A Crummy Commercial

. I have to admit that I've never tried this: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2fSw0ua5K0 Spit and whomp are terms I've never found in any books on radio repair.  But it's better than letting the radio sit on the proverbial "shame shelf" :) Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

 I had the first cell fail.  It was installed in an analog quartz clock ("REGULATOR") on March 10, 2019.  I noticed that the clock had stopped on February 1, 2023 so almost 4 years of service. I tried measuring it with the Metex DVM:  open circuit:        1.491 Volts  with an 18 ohm load:    less than .2 Volts (continually decreasing), decreasing current from about 28 mA  with a 1.3 kohm load:    1.250 Volts, current .9 mA The loads were from the Sears VOM on the 1.5V test and 1.5V button cell test switch positions. Fortunately no leakage has occurred.  The Energizer applications manual pdf https://data.energizer.com/pdfs/lithiuml91l92_appman.pdf says that the electrolyte is a lithium salt / organic solvent, which sounds more benign than either the Sal Amoniac in carbon zinc cells or the potassium hydroxide in alkaline batteries. As the cheapest person ever I might just hold onto this cell unt...

 An interesting picture from roughly 1925 on the wonderful Shorpy site: source: https://www.shorpy.com/node/4785 It appears that they used paper and aluminum foil wound together to form the capacitor. And all those machines and women crammed into that triangular room, imagine the noise. Atwater Kent (the man and his company) was profiled in the July 1969 issue of Popular Electronics, page 33: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Poptronics/60s/69/Pop-1969-07.pdf As I read it Atwater Kent didn't want to bargain collectively with his workers so he shut the works and retired wealthy to California. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm     

. Eric Berger at Ars Technica had an interesting post on that balloon: https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/02/why-would-the-chinese-government-be-flying-a-large-stratospheric-balloon/ This reminded me of the VE3KCL hydrogen balloon flights of some time back: https://qrp-labs.com/ultimate3/ve3kcl-balloons.html VE3KCL launched a number of these balloons using aluminized Mylar hydrogen party balloons to lift them up thousands of meters into the atmosphere where the prevailing winds took them literally around the world.  The low power beacon built with QRP Labs components, powered by solar power and was tracked by hams around the world.  Really amazing flights by VE3KCL. source: https://qrp-labs.com/images/ultimate3builder/ve3kcl/s9/path.jpg I wonder if anyone tried listening for that balloon ? Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

 This is an exceptionally well done web page from 2010 by Koichiro, JR1MAF: http://www.mafnet.jp/roman/hamradio_forum/topic_31_e.htm Although I've got no interest in using vacuum tubes his craftsmanship could apply to any ham radio project.   One thing I thought was interesting was that he encountered (see it about 2/3 of the way down the page) some attenuation while using  a mechanical filter from an old Yaesu transmitter.  He took the cover off the filter and found that the foam rubber had started to disintegrate.  He cleaned it off with alcohol and the signals were better.   This foam rubber problem reminded me of my Heathkit HD-1250 dip meter.  I had put it away for a long time - after re-opening the lid a little shower of foam rubber particles came off the foam rubber pad under the lid.  This must happen to all of these kits, usually when there are pictures on the internet the foam rubber under the lid has decomposed and been removed like th...

 A couple of interesting articles on the second shuttle disaster: https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/02/two-decades-after-the-columbia-disaster-is-nasas-safety-culture-fixed/ picture source: https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/0300307_large.jpg https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/02/the-audacious-rescue-plan-that-might-have-saved-space-shuttle-columbia-2/ picture source: https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/caib-rdv-lg2.png Guess what: management doesn't always listen, I imagine that this is still true, everywhere in the solar system ! Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm             

This thingy is just so cool: source: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/20h0Hu6EUwM . . photo source: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/52-b8-aircraft-intervalometer-camera-1794592451 a somewhat more beaten up example:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/373835002351 Potentially this thing is from 1955 (as am I) when the B-52 entered service - so be kind :) Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm