Saturday, March 12, 2011
HomeBREW (literally!) Your Own Microphone!
During those dark days in which I was using my Astatic D-104 mic for podcast purposes (not a popular move) I checked on the mic element inside my chrome lollipop and found it to be the original crystal "Rochelle salt" element. I remember wondering about the Rochelle salt: What the heck was that? Well, this morning, the hippie technologists over at the Make blog explained it all to me via the above embedded video. It turns out that you can MAKE piezoelectric Rochelle salt crystals in your kitchen using -- get this -- soda ash, coffee filters, and -- wait for it: CREAM OF TARTAR sauce! I'm not making this up.
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Attention Kroger: prepare for a run on your Cream of Tartar this weekend in northern Virginia
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! Thanks! As a kid in the '802 I made these from actual Rochelle salt which was apparently used as a laxative in the '50s and before. When we went on family vacations and traveled through small towns, I raided the supply of every old time drug store we came across. Lately, I've purchased Rochelle salt from chemical supply companies. It's great to know that it can be made at home with cheap ingredients!
ReplyDeleteThe book I read as a kid indicated that there was enough voltage to light a small neon bulb. I never saw that actually work though.
Bill,
ReplyDeleteCheck out eham.com. The most recent article is about impedence matching a D104 to a transistor rig.
Tom
KI6NRD
Hi from Porto-Portugal (the guy that also ran a rocket club as a young kid...Antonio Ferreira- i´m (ElMotoKedas-cb)and almost got it: -Il signore Bugiardo non avrá un cusino que fa dei picolli ragazzi in legno con il naso que grandisce?
ReplyDelete--it wasn´t in the 1st of april that i got to hear the podcast, so it took a while...Anyway u seem to be on the do-it-yourself-gaseous state: see this utube site:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl-QMuUQhVM&feature=related
I find it HamAzzing. yeh i did carry the valves/tubes caddy and the simpson 260 as a kid for my father and still can recognize a nizie as contrary to my teacher(i´m 51 and back in school)
A BIG HEARTH-FELT THANK U - from sunny Porto (Maia actualy) A.Ferreira avoarferro@hotmail,com