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I tinker with old tube radios. Have come up with a cool adaptation.

I use the transformer from a wall wart to match the headphone jack for an iPod or MP3 player to the amp section of the radio. The tranny provides a boost and isolation for safety. I solder contacts to the variable capacitor to act as a double-pole switch. No permanent change to the original hardware and it is fun.

Can you translate that for me?

What Marc said, the transformer from a typical plugin power supply is tiny and fits into a film cap, or I sometimes use the case it came in, minus the prongs. Audio goes in, boosted audio goes out. There is no direct contact to the radio chassis, so no shock hazard or burnout of the the wimpy little silicon chips in the iPod. Tube radios carry high voltages, some of them as much as 350 volts. Cheap table radios often have 120 volts on the chassis, so this makes it all pretty safe.

My little invention numbers 2 and 3 - The variable cap is the gizmo with dozens of metal plates that turn when you tune the radio. I bend a small piece of hookup wire like a hairpin and solder it to the outer edge of one of the plates. When you tune down to 490 kilohertz or so the wire clip hits the body of the capacitor, which is grounded. This cuts the audio so the radio goes silent, no more AM hum and static.

Simultaneously, (#3) grounding the plate of the capacitor completes the circuit from the external source and we hear the clear digital tunes through the old radio output section. [:-party]

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80.38?KB The variable capacitor is lower right on this Zenith clock radio chassis. I need to lubricate the Telechron clock which loses 20 minutes in an hour. Consequently I don't play this one for fear of overheating, but it is a good pic of the cap.

Hey, that's a cool hinge, Joe. I've got a couple of mystery metal pieces I will post pics of here soon.

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I'm still a dweeb....you're doing this, why?

...the boosted audio is then...cranked through a high volume speaker system...(?).

I forgot wooden boats. I did them for a couple decades, but it just gets a certain way after a while. My 18' sailing canoe is the only one I have left, and it hangs in the garage.

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While the pictures are buried, I did know where this cool piece of 19th century hardware was. It's an iron hinge pin from a barn door, designed to be hammered into the door frame. It has barbs to keep it from being pulled out.

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At the time it was installed, it was called a pintle in both English and German. It was derived form the low German and Old English word for penis.
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While the pictures are buried, I did know where this cool piece of 19th century hardware was. It's an iron hinge pin from a barn door, designed to be hammered into the door frame. It has barbs to keep it from being pulled out.

At the time it was installed, it was called a pintle in both English and German. It was derived form the low German and Old English word for penis.

Are we talking a cat penis or a human one? Because I'm pretty sure a normal human penis is devoid of barbs like those that Joe's hinge pin has.

Cats? Well, that's another story. There's a reason female cats make so much noise. HINT: It isn't due to pleasure.

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I'm still a dweeb....you're doing this, why?

...the boosted audio is then...cranked through a high volume speaker system...(?).

Yes, we get to listen to the music through an old radio instead of a cheezy pair of earphones. Since there is nothing on AM anymore it gives the plastic 50's radios a bit of appeal.

The little audio devices like iPods are only strong enough to power a pair of earbuds. The signal is weak and turning the volume up too high causes distortion. I also add a couple of resistors for impedance matching of the device to the radio. I'm doing this for fun, remember?

Like building a boat that you could have bought for less money. [:)]

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At the time it was installed, it was called a pintle in both English and German. It was derived form the low German and Old English word for penis.

That's interesting. I'm sure the anxiety levels of the construction crew were raised a bit when they heard, "I'm going to hammer in the pintle. Who wants to hold it for me?"

That reminds me of the long-term sports director of a local radio station. It's been years since he's been on the air, but I always got a little chuckle when I heard him say "this is Dick Hammer, WEST sports".

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I was a member of a Technical Rescue team for about a decade. Car wrecks are sooooo mundane so we specialized in Building Collapse, Trench Collapse, Confined Space, High Angle Rope, Swiftwater, SAR, Mantracking, and Hazardous Materials Response. Held national certifications in all the above plus certified EMT in two states. www.redsteam.com

Scout leader for about a decade. Matchless fire starting, Tooling leather, Wood carving.

Here is a purse I tooled about 4 years ago and daytimer cover from about 2 years ago.

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Hobby. Something you do for fun or to make you feel better mentally. What is a hobby to some would be tedious, mind numbing, agony to others. Or could be rediculously dangerous, expensive, or giant waste of time, money and materials.

Something you do to fill time and cleanse your mind. I rather stick a hot pocket in my eye than to do anything with sports. Don't watch it, talk about it, go to games, fantasy leagues, etc. My view it is the biggest waste of time of all mankind. Others spend every moment of their lifes obsessed with sports.

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My view it is the biggest waste of time of all mankind.

Bruce Ramsey

Wow! Are we talking about team sports, or golf?

With the exception of T Ball and any of the other "sissified" so called sports, where everyone wins and nobody goes home without a pony, team sports might be the greatest gift to all mankind.

I don't need to go into a long drawn out essay about teaching the importance of working together to achieve a common goal. We all know about that. It starts with sports.

Some folks would call that Olds in your profile pic, a sports car, Bruce.[;)]

GO SU!

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I'm in Bruce's camp.

I like to watch bike racing and auto racing, and I enjoy playing hockey or watching a soccer game every once in a great while, but sports like baseball, football, basketball bore the hell out of me in person and I absolutely don't enjoy watching them on television.

I'd rather read a book, repair or build a clock, or work on my Packard. To me those are hobbies. Sports aren't hobbies - they're sports. [:-tong2]

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

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