Just go to http://soldersmoke.com. On that archive page, just click on the blue hyperlinks and your audio player should play that episode.
http://soldersmoke.com
Thermatron fans beware! There is some trash talking of tubes in this 1953 Bell film. But there is also a lot of recognition of the contribution made by our beloved valves. I especially liked the report on the historic 1915 phone transmissions from Arlington, Virginia. ( I drive past the transmitter site every work day). FIVE HUNDRED TUBES combined to send the human voice from Arlington to both the Eiffel Tower and to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. FB OM! 59! I was disappointed, however, that this film failed to recognize another momentous 1953 achievement in sold state electronics: In that year, 11 year-old Pete Juliano built his first solid state amplifier -- an audio amp using a CK722 transistor. Read about it here: http://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2015/03/pete-juliano-homebrwing-with.html
The fact that Pete was homebrewing solid state circuits at the time that this film was made is a reminder of the vast experience that he has, and of how much technological progress we have made in such a short period of time.
Just now watching this interesting old documentary, I discovered it's on the AT&T YouTube channel on which there is a playlist "AT&T Archives." 212 videos of Bell Labs documentaries like this one on transistors. Great stuff. Apparently, though, AT&T is little more than a brand nowadays. Nokia now owns Bell Labs. --Todd K7TFC
"SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" is now available as an e-book for Amazon's Kindle.
Here's the site:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004V9FIVW
75A4
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Question for the board:
Does anyone service the 75A4 in this day and age? Mills is out of it.
Also:
Look at these capacitors. Would they be a good substi...
Power standing wave null?
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A social media posting in a very long thread with a lot of wooly thinking
recently contained this explanation: If you locate your power meter
anywhere alon...
April 25, 2024. Meter Magic
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At times we need to include some form of metering in our homebrew rigs. No,
we will not be installing a Nano VNA in a transmitter. But often a current
mete...
Trying a $15 70cm transceiver HK-188
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Peter, VK3YE, recently posted a video of a pair of 433Mhz transceivers he
bought at Aldi for $20. They worked OK but had a number of obvious annoying
probl...
An Inline RF Step Attenuator for QRPp Work
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I don’t need to explain the attraction of low power operation; if you’re
reading this, the chances are that you are already a convert. I’ve been
operating ...
Using an external clock with the RX-888 (Mk2)
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*The RX-888 (Mk2) and external clocking*
*Figure 1:*
The RX-888 with external clock input *(right)*
The enable/disable switch is barely
visible behind the...
A 51S-1 Restoration Story
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I came across my Collins 51S-1 in a big junkyard in Ankara, Turkey around
2012. It was in a pile with a lot of other electronic scrap, probably from
one o...
New QRP Cluster Online From OM0ET and OM6APN
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By DX EXPLORER
DX EXPLORER
Paul OM0ET and Peter OM6APN recently launched a new cluster dedicated to
QRP operations. Have a look and I hope you will enjoy...
3D Printing The Hadley 114mm Newtonian Telescope
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Yes, we’re building a 3D Printed Newtonian Telescope called Hadley. It’s
being printed in PETG and in the video below, I give a quick tour. My build
isn’...
3D printed project boxes
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I have been busy with some other things that have kept me away from
electronics projects for quite a while. Now I can get back to them, but
realize I n...
Daylight Again – An all Analog Radio
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What’s all this? In 10 seconds, A high performance, 7MHz, 5 watt SSB rig
Draws just 24 mA of current 90 dB dynamic range, 80 dB close-in dynamic
range 3D ...
Adding Enclosure to your sBitx Boards Order
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The early buyers of the sBitx board set who bought it for $270 USD might
want to also add the enclosure (box) for in the kit. What you will now get
is a f...
Digi-chirp! Digital synthesis of ‘nostalgic’ CW
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The bottom ends of 80, 40 and 20m are not what they used to be. For
starters, the busiest part is the digital segment where computers talk to
computers – l...
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A Simple Speech Processor
(For QRP/SSB Homebrew Transceivers )
Over the last few weeks I had been thinking to build a small AF speech
processor to add to...
A New Look for your uBitx!
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Adding a "Cool Blue" Display to your uBitx!
The standard "green background" with black lettering frequently reminds me
that I suffer from Chronic seasickn...
Just now watching this interesting old documentary, I discovered it's on the AT&T YouTube channel on which there is a playlist "AT&T Archives." 212 videos of Bell Labs documentaries like this one on transistors. Great stuff. Apparently, though, AT&T is little more than a brand nowadays. Nokia now owns Bell Labs. --Todd K7TFC
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering when and why corporate giants like Nokia arose. Did they have to globalise by acquisition just to stay afloat?
ReplyDeleteI also smoked (burnt out) several transistors as early as 1953. So that means not much has changed in 60 plus years.
ReplyDeletePete N6QW
Interesting video. To think what the transistor and fiber optics have enabled in communication.
ReplyDeleteI was fortunate to see Dr. Shockley speak about his work on the transistor at my university in 1982. Fascinating stuff.