Another milestone. Shown here are the radio parts from a kit. In an unbelievable afternoon, I wired and soldered the parts to the printed circuit board in the upper right corner. With directions that were inadequate to a total beginner, I proceeded with confidence start to finish. Turned it on and heard “Monday, Monday”. Worked first time. Not long ago this was far beyond my imagination. I missed out a lot by not having a school with a shop.
True, it was a kit and here is my logic. First, one is sooner or later going to have to assemble a kit. The differences here are that unlike following the directions, I know what every component does and could replace it or use it in another assembly. Two months ago I though you needed a lab to build these things and would not have attempted it. In fact, I would have royally screwed things up.Instead, I am now listening to my own radio, some oldie FM station. Agt. M says the soldering job is professional “the way it should be done”. It was watching him solder that did my technique more good than all the videos and tutorials combined. I did build radios before, but without electronics knowledge, more of a parlor trick. Fact is, with training a kid could have build this kit, but without the detailed (and at one level unnecessary) knowledge of the workings.
Dave-O came by and it was overcast so we headed out to the beach. He went snorkeling. I dared to wade in to my knees but swimming is still out of my range, it is a very taxing sport on the heart. We chatted up a couple of ladies but just for practice. I snapped dozens of photos and here is one that made Dave-O look like a hotel commercial in GQ. The shot is cropped but note the reverse rule of thirds. It emphasizes he is moving away from the vanishing point. It was luck, not great photography.Agt. M and I went to Harbor Freight for parts. Dang, I just sunk $60 into the scooter and it still won’t start. I think I’ll take the morning off and walk it three miles to the garage, save myself the $40 tow. Dave-O was supposed to show back up but he had to go to some kind of meeting. He’s the only dude around with a trailer hitch but also his own priorities.
Here’s some trivia. Dave-O’s father is actually in line, albeit, a very long line, to the English throne. That explains why Dave-O is so intent about hearing things like Charles is about to abdicate. I agree with Chuck stepping down, he is hardly the type that inspires the nation or that I’d follow into battle. That’s society. Dave-O doesn’t know how to cook and I’m baking bread this evening. And listening to some 60s shit. Like most radio, your favorite station is never the loudest and clearest.
I did some reading on IC applications to find out the traffic signals are controlled by an astable chip. It is rigged operated on multiples of a single timing unit set on the innards. That explains why you can never see two of the lights ever come on at once even by accident or if severely damaged. It is logic gates, no moving parts to wear out or short out. By single timing unit, I mean the green-red-yellow on times are exact multiples or fractions of a preset interval. So that much wasn’t your imagination. And yes, the red is at least one unit longer. Another neat safety feature is that unless a bulb burns out, there is never a moment when at least one light isn't on. I’m learning.
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