We have been re-posting Carl and Jerry stories for awhile here on MAKE and I really hoped something like this could happen, Jeff Duntemann managed to get permission to republish them and now you’ll be able to get all of these wonderful stories!
Jeff writes…
Back in 2006, I tried to locate a few of my favorite Carl and Jerry adventures, and discovered that old back issues of Popular Electronics are not easy to come by, and not always cheap. Being a technical book publisher in my day job, I had the notion that an anthology of Carl and Jerry stories would be a good thing to put together, before the old magazines either crumbled to dust or ended up in landfills as their owners passed on. After all, the first Carl and Jerry story–in the very first issue of Popular Electronics–is now over half a century old. Time flies when […]
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AtariLab is a sensor kit for the 8-bit Atari computers. I ordered two of the kits recently, the starter kit and the light kit, and they both arrived in pristine condition. They work great with the Atari 130XE, but the light sensor was giving me some random readings (replacing the photoresistor in that wouldn’t be hard).
The breakout board attaches to the second joystick port, and can read sensors as well as provide power:
The AtariLab includes a booklet full of experiments, and includes instructions for reading the sensors from BASIC and LOGO:
Related:
Atari 130XE at OLD-COMPUTERS.COM - Link
8-bit science: Atarilab - Sensor lab - Link
AtariLab Flickr Set - Link
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In the 50’s and 60’s John T. Frye, W9EGV / Popular Electronics published a series of fiction stories called “The Carl and Jerry stories” - In each story the pair acquired new skills, got their ham radio licenses and used their knowledge of electronics to get out of a jam or solve a mystery - there isn’t a complete collection of all the stories that I know of, but there are some scans / text online. The stories are entertaining, fun and I can imagine how many engineers, scientists and Makers got their start from reading these wonderful tales - about & index.
Carl & Jerry install a transmitter on a car to catch insurance fraud…
“”That’s it!” Jerry exclaimed, jumping to his feet and bumping his head on the plane wing in the process. “We build a ten-meter transistorized transmitter -transistors can take the shock- in a steel case and fasten […]
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We’ve all seen the rough tapes of the landing on the moon, but it turns out that the original tapes were of much better quality.
Not long ago, Lebar learned why the footage had looked like mush: The transfer and broadcast had degraded the image badly, like a third-generation photocopy. “What the world saw was some bastardized thing,” says Lebar, now 81. “Posterity deserves more than that.” Good thing the engineers in Australia recorded the raw feed. Now Lebar and a crew of seasoned space cowboys are trying to get that original footage and show it to the world.
There is just one problem: NASA has lost the tapes.
I want to know, are there any tv stations that didn’t send in their footage and have it hidden? TV stations, dig into your archives! - [via] Link
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Robyn writes -
“Hi. I wrote a small article in the toys and games issue about my Grandpop’s shop. I just posted a few more photos of the shop on my blog. I thought your readers might enjoy seeing more of the details.” - Link & part one.
From the pages of MAKE:
Grandpop’s Shop - A tribute to Robyn Miller’s favorite maker. MAKE 08 - Page 37. Subscribers–read this article now in your digital edition or get 08.
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Alan from Hackedgadgets alerted me to an ebay auction for a lot of old science and engineering magazines, there was a little time left and with my self-imposed budget of under $20 here’s the auction I won, $9.50! - Link.
The folks who sell them still have some auctions, so now that I picked up some please go get the rest
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Radar has a list of the top worst toys of all time, but I think a couple of them are actually the best… My favorite is the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab, it just sold for almost $8k at an auction too!
More:
Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab (Radar Magazine) - Link.
1951 Complete A.C. Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab (Complete) - Link.
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Bill writes -
“I was listening to an old “Ellery Queen” radio drama via the Internet last week. The program was just okay, but there was a wonderful 1950s vintage radio commercial that included the terrific Bromo Seltzer Talking Train. Whoo Whoo -Bromo-Selzer - Bromo-Selzer - Bromo-Selzer - Bromo-Selzer. Have a listen.
I looked the BS-TT up on the Internet. Evidently, the Talking Train was a big deal in the advertising world back then. It utilized a now ancient sound effects device called a Sonovox.
Sonovox uses small loudspeakers attached to the performer’s throat. It was used in a number of songs from the 1940s to the 1960s, and is used to create the voice of Casey Junior the train in Dumbo and The Reluctant Dragon, the instruments in Rusty in Orchestraville and the piano in Sparky’s Magic Piano” - Link.
Has anybody made similar speech effects gizmos? Post up in the comments!
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It’s like a 1940’s version of pimp my ride!
Related:
Bulletproof Body Turns Any Auto into an Armored Car (Dec, 1940) - Link.
Make Trailer From Defunct Auto (Nov, 1932) - Link.
Modern Mechanix - Yesterday’s tomorrow, today. - Link.
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John Jenkins has one of the largest collections of scientific instruments in one place on the web! He writes - ” Welcome to my “virtual” radio and scientific instruments museum where I display the radios and other items I have collected over the past 35+ years. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. I’m always interested in early wireless, radio, scientific and other electrical items up to about 1920 (including books and other publications) so feel free to drop me a line if you have anything you might want to sell or trade.” [via] - Link.
Related:
American Museum of Radio and Electricity - Link.
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This site has a ton of photos from the 1890s and 1930s: farm machinery, country crafts, steam engines, historical planes and some really interesting alternative transportation… - [via] - Link.
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The first flight…was steam powered! - “When the Wright brothers telegraphed home after Kitty Hawk, the only bit of their telegram which was commented on by the local press was “Wright brothers home for Christmas”. Why wouldn’t the press be carrying “Wright brothers first to fly” banners if they had just made history? The answer is that they hadn’t. Everyone knew that powered flight had already been achieved, so the important portion of the communique was that they would be home for Christmas.
The first person to fly a powered, heavier than air vehicle (aeroplane) was Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim, (who is more famous for his machine gun). On Tuesday 31st July 1894 at Baldwyn’s Park (formerly the site of a mental hospital, now a housing estate) in the London Borough of Bexley, his flyer was launched for the first time and successfully flew. “ [via] - Link.
Related:
Flying machines, Hiram Stevens […]
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Ray Hooley’s Ruston-Hornsby engine pages have the history and photos of many of the Ruston-Hornsby engines/machines including this “chain tractor” - ” The World’s first fully-tracked vehicle - 1905 Hornsby chain tractor: 20hp Hornsby-Akroyd engine, weighing c. 10 tons crossing a 1.4metre wide water-filled ditch. Meanwhile, they achieved speeds of 25mph (40km/h) with more advanced versions of the oil tractors. Alas, the world was not ready for this brilliant new means of transport, and Hornsbys sold their ideas very cheaply to the American Holt Tractor Co. - now the Caterpillar Tractor Co,” [via] - Link.
Related:
1905 Hornsby chain tractor scale model - Link.
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Spluch points to this photo of the world’s first transistor radio from Michaeljpro… It’s funny Sony still uses names like this for all their products… “Regency TR-1, the world’s 1st commercially released transistor radio - went on sale in the fall of 1954. This cabinet colour was called “Mandarin red”. Also came in black, cloud grey and ivory. - Link. Also check out Michael’s complete collect (over 500!) here - Link.
Related:
RRRRRadios @ MAKE - Link.
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