Old Time Radio Engineers

[Nowhere-Man]

O.K. Mark, I just read your comments on voltage and series resistors - I'll probably print out the page here at the library and then stick it in my textbook for reference. I hope you understand I'm not being rude when I seem to delay responding directly to explanations because sometimes I have to do this later on. Let's say I get about 4 or 5 posts but only have an hour and bit, plus e-mails to sort through.... Anyway, thanks for your help and patience.

Hi NM,

No problem at all - I understand the time pressure at the library and everything.

It reminds me of the days before having broadband at home, where you'd set aside a couple of hours for the computer. First, dial up to download the messages and grab all the web pages you wanted to read. Then, once off-line, respond to all the emails and read all the web pages that you got earlier. Then dial up again to get the messages sent and follow any new thoughts. It was very different.

I held off getting broadband for as long as possible because I knew it would take over. And it certainly does. But of course, you can't be without it!

I do have mobile internet on anew Blackberry phone someone gifted me but I haven't topped it up yet. I think it's on EE but the lady who gave it me reckons I could put in a 3Phone Sim. However, for now, internet time has been hugely cut down. Maybe for a time it's a good thing. I feel lately like I'm in a Time Warp. For example, last night I was simply listening to Radio Five Live on a 1947 ACDC radio. It felt kind of weird listening to a political debate on a radio that would have been used to report about the construction of The Berlin Wall.

As to the book. I did come across a way to measure the inductance of a coil using an electric buzzer and a calibrated crystal radio. I wasn't sure where the book was going with the maths calculation, though. I know how to calculate a resonant frequency using Pi and division by 1000000, plus using square roots but, unfortunately, the book was vague and it helps if they give an illustrated example. Anyway, you use headphones to tune into the buzzing and that should give a calibration mark on the dial you can use perhaps with the fixed capacitor to work out the inductance. Sadly it gives too little detail.