Old Knobs with a Cast of Thousands
You have an old radio — in the case of [The Radio Mechanic], a Stromberg Carlson — and it needs new knobs. What do you do? You can’t very well …read more Continue reading Old Knobs with a Cast of Thousands
Author Archives: Al Williams
Fourier, the Animated Series
We’ve seen many graphical and animated explainers for the Fourier series. We suppose it is because it is so much fun to create the little moving pictures, and, as a …read more Continue reading Fourier, the Animated Series
Mechanic Prince of Tides
Lord Kelvin’s name comes up anytime you start looking at the history of science and technology. In addition to working on transatlantic cables and thermodynamics, he also built an early …read more Continue reading Mechanic Prince of Tides
Ham Busts the Myth of Ground
Everyone who deals with electronics knows that grounding is important. Your house has a copper rod in the ground. But [Kristen K6WX] has news: the idea of ground is kind …read more Continue reading Ham Busts the Myth of Ground
Tunneling TCP By File Server
You want to pass TCP traffic from one computer to another, but there’s a doggone firewall in the way. Can they both see a shared file? Turns out, that’s all …read more Continue reading Tunneling TCP By File Server
Tech in Plain Sight: Theodolites
We take it for granted that you can look at your phone and tell exactly where you are. At least, as exact as the GPS satellites will allow. But throughout …read more Continue reading Tech in Plain Sight: Theodolites
Can You Hear Me Now? Try These Headphones
When you are young, you take it for granted that you can pick out a voice in a crowded room or a factory floor. But as you get older, your …read more Continue reading Can You Hear Me Now? Try These Headphones
The 6809 Lives On in an FPGA
At one point, the Motorola 6809 seemed like a great CPU. At the time it was a modern 8-bit CPU and was capable of hosting position-independent code and re-entrant code. …read more Continue reading The 6809 Lives On in an FPGA
Digital Meter From 1973, A Teardown
[Thomas] found an interesting probable millivoltmeter with some Beckman displays. Like many instruments from that time period, this one had a lot of tobacco smoke residue inside. The display unit …read more Continue reading Digital Meter From 1973, A Teardown
The Emperor’s New Computer
You walk into a home office and see an attractive standing desk that appears bare. Where’s the computer? Well, if it is [DIY Perk]’s office, the desk is the computer. …read more Continue reading The Emperor’s New Computer