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RETROTECHNOLOGIST?
I KNEW THE LOSS WAS SERIOUS WHEN I SAW THE NEWSPAPER JUNK THEIR OLD PRINTING PRESSES. Seeing it myself made it real. Ripped the heart right out of that building and that paper.
It's not why newspapers are dying but it is one reason why they die largely unmourned.
I'm pushing back.
Typewriters, Dial Telephones, Hand Tools, Old Amateur Radio Gear, Telegraph Keys, Analog Volt Ohmmeters, Vacuumatic Coffeemakers, Slide Rules, Fountain Pens, etc.: I have 'em. I use 'em.
It's not political.
There are other places for that. People who love old technology can be found all across the spectrum. Let's concentrate on what we have in common.
A major goal of this blog is to make information findable.
I try to use post titles that include the topic or device covered and to include links to further information. If you have anything to add, please comment on the post or e-mail me.
(e-mail update pending)
It's not why newspapers are dying but it is one reason why they die largely unmourned.
I'm pushing back.
Typewriters, Dial Telephones, Hand Tools, Old Amateur Radio Gear, Telegraph Keys, Analog Volt Ohmmeters, Vacuumatic Coffeemakers, Slide Rules, Fountain Pens, etc.: I have 'em. I use 'em.
It's not political.
There are other places for that. People who love old technology can be found all across the spectrum. Let's concentrate on what we have in common.
A major goal of this blog is to make information findable.
I try to use post titles that include the topic or device covered and to include links to further information. If you have anything to add, please comment on the post or e-mail me.
(e-mail update pending)
PRACTICIONERS OF THE ART:
- ALL THINGS WIRELESS AND LETTERPRESS
- INDIANA HAMFEST CALENDAR, 2015
- DURENBERGER.COM (RADIO BRODCASTING)
- OLDENGINE.ORG
- THE RADIOTELEGRAPHER
- THE RAYMOND SCOTT ARCHIVES BLOG
- VINTAGE TECH OBSESSIONS (Blog)
- AM AMATEUR RADIO FORUM
- BILL'S ANTIQUE RADIOS
- Niel, W0VLZ
- ELECTRONIX AND MORE
- CQ de W0VLZ
- YE OLD DRILLE
- COLLAPSING WORLD
- THE INDIANA HISTORICAL RADIO SOCIETY
- WESTERN HISTORIC RADIO MUSEUM (KEYS)
- Radiotelegraphy.net
- THE TELEGRAPHER
- THE TYPEWRITER PAGES OF WILL DAVIS
- THE STEAMPUNK WORKSHOP
- ROUGH AND TUMBLE ENGINEERS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
- AA9PW FCC EXAM PRACTICE
- MARITIME RADIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
- THE CLASSIC TYPEWRITER PAGE
- W. R. SMITH: TELEGRAPH KEYS, CLOCKMAKING AND MODELMAKING
- W1TP TELEGRAPH & SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT MUSEUMS
- HISTORY OF TELEVISION
About Me
- Roberta X
- I'm *mindlessly* fascinating. My internal monologue is like a frog in a blender, swimming like mad to keep ahead of the blades.
Followers
SOURCES
- Hewlett-Packard Archive
- Edcor Transformers: power, audio, chokes
- Angela Instruments (tube parts)
- Pilot Light Data
- VIZ key: bugs, cooties and keyers
- PM Research: Steam Engines, Stirling Engines
- Campbell Tools (Steam Engine Kits, too)
- Your Old Time Bookstore (titles from Lindsay's Technical Books)
- Extendadot: speed reducers for bug keys
- Vibroplex
- Morse Express
- Antique Electronics Supply
- Modern Radio Labs
- PhoneCo
- Old Phone Works
That's coming along real nice. Less is better, you're right.
ReplyDeleteIs it just me or is that old B+ test point hole a drill-wobble off center?
Both off-center and whatever the six-pointed version of trochoidal would be. I've seen uglier mods -- I "installed" (for want of a better word) a National AM dial on a Heathkit HW-16 with a worn dial disc, when I was in my very early 20s.
ReplyDeleteNot all ugly mods are on the outside. I sold a HW-16 to one of my 'tronics teachers in college. He was a young guy right out of university himself, so he was sure he was an expert. Anyway, to cure the yoopiness of the 16's CW note he built a shunt voltage regulator for the oscillator stage out of a NE-2 bulb, thinking it would limit at about 90 volts. Poor guy didn't realize he'd built a relaxation oscillator to modulate his oscillator.
ReplyDeleteOg, I was thinking of molybdenum disulfide -- but after reading the MSDS for it, I don't know why they made us get rid of it. Maybe the eyewash requirement.
ReplyDeleteDave, you can use neon lamps as a voltage reference -- it was a hot app in the 1930s -- but even a nice fat one won't handle enough current to make much of a regulator in and of itself. Which is why VR tubes are so very handy. The wickedest regulator trick I know is to use a Zener to lift the ground terminal of a 3-termnal regulatior (78XX, 79XX); this gets you up in VR-tube ranges with minimal parts count, though heat-sink insulation can make for extra work.