A Crummy Commercial

One of the items from the most recent electronic assortment purchased on Ebay: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2026/06/buy-first-think-later.html was a Heathkit HD-1410 iambic keyer.  It's a 5 IC TTL keyer with a discrete transistor clock generator, iambic B and a universal keying output for both cathode and grid block rigs.  The design is similar to the WB4VVF Accu-keyer.  The HD-1410 also has an AC supply built in as well as mechanical paddles, a sidetone and a tune switch - it's a pretty complete design. So I was hoping that it might just work at first try.  I was disappointed :(  One minor problem was that the included AC cord didn't quite fit right.  It will power the unit but if the cord sags or is moved it loses contact.  One way around this might be to replace the chassis AC power connector with an IEC "computer" connector ?  I'll have to think about it.  Similarly the DC power input uses some Molex connector for which I don't have a matc...

An EF-2 tornado rolled through the Fox Cities south of Green Bay on Monday July 27, 2026 midday.    source:  https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/2026/07/27/menasha-appleton-grand-chute-see-significant-damage-after-tornado-storm--live/91069036007/ Northeast Wisconsin has seen it's share of tornadoes over the years.  I posted previously about the Tom Mix Circus performance in 1938 which was cut short by a bad storm (bottom of the page): https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2023/08/vital-secret-order-decoded.html The Neenah historical Society has an interesting post here about the incident: https://www.facebook.com/neenahhistory/posts/10158291911653225/ before the storm in Neenah The Tom Mix Circus used trucks instead of a train The Olsons lived in nearby Appleton then, Dad would have been almost 8 years old on July 10, 1938.  He and my Grampa attended the Tom Mix circus that night - possibly it was a birthday present ?  Wet canvas doesn't like high wind ! Anyway...

Tiger Woods and Tony Romo https://socalgolfer.org/tony-romos-nightmare-day-on-the-golf-course-ends-with-arrest-after-wisconsin-amateur/ The Not so special 6 PM If you're ever in Milwaukee you better drive right you better not swerve, boy you keep your course tight don't mix your drink with driving while cruising south on 43 cause the sheriff's guns will sack you and then you'll be up a tree Let the Midnight Special  shine a light on me Let the Midnight Special  shine it's ever-lovin' light on me With apologies to the legendary Lead Belly, et. al. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_Special_(song) This is probably the version I heard first: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbrBAodZvu0 I was trained as an engineer, not a poet :) Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

A fun video from Ringway Manchester: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y_i0RjRBr0 What caught my eye was the simple power switch used in both designs - very clever.  Good switches are expensive, bulky and attract attention.  This method of using copper tape to bridge two contacts is easy to fabricate, inexpensive and not as obvious as a commercial switch.  And it might have been possible to hide the circuitry below some cardboard with matches on top ? The Radio Shack weather radios are still available (used) on Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/158073241107 There are many "bugs" on the internet - most are in the FM broadcast band but could probably be moved up in frequency fairly easily - here's a slightly more modern design: https://www.electronics-diy.com/electronic_schematic.php?id=989 there weren't any 3 volt lithium coin cells (at least not in common usage) 40 years ago. This design should fit in a matchbox :)   But it probably won't work any bett...

For some reason I remembered these - I think they must have made the TV news in 1968: source: https://www.ebay.com/itm/377003893199 A famous stunt from 1968 by Dick Gregory.  I never actually saw one but it got a LOT of free publicity.  One weird thing, this one is different: Apparently the VP changed along the way from David Frost to Mark Lane ? No, it explains it in the wiki (apparently Dr. Spock was another VP running mate): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory BTW, this was NOT the TV David Frost from England, this David Frost was from NJ:  https://newjerseyglobe.com/in-memoriam/peace-activist-david-frost-who-ran-for-u-s-senate-in-n-j-in-1966-and-for-vice-president-dies-at-96/     Here are Gregory and Frost with supporters in 1968:   Dick Gregory was quite a guy, as the old saying goes: "often wrong but never in doubt"  :)   He would have been a better President than the current occupant.  I always had the belief that Dick Gregory, ...

This photo is priced above my Ebay pain threshold: Although I did get a 15% discount offer: source:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/185914151164 The listing says circa 1920s but other internet pages fix it at 1911.  By that date Percival Lowell had already fired the public imagination with his drawings of Mars and had published books about Mars per the wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percival_Lowell And the War of the Worlds had been published just before the 20th century: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds I'm not aware of any reason for a surge of interest in Mars during the 1920s - the Orson Welles Halloween telling of that tale on the radio was in 1938. I find it a fascinating picture raising several questions.  What was it like inside ?  Was it just a movie or slide show ?  Where are the customers aka rubes ?   Of course here is the semi-obligatory inflated price (it won't go below 1913): I guess it depends on the show as to whethe...

For some reason I thought of the song: Bandstand Boogie .  I found it on Youtube, there is the original instrumental by Les Elgart and his orchestra (which is really catchy and brief): source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHiFsRQEHQw Then there's also the version with lyrics by Barry Manilow (longer but also good): source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTXWf2_H0FI Now this search was in a private window, so theoretically it shouldn't "pollute" my regular Youtube feed, right ? But then later in the day my regular Youtube feed recommended this: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsLT-zRWWdQ I didn't actually watch this Youtube video, I watched the movie instead.       Escape From New York is a good movie, fast paced and entertaining but there's almost no music - except for the Les Elgart version of Bandstand Boogie !  Ernest Borgnine's character, Cabbie, has it on cassette in his yellow Checker cab.  And the song plays a ro...