September 1, 2013

           Take a break, you deserve it. I did chores because I felt like it. I checked the wiring on the eBike but not much else. Talked with the neighbors, went to Dunkin for coffee and the crossword. What a pack of weirdos hang out there and now they let beggars bother you in the parking lot. That particular Dunkin is extra weird. You get working class heroes in there. You know the type. Real estate agents and retired drywallers. Other than myself, I’ve never seen anyone in that place work the crossword puzzle.

           Since it was muggy again, I kept in the shade and did my thinking. Long ago I learned to not look like I’m thinking because a lot of people plain don’t like seeing it. So as I pondered I built this contraption. It drew so much curiosity I’m going to explain it, so let’s sit back and maybe learn something. I often gain perspective when I’m describing and I myself want to see where this goes.
           Before we begin, I can’t warn enough that these may look like science class projects but ALL of these devices are dangerous to some extent. In its simplest form, it is a buzzer, so we’ll use that for understanding. You can see the club standard of fancy materials and square cuts which were really not needed for the crude job it performs. But a clean, well-built project is a safe project. You done been told.
           The moving part of this gadget is the strip of metal you can barely see between the nail point on center left and the nail head on center right. See it? It is one of those springy steel strips from those slots on the back of a computer. At rest, the spring action presses the metal against the left mail point. When electric current is applied (3VDC), the power flows through to the wire winding, which turns the nail on the right into an electromagnet. Grade six stuff as the magnet pulls the strip away from the nail point, opening the circuit. This cancels the magnet and the spring returns to the nail point to begin the cycle again.
           The off-on cycle happens so rapidly, the metal strip acts like a buzzer. In fact, mechanical doorbells with a clapper use pretty much this same layout. What is being examined here is the tiny spark that happens at the nail point while this is going on. Tesla would call it a spark gap generator, if I turned out the lights, you’d see the action. Um, if there really are any kids reading this, be careful. The parts containing iron and copper get hot after a few seconds.
           What I’m measuring is the distance at which the radio signal generated by this appliance can be picked up by AM radio. I call it my homing beacon. After all these hours of effort, I could not get it to work. Each component and each step shows the overkill associated with club methods, you can see even the solder joints have been shrink-tubed. But the buzzer doesn’t buzz. The snag appears to be the metal is too springy or not springy enough. The nail separations are adjustable and I can get it buzz by constantly adjusting the gap.
           But find the right metal I will, as this is the only apparatus I have that my robot sensors can pick up through solid obstacles. I can’t afford real wireless so I’m happy I’ve already got a range of four feet. Tomorrow, I substitute a strip of sardine can material. That stuff is so springy you have to be careful not to cut your finger and you know what I’m talking about. Total cost here is about thirty cents, though I have yet to connect the right capacitor so it will buzz intermittently and not overheat.

           Here is [a photo of] the sardine can lid being prepared. The spot where the nail point touches has to be bare metal. Shown here I am scraping off the label and this folks has got to be one of the eeriest haunting sounds we’ve ever heard. Movie producers take note, this is not like any other sound. It is like a deranged child screaming “Eye-eye-eye-eye”. If you must hear it, just duplicate what you see here. One more alert, kids, these are not toys or play projects.
           I took the bicycle for a high speed run, which exercises both my constitution and the brain. Flat out, I get six miles, meaning a three mile radius from here. If you nurse it along, you can get fifteen miles, but I’m going to presume you haven’t got all day to get there. I’ve mentioned before how you quickly learn to operate an electric bike in high gear full speed all the time. I will say the original battery did work better than the replacement battery.
           What was I thinking about that took all afternoon and evening? The place in Boca. I only want to move once more in my life, wishful thinking as that may be. The prices are still a bit high for me but if I don’t move soon, my living in this tiny place will become the reality of my “old age”. I’ve got 120 months left on my ticker and I don’t want to spend it here. But I don’t want and can’t afford any mistakes either. I’ll get back with you on this.