About caps and coils
I am working on a new fun project at the moment.
For a very, very long time i want to make a crystal radio set but never had the time for it. Now, while cleaning up some boxes
i found some materials to make one. A scrap piece of pvc pipe, some wire, an diode of unknown type and a few capacitors.
I even found an old crystal earphone. What a gold mine!
A few hours later the coil was wound, all pieces soldered and music was filling my ear. It turned out that I was lucky with the diode.
A bit wondered that this actual worked i was looking at that thing i made on my bench.
What if i could make this complete radio all by myself like they did in the old days and make all the components by hand?
On the internet i found a page dealing with a variable capcitor made from cardboard. I had a look at it but i couldn't
tell what the value of this variable capacitor would have. Nothing else to do then just make it.
It turned out that the capacitor only has a very low capacitance of around 10-30pF.
I say something because this thing is rather unstable and completly unusable for me.
Back to the drawning board
I needed something sturdier. The next capacitor i made of pcb or printed circuit board. Its material that is used in
electronics. It's an epoxy plate with on both sides a copper layer. I made 8 plates for the stator and 9 for the rotor.
After the assemble it was ready for the test
The result wasn't good. Again a very low capacitance. It turned out that there wasn't contact between the different copper layers of
the rotor due to the design. Adding a small wire and some solder fixed that but i still wasn't pleased with this version.
No i've finished a full aluminium 3th version that is up for the task. More about that one later.
In the meantime i found a nice box to build my radio in but the coil was to big to fit in. I needed a new coil.
And if you try to rebuild an antique radio set then you must have a good looking sexy coil.
Again because i didn't know what i was up to i had to first make a test model.
The coil worked but wasn't stable enough and needed to be handle with great care. I made a new coil but now using
wire with a solid core. Also about this one i will talk later more.
- By: A.A. van Zoelen
- On: 26/07/2010 17:53:00
Dragon remains
Building a large dragon throughout my garden is still ongoing but rather slow. However, yesterday i had some time
to work on it again. I carved this neat looking front leg.
Still a few parts to go.
- By: A.A. van Zoelen
- On: 05/07/2010 21:35:00
Jewelry
This necklace with matching hangers was made during a crafts workshop some time ago. 15 Ladies where nervously
seeking through several boxes to find the most beautiful beads and other items. Me, as the only male there could only
wait for them to finish before i could try my luck. It was a successful event and i went home with this nice gift for my wife.
- By: A.A. van Zoelen
- On: 19/04/2010 21:33:32
Post modern Van Gogh
Another experiment with a tutorial from this great site.
This is me on an undercover assignment in the village of Santa Claus..
I had a wonderfull time in Finland and i was doing very well,
In the end i was caught by my daughter who recognized me despite the hat...
The snapshot she made gave me a great opportunity to turn that one into a cartoon-like image.
- By: A.A. van Zoelen
- On: 7/03/2010 17:00:52
Light scribe
Two week ago i was on a well deserved vacation in Austria. While trying all kind of settings and functions on my camera
i got this idea for writing with light. After a few experiments i got this as a result. Looks rather neat if i may say so.
- By: A.A. van Zoelen
- On: 7/03/2010 14:01:02
YooYoo and Hoops
The ground is still frozen solid so i am still not able to continue work in the garden. That gives me time to make a
time to make a nice paper automata. I found this one last week on the internet.
It was great fun to make.
Click on the image to see it in action.
- By: A.A. van Zoelen
- On: 7/03/2010 13:42:13
Whaz the wabbit?
A few months ago i saw some nice images of paper art inside a toiletrol holder. I did emptied mine resently some i gave it a
go.
The moon is just shinning through the clouds.
Can you see where the little rabbit lives?
- By: A.A. van Zoelen
- On: 7/03/2010 12:33:32
Typographic art
Lately i was bored. Now being bored isn't always a bad thing. Why? I'll give you an example. As i said i was bored and i was just cruising the internet. Clik here, click there.
I ended up at this great site that had all kind of graphic tutorials and examples. There i found this tutorial.
The above picture is the result.
- By: A.A. van Zoelen
- On: 6/03/2010 10:04:02
Domotica
For some time now i am automating my house with sensors, motion detectors and remote switches. But one thing stayed the same all this time. The audio system. Now it's time to reshape that and go all the way. So what did i try to accomplish? Actually not that much. Just listening to audio such as playlists, internet radio or any other source that i could tap into with my server. And i wanted to listen to it in every room in my house that i entered but the music had to be turned off again if anybody wasn't in to room. I was able to do that all. I have audio in every room and even a nice bonus. Also the garden is integrated now into my domotica system. You can read more about it in this article on this forum link (Domotica forum).
- By: A.A. van Zoelen
- On: 12/01/2010 21:14:02
