Which way does current REALLY flow?

I've talked on the podcast about launching a worldwide campaign to require the reversal of ALL those little arrows on the symbols for transistors and diodes.   You see, they are saying that electricity flows from the positive to the negative.  Engineers apparently got that idea from Ben Franklin, and they are sticking with it.  It is time for a change!   Reverse the arrows!  Down with CCF!  Viva Electron Flow!  Let's tell the truth!

This morning Bob Crane W8SX sent me this very interesting article on this topic from Nuts and Volts:

http://www.nutsvolts.com/magazine/article/which-way-does-current-really-flow?utm_source=Newsletter+%2332&utm_campaign=Newsletter+%2332&utm_medium=email

The article describes very well the origins of this controversy. (There were one or two scary moments in which I thought the author was getting ready to tell us that positive ions can move through wires and transistors (NO!) but he pulled back from the brink and clarified that he was talking about ion flow in electro-chemical batteries.  Whew, that was scary!)

But here's a question for the philosophers and historians of electronics:  When physicists decided to label the electron as "negative" this was an arbitrary choice, right?   They could have just as easily decided to call it "positive" with the protons being called "negative" right?  In this case all the arrows in our diagrams would not be in need of reversal, right? 

Shotwell had the Knack (Car Knack), and so does Jay Leno

I've joked about homebrew cars -- we have a bumper sticker on Café Press that says "My Other Car Was Homebrewed From Junkbox Parts."  Well, in this video Jay Leno shows us a true homebrew car, this one built by a 17 year-old in 1931.  In the video you will hear some interesting comments from Jay on the kind of technical and mechanical skills that were expected of young men in the 1920s and 30s.  At the end of the video, watch Jay suffer the consequences of replacing a 20 amp fuse with an 8 amp fuse.  Who among us have not done something similar?   

Cool, Blue, and Homebrew! Pete Juliano's Tiny SSB Rig

Blue is the new Black!  I think some smart paint manufacturer should put a trademark on "Juliano Blue."

Check out Pete's latest efforts:
http://n6qw.blogspot.com/2016/07/small-radio-big-signal.html

Building LC Oscillators

Yesterday I came across this very nice video -- I thought you guys would like it.  2E0VIR obviously has The Knack!

I'm building a very simple LC VFO today. This is for the HRO Dial Receiver that I've been slowly working on. Mine is a Hartley, from Chapter 3 Figure 7 of SSDRA.   Stay tuned!

CBLA Dallas Division: Multiple Mighty Mites in the Lonestar State

Bill:

Just thought you would like to know that I am a new member of the color
burst army.  I am also a member of the Dallas Makerspace and our Amateur
Radio Special Interest Group is planning on offering classes (open to
HAMS and non-HAMS) where we build these Mighty Mites for the colorburst
frequency.

The class version will have a resistive dummy load instead of antenna,
to allow the project to be built by non-HAMS.  The idea is to get our
HAMS who just use commercial radios interested in building radios.  It
is also to get our general members (who like making things) into HAM radio.

Walter