🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1990Aug1.081830.15979@mlb.semi.harris.com>, del@thrush.mlb.semi.harris.com (Don Lewis) writes...

> 
>I seem to recall reading "The Boy Electrician" by the same author many
>years ago.  It had lots of plans for spark coils and tesla coils, told
>how to use X-ray tubes :-O, etc.  He also had some more recent books
>on how to build things intercoms and audio amps (5 watts, wow!).
>--

"The Boy Electrician" had a copyright circa 1930. Great book, but
the local library has purged it in favor of newer stuff. Was the
only book readily available when I was a kid that had details for 
building induction coils. I made a fine one with magnet wire from 
Allied Radio and model-T coil points I ordered from JC Whitney.
It would shock the p__s out of you!

The book was sufficently old that it listed the American morse 
code (now obsolete) rather than the newer, international code 
(what is in use today).

Contained details on constructing radio receivers, telephones, a
carbon microphone that was "sensitive enough to detect the
footsteps of a fly" as well as many neato things to do with high
voltage.

In one experiment they hooked the homemade microphone in series
with the primary of the spark coil and a battery. The
instructions clearly state you are to tighten the adjusting screw
on the vibrating points so that they cannot move, else a 'cruel
surprise' would result (soon you'll see why!) Next, a volunteer
(victim?) stood while an assistant on each side placed one hand
over the volunteers' ear. A thin sheet of paper was placed
between the hand and the ear. Each assistant was given a wire
from the secondary of the coil to hold. 

The effect was supposed to be that the volunteer in the middle 
would hear the voice of a person speaking into the microphone.
If the vibrator on the end of the coil began to work what would 
they hear?  =:^o

Sorry for the rathole in sci.chem....

Lee