Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!gatech!udel!princeton!phoenix!kpmancus From: kpmancus@phoenix.PRINCETON.EDU (Keith P. Mancus) Newsgroups: sci.electronics Subject: Vibrators, and a part-hunt. Message-ID: <446@phoenix.PRINCETON.EDU> Date: Thu, 16-Jul-87 20:47:27 EDT Article-I.D.: phoenix.446 Posted: Thu Jul 16 20:47:27 1987 Date-Received: Sat, 18-Jul-87 10:08:59 EDT Reply-To: kpmancus@phoenix.UUCP (Keith P. Mancus) Organization: Princeton Univ. Computing and Information Technology Lines: 22 All this talk of ancient (:-) technology is great fun. I'm only 20 years old, so it sort of has an archaic flavor. My only encounter with a vibrator-type inverter was in an old aircraft radio that came with our 1946 Ercoupe. The radio was probably circa 1960-65, especially since I've seen ads for the identical model in aircraft magazines of that era. The inverter (which was a remote box weighing about 10 lbs) was the noisiest electronic gadget I've ever heard. Everything worked, though. Strangely, the tuner for the receiver was a variable capacitor rather than a rotary switch. Why did anybody want to be forced to fine-tune the silly thing? I've used magic-eye tubes too; our capacitance-tester uses one as an indicator. (Late 1960's technology.) And our first digital multimeter had a Nixie-tube display. Gee, things change quick! I can also remember when calculators not only used LED's, they used *28 separate LED's* to make one digit. The power requirements were pretty high for something battery-powered. (Whatever happened to rechargable calculators?) It isn't only the old fogies who remember some of the neat stuff. :-) Keith Mancus