden Days with fondness, but
it can't be denied that these here new-fangled Johnny-come-
lately net services have their uses ...
--
Eric Sosman
eso...@acm-dot-org.invalid
Quadibloc
> >> It was sold by Radio Shack. It was plastic, about 15" wide and
> >> and 12" deep. It was about 2 1/2" high except for the display part
> >> which was another 2". The surface had hundreds of holes to stick
> >> wires. Wires were used to program logic. It had a number of sliders
> >> which were used as logical not. It came unassembled. There was a
> >> book of "programs" for it.
I remember seeing this device, although I never owned one. I have old
Radio Shack catalogs buried somewhere, in which I could identify it,
although I am loath to dig.
.
I believe it was similar to *earlier* devices sold by Edmund
Scientific. Various electronic logic toys that demonstrated how
computers worked were sold since the 1950s of this type; the GENIAC
was in the category I'm thinking of.
.
> > The one I have is labeled SF-5000 Electronic Digital
> > Computer. In the back of my head I want to say that
> > someone else also marketed the same thing, probably
> > with a different name.
.
> Google to the rescue: The SF-5000 (a designation applied
> to a remarkable number of entirely different designees) was
> "a rebranded Kosmos Logicus." That name elicits several
> promising-looking hits, including at least one for-sale offer:
I'll have to see if it's the one *I'm* thinking of. Ah, yes, it
definitely is - and the manual is at www.classiccmp.org as well.
John Savard
mensa...@aol.com
> blstu...@bellsouth.net wrote:
> > Gene Wirchenko <g...@ocis.net> wrote:
> >> It was sold by Radio Shack. It was plastic, about 15" wide and
> >> and 12" deep. It was about 2 1/2" high except for the display part
> >> which was another 2". The surface had hundreds of holes to stick
> >> wires. Wires were used to program logic. It had a number of sliders
> >> which were used as logical not. It came unassembled. There was a
> >> book of "programs" for it.
>
> >> Does anyone remember what this thing was called?
>
> > [runs upstairs for a moment, and tells wife not
> > throwing things away is a virtue]
>
> > The one I have is labeled SF-5000 Electronic Digital
> > Computer. In the back of my head I want to say that
> > someone else also marketed the same thing, probably
> > with a different name.
>
> Google to the rescue: The SF-5000 (a designation applied
> to a remarkable number of entirely different designees) was
> "a rebranded Kosmos Logicus." That name elicits several
> promising-looking hits, including at least one for-sale offer:
>
> http://myoldmac.net/SELL-div/KOSMOS-LOGIKUS-computer.htm
That's definitely NOT the Edmund Scientific unit
I was thinking of (although they may have
sold that one also), so never mind.
>
> In a.f.c. we recall them thar Olden Days with fondness, but
> it can't be denied that these here new-fangled Johnny-come-
> lately net services have their uses ...
>
> --
> Eric Sosman
> esos...@acm-dot-org.invalid- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Joachim Pense
Ah, I had a Logikus when I was a boy back in the early 70s. A great
game to get the basic ideas of digital computing, but of course it is
far from being a computer. I recall the most advanced thing you could
do with this thing was add two three-digit binaries, and that required
tricky organizing of the wires on the board.
Maybe someone writes an emulator for it?
Joachim
jmfb...@aol.com
electronics.
/BAH
jmfb...@aol.com
<blst...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>Gene Wirchenko <ge...@ocis.net> wrote:
>> It was sold by Radio Shack. It was plastic, about 15" wide and
>>and 12" deep. It was about 2 1/2" high except for the display part
>>which was another 2". The surface had hundreds of holes to stick
>>wires. Wires were used to program logic. It had a number of sliders
>>which were used as logical not. It came unassembled. There was a
>>book of "programs" for it.
>>
>> Does anyone remember what this thing was called?
>
>[runs upstairs for a moment, and tells wife not
>throwing things away is a virtue]
ROTFL.
>
>The one I have is labeled SF-5000 Electronic Digital
>Computer. In the back of my head I want to say that
>someone else also marketed the same thing, probably
>with a different name.
I love this newsgroup. Somebody will always have an answer,
even for questions that had been put on my permanent "mystery
in my life" lists.
/BAH
mensa...@aol.com
> In article <qmev135ul366b7hrhjaf75up5n4gv3v...@4ax.com>,
Too bad, you missed out on a lot of fun. When I was 8 or 9
years old, I got a slot car set for Christmas. The slot
car's transformer was a source of electricity. An experiment
shown in a grade school science book was to hook wires to
a dry cell and when connected to a file, you could make
sparks by scaping a wire along the file. Nobody had any
use for dry cells and they were too expensive to buy, but
I was enlightened enough to figure out the same principal
out to work with the slot car transformer. And it did.
So I became fascinated by electricity. I took a week or
two's allowance (25 to 50 cents) and bought a ceramic
lamp base, a roll of bell wire, a light bulb and a knife
switch. Hooked them all up to the transformer, threw
the switch -- and nothing happened.
Well, almost nothing. Through the frosted glass I could
see the filament just barely glowing. This was before I
knew anything about volts and amps. Had I known any of
that, I would not have later experimented by touching
together two wires plugged into a wall socket. Scared
the bejesus out of me. Luckily, I was astute enough to
use a switch controlled wall socket.
But recently, I was rooting through a box of old stuff
and found that I still had the original knife switch
after 45 years. And I found a copy of the original
transformer on eBay which I picked up for 5 bucks.
One of these days, I'm going to re-build the circuit
that launched my electronics career and display it in
a bell jar.
>
> /BAH
Frank McCoy
wrote:
>On Apr 14, 6:30?am, jmfbah...@aol.com wrote:
>> In article <qmev135ul366b7hrhjaf75up5n4gv3v...@4ax.com>,
>> rank McCoy <mcc...@millcomm.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> >In alt.folklore.computers Gene Wirchenko <g...@ocis.net> wrote:
>>
>> >> In the '70's, I got a toy that was a precursor to a computer.
>> >>can not remember the name of it and have been unable to find out
>> >>anything about it despite a number of Web searches.
>>
>> >> It was sold by Radio Shack. t was plastic, about 15" wide and
>> >>and 12" deep. t was about 2 1/2" high except for the display part
>> >>which was another 2". he surface had hundreds of holes to stick
>> >>wires. ires were used to program logic. t had a number of sliders
>> >>which were used as logical not. t came unassembled. here was a
>> >>book of "programs" for it.
>>
>> >> I would like to get one, but without knowing its name, I can not.
>> >>It is really an oddball item. can not even think of what category
>> >>it fits in. his makes it even harder to search for relevant
>> >>Websites.
>>
>> >> Does anyone remember what this thing was called?
>>
>> >Nope ... and I had one too.
>> >;-{
>>
>> And I'm jealous. ;-) never got to play with electricity and
Heh. ;-}
Just last year I built a crystal-set for just about the same reason.
It took me almost ten years of scrounging to find:
1. A genuine "cat-whisker" crystal with Galena crystal and
ball-and-socket whisker like I used-to-use.
2. An old-fashioned 2000 ohm magnetic headset.
3. A 0-365uf variable *condenser* ;-} that wasn't a tiny thing
made for a pocket radio.
4. I found the mica capacitor in my old junk-box.
5. Fahenstock clips.
6. Binding Posts for input and output.
7. 12-guage bus-wire (ended up *making* that myself).
6. A pointer-knob (Radio Shack)
I wound the coils manually by-hand on cardboard tubes it took me about
five years to find. I impregnated each with several coats of *shellac*
first, as I also did the walnut main board.
The front-panel is hardboard, like most such projects used; though many
people used bakelite. Bakelite is almost impossible to find for any use
these days. ;-{
I cheated though, and used my computer to make the paper dial for the
front-panel; then shellacked it in place like most such were.
Amazingly authentic. Now if only I wasn't over 35 miles from the
nearest radio station. ;-{
Done mostly (like you and the light-bulb) to remind me of how I
originally got started in electronics when I was about nine years old:
Building crystal sets.
Steve O'Hara-Smith
"mensa...@aol.com" <mensa...@aol.com> wrote:
> Well, almost nothing. Through the frosted glass I could
> see the filament just barely glowing. This was before I
> knew anything about volts and amps. Had I known any of
> that, I would not have later experimented by touching
> together two wires plugged into a wall socket. Scared
> the bejesus out of me. Luckily, I was astute enough to
> use a switch controlled wall socket.
Heh my version was trying to get light out of my torch with dead
batteries by hooking two pieces of wire to the bulb holder and pushing the
other ends into the wall socket. There was a bang and a flash (the bulb did
glow briefly and brightly) and the wires wouldn't come out of the socket or
off the torch. I fled back to bed, strangely my parents never mentioned it.
--
C:>WIN | Directable Mirror Arrays
The computer obeys and wins. | A better way to focus the sun
You lose and Bill collects. | licences available see
| http://www.sohara.org/
Peter Flass
>
> Done mostly (like you and the light-bulb) to remind me of how I
> originally got started in electronics when I was about nine years old:
> Building crystal sets.
>
Great fun. I remember building one of these as a kid, and then my
father told me he had built one when he was young.
mensa...@aol.com
> > Well, almost nothing. Through the frosted glass I could
> > see the filament just barely glowing. This was before I
> > knew anything about volts and amps. Had I known any of
> > that, I would not have later experimented by touching
> > together two wires plugged into a wall socket. Scared
> > the bejesus out of me. Luckily, I was astute enough to
> > use a switch controlled wall socket.
>
> Heh my version was trying to get light out of my torch with dead
> batteries by hooking two pieces of wire to the bulb holder and pushing the
> other ends into the wall socket. There was a bang and a flash (the bulb did
> glow briefly and brightly) and the wires wouldn't come out of the socket or
> off the torch. I fled back to bed, strangely my parents never mentioned it.
You would think someone would have noticed the wires fused
to the socket. ;-)
I got a professional story also. After getting a job
building mini-computers, we hired a new guy one day
and I was to train him. I had a video switch box to
build that day (a rack about as square as a refridgerator
and half as tall) so we started the training on that.
I went through the preliminary checkouts about testing
for shorts between the AC lines and all the DC outputs.
Satisfied, I told him "Never trust that you've checked
every permutation of possible short. Always close the
doors and stand to the side to put as much iron as
possible between you and the power supplies when you
go to switch it on, just in case it were to explode."
I closed the rear door, walked around to the side,
reached my hand inside underneath the door and threw
the breaker.
It exploded.
You can imagine my reaction. The bang was as loud as
a gunshot. This system was wired for 230v and the AC
fuse exploded like a firecracker (have never seen a fuse
actually explode before or since). Turned out that all
but one of the power supplies had been correctly rewired
for 230v. The one that was still wired for 115v made
a dead short across the AC and wasn't caught because
the breaker was open when we did the tests.
I'll bet to this day the guy thought I did that on purpose.
Frank McCoy
Heheh. There were those descriptions in the books about how to build a
"foxhole radio" crystal set. Most of the parts anybody could scrounge,
including wire and a Gillette Blue Blade for a "crystal". (Worked
pretty good when you stuck one in a regular crystal-holder too.)
However, I always *did* wonder where a guy on the front lines would
scrounge up two very specific and *needed* parts like the cat-whisker
(any old piece of stiff wire just wouldn't do) and even more-so the 2000
ohm headset; without which there wasn't any point in trying. You
couldn't even steal one off the telephones of the day; as those were
mostly 500 ohm jobs or even lower; and not worth a damn on most crystal
sets.
I suppose, like soldiers do today, the GI on the front could always
write home and beg parents to scrape up money for one, so the guys could
listen to the propaganda war going on ... and maybe even some music.
Justa Lurker
> However, I always *did* wonder where a guy on the front lines would
> scrounge up two very specific and *needed* parts like the cat-whisker
> (any old piece of stiff wire just wouldn't do)
The version I built with my father way back when used a piece of pencil
"lead" (actually graphite, of course) sharpened to a point and fastened
to a safety pin for support/connectivity as the "cat whisker" against
the razor blade.
blm...@myrealbox.com
> > It was sold by Radio Shack. It was plastic, about 15" wide and
> >and 12" deep. It was about 2 1/2" high except for the display part
> >which was another 2". The surface had hundreds of holes to stick
> >wires. Wires were used to program logic. It had a number of sliders
> >which were used as logical not. It came unassembled. There was a
> >book of "programs" for it.
> >
> > Does anyone remember what this thing was called?
In the /BAH style: emoticon jumps up and down, waves arms,
shouts "me! me! I know!" thinking that at last she has found
an opportunity to contribute something other than questions and
nitpicks to the group .... but then procrastinates on the hunt
through the closetful of memorabilia ....
> [runs upstairs for a moment, and tells wife not
> throwing things away is a virtue]
Emoticon slumps dejectedly -- someone else beat me to it ...
> The one I have is labeled SF-5000 Electronic Digital
> Computer. In the back of my head I want to say that
> someone else also marketed the same thing, probably
> with a different name.
The one I have -- and now that I think about it, it's probably
not the same thing, but maybe it's similar enough to be of
interest -- is labeled "Science Fair Microcomputer Trainer"
and "catalog number 28-260". I received it as a no-occasion
gift in 1980-something, from a friend who hoped it would help
me get over my phobia about hardware [1].
It has a little microprocessor [2], a speaker that could play
a small range of tones, seven tiny lamps labeled "binary
LEDs", a one-character display labeled "hex LED", and a
20-character keypad (the 16 hex digits plus "address set",
"increment", "run", and "reset"). It came disassembled, with
a little bag of colored wires to be used for connecting the
various components. Programming it was [3] done by using the
keypad to enter machine-language instructions into memory.
It came with a booklet containing many programs (the box
says "includes 180-page programming manual with 100 exciting
programs to run").
[1] It wasn't a total success in that regard, but I did
get it all connected up and working, which felt like a minor
achievement. My big accomplishment was getting it play a tune
vaguely resembling "Happy Birthday" (IIRC it didn't have the
range needed to play the actual tune).
[2] No, I don't know what kind, and the box and manual don't
seem to say.
[3] "Was" or "is"? I suppose it *might* still work if I put
in fresh batteries. Hm ....
--
B. L. Massingill
ObDisclaimer: I don't speak for my employers; they return the favor.
jmfb...@aol.com
"mensa...@aol.com" <mensa...@aol.com> wrote:
>On Apr 14, 6:30�am, jmfbah...@aol.com wrote:
>> In article <qmev135ul366b7hrhjaf75up5n4gv3v...@4ax.com>,
>> Frank McCoy <mcc...@millcomm.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> >In alt.folklore.computers Gene Wirchenko <g...@ocis.net> wrote:
>>
>> >> In the '70's, I got a toy that was a precursor to a computer. I
>> >>can not remember the name of it and have been unable to find out
>> >>anything about it despite a number of Web searches.
>>
>> >> It was sold by Radio Shack. It was plastic, about 15" wide and
>> >>and 12" deep. It was about 2 1/2" high except for the display part
>> >>which was another 2". The surface had hundreds of holes to stick
>> >>wires. Wires were used to program logic. It had a number of sliders
>> >>which were used as logical not. It came unassembled. There was a
>> >>book of "programs" for it.
>>
>> >> I would like to get one, but without knowing its name, I can not.
>> >>It is really an oddball item. I can not even think of what category
>> >>it fits in. This makes it even harder to search for relevant
>> >>Websites.
>>
>> >> Does anyone remember what this thing was called?
>>
>> >Nope ... and I had one too.
>> >;-{
>>
>> And I'm jealous. ;-) I never got to play with electricity and
>> electronics.
>
>Too bad, you missed out on a lot of fun.
Probably. I did make a telegraph. Early on, I knew
I was going into biology, so I concentrated on that kind of
stuff. I wasn't allowed to read books from the library
and we didn't have money, so the "invisible" things were
left for me to learn about later.
> When I was 8 or 9
>years old, I got a slot car set for Christmas.
My brother got that. I wasn't allwoed to touch.
We also got one of those train sets but we were only allowed
to touch when Dad decided he wanted to play with them.
>The slot
>car's transformer was a source of electricity. An experiment
>shown in a grade school science book was to hook wires to
>a dry cell and when connected to a file, you could make
>sparks by scaping a wire along the file. Nobody had any
>use for dry cells and they were too expensive to buy, but
>I was enlightened enough to figure out the same principal
>out to work with the slot car transformer. And it did.
>
>So I became fascinated by electricity. I took a week or
>two's allowance (25 to 50 cents) and bought a ceramic
>lamp base, a roll of bell wire, a light bulb and a knife
>switch. Hooked them all up to the transformer, threw
>the switch -- and nothing happened.
>
>Well, almost nothing. Through the frosted glass I could
>see the filament just barely glowing. This was before I
>knew anything about volts and amps. Had I known any of
>that, I would not have later experimented by touching
>together two wires plugged into a wall socket. Scared
>the bejesus out of me. Luckily, I was astute enough to
>use a switch controlled wall socket.
Do you know where you got that astuteness?
>
>But recently, I was rooting through a box of old stuff
>and found that I still had the original knife switch
>after 45 years. And I found a copy of the original
>transformer on eBay which I picked up for 5 bucks.
>
>One of these days, I'm going to re-build the circuit
>that launched my electronics career and display it in
>a bell jar.
That would make a very nice conversation piece at work...
especially interviewing.
/BAH
Joe Pfeiffer
>
> Done mostly (like you and the light-bulb) to remind me of how I
> originally got started in electronics when I was about nine years old:
> Building crystal sets.
Very cool! I never had that experience -- my first crystal radio was
built from a kit with prewound coils and a diode.
Charlie Gibbs
pfei...@cs.nmsu.edu (Joe Pfeiffer) writes:
I'm in the middle - I used a diode but wound my own coils.
I listened to it with an old telephone handset. Not the
greatest, but I managed to pull in most of the nearby stations.
At least until one of them cranked its transmitter up to 50,000
watts and smeared itself across half the dial.
Later I added a tube to the radio, and later still I added
another winding to my coil and made it a regenerative set
(getting loud lessons in feedback in the process).
--
/~\ cgi...@kltpzyxm.invalid (Charlie Gibbs)
\ / I'm really at ac.dekanfrus if you read it the right way.
X Top-posted messages will probably be ignored. See RFC1855.
/ \ HTML will DEFINITELY be ignored. Join the ASCII ribbon campaign!
Frank McCoy
wrote:
>In article <1bd5253...@snowball.wb.comcast.net>,
>pfei...@cs.nmsu.edu (Joe Pfeiffer) writes:
>
>> Frank McCoy <mcc...@millcomm.com> writes:
>>
>>> Done mostly (like you and the light-bulb) to remind me of how I
>>> originally got started in electronics when I was about nine years
>>> old: Building crystal sets.
>>
>> Very cool! I never had that experience -- my first crystal radio
>> was built from a kit with prewound coils and a diode.
>
>I'm in the middle - I used a diode but wound my own coils.
>I listened to it with an old telephone handset. Not the
>greatest, but I managed to pull in most of the nearby stations.
>At least until one of them cranked its transmitter up to 50,000
>watts and smeared itself across half the dial.
>
>Later I added a tube to the radio, and later still I added
>another winding to my coil and made it a regenerative set
>(getting loud lessons in feedback in the process).
I did that ... once.
Powered the thing off old used batteries I scrounged for months.
Type 30 radio tube.
I was used to falling asleep with my headset on from all the crystal
sets I built over the years.
When I woke up next morning after building the one-tube radio, all the
batteries were completely dead; and I never managed to scrounge up
enough others. I wasn't sophisticated enough at the time to make a
decent power-supply and use more modern cathode tubes and AC for a
supply.
Now you can't even buy kits any more. ;-{
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Frank McCoy <mcc...@millcomm.com> wrote:
> Now you can't even buy kits any more. ;-{
I've seen a "crystal radio" kit recently - but (and this explains
the "s) it was a package with a prewound coil and the components (including
the coil) were on plastic blocks with springs to hook wires into and big
labels and pretty pictures, the tuning capacitor was a postage stamp thing
with a knob. I didn't open it but I think the plastic bits actually clipped
together. It was a far cry from the things I used to build with a diode let
alone the cat's whisker ones I only heard about.
David Powell
Steve O'Hara-Smith <ste...@eircom.net> in alt.folklore.computers
wrote:
>On 14 Apr 2007 08:29:02 -0700
>"mensa...@aol.com" <mensa...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>> Well, almost nothing. Through the frosted glass I could
>> see the filament just barely glowing. This was before I
>> knew anything about volts and amps. Had I known any of
>> that, I would not have later experimented by touching
>> together two wires plugged into a wall socket. Scared
>> the bejesus out of me. Luckily, I was astute enough to
>> use a switch controlled wall socket.
>
> Heh my version was trying to get light out of my torch with dead
>batteries by hooking two pieces of wire to the bulb holder and pushing the
>other ends into the wall socket. There was a bang and a flash (the bulb did
>glow briefly and brightly) and the wires wouldn't come out of the socket or
>off the torch. I fled back to bed, strangely my parents never mentioned it.
Nearly got it right, you're supposed to wire the battery in series
with a 40W bulb and a diode. <g>
At bedtime, I was allowed half an hour for bedtime reading, then
lights out. Give it five minutes for mum to go downstairs and resume
her knitting, then read with torch under the bedclothes. My mistake
was recycling 3/4 used batteries with those in mum's push-bike lights.
Torch confiscated. Then I had this brilliant idea, I had a clockwork
motor in my Meccano stuff, and aquired a push-bike dynamo from a
friend. Not a glimmer, tried again (several times) with Meccano
gears to run the dynamo faster. Decades later, someone made a small
fortune with a wind-up radio.
After that, crystal set, one valve battery shortwave receiver,
evenings in the public library reading electronics stuff, hacking ex
military stuff, amateur radio licence and I was pretty well addicted
to electronics. Took me 40 years to break the habit. I'm cured, now.
Regards,
David P.
Frank McCoy
>On Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:28:41 -0500
>Frank McCoy <mcc...@millcomm.com> wrote:
>
>> Now you can't even buy kits any more. ;-{
>
> I've seen a "crystal radio" kit recently - but (and this explains
>the "s) it was a package with a prewound coil and the components (including
>the coil) were on plastic blocks with springs to hook wires into and big
>labels and pretty pictures, the tuning capacitor was a postage stamp thing
>with a knob. I didn't open it but I think the plastic bits actually clipped
>together. It was a far cry from the things I used to build with a diode let
>alone the cat's whisker ones I only heard about.
Up to about five years ago anyway, you could still buy catwhisker mounts
and Galena crystals from somewhere. Don't know about now though.
Still:
http://www.arcsandsparks.com/crystalradiopage.html
Antique Radio Supply seems to have lots of stuff:
http://www.tubesandmore.com/
Type in "Cat whisker" in their search.
I can find the cup, the cat-whisker, and other stuff on their site; but
(so far) not the whole assembly. I presume I'm just not doing the right
search; as those two parts are the hardest to find.
Even find a complete crystal radio kit for only $10.95!
They don't seem to have the galena crystals though. ;-{
Nice plug-in forms for making multi-band radios though.
Ebay lists mounted Iron-Pyrite crystals:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Crystal-Detector-Mounted-Iron-Pyrite-Crystal-Radio-Exc_W0QQitemZ140107492732QQihZ004QQcategoryZ50595QQcmdZViewItem
In my research, I find that cat-whiskers are usually made of
phosphor-bronze. That's why just any old sharp wire wouldn't do.
I think it's the phosphor that helps make the desired P/N junction.
Um ... Here's a guy who *makes* fancy crystal detectors, for a truly
old-fashioned antique look. A bit pricy, but pretty.
http://www.wynterarchtops.com/radios/sale/detectors.htm
Frank McCoy
I'm still addicted.
Is there a 12-step program?
freddy1X
> In article <20070414171801....@eircom.net>,
> Steve O'Hara-Smith <ste...@eircom.net> in alt.folklore.computers
> wrote:
>
>>On 14 Apr 2007 08:29:02 -0700
>>"mensa...@aol.com" <mensa...@aol.com> wrote:
Heh1 We still talk about the shorted plug incident that took place around
40 years ago. The outlet with the scorched face is still there. <G>
( CUTS )
> After that, crystal set, one valve battery shortwave receiver,
> evenings in the public library reading electronics stuff, hacking ex
> military stuff, amateur radio licence and I was pretty well addicted
> to electronics. Took me 40 years to break the habit. I'm cured, now.
What! You never built the mechanical TV adapter for your radio? I found a
book, older than I am, about radio theory and construction. It also
included plans for such a TV receiver.
Or how about the Radio Electronics magazine article on how to build a color
TV. Not a kit, you built your own sub-chassis and adapted it to an
existing B&W set. Even detailed winding your own delay line!
I wonder how well these and the Xtal radios will perform when digital
transmission takes over? You better hurry with your kits, you are almost
out of time.
--
do not run through doorways, holes in ceilings, walls or floors
/|>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>\|
/| I may be demented \|
/| but I'm not crazy! \|
/|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<\|
* SPAyM trap: there is no X in my address *
Frank McCoy
>David Powell wrote:
>
>> In article <20070414171801....@eircom.net>,
>> Steve O'Hara-Smith <ste...@eircom.net> in alt.folklore.computers
>> wrote:
>>
>>>On 14 Apr 2007 08:29:02 -0700
>>>"mensa...@aol.com" <mensa...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>Heh1 We still talk about the shorted plug incident that took place around
>40 years ago. The outlet with the scorched face is still there. <G>
>
>( CUTS )
>
>> After that, crystal set, one valve battery shortwave receiver,
>> evenings in the public library reading electronics stuff, hacking ex
>> military stuff, amateur radio licence and I was pretty well addicted
>> to electronics. Took me 40 years to break the habit. I'm cured, now.
>
>What! You never built the mechanical TV adapter for your radio? I found a
>book, older than I am, about radio theory and construction. It also
>included plans for such a TV receiver.
>
>Or how about the Radio Electronics magazine article on how to build a color
>TV. Not a kit, you built your own sub-chassis and adapted it to an
>existing B&W set. Even detailed winding your own delay line!
>
Was that the one with the huge rotating color-wheel in front?
>I wonder how well these and the Xtal radios will perform when digital
>transmission takes over? You better hurry with your kits, you are almost
>out of time.
AFAIK, they don't plan on replacing either AM or FM.
Not enough available bandwidth to make enough profit on; unlike the TV
spectrum, where they just move everybody up to previously allotted UHF
that wasn't all that full anyway.
freddy1X
> In alt.folklore.computers freddy1X <fred...@indynetx.netX> wrote:
>
>>David Powell wrote:
( CUTS )
>>
>>> After that, crystal set, one valve battery shortwave receiver,
>>> evenings in the public library reading electronics stuff, hacking ex
>>> military stuff, amateur radio licence and I was pretty well addicted
>>> to electronics. Took me 40 years to break the habit. I'm cured, now.
>>
>>What! You never built the mechanical TV adapter for your radio? I found
>>a
>>book, older than I am, about radio theory and construction. It also
>>included plans for such a TV receiver.
>>
>>Or how about the Radio Electronics magazine article on how to build a
>>color
>>TV. Not a kit, you built your own sub-chassis and adapted it to an
>>existing B&W set. Even detailed winding your own delay line!
>>
> Was that the one with the huge rotating color-wheel in front?
What a monstrosity! I vaguely recall a discussion of that as one option,
the other was three discrete CRT's and filters, final design up to the
reader. I still have the magazine around here. I would never throw that
one out but I am unlikely to find it again soon( it seems I'm suffering
from a severe case of " 'round here somewhere" disease ).
>
>>I wonder how well these and the Xtal radios will perform when digital
>>transmission takes over? You better hurry with your kits, you are almost
>>out of time.
>
> AFAIK, they don't plan on replacing either AM or FM.
> Not enough available bandwidth to make enough profit on; unlike the TV
> spectrum, where they just move everybody up to previously allotted UHF
> that wasn't all that full anyway.
True for now. But they are pushing that digital radio stuff pretty hard...
--
make sure appliance is off before connecting cord to outlet
Frank McCoy
Well *some* people are; those interested in selling the crap.
But people aren't really buying all that much.
Why? Because you PAY monthly fees to listen to it.
That's both why some people are selling it hard, and why the public
isn't buying all that much.
At least digital TV will still be broadcast "free"; just like it is
right now. Actually, all the *digital* television I get is only off the
air, not on cable. And, most of the so-called "digital" TV on cable
never makes it into your TV set as a digital signal. Most goes in as
plain old NTSC analog.
Joe Pfeiffer
Yes, you can. Heathkit is long gone, of course, but there are other
manufacturers. Jameco has a decent line of electronics kits they
sell. Polulu has *fantastic* robotics parts and kits. Last I saw
Paia was still selling synthesizer kits (though the owner died
recently, so that may have changed).
They're out there.
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Frank McCoy <mcc...@millcomm.com> wrote:
> Up to about five years ago anyway, you could still buy catwhisker mounts
> and Galena crystals from somewhere. Don't know about now though.
>
> Still:
> http://www.arcsandsparks.com/crystalradiopage.html
Ye gods the prices!
> Antique Radio Supply seems to have lots of stuff:
> http://www.tubesandmore.com/
Better - much better. Still on the wrong side of the pond for me ;)
Stan Barr
>
>AFAIK, they don't plan on replacing either AM or FM.
Here in the UK VHF/FM is already doomed, a tentative switch-off date has
already been announced (2015, I think) and there are already a few EU
digital stations transmitting at the top of the MW/AM band, around 1590+Khz.
--
Cheers,
Stan Barr stanb .at. dial .dot. pipex .dot. com
(Remove any digits from the addresses when mailing me.)
The future was never like this!
Stan Barr
Elecraft and Ten-Tec make radio-related kits and there's a whole host
other US and EU kit manufacturers, including some computer-related stuff.
Alas I think the SBC6120 PDP-8 emulator kits are finished due to shortage
of processor chips :-(
David Powell
>David Powell wrote:
>
>> In article <20070414171801....@eircom.net>,
>> Steve O'Hara-Smith <ste...@eircom.net> in alt.folklore.computers
>> wrote:
>>
>>>On 14 Apr 2007 08:29:02 -0700
>>>"mensa...@aol.com" <mensa...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>Heh1 We still talk about the shorted plug incident that took place around
>40 years ago. The outlet with the scorched face is still there. <G>
>
>( CUTS )
>
>> After that, crystal set, one valve battery shortwave receiver,
>> evenings in the public library reading electronics stuff, hacking ex
>> military stuff, amateur radio licence and I was pretty well addicted
>> to electronics. Took me 40 years to break the habit. I'm cured, now.
>
>What! You never built the mechanical TV adapter for your radio? I found a
>book, older than I am, about radio theory and construction. It also
>included plans for such a TV receiver.
>
I saw one (modern reconstruction) once at a radio rally. Dim,
flickering picture about 2"*3"
>Or how about the Radio Electronics magazine article on how to build a color
>TV. Not a kit, you built your own sub-chassis and adapted it to an
>existing B&W set. Even detailed winding your own delay line!
>
Oh yes, well not entirely by my myself, but I did help my dad build a
colour tv for the Coronation (1953). Green and black, as I remember,
using an ex-radar electrostatic tube and ex-radar 45 Mc/s IF strip as
a TRF receiver. Sound not finished in time, used the radio
broadcast. :)
>I wonder how well these and the Xtal radios will perform when digital
>transmission takes over? You better hurry with your kits, you are almost
>out of time.
Regards,
David P.
Charles Richmond
There is a TAB book titled _Radio Receiver Projects You Can Build_,
Homer L. Davidson, TAB Books, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17294,
ISBN: 0-8306-4190-4. One of the first projects is building a
crystal radio set and *you* wind your own coils. It goes on to
other simple radio set projects, some using an IC for the guts.
--
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Charles and Francis Richmond richmond at plano dot net |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
Charles Richmond
Au contraire, Frank. You *can* buy radio receiver kits. Take
a look at these web pages:
http://store.qkits.com/moreinfo.cfm/FK708
http://www.kenneke.com/kits2.html
http://www.quasarelectronics.com/1055.htm
http://www.amazon.com/AR2N6K-Amateur-Receiver-requires-assembly/dp/B0002MQFDC
http://home.pon.net/785/vlfkit.htm