Please Help Get SolderSmoke into RadioShack Stores

Several listeners sent me the link to a new campaign by the RadioShack stores. They apparently want to get back into supplying parts for the electronics DIY community. Great! I always liked the oft-maligned stores. I missed them when overseas, and was always saddened to see them drifting away from the world of our kind of radio shack. But it appears that the 'shack might be coming back! RadioShack has asked customers to leave comments on their blog page listing the three items that they would like to see added to the RadioShack inventory.

I would really appreciate it if you guys would go to that page and tell them that you think it would be a good idea for them to sell the book "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" in their stores. You can point them to the link http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm

Some things you might mention in your comments on the RadioShack blog:

-- One of the reasons I wrote the book was because I wanted to try to help perpetuate the old, friendly, cooperative ham radio spirit: The culture of the Elmer and all that. The shared junk box. The willingness to help someone with a project or a technical problem. This book might help foster the kind of sense of community that would help everyone (including RadioShack!)

-- The book was in part inspired by the RadioShack publications of the great Forrest Mims. Like Mim's books, SolderSmoke has lots of hand-drawn diagrams.

-- The book actually contains (already!) a very favorable comment about the important role played in DIY by the RadioShack stores.

-- While it is mostly about ham radio, it was written to appeal to the broader electronics DIY community, and contains wide variety of projects including astronomy, kite aerial photography and rocketry.

-- The author -- Bill Meara -- would be willing to work something out with them (!)

So, gentlemen: Please get typing! Don't tell them I sent you ;-) Let's make this seem like a spontaneous outpouring of popular support.

Here is the blog location for RadioShack: http://blog.radioshack.com/post/2011/05/19/RadioShack-And-The-DIY-Community-You-Talked-Were-Listening.aspx

or http://blog.radioshack.com/post.aspx?id=f7239c83-8fd3-47e4-9fb9-395f57b56bb7

If you are so inclined you could also tweet them your input @Radio Shack

And you could put your comments on their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/RadioShack

Thanks a lot!

Forrest Mims on amateur science

Here's another dose of inspiration from one of our "Homebrew Heroes." Forrest Mims has been one of my heroes for a long time. A colleague yesterday gave me a copy of a recent article in Make about his ozone measuring device (build at home with Radio Shack parts!). With this device he was able to outshine NASA in the data accuracy department. Check out the article:
http://www.make-digital.com/make/vol24?pg=28#pg28

Here's another interesting article by Forrest on amateurs in science: Forrest Mim's article in Science

"Wired" looks at Radio Shack

Art, KG6ZWD, sent this link to me. Looks like Wired magazine has an interesting article about Radio Shack.

http://blakegonzales.com/2010/06/30/growing-up-with-radioshack/

I always liked these stores. They were never perfectly aligned with our needs, and they seem to be drifting even further away, but over the years I picked up lots of good gear and needed parts at these stores. Ideas too! I have those "Mini Notebooks" by Forrest Mims. Great stuff!

The Amateur Scientist, Trivial Motors, Influential Books...

I got a nice e-mail from Keith, VE3TZF, that got me thinking about "The Amateur Scientist" by C.L. Strong. The Wiki article on this book is very interesting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amateur_Scientist
Check out the part about Forrest Mims.

Here's Keith's e-mail:

----
Hello again Bill,

In your podcast you frequently make reference to the book, The Amateur Scientist.

This got me thinking back to what REALLY got me started along the path of building stuff for fun.

There were three books I remember reading over and over, even though at the time I had a very hard time really understanding what was on all of those pages. Those books were:

1. 'Codes, Ciphers, and Secret Writing', by Martin Gardner (unfortunately, he recently passed away).
2. Some type of 'build yourself a science laboratory' book.
3. Some type of 'build electric motors' book.

I explicitly remember that one of the tasks in the 'science laboratory' book was to take a burnt out light bulb, etch around the neck, break it off, and turn it into a flask. The flask was supposed to sit on a stand that you already made out of wire (a coat hanger?). I've been trying all sorts keyword searches in Google to fine the name of the book. I'm sure I would recognize it if I saw it. Is this 'The Amateur Scientist'? The closest I have gotten is "Build-it-yourself science laboratory: work like a scientist: build your own equipment, make real findings" by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. I'm still looking...

On the other hand, when you described the trivial electric motor, something twigged in my memory. I've built one of those! Many of those in fact! Decades ago! The 'electric motor' book made reference to 3 basic designs. They were called the 'mini', the 'midi', and the 'maxi'. The 'mini' motor was in fact the trivial electric motor. The 'midi' motor used fixed magnets on the armature, and the 'maxi' motor used electromagnets only. I remember salvaging an old wooden pencil box, and stealing some of my mom's knitting needles, to build the 'maxi' motor. I used a 6 volt lantern battery to power it. It worked extremely well, but got incredibly hot! And the sparks! I had not yet learned about volts, amps, and watts. Also at the time I was too young to get the mini/midi/maxi references to womens' skirts.

After a little searching with Google, I hit the jackpot:

* "How to make and use electric motors", Al G. Renner - 1974
* Text and diagrams give instructions for building the mini, midi, and maxi motors and for performing various experiments.

Now I just have to find a copy.

I'm currently spending a lot of time with my nephew, building blinking LED circuits, buzzers, motors, and listening to Morse code. He's really getting into it, and I KNOW that this is important.

I just wanted you to know that your podcast (and excellent book) have far reaching impacts that you may have never intended.

-Keith Robert Murray VE3 TZF

Homebrew Hero: Ed Roberts (RIP)

The Maker blog has a really great 20 minute podcast interview with Forrest Mims. He talks about his recently deceased friend Ed Roberts, founder of MITS and creator of the Altair 8800. The interview is really great. You guys will like it. Look for the little audio bar just underneath the article on this page:
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/04/remembering_ed_roberts_the_father_o.html