Knack Victim Makes Good! Alan Yates in Seattle

Jean Shepherd used to say that in life, many of us come to a fork in the road:  down one path lies success.  Down the other, ham radio flea markets.  Alan Yates is proving Shep to be WRONG. 

I have fond memories of Billy and I building many versions of Alan's trivial electric motor.   We look forward to his virtual reality.  

Alan Yates Making X-Rays from Rectifier Tubes

Anytime you find yourself writing a sentence like this...
"At only 20-30 kV and a few hundred uA in cold-cathode mode the x-ray radiation pours out, making the end-window Geiger counter scream from more than a meter away."
... perhaps some alarm bells should be going off.

Our friend Alan, VK2ZAY, has been busy in the lab, generating X-Rays from old 2X2 rectifier tubes. This reminds me of one of the articles in the wonderful C.L. Strong book, "The Amateur Scientist." Check it out: http://www.vk2zay.net/article/222

Hey Alan, can you make us up some of those X-Ray glasses that they always advertised in the backs of magazines? As a teenager, I somehow always wanted one of those...

Watch Mr. Wizard! 1952 Program on Electromagnetism. And more! (video)

Wow.  This is a very thought provoking program.  It is kind of like "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood," but with science. The lessons provided by Mr. Wizard are really good, but one shudders to think about doing the these experiments with kids (or even with adults!) in today's world.  Here are a few of things that would cause trouble today:  

-- Liquid mercury.  

-- A big power supply. ("Here Willy, you hold the positive terminal.") 

-- Even the sprinkling of iron filings would probably require masks at a minimum.  

-- In the end, letting poor Willy drop to the floor when Betsy turns off the electromagnet that was holding his swing in the air.  

-- And of course, poor old Mr. Wizard's affinity for the kids would stir suspicions. 

We also see a sad and very early example of the influence of advertisers and what they call today "product placement."  Note the fairly obvious plug (via Morse Code!) for breakfast cereal.  In the credits you will see that the program was sponsored by "The Cereal Institute."  What next kids?  Cigarettes? 

But there is a lot of virtue in this program:  The development of the telegraph key, Morse Code,  CW sidetone.  Unlike many of the Box Top Extras of today, young Betsy was not afraid to wind a coil.   

We should all embrace the spirit of Mr. Wizard.  We are, after all, the International Brotherhood of Electronic WIZARDS!  These experiments reminded me a lot of the Trivial Electric Motor that my son Billy and I made when he was around Willy's age (thanks for the idea Alan Yates).  

Thanks to Chuck KF8TI for alerting us to this show.  Chuck says this program was an early influence on him, and was one of the things that provided a connection between the theory he was learning in college and the real world of electronic devices. 

Many more great programs like this can be found on Mr. Wizard's YouTube Channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/user/MrWizardStudios   Please let us know if you find other videos (on this channel or elsewhere)  that will be of special interest to the IBEW. 

Finally, color TV in 1952?  That seems a bit early for color.  What do you folks think was happening here? 

SolderSmoke #94

http://www.soldersmoke.com

SolderSmoke #94

November 2, 2008
Halloween in Rome, Autumn rains
Building Class A Amps with Spice, Copper, SSDRA, EMRFD
Wes on oscillator output wave forms
Inspirational article in "Air and Space" Magazine
Book Review: "My Detachment" by Tracy Kidder
Autumn SPRAT
SPECIAL REPORT FROM G-QRP MINI-CONVENTION
Aliens on 80 meters
MEPT: Can you see me?
Softrock 40 Group tries to digitize N2CQR
Homebrew solar panels
Request for assistance.. .
MAILBAG:
Alan Yates in cahoots with AA1TJ
Les gets our logo on I-tunes
Paul WA1MAC gets 2 2Bs
Scott KD5NJR on KSC honeymoons
Bruce VE9QRP on new free QUCS simulator
Keith G0CZR on bubble wrap insulation
Bob KD4EBM on green laser dangers
John VK3AJG designs 80 meter SSB rig
Todd KE7KXI on Knack relapse, old electronics smell
Jerry NR5A BACK IN ACTION!
Bob N7ZF on SolderSmoke Facebook

Other Workshops: A Twin Cylinder Solenoid Electric Motor and some Very Cool Craftsmanship

This project caught my eye for a couple of reasons:  

First, it is the product of a very cool metal shop and a very skilled craftsman.  It is fun and inspiring just to watch Maceij build this motor.  We see great precision in the metal cuts, speedy tap and die work, and some great PC board technique.  The use of an open flame on the heat shrink material was, well a bit courageous. 

Second, this is a far more sophisticated version of the trivial electric motor that my son Billy and I built 17 years ago (I still have it!), following up on inspiration from Alan Yates VK2ZAY (see below).   With Alan's device we turned on power to the commutator by just sanding away the insulation on one side of the enameled wiring.  Maceij takes a much more sophisticated approach, with carefully milled switches and opto controllers turning on and off power at the right time to each of the solenoids.    

 

Maceij's YouTube channel has many other projects, many like this one:  https://www.youtube.com/@maciejnowakprojects 

Thanks to HackaDay for the heads up. 

A Treasure Trove of Permeability Tuned Oscillator (PTO) Info and Links (Plus Info on Direct Conversion Receivers)

There is really great info on this page, and even more in the links at the bottom of it.  While the page is about PTOs, the links often discuss their use in Direct Conversion Receivers. I really liked the Tin Ear receiver.   And it was great to again come across the work of Alan Yates VK2ZAY.   Alan very admirably admits that laziness caused him to use an LM386 audio amplifier in place of a more virtuous discrete transistor design. 

 https://qrpbuilder.com/pto_mechanism

I bought one of the qrpbuilder PTO kits and I will soon put it together.  I have been having good results with a Glue Stick PTO and with a brass screw PTO form designed by Farhan and 3D printed for me by Dean KK4DAS. 

LET'S GO PTO! 

ET Phone Home! With Minimalist QRSS!

I knew that Alan Yates, VK2ZAY, was just the man for this project. Alan and I met up several years ago when Billy and I spotted and built his Trivial Electric Motor (we still have it, and occasionally fire it up to amaze visitors). On SolderSmoke 102 I mentioned the possibility of a one transistor QRSS transmit station. Obviously this would require some sort of mechanical keyer. I thought of a clock drive. Alan pointed out the in the 1982 Steven Spielberg movie, ET had used a saw blade as his mechanical modulator (see above). Alan also had some intriguing ideas of his own:

G'day Bill,
Thanks again for noticing my QRSS signal making it through to Europe.

Your talk about mechanical solutions for QRSS modulators immediately
made me recall "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial". The "Phone Home" device he
built had a modulator based on a sawblade IIRC - its been years since I
watched that 1982 classic.

One easy hack might be to use an AC synchronous motor out of a gobo
rotator (for example, I got one out of a fibre optic christmas tree that
expired from overheating). Its reduction drive results in a fairly slow
rotation which might drive a modulator plate. You could do the pickup
optically using a LED/photodiode (or transistor, or even an LDR I guess)
transmission pair. Electrical contacts would work too, but doing it
optically probably means it would have a longer life.

A tape loop system might also be practical and would allow long
modulations to be encoded at reasonable tape rates. A syncro-drive gobo
has to be turned fairly slowly and pushes the "density" of the data
fairly high so the mechanical or optical sensor gets harder to just
throw together. I am sure a clockwork driven disk could be made to
work, it just might have to be fairly large.

Mechanical readout might be a microswitch and holes in the plate, or
even using PCB material with the pattern on it (etched or masked), and a
brush contact. To minimise wear a brass small roller held against disk
with spring tension would work. Oxidation on aging might become a
problem - yeah the more I think about it I am liking optical better.

You can also do it electrically using a diode matrix which can be read
out with some counters. Of course that defeats the original purpose
which was to make a single transistor QRSS beacon with a mechanical
modulator.

One completely insane idea that just occurred to me is to build a slow
mechanical oscillator (say driven by a Stirling Engine or a Curie Point
Pendulum heated by a small candle) and modulate the RF oscillator with
that. The mechanics or thermal system might directly effect the RF
oscillator frequency. Who will make the first candle-powered QRSS
beacon with thermopile PSU? :-)

Regards,
Alan
http://www.vk2zay.net/

Another Trivial Electric Motor

The above video popped up on the BBC channel a few days ago.  Three cheers for the Beeb for doing this, but I'd like to point out that we have been building Trivial Electric Motors for at least 16 years.  We were inspired by Alan Yates VK2ZAY W7ZAY. 

 Below is a video from 2006: 

And there are several links (and a video) about Alan and the Trivial Electric Motor here: 

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/search?q=Trivial+Electric+Motor

Thanks again Alan! 

Alan Yates: Electronics Wizard!

I first met up with Alan in 2002 when I spotted his web site describing a "Trivial Electric Motor."
My son Billy and I built one and sent Alan a report.

Alan clearly has "The Knack." Check out his site: http://www.vk2zay.net/category.php/13

Alan Yates, VK2ZAY, is back in the knack!

I was getting kind of worried.  I hadn't seen any new articles on Alan's excellent web site.  But on my last visit I learned that he has moved to Seattle and is going to Maker Faires:  http://www.vk2zay.net/article/268

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Clockwork CW: The Path to Minimalist QRSS?

Well, maybe not using that one. But something like it. The idea -- mentioned recently on the podcast -- is to use a mechanical clock mechanism to generate the CW for a QRSS beacon. This would allow us to get the transistor count for our beacon down to one. For some odd reason, some of us find this appealing, especially when you consider that the transistor count on the receive side is in the tens or hundreds of millions. One is the magic number. You can see how this project brings together two of the biggest littlest recent trends in the QRP radio: QRSS and minimalist radio.
It's kind of scary when you Google something and are referred back to your own blog. That's what happened to me on this subject. Back on May 28, 2008, this was posted (by me!) as a comment to one of the beacon-related posts:

Hello Bill and Others:
A few years ago, a buddy had made a neat keying operation made by taking a
one RPM clock motor and had it rotate a printed circuit board disk that had
the callsign etched on it several times sequentially. Clock motors are
made to run continuously for years, and it stood up with just an
occaisional cleaning of the wiper arm with spray cleaner.
All the best to all!
73 de Lee Smith VE4ANC

This message from Lee was a response to a January 1999 question from me. So we are sort of re-inventing the wheel here.

Of course, there are some QRSS beacon circuits out there with VERY low transistor counts. Hans Summers has one on his site that used a bi-stable multivibrator to generate a pattern for QRSS. That would yield a total transistor count of 2 or 3. But we are going for one single transistor. And I kind think we should look for something that will allow for the transmission of callsigns.

Here's an e-mail exchange from the Knights of QRSS mailing list that may generate some ideas:

Re: [Knightsqrss] Junkbox + soldersmoke = pattern generator

Saturday, March 7, 2009 10:43 AM

From:"Paolo Saia"

To:"n2cqr"

Very nice idea Bill. After tiny solar mepts this could been our next QRPP/ET challenge .
73 de Paolo IZ1KXQ
--------- Initial Header -----------

From : knightsqrss-bounces@cnts.be
To : knightsqrss@cnts.be,"Soeren Straarup" xride@x12.dk
Date : Fri, 6 Mar 2009 21:48:55 -0800 (PST)
Subject : Re: [Knightsqrss] Junkbox + soldersmoke = pattern generator
It would be fun if the clock were a "wind up" type. And for extra credit: Power the transmitter with the energy from the same spring mechanism (or other wind-up device) that powers the clock!
ET PHONE HOME!
--- On Fri, 3/6/09, Soeren Straarup <xride@x12.dk> wrote:

From: Soeren Straarup <xride@x12.dk>
Subject: [Knightsqrss] Junkbox + soldersmoke = pattern generator
To: knightsqrss@cnts.be
Date: Friday, March 6, 2009, 3:30 PM
Hi list,
Hans Summers has made an astable multivibrator as pattern
generator.
Bill Meara has thought about making a analog clock.
Alan Yates loves my idea of an exercise bike pattern
generator.
Though i'm open for suggestions. No pics, pc or
any other programmable
devices.

Rules of design:
1) KISS
2) Should be in most junk boxes
3) Pattern should be easily changed (diversity, more
homebrewers)
4) KISS
This is for a simple Pixie2 TX modified to be a QRSs TX.
Stability? SSShhh.
Vy 73 de OZ2DAK
Soeren Straarup | aka OZ2DAK aka Xride

SolderSmoke Podcast #241 Mars, Direct Conversion, PTOs and Glue Sticks, Anniversary of the BITX20, Multus Proficio SDR, Boatanchor Station, MAILBAG

The board I use to test DC RX circuits 

SolderSmoke Podcast #241 is available

Audio (podcast):  http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke241.mp3

Video (YouTube): (215) SolderSmoke Podcast #241 October 28, 2022 - YouTube

Introduction:

Back on Mars.  Opposition approaching.  I have a Mars filter.  And (like T.O.M.) a Mars globe. 

N2CQR DXCC done

SolderSmoke in the WayBack Machine

Sticker news

PARTS CANDY -- Don't Scrimp with a Crimp! 

Bill's Bench

School DC RX projects -- in Hyderabad and Northern Virginia. 

Direct Conversion Receivers -- Keeping it Simple, Learning a Lot.  A step beyond the Michigan Mighty Mite. Do we really need 100db?  Do we really need to shield VFOs?  Farhan's super-simple and stable Colpitts PTO.  Audio amps, 1000-8 transformers and rolling your own LM386

PTOs and Glue Stick PTOs.  Paul Clark WA1MAC. Brass vs. Steel bolts.  #20 thread vs. #28 thread.  Backlash Blues. The best Glue Sticks. 

2 meters and the VWS.  Bill has a Baofeng. 

SHAMELESS COMMERCE:  MOSTLY DIY RF

Pete's Bench

20th Anniversary of the BITX20   Pete's early BITX rigs. 

Computer Woes

The Multus Proficio SDR rig

Simple SSB in China  BA7LNN

Things of beauty: Tempo One, NCX-3 and a SBE-33

MAILBAG

-- NS7V is listening.

-- Graham G3MFJ sent SPRAT on a stick.

-- Nick M0NTV  FB Glue Stick and 17 Shelf videos.

-- Dino KL0S HP8640 Junior

-- Mark AA7TA   Read the SolderSmoke Book

-- Steve EI5DD Connaught (Ireland) Regional News

-- Dave K8WPE  Planting the seeds of ham radio interest

-- Peter VK3YE Ruler idea on PTO frequency readout

-- Michael AG5VG Glue Stick PTO

-- Tobias  A polymath with UK and Italy connections.  And cool tattoos.

-- Alain F4EIT   French DC receiver

-- Michael S.  was in USMC, working on PCM/TDM gear

-- Alan Yates writes up Amazon transformer problem

-- Todd VE7BPO,  Dale W4OP, Wes W7ZOI

-- Farhan VU2ESE sent me an sBITX

-- Todd K7TFC   The Revenge of Analog

-- Jim Olds    Building QRP HB gear  

The Multus SDR rig Pete discussed

The older rigs Pete mentioned

My version of DC RX that Farhan is working on

My PTO with VK3YE's ruler frequency readout

SolderSmoke Podcast #242 Mars, New Hams, Direct Conversion, SDR Console, Proficio, PSSST, 8 meters, A BIG MAILBAG

SolderSmoke Podcast #242 is available

Audio podcast:  http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke242.mp3 

Video:  (362) SolderSmoke Podcast #242 December 3, 2022 - YouTube

Travelogue: 

Mars at opposition.  Not as good as 2020 (see charts below)

SSSS Prep

Hearing aids and high frequency loss.

AirPods as hearing aids.

Out in the Shenandoah with a Baofeng.

Success among TJ High School students.

Satellite in space?

 

PARTSCANDY

 

Bill's Bench:

Direct Conversion Receiver:  IT IS ALIVE!  EVEN IN LTSPICE

PTO works very well.

Diode ring -- really needs a diplexer, Radio Marti.

AF amplifier simplicity.

But WHY can't you listen to DSB on a DC receiver? Now I know.

How does a diode detector work?  Is the envelope real?  Is it square law?

The benefits of writing... 1967 and 1966 articles on PTOs and 2Qs.

 

Shameless Commerce Division:

-- MOSTLY DIY RF!  NEWS FROM PORTLAND! Get your free Michigan Mighty Mite. 

-- YouTube Goal Reached.  Thanks! Keep watching.  Subscribe!

-- Keep buying from Bezos using the link on the right-hand column of the blog page.

-- Become a Patreon sponsor!  Left hand column of blog page.

-- I have ads on the blog page, but I have configured to avoid troublesome ads -- dating sites, etc.

 

 Pete's Bench

-- Stepper motor, LCD and Arduino for my little DC RX?

-- SDR Console

-- PSSST, BOMS, Schematics and spoon feeding...

-- Proficio SDR by Multus

-- 8 meters?

  

Mailbag

-- Alan Yates VK2ZAY now also W7ZAY PTOs, trivial motors, a broken ankle...

-- Dhaka Jack AI4SV formerly of Cyprus, Madagascar and Northern Virginia. has moved to France!

-- John WB5OAU/K5MO An old friend.  FMLA as "Glowbugs Noir"

-- Dale Parfitt W4OP on the Homebrew 2Q from 1967

-- Nick M0NTV Glue Sticks, PTOs, DC receivers and AM breakthrough testing.

-- Todd K7TFC suggests “cool” names for DC RX  PT Cruiser? PT109? PT73?

-- Levi replacing Selenium diodes in a Globe VFO.  I am not alone!

-- Juanjo EC5ACA wants to build DC RX .  FB.

-- Dave designed a discrete LM386.  Picked up by Jenny at HackaDay.  Can you build this?

-- George Zaff.  HamRadio Workbench Spiritual Brother of SolderSmoke.

-- Alain F4IET -- Still building DC receiver.  FB.  Sorry I got the call wrong.

-- Drew N7DA Building Pixies with 3D forms.

-- Toni G6XMO in Sheffield getting a 3D printer business going: https://www.whizz3dparts.co.uk/

-- Chuck KE5HPW restoring an old SW-54.  Pete is skeptical.

-- Lex and Jesse like Colin's placement of WYKSYCDS sticker on his Homebrew rig.

-- Jim KI4THZ joined the Vienna Wireless Society -- FB  on the faculty at GMU

-- Tony G4WIF suggested mechanical counter for DC RX PTO freq readout.  I have some in the junk box.

-- Our old friend Jonathan-san in W0XO now a Patreon sponsor.  Origato!

-- Thomas K4SWL sent him video of Tiny SA watching Vatican Radio sign off for the day.

-- Farhan and Chuck Penson liked blog post about Heathkit Digital Rig SS-8000 1978!

-- Ed KC8SBV working on DC receivers -- I recently used the Peppermint Bark box he sent.

-- Old friend Bob KD4EBM on the linearization of the R-390s.  Hard to homebrew one of those!

-- George from VWS trying to figure out how (if?) Marconi got his coherer to work DX...

-- Steve EI5DD sends Connaught Radio news: https://www.docdroid.net/Q1lBoyi/crnews1222-pdf#page=36

 

Won’t have another Podcast until the new year so Happy Holidays to all!  Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!