A Crummy Commercial

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...

looking at this EDN Design Idea :  https://www.edn.com/custom-diy-dmm-smd-fixture-for-low-z-measurements The thing that caught my eye was the clamp - the article calls them: Lever arm-toggling ?  Really ?  In the olden days of the 1970s/80s/90s we called them: De-Sta-Co clamps because that's what was stamped into the clamp  :)   I imagine that there are many generic versions now.   In our receiving inspection department they were used for holding a device-under-test (DUT) in place on a test fixture.  With ICs this wasn't necessary but with other items it was required to hold the DUT in place to minimize affecting the temperature or whatever.  https://www.destaco.com/clamping/manual-clamping/hold-down-clamps Where did we get them ?  why here: https://www.mcmaster.com/products/destaco-clamps/ I wonder if Destaco ever considered doing what Louboutin did with their shoes - Destaco clamps always had red handles :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

What appears to be an AI voiced video about Heathkit: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUQOG1hp54g I think the video was interesting but it really overstates the value and historical impact of Heathkit.  It also says that surface mount was the first killer of kits.  I don't think I'd go quite that far.  They rank cost as factor 2 but really surface mount was a part of driving cost lower. However I do think that Heathkit was important in my pursuit of radio and electronics as both hobby and career.  Ironically the trouble I had building the HW-16 was actually a boost: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/06/hw-16.html The HW-16 was really a receiver-transmitter.  There wasn't a lot of circuitry shared between the two halves.  The receiver was built on a circuit board and worked first time.  The transmitter was three tubes and built point to point - and much simpler than the receiver - but it didn't transmit right.  Thanks to the Heathkit m...

For some reason I had a memory pop up of the Burny Brothers Bakery outlet store in Northlake IL, here's a video (with Chicagoland media personality of the 20th century, Fahey Flynn): source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBZxwFgWGHc BTW, when I lived in Northlake the Burny Brothers store wasn't quite as nice as it is on the video.  It was more like a convenience store without too much stock.  But the thing I remember was something like this: source:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/256334091091 The one at Burny Brothers also had a perforated metal hood around it.  The baked goods at Burny Brothers weren't super fantastic or low priced but they all came in boxes and I thought that machine was really cool because when buying more than one box of goodies the cashier would tie the boxes together. Here's a video of a more recent machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOKgKa3fOEw And another video with a slo-mo of the tying of the knot (this was probably like the one at...

IMO the internet stinks for recent history, the boring details like what did this place look like in 1969 - that kind of thing.  However there are a few outposts like Pinterest that do have a little history (along with a LOT of ads). Recently I saw this Red Barn ad in a Pinterest email.   Curiously while I don't think I ever was in a Red Barn restaurant the ad did spark a memory. As I recall there was a Red Barn on Fond du Lac avenue right next to Amateur Electronic Supply.  So I jumped in my internet car and tried to take a "drive" around that area.  Unfortunately Microsoft Bing has killed their streetside part of the maps.  Fortunately Google did a pass through that area for street view fairly recently in November 2025. I *think* this used to be the Red Barn: the barn roof is gone though To the north is where AES used to be: South of the Red Barn was Evans and Kunz pet shop: And finally here is the former Fruit Ranch food store: I tried to verify some of these...

This radio strikes me as impossibly French: Google translate version source:  http://rxcontrol.free.fr/Receivers/RS560/ The white face, aluminum knobs, tiny speaker and meter, unusual dial - it's a very interesting looking radio !  It actually reminds me of my stereo from JC Penney which had that same look with the silver face and metal knobs. MCS 3210 - I never liked those metal knobs    The RS560 is a solid state receiver from the 1960s with germanium transistors.  Looking at the internal pictures with the shielded boxes I imagine a very expensive radio machine. What does impossibly French mean ?  something like this: https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a45737315/renault-4-history/ The wheelbase was different on the driver and passenger sides due to the rear suspension :) Remember the Renault Alliance ?  One of the last of the "Kenosha Cadillacs".  I remember reading something similar about the car - but I couldn't find the article online....

I used to live/work in Northlake IL.  Recently I took a "drive" around Northlake using Google.  It's been over 30 years since I've physically been in Northlake so allow me a little curiosity :)  As far as I know the town was named Northlake because two main arterial roads, Lake Street and North Avenue cross at the western boundary of Cook County / Northlake - in other words a very practical place not fancy.  Suburb names in Chicagoland could be weird though, there is one called Oakbrook which had a big mall / shopping center, and then next to it is Oakbrook Terrace, maybe not quite as upscale but again, practical :) I actually had been looking for a building to the east on North Avenue that had an old Zenith plant: next suburb east of Northlake is Melrose Park, IL They made picture tubes there but of course picture tubes and Zenith have not prospered over the last 30 years.  One of the engineers at GTE used to work at this Zenith Rauland plant.  He said the...

Phil Anderson, W0XI was mentioned previously here: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2023/07/phil-anderson-w0xi-sk.html I saw this Kantronics QRP transmitter on Face: It's an interesting design - the thing I noticed was the classic mechanical design of a Bakelite box plus a top plate.  Another interesting detail, the key was connected between the positive power and the rig - this is similar to the original Tuna Tin 2 transmitter.  But instead of another transistor the Rockhound uses a CMOS hex inverter chip as both the crystal oscillator and the driver of the VN66 output MOSFET. I wonder how it sounds ?  Probably depends on the crystal, antenna, supply, blah blah blah :) I imagine that the Rockhound might have been paired with the Kantronics 8040 receiver, manual here: https://www.manualslib.com/download/3124657/Kantronics-8040-B.html The 8040B was a FET heavy design.  Here is an ad from the May 1980 issue of 73 Magazine for the Rockhound, the 8040B and the Freedom VFO: An...

I have been searching for this picture for years:    It was on the same roll as the Walesa pictures: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/11/walesa-in-chicago.html I must have sent it to the folks, they were living on Washington Island by that time (1989-1990) and I didn't go to see them during the once a day winter ferry months.  So we either called or wrote.  Anyway, the picture vanished.  But I was able to scan in the negative. I think this is a VW Beetle chassis with the plywood body instead of the usual fiberglass kit car or dune buggy.  The tubes between the front wheels are for the left and right torsion rods for the front suspension.  The car is parked in the GTE Automatic Electric north lot on the east side.  The building in the background is an old folks home on the other side of the creek (which is still there): https://www.ascensionliving.org/find-a-community/casa-scalabrini-village    I never found out who owned the car - most o...

I thought I'd take a quick bicycle ride, braving the 2nd day of gun+bullet deer season, to the electric co-op to leave my payment in the drop off box.  But after riding 4+ miles to the co-op I realized I had forgotten the little envelope with the payment, idiot ! So I rode back, by this time it was getting close to the Packers-Vikings kickoff so I stopped at the lake home to listen to the first half of the game.   While listening I started looking at some old photos and happened to find these from November 18, 1989, just a little over 36 years ago: Lech Walesa framed by tall people in the crowd Lech Walesa in the blue coat standing next to Gov. Thompson and Mayor Daley with others I don't remember there were banners and there were balloons . a lady in the crowd . this was from earlier when I was at the front by the rope Lech Walesa speaking These are of the plaza in front of the Daley Center in Chicago (aka where the big Picasso sculpture sits).  The reason: a visit ...