Homemade Electronic Components and Devicespdf

Cool Homemade Stuff etc.
This Page Started November 2007
Welcome to sparkbangbuzz.com.
This is a homepage of really fun scientific and technical projects that are easy to build and
informative.
If you have any comments or submissions, E-mail to me a message at lenyrwp@earthlink.net
Disclaimer
Anyone reading this web page should not assume that any given subject is safe or legal. The
purpose here is to give information only. I take no responsibility for what anyone may do with
the information given here. What you do with it is your own business and responsibility.
Building some of the projects, described here, can be dangerous, illegal or both; and require
that the builder or user be very conscientious and able to exercise a great deal of Caution and
Common Sense. A project described as "relatively safe" may not be completely safe. It may be
described as "relatively safe" only because it appears to be safer than making a batch of
Nitroglycerine. Never get cocky where safety is concerned.
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS!!! This page welcomes all varieties of race, gender or anyone
interested in its contents. If you are offended by anything that seems politically incorrect, don't
write to me. I do not care to be annoyed by fanatic whiners who expect every printed line to
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Homemade Memristor.
Homemade Memristor.
A homemade memristor was made from pieces of brass, copper or lead that had been
turned to a dark color from exposure to sulfur.
Homemade Copper Oxide Thermoelectric Generator Can Light An LED.

Homemade Copper Oxide Thermoelectric Generator.
Simple homemade copper oxide thermoelectric generator can be made from two pieces of
copper wire. A single junction can generate more than 300 millivolts when heated with a
flame. Sixteen of these in series can light an LED.
Thermocouple Made From Ordinary Copper And Steel Wire.

Copper And Steel Thermocouple.
A thermocouple made of ordinary copper and steel wire can generate enough current
through a coil to deflect a compass needle using just the heat from my fingers.
Fly and Levitate Objects With Static Electricity.

Static Electricity Flyers.
Light objects made from plastic grocery bag material can be flown and levitated above a
charged balloon or piece of styrofoam. A simple electrostatic glider can be made that flies
just like a walkalong glider.
Evaporograph.
Evaporograph.
This simple to make evaporograph will show images of cold objects when they make
contact with a sensitive membrane. The membrane can also be made to show images of
infrared heat.
Homemade Magnetic Amplifiers using common 12 Volt Transformers.

Homemade Magnetic Amplifiers using common 12 Volt Transformers.
This article is to de-mystify the esoteric magnetic Amplifier and show how one can be built
at home using common everyday 12 volt transformers.
Homemade Magnetic Audio Amplifier using toroids found in parts box.

Homemade Magnetic Audio Amplifier.
An audio amplifier can be built without using any tubes or transistors.
Homemade FET Transistor Made From Cadmium Sulfide Photoresistor.

FET Transistor Homemade From Cadmium Sulfide Photocell.
A common cadmium photoresistor (called photocell in the text) was made into a crude
insulated gate field effect transistor. Definite transistor action was observed after
improvising a gate on the photocell. Even though the voltage gain was small, a considerable
amount of power gain was produced.
Corona Oscillator And Corona Triode.

Corona Oscillator And Corona Triode.
A pin point near a flat positive high voltage plate forms an oscillator that produces pulses
roughly in the AM broadcast band frequency range. A control element near the pin point
can control the overall current and frequency. This makes a triode that exhibits gain.
Zinc Negative Resistance Oscillator.

Anyone can make an active semiconductor device at home by heating galvanized sheet
metal. With it, simple rf and audio oscillators can be built. Amplifiers can also be built.
With a carbon microphone or transformer connected, the rf oscillator can even transmit
audio to a nearby am radio. Really!! I'm not kidding. Zinc Negative Resistance Oscillator
Zinc Negative Resistance Crystal Oscillators and Zinc 80 Meter CW

Transmitter.
Zinc Negative Resistance Crystal Oscillators.

This is a continuation of my first article on zinc negative resistance oscillators made from
the simple homemade zinc negative resistance diode.
In the early 1920's Oleg Losev in Russia experimented with negative resistance oscillators
and circuits using zincite. One of the main problems was that usable zincite came from only
one place in the world - New Jersey.
My articles are about doing very similar experiments using heat treated galvanized sheet
metal. I believe Losev would have been very excited if he had been able to try heat treated
galvanized sheet metal as a substitute for zincite and it may very well have worked even
better.
"Easy Ten" A simple 80 Meter CW Transmitter Using A 2N3904.

A very simple 80 meter CW one transistor QRP transmitter made from a common npn
transistor, two resistors, two capacitors, a 3.5 - 4 mhz crystal and a 9v battery. I call this
transmitter "The Easy Ten" because it can be easily heard from a distance of over ten
miles.
This article includes some good basic philosophy on antennas.
"Easy Ten" A simple 80 meter CW Transmitter Using A 2N3904.
Flame Triode With Gain.

I have found a simple way to make a triode with gain using an alcohol flame. This flame
triode exhibits both power gain and voltage gain. By making a flame dual triode, I have
been able to make a free running multivibrator oscillator and code practice oscillator.
I also observed a very intriguing phenomenon of flame electrical conductivity; that
electrons from a cathode, placed inside of the flame, can flow to the anode even when the
anode appears to be placed well outside of the flame.
Homemade Cathode Ray Tubes.

Homemade T.E.A. Lasers.

Homemade T.E.A. Lasers.
A simple and crude conversion of a lawnmower to run on propane. Runs Great!!. Propane
Powered Lawnmower.
Experiments with a borax or baking soda rectifier. borax rectifier.
A simple homemade wide range variable electrolytic capacitor using baking soda can vary
in capacitance in one continuous sweep over a 5000 to 1 range. This capacitor can vary the
frequency of a simple relaxation oscillator over a similar range. Even the zinc negative
resistance oscillator can be continuously swept over the entire audio range. Homemade
wide range variable electrolytic capacitor and oscillator.
Copper Oxide is really neat stuff. It is very easy to make a simple photocell capable of
deflecting a volt meter with a small flashlight or listening to audio from a sound modulated
light beam. Very Simple Homemade Photocell
It is easy to make a thermistor, thermoelectric generator or pressure sensor by heating a

piece of copper wire.Homemade Thermistor and Pressure Sensor
A drop of salt water on some aluminum can produce some very interesting electronic
sounds when amplified. Very interesting sounds from a drop of salt water on aluminum.
Do you get more thrust by blowing air out a tube than you would get in the negative
direction by sucking the same amount of air into the tube??? I did some experiments and
found out a pretty definitive answer. The answer may be surprising to many. Jet Negative
Thrust by Sucking???
I have always been fascinated with the old Arc transmitters of the early period of wireless
radio. Not to be confused with Spark Gap transmitters, the Arc transmitter was different
and was supposed to produce a continuous wave signal that could be sound modulated.
What follows is a description of a crude circuit that I built. Simple Arc Transmitter
The coherer was one of the first detectors of radio signals ever used 100 years ago. I tried
building one. Getting impressive results turns out to be much easier than I have always
thought. Simple Homemade Coherer
It is incredibly easy to make a homemade device that behaves similar to a tunnel diode.
Using it, a simple rf oscillator was made which could be coaxed into running at 12 mhz.
Homemade Tunnel Diode and RF Oscillator.
I made an active semiconductor device at home with Iron Pyrites. With it, a simple
continuous wave broadcast band oscillator (transmitter) was built. With a carbon
microphone connected, it could even transmit my voice to a nearby am radio. Iron Pyrites
Negative Resistance Oscillator
More ways to make a homemade negative resistance devices that are much superior to iron
pyrites in ease of use and consistancy. More Negative Resistance Materials.
A simple home made negative resistance audio code practice oscillator that also makes
experimenting with negative resistance materials fun and easy without having to use an
oscilloscope or curve tracer.Negative Resistance Code Practice Oscillator.
Zinc negative resistance RF amplifier for crystal sets and negative resistance regenerative
receivers. Zinc RF Amplifier
I have always wondered if a vacuum tube could operate with a degree of vacuum attainable
by amateur means. This is how I broke open a vacuum tube triode and operated it after
pumping it down with a vacuum pump. Home Evacuated Vacuum Tube
The next step - an actual homemade vacuum tube diode. Home Made Vacuum Diode
The next step - first attempt at making an actual homemade vacuum tube triode. Home
Made Vacuum Triode
Magnetic levitation using permanent magnets. No superconductors, no energy input for

stabilization and no spinning tops. Earnshaw - take a hike. Permenant Magnet Levitation.
Magnet Kicker keeps any magnet in motion to make simple motors or "perpetual motion"
toys. Magnet Kicker.
Can ordinary propane, such as that used for fuel, be used as a refrigerant? It sure can!!
Homebuilt Refrigeration System from hardware store parts.
The next step. Can an old refrigerator operate when charged with ordinary propane? Old
Refrigerator Charged With Propane.
Throw staples, tacks, screws etc. like a knife thrower and stick them in the target. Fun and
impressive hobby. How to throw staples, tacks, screws etc.
Almost everyone gets a kick from making a good sounding explosion, especially if it can be
done with very easy to get materials. Well here is a relatively safe way of doing it with
compressed air. Airbang
A "Dry Ice Bomb"??? Who Needs Dry Ice? Airbomb
Simple Static Electricity Generator. The Electrophorus is wimpy, the Wimshurst Machine
performs but is much more difficult to build. ThisSimple Static Electricity Generator. is
incredibly simple to make and fills in part of the huge performance gap that exists between
the Electrophorus and the Wimshurst Machine.
Send sound on a modulated LED light beam. Sound Modulated Light Beam.
Send sound on a modulated Laser Beam. Sound Modulated Laser.
Send sound on a Modulated Flashlight Beam. Sound Modulated Flashlight.
Broadcast a signal through your entire house with a magnetic field. Broadcast with
magnetism.
Thirty foot long steel wire makes far out music. Wiremusic.
Links
Videos of sparkbangbuzz.com projects and other web interesting web sites.
Links.
Homemade Memristor
By Nyle Steiner K7NS.
Aug 29 2011.
Curve traces from two homemade memristors.
Modified curve tracer is applying AC voltage. Horizontal axis represents voltage and the
vertical axis represents current. In both cases, the curve always passes through zero voltage
and current. This requirement must be met in order to be classified as a memristor.
Memristor test setup and schematic.
When S1 is closed the LED shows the status of the memristor. If the memristor is in the low
resistance (on) state the led will light. If the memristor is in the high resistance state (off)
the led will not light. S2 turns the memristor on. S3 turns the memristor off.
The 3 volt battery and 1k pot supply just enough voltage to light the led without effecting
the on off state of the memristor.
Nearly ten years ago I was hiking up a mountain road when I noticed a lot of small gravel
and the smell of sulfur. Some empty brass cartridges that were lying in the gravel had
turned to a dark black color.
I took some of the cartridges home to investigate the electrical properties of the dark black
corrosion. When the cartridge was contacted with a piece of aluminum and connected to
the curve tracer, the left pattern shown near the top of this page was observed.
I let several pieces of copper, brass and lead set in a container of sulfur for a considerable
length of time.
All of the above pieces, after removing from the sulfur, displayed similar memristor
characteristics.
I recorded this in my notebook as a curious memory phenomenon but did not think much
more about it until recently reading about the memristor and realizing how similar it is to
what I had been observing. I decided to do some additional experimenting and build the
test circuit (animated photo and schematic shown above) to demonstrate the memristor
action of the corroded pieces of metal.
I also tried putting a small pile of sulfur on a piece of sheet copper.
After just a few hours, I removed the sulfur and noticed that it had formed a black colored
area on the copper. This black copper when in contact with a piece of aluminum produced
the curve trace shown on the right near the top of this page.
Sparkbangbuzz Home Page.
Copper Oxide Thermoelectric Generator Can

Light An LED
July 2011.
Just 16 copper oxide junctions can produce enough voltage

to light an LED.
Copper oxide, the kind that forms on pieces of copper when you heat them with a flame, is
very fascinating stuff. Besides being usable for other things such as making photo sensors,
thermistors, pressure sensors and diodes, it can also be used to make an impressive
homemade thermoelectric junction capable of producing hundreds of millivolts when
heated with a flame.
Making a simple copper oxide thermoelectric junction.
The copper oxide thermoelectric generator or junction is very easy to make. Just heat two
pieces of ordinary copper wire in a propane flame, to form a copper oxide layer, and then
place the two wires in contact with each other. That is all there is to it. An electrical
potential will be produced between the two wires when one wire is heated to a much hotter
temperature than the other.
The hottest wire will be negative and the cooler wire will be positive.
A single copper oxide junction can easily produce enough current to deflect the meter to
more than full scale when it is set to read 0 to 50 microamps or 0 to 100 millivolts.
With the meter set to read 0 to 500 millivolts the copper oxide junction can produce
readings in excess of 300 millivolts.
The switch near the meter is a reversing switch for convenience whenever I want to reverse
the connections to the meter.
Coper oxide thermopile made with 16 junctions in series.
This thermopile which consists of just 16 copper oxide junctions in series can produce
between two and three volts when heated in a flame. This thermopile is shown at the top of
this page, producing enough voltage to light an LED.
It would require more than 100 thermocouples made of special wire in series to light the
same LED. It would require roughly 1600 copper and steel thermocouples to light the same
LED.
The trade off is that the wire thermocouples can easily produce much more current than is
easy to do with the copper oxide junction. Typically the copper oxide junction can easily
produce hundreds of millivolts whereas a wire junction can easily produce hundreds of
milliamps.
The pictures above are pretty self explanatory. The wire pieces are made of 18 awg bare
copper wire and are 3 inches long from the hot tips to the hairpin ends. The L shaped
bends are 3/4 inch from the hot tips. The circular wood mount for all of the wire pieces is 6
inches in diameter and the cutout center section is 3 1/2 inches in diameter.
All of the copper wire pieces are mounted at intervals of 22 1/2 degrees to equally space
them around the circle.
Each L shaped wire is the cold positive side of a junction and each longer straight piece is
the hot negative side of a junction.
The thermoelectric junctions are formed by the copper oxide between each straight piece of
wire and the L shaped piece that rests on top of it.
Most articles, that describe copper oxide projects, usually discuss the subject of cupric
oxide (black) or cuprous oxide (red) and the task of separating them. From many
experiences in making thermoelectric generators and doing other copper oxide
experiments, I have found that it usually just doesn't matter. When a copper oxide device is
made professionally this of course is an important subject but for the purpose of home
experimentation, impressive results can usually be obtained without having to bother with
separating the black copper oxide from the red copper oxide.
When heating pieces of copper, it is typical to have a top layer of black oxide form with a
layer of red oxide underneath but, I have found that the black copper oxide layer may also
contain a significant amount of red copper oxide.
Pieces of black copper oxide will often fall off in flakes after heating a piece of copper. I
once ground up some of these black looking copper oxide flakes in a mortar and pestle and
the result was some reddish brown powder that looked a lot like red cuprous oxide. I have
also done other experiments that indicated the presence of red cuprous oxide in black
cupric oxide flakes.
What is happening?
I have spent my entire life reading whatever technical books and articles I could find and
can recall seeing only one book that tells how to make something like this and none that
explain how this device works. It would be safe to say however, that an explanation could
be found in the institutionalized literature. Not being presently affiliated with any
institutions, I do not have ready access to most of their literature which makes the cost of
reading it prohibitive. So, I will offer my own take on what is happening.
A thermocouple is generally thought of as being a junction between two dissimilar metals
but it might be better to say that it is a junction between two dissimilar conductors.
Touching the two oxidized wires together forms a junction of copper oxide to copper oxide.
This is not where the action is. The copper oxide on both wires should be thought of as one
solid conductor between the two copper wires - a very short one at that. This can now be
seen as the classic two thermocouples back to back circuit. We have a copper - copper
oxide junction on the hot wire and an opposing copper oxide - copper junction on the cold
wire. With this in mind it is now easy to view this device as being a normal thermocouple
circuit.
It is easy to wonder how this device could work at all because of the copper oxide, that is
between the two wires, being almost an insulator. Copper oxide however, also acts like a
thermistor with a very high negative temperature coefficient. Even the "cold" wire still gets
hot enough that the resistance of the copper oxide drops relatively to a very low value enabling current to flow.
I must give credit to an older book "Simple Scientific Experiments" by Aurel de Ratti as
being the one and only book I have ever seen that makes the reader aware of this copper
oxide thermoelectric generator. This book also contains other fascinating stuff. It is
reprinted and sold by Lindsay Publications Inc.
Thermocouples Made From Ordinary

Copper and Steel Wire
June 2011.
Two copper and steel thermocouples.
A piece of ordinary copper wire and a piece of ordinary steel wire were soldered together
at the ends to make two thermocouples back to back in a loop . Thermocouple wire was not
used in these experiments. I wanted to see what could be done with ordinary copper and
steel wire.
According to the second law of thermocouples, the solder used in the thermocouple
junctions has little or no effect as long as the thermocouple temperatures are kept below
the melting point of the solder.
Copper and steel is not a commonly used combination for making thermocouples and for
good reason. At a given temperature, the copper and steel thermocouple will be producing
a few tenths of a millivolt while a more conventional thermocouple might be producing 20
millivolts. Accordingly, I have experienced difficulty in finding voltage versus temperature

data for copper and steel thermocouples.
In spite of the very low voltages produced with a copper and steel thermocouple, it is
possible to generate impressive amounts of current if the circuit resistance is kept very low.
A standard D'Arsonval milliameter has far too much resistance to use at voltages around
one millivolt.
A DC clamp on milliameter adds no resistance to the circuit and can accurately indicate
how much current is being generated with a simple copper and steel thermocouple.
Five milliamps will flow through this loop just by applying the heat from my fingers to one
junction. With a flame held under one junction momentarily, we can easily observe 80 ma.
20 ma can be produced by touching a piece of ice to the opposite junction.
Thermocouple loop made into a coil can deflect a compass

needle.</B.< h2>
DC current probe meters are certainly not found

everywhere but a compass can be used to indicate current
flow by making the thermocouple loop into a coil. This coil
uses 5 feet of copper wire but the use of 12 gauge keeps the
resistance low enough for observable current to flow.
The compass needle is most easily deflected when it is

perpendicular to the coil axis as shown in the above picture.
A piece of tissue paper was placed over the mirror in the
compass case to eliminate lighting glare while taking the
photographs.
A flame held under one junction will cause an easily

observable deflection of the compass needle.
When a flame is held under the opposite junction, the

compass needle will deflect in the opposite direction.
The magnetic field of the earth pulls on the compass needle

like a spring and makes it somewhat difficult to deflect. I can
get much more deflection of the compass needle after
carefully placing one or two magnets in the vicinity of the
compass to cancel some of the earth's magnetic pull.
With the magnets in place to counteract the earth's magnetic

field, I can get a very noticeable needle deflection just by
applying heat from my fingers to one thermocouple junction.
If a good compass is not available, the same results can be

obtained by hanging a magnet inside the coil from a string.
In the picture above, the string is suspended from a
photography tripod. On the left is a magnet carefully placed
to counteract the pull of the earth's magnetic field.
I noticed a peculiarity in the copper and steel thermocouple

while applying heat to a single junction connected to a
voltmeter. As I raised the temperature of the junction, the
voltage reading would also increase as expected. When the
temperature reached a certain point well above that of
boiling water, I would abserve approx 1.5 millivolts positive.
But, as the temperature increased above this point, the

voltage output from the junction would start to decrease
until a point was reached that gave a reading of zero voltage.
As the temperature increased further above this point the
voltage output from the junction would start to increase
again but with opposite polarity until a reading of approx
1.5 millivolts minus was read. I did not apply any more heat
at this point because the junction was red hot and appeared
to be near the melting point of the copper.
Fly Objects With Static Electricity

June 2011.
Objects made from thin plastic grocery bag material are light enough to be held aloft and
flown using electrostatic repulsion. The plastic material can be charged by rubbing it
against a Formica surface with a cotton cloth. Another object such as a balloon can be
similarly charged and held below the plastic material to keep it in the air.
This flying ring is a two inch section cut from a grocery produce bag. Both the flying object
and the balloon must be charged to the same polarity.
The ring of plastic bag material was charged by rubbing it against a Formica counter top
with a cotton cloth and the balloon was charged by rubbing it against the cotton cloth.
Static Electricity Walkalong Glider.
The glider is very fun to fly because it has an aerodynamic stability that keeps it facing in
the direction it is being pushed by the balloon. It is just like flying a walkalong glider but it
is using electrostatic repulsion instead of lift from a moving flat surface. Flying the glider
above a charged flat piece of styrofoam will give the same look and sensation of flying an
actual walkalong glider.
It would be great to do more experimenting with making a hybrid walkalong glider that
could fly using both slope lift and electrostatic lift.
To make the glider, start with a 3 1/2 inch square of plastic grocery bag material.
Fold in half.
Wrap a 1/2 inch long piece of scotch tape around the bottom as shown.
Charge the glider by rubbing with cotton cloth as shown. The glider seems to have better
pitch stability if just the top area is rubbed and charged.
With the balloon in one hand, grab the charged glider with the other as shown and toss it
into the air using a very quick motion to keep it from adhering to your hand. Move the
balloon under the glider to keep it aloft and control it's flight. With a little practice, you
will be able to fly patterns with much control by letting the glider fall a little in front of the
balloon and pushing it forward. It is even possible to make the glider do loops.
The clear plastic grocery bags also work very well. I happened to find a yellow produce bag
and used it for the photographs because of it's increased visibility.
Many kinds of objects can be used instead of a balloon to lift electrostatic flyers. Some have
had good results using a flat piece of styrofoam rubbed with the cloth.
According to the laws of physics, an object floating above an infinitely large charged plane
will experience the same repulsive force at all distances. This means that the electrostatic
flyer will fly much higher above a very large flat piece of charged styrofoam.
Every once in a while, for reasons I am not sure I can explain, especially with new pieces of
plastic, I have experienced having the plastic charge to the wrong polarity. Sometimes the
plastic can even end up with both positive and negative charges in different areas on the
same piece. Rubbing several times on both sides will usually correct this. Once the plastic is
charged right, it will usually work well thereafter. I had problems properly charging a
plastic ring that was partially cut from the middle of a large printed logo. The printing
seemed to have a very adverse effect on the ability of the plastic to charge well.
Experimentation is the main key to all of this. There may be better materials than cotton
fabric for rubbing but my success with it has been good enough that I have not spent much
time yet trying others. Wool is always mentioned whenever static electricity is discussed.
The Formica surface seems to be one of the best materials I have tried for rubbing the
plastic against. For doing these experiments outside of the kitchen, I have a piece of
Formica that I can carry around.
Evaporograph and Infra Red Images

June 2011.
Simple evporograph will produce an image when in contact

with a cold object.
The metal handle of a table knife cooled in the refrigerator is placed in contact with the
plastic membrane.
Image is formed by minute droplets of water condensing on the film in areas that made
contact with the cold metal. The dark colored glass makes it easy to see the image when a
flashlight is directed on to the film.
This experiment was inspired by the February 1972 Scientific American Amateur Scientist
article that describes a simple evaporograph made by Roger Baker.
Evaporograph is made by stretching a thin clear plastic film over the top of a dark colored
glass half full of water and sealing with a rubber band. After putting on the plastic film the
glass should be allowed to sit until the temperature of the glass and water inside are the
same as ambient temperature. The film is now sensitive to colder temperatures and will
form an image of any cold object that it comes into contact with.
Cold coins from the refrigerator make an image on the

membrane.
Membrane can be made sensitive to warmer temperatures.
A cold can from the refrigerator when rolled across the membrane, causes condensation
over the entire film.
The film is now sensitive to warmer temperatures because they will cause the condensation,
already on the film, to evaporate.
Dark print in contact with the film will leave an image as it absorbs infra red heat from an
incandescent lamp.
This simple water evaporograph can be used over and over and can be made ready for a
new image by turning the glass upside down momentarily. This will flood the membrane
with water and erase any images that may be on it.
Homemade Magnetic Amplifiers.

October 2009.
Magnetic amplifier made from common 12 volt

transformers.
A magnetic amplifier is a circuit that uses changes in core saturation of an inductor to

bring about amplification. A small amount of DC current change from the 9 volt battery
and a 1k pot can cause a large amount of AC current change through a car headlight.
The purpose of this article is to de-mystify the esoteric magnetic amplifier and to describe
how to build simple homemade magnetic amplifiers using common 12 volt transformers.
This is the real deal; gain from a transformer, a component that is normally considered to
be passive. In most applications, transformers are merely used to step AC voltages up or
down without actually amplifying. A common transformer in a magnetic amplifier circuit
however, can actually exhibit gain just like a transistor or tube. The magnetic amplifier is
only different from a transistor amplifier in that a small amount of DC current controls a
large amount of AC current in the output instead of controlling a large amount of DC
current in the output.
To evaluate the amount of gain in my magnetic amplifier circuits, I compared the change of
input power with the change of output power dissipated by the output load. In other words,
I multiplied the change of output voltage across the load times the change of current
through the load. I then divided this by the change of input voltage times the change of
input current.
Let's say you want to run an auto headlamp on 12V AC and make a dimmer circuit that
uses a normal sized 1K ohm pot. The pot would just burn up if it were put in series with the
auto headlight so, some kind of circuit with gain is necessary in order to get adequate
control from the 1k pot.
For a project like this, the use of triacs or power transistors generally come to mind but,
the lesser known magnetic amplifier can do the same job without using any triacs,
transistors or tubes.
There are some good articles online about magnetic amplifier theory. Two of the best are:
The Transformer Book by Lee Reuben and Magnetic Amplifiers by Mali. They can be
found on google. Most of these articles however, describe mag amps in theoretical terms.
They can easily lead one to think that special cores and transformers would be necessary in
order to to actually build a magnetic amplifier. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
From my own experiments, I have found that normal everyday transformers including 12V
filament transformers sold by Radio Shack, work impressively well for making magnetic
amplifiers. The use of three leg and other special mag amp transformer cores are also
described in mag amp articles but I have just experimented with standard transformers
because of their easy availability. I also get great satisfaction from making exotic processes
work just from using commonly available materials.
To begin, I would like to first show a simple experiment that demonstrates how saturating
a magnetic core can lower inductance and allow more AC current to flow through a lamp.
The lamp glows brighter when the magnets are near the transformer. The magnetic field
saturates the core, lowering the inductive reactance in series with the lamp.
Also, shorting the unused winding will cause the lamp to light to full brilliance. Because of
this we can not use this circuit yet as a magnetic amplifier. Explanation will follow shortly.
Instead of using magnets, a DC voltage applied to another winding can also cause the core
to saturate. This is the basis of a magnetic amplifier circuit.
To understand how a Magnetic Amplifier can amplify, imagine a 12 V filament
transformer that has a primary 120 V winding and a secondary 12 V winding. The
secondary 12 V winding is connected in series with 12 VAC and a lamp. The primary
winding has roughly ten times as many turns as the secondary. By running a small DC
control current through the 120 V primary winding, amplification is possible because this
small current can generate enough ampere turns to saturate the core. This lowers the
inductive reactance of the 12V secondary, allowing more AC current to flow through the
lamp making it brighter. A small change in DC current applied to the 120 V primary
winding can cause a much larger change in AC current flowing through the 12 V
secondary winding. This can be stated another way. A small change in power dissipated
across the 120V primary can cause a much larger change in power dissipated across a load
connected to the 12 V secondary.
This circuit configuration however, presents some problems that need to be addressed.
When using a single transformer, high voltage AC will appear, through transformer action,
across the 120 V control winding. This high voltage can burn up a potentiometer or
whatever is connected to this 120 V winding. We don't want to have this high voltage AC
coming out of the magnetic amplifier input.
There is also the problem that the lamp will light to full brilliance if the 120 V control
winding is simply shorted. With no input applied to the amplifier, it should not make any
difference whether the input is open or shorted.
A solution to this is to use two transformers. The output AC current can be run through
the 12 V windings of both transformers either in series or parallel. The 120 V input
windings can be connected in series so that the AC voltages induced in them from
transformer action, are out of phase and cancel. This allows small DC control voltages to
be applied to the two 120 V windings without interaction with high voltage AC. Since each
transformer core can saturate, independently of the other, the DC control windings have
full core saturation effect even though they are connected out of phase.
It is easy to tell when the two input control windings are phased properly by shorting the
input. If the phase is wrong, the lamp will light to full brilliance. If the phase is correct, the
lamp condition will show little or no change.
With this type of Magnetic Amplifier circuit, the lamp will normally be dim or off when
zero control voltage is applied. DC control voltages of plus or minus polarity, when applied
to the input, will cause the lamp to get brighter.
Magnetic amplifier with reactance coils in series.
Magnetic amplifier with reactance coils in parallel.
The circle with the sine wave symbol in the center is an AC power supply. In the case of the
circuits described here, it is typically a 12v transformer powered from a 120 V 60 HZ
outlet.
Control of a l20 volt lamp using an output step up

transformer.
Magnetic amplifiers seem to be best suited for driving low impedance loads in their output.
The 12 V car headlight is a typical example. By connecting a step up transformer to the
output of one of my 12 V transformer mag amps, I was able to control a 120 V 60 Watt
lamp.
Adding a couple of diodes causes incredible increase in gain.
I was impressed to observe typical power gains of 15 to 25 using the two transformer
circuit but, after adding a couple of silicon rectifier diodes to the circuit as shown above, I
started to observe amazing power gains of well over 1000!! The diode circuits that I have
made do not put out as much power under my experimental conditions but the relative
amount of input control current change necessary to control the output is a very tiny
fraction of what is required when no diodes are in the circuit.
Why is this so? The diodes cause pulsating DC current to flow through the coils. This
pulsating DC current has a tendency to bias the coils toward saturation just as though it
were applied to the input. It is easy to see why this kind of circuit is called a self biasing
magnetic amplifier. This bias effect also appears as positive feedback. Positive feedback in
any kind of amplifier usually translates into an increase in amplification. With more
positive feedback, an amplifier can become unstable or capable of acting as a bistable flip
flop. I have also succeeded in making some bistable magnetic amp circuits.
Magnetic Amplifier articles also explain that by the use of diodes, the core is prevented
from being saturated in both the negative and positive direction. This raises efficiency by
eliminating hysteresis losses.
With this type of Magnetic Amplifier circuit, the lamp will usually be lit to some degree
when zero control voltage is applied. DC control voltages applied in one polarity to the
input will cause the lamp to get brighter while DC control voltages applied in the opposite
polarity will cause the lamp to get dimmer.
Some mag amp articles convey a "Stuff Shirt" attitude that a circuit must have diodes in
order to be called a Magnetic Amplifier and that a circuit without diodes is called a
Saturable Reactor. A circuit without diodes may have a power gain of just 15 but it is still
impressive and can certainly amplify . Why should it make any difference whether a circuit
has a gain of 15 or 1500 in order for it to be called an amplifier?
Higher gain also achieved using homemade borax rectifiers.
I was curious to see if homemade borax rectifiers (in the two jars) could be used instead of
modern silicon rectifiers to increase the gain of the mag amp circuit. The answer is: They
can indeed.
Two silicon diodes can be seen sitting in the foreground unconnected.
These borax rectifiers are crude as compared to modern silicon diodes but I was still able
to observe an amazing power gain of around 450 while using them in the mag amp circuit.
And Now The Obvious Question.

The answer to the the first question anyone reading this would ask is: OOOHHHH
YYYEEESSSSS!!! Audio magnetic amplifiers can be homebuilt using common toroids and
a high frequency ac power source. I made a magnetic audio amplifier with appreciable gain
using a couple of toroids from my surplus parts box.

23 January 2010.
A magnetic audio amplifier. The 9 volt battery is to supply dc bias to the circuit.
Magnetic audio amplifier schematic.
High impedance signals can be fed into the input of this circuit by using a matching step
down transformer such as the Bogen T725 or similar. It is sometimes helpful to bypass the
output of the transformer with a .1 uf capacitor and run the signal to the input through an
inductor of several millihenries to keep any residual 35 khz signal from feeding back
through the input to the crystal set.
A typical crystal set connection with the T725 would be to groud the black wire, connect
the brown wire to the input of the magnetic amplifier and the purple wire to the crystal set
output.
This is my second report on magnetic amplifiers. The first was a description of how to
control the brightness of an incandescent light powered by 12 vac. See: Homemade
Magnetic Amplifiers using common 12 Volt Transformers. This report shows how I
applied the same principle, using toroids and a 35 khz ac power source, to make a magnetic
audio amplifier.
The purpose of this project was to see if I could make a working audio magnetic amplifier
using common materials. This amplifier works very well under the circumstances that the
toroids were randomly chosen surplus aquisitions from my parts box. Using the speaker as
a comparison between the input signal and the output signal, the signal is very much louder
at the amplifier output.
Using this amplifier to control the brightness of a car tail light instead of an audio
amplifier, I found the gain to be quite high. With not very careful measurements, the power
gain appeared to be well over 2000. I will update this if I can make more accurate power
gain observations. In any case there is definitely some noteworthy gain.
To evaluate the amount of gain using the tail light, I compared the change of input power
with the change of output power dissipated by the output load. In other words, I multiplied
the change of output voltage across the load times the change of current through the load. I
then divided this by the change of input voltage times the change of input current.
The source of ac power for this amplifier was a quickly made 35 khz oscillator that puts out
a 10 - 12 vac sine wave capable of lighting a car tail light to full brilliance. This oscillator is
not yet designed well enough to publish here.
It is interesting to note that with the magnetic amplifier using diodes and 60 hz to control a
car headlight, the light is quite bright with no input dc bias. Applying a dc bias to the input,
depending on its polarity, will turn the light either dimmer or brighter. See: Homemade
Magnetic Amplifiers using common 12 Volt Transformers. In this circuit, using 35 khz and
toroids to control a light, the light is completely off with no input dc bias. A positive dc bias
will turn the light on and brighter. This is why the input coil polarity dots are on the
bottom instead of on top as shown in the car headlight control circuit. This suggests to me
that these toroids may be capable of controlling a lot more power than is being controlled
in this experiment.
The mag amp is true amplification without the use of tubes, transistors or IC's but it does
require the use of an ac power source. While most ac oscillators require the use of
transistors, this amp could concievably run using an ac power signal from a carbon arc or
maybe even a zinc oscillator or similar.
There are some good articles online about magnetic amplifier theory. Two of the best are:
The Transformer Book by Lee Reuben and Magnetic Amplifiers by Mali. They can be
found on google. Most of these articles however, describe mag amps in theoretical terms.
They can easily lead one to think that special cores and transformers would be necessary in
order to actually build a magnetic amplifier. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
FET Transistor Homemade From Cadmium

Sulfide Photocell.
By Nyle Steiner K7NS May 7 2009.
Updated May 10 2009
CDS Photocell Made Into A FET Transistor
The picture above shows how transistor action was observed by improvising an insulated
gate to a cadmium sulfide photo resistor. The picture was taken in normal light but the
experiment had to be performed in the dark.
The photocell used is pictured above. It is a very common type which I purchased from
Radio Shack many years ago.
Photo Resistor Converted Into A Field Effect Transistor.

I have long suspected that if a successful homemade transistor were to be made, it might
likely happen in the form of a FET. I have read of Roger Baker's homemade FET in the
June 1970 Scientific American Amateur Scientist column numerous times and have
thought about the simple architecture that can make a FET. This article illustrates that a
FET can be made simply by running current through a thin film of the right type of
semiconductor. If a flat conductor is put very near the semiconductor film and insulated
from it, voltage changes between the flat conductor and the film will cause changes in the
amount of current flowing through the film.
It recently occurred to me that if this is the case, I might be able to create transistor action
through a cadmium sulfide photocell (actually a photo sensitive resistor) since they consist
of basically a thin semiconductor film between two electrodes. This simple experiment
would be a logical first step before trying to create my own thin semiconductor films.
Would this photocell act as a transistor if I put an insulated gate near it?
My first attempt was simply to observe if there is any current change through the photocell
while moving a charged comb or pvc pipe near it. The excitement of seeing the current
change was short lived after realizing that the light striking the photocell was also affected
by the moving comb. I needed some light in the room to watch the meter. Several years ago
I had also tried moving a charged comb near some catwhisker devices to see if the current
changed. Seeing some current change at that time, was exciting until I realized that the
electrostatic attraction from the charged comb was physically pulling on the catwhisker. I
have long wondered if simply putting a charged object near a semiconductor or other type
of film, could have an effect on electrical current flowing through the film. For now, that
question still remains unanswered.
It was time to try improvising some kind of conductive gate near the surface of the
photocell. I did this by putting a piece of scotch tape across the face of the photocell to act
as the insulator. To make a conductive layer in close contact, I then put a drop of water on
top of the scotch tape just big enough to cover most of the photocell area. I used water
because of it's ability to conform closely to the surface of the tape. Nothing needed to be
added to the water because the resistance of normal water is very low compared to the
almost infinite resistance of this improvised gate. A piece of wire touching the drop of
water served as the gate electrode.
From my observations, the setup described above definitely produces transistor action.
This experiment had to be performed in the dark for obvious reasons although I found that
a tiny bit of light falling on the photocell could sometimes improve performance. There was
little or no transistor action in normal light because the photocell was saturated.
This transistor has considerable power gain but very low voltage gain because of the wide
voltage excursions required at the gate to produce a significant current change through the
photocell. Intuition says the gate could be made more sensitive by putting the gate closer
but the thickness of the scotch tape and the clear coating on the front of the photocell
precluded this. The gate input resistance is for most practical purposes, infinite. The only
current that flows through the gate is whatever current can leak through a piece of scotch
tape.
Battery B supplies current through the photocell and R2. Current through the photocell is
measured by I2. Battery B was varied between 9 VDC to 175 VDC.
Battery A was varied between 75 VDC and 175 VDC and was connected through a switch
to be able to reverse the polarity of voltage applied to the gate.
Whenever the switch was changed, the polarity of voltage across the gate would reverse,
resulting in a current change through I2.
R1 and R2 were used mainly to limit current and protect the current meters in case of a
high current. Since the gate impedance is so high, R1 could be anywhere between zero and
10 meg without noticing any significant difference.
This device acted as an enhancement-depletion insulated gate FET. A positive voltage
applied to the gate caused an increase of current through I2 and a negative voltage applied
to the gate caused a decrease in current through I2.
The gate, being such high impedance, is what makes the power gain of this device so high.
A change of even several hundred volts across the gate usually causes at most a small
fraction of a microamp - barely perceptible needle movement on a 50 ua full scale ammeter
I1. This translates into a very small change of power dissipated in the gate circuit. This
voltage change on the gate can cause many microamps of current change through the
photocell. That translates into a significant change of power dissipated in the output circuit
across R2.
The response of this device also seemed to have a dynamic characteristic. That is, whenever
the reversing switch was activated, the current through R2 would suddenly change and
then slowly creep back toward the previous value. By running a sawtooth waveform into
the gate however, I was able to establish to my satisfaction, that indeed the output current
was responding to the input voltage.
The sawtooth waveform at the output across R2 was inverted. This provided additional
assurance to me that this experiment was indeed producing real transistor action. The
input and output waveforms can be seen in the pictures below. The output waveform was
at much lower amplitude even though it appears the same in the lower picture. The
oscilloscope gain was set higher to compensate for the lower output.
Input Sawtooth Waveform
Output Is Inverted Sawtooth Waveform
The tiny spike at the bottom of the waveform is a small amount of input signal feeding
directly to the output through stray capacitance.
Homemade FET Transistor Used To Make A Power

Amplifier.
Meter readings and oscilloscope signals are great for evaluating devices such as this
homemade transistor but, evaluation would not be complete without building an actual
amplifier circuit and attempting to hear an amplified signal. I was successful at doing that.
A large voltage swing is required to drive the gate of this crude transistor. This makes it
unsuitable for amplifying small voltage level signals. A weak but large voltage swing (very
high impedance) signal is more suitable for driving this homemade transistor amplifier.
Fortunately, this type of signal is very handy at our fingertips. The 60 HZ buzz that our
bodies pick up around the house is just such a signal and is perfect for testing this
amplifier.
In order to make a comparison between the unamplified signal and the amplified signal, I
used the circuit shown in Fig 1. When touching the "Touch" point in Fig 1, the 60 HZ buzz
can just barely be heard by putting the ear right on the speaker. When touching the
"Touch" point of the amplifier circuit, the buzz can be easily heard by just sitting near the
speaker. Even though the signal from the speaker is still soft, the increase in loudness can
clearly be heard. We usually don't care much to have a signal like this amplified, but it is
very exciting to hear it amplified in this situation.
The homemade transistor requires a slight amount of light for optimum operation.
The 160 VDC is normally positive but the amplifier seemed to work just as well when the
160 VDC was negative. With the negative voltage, I had to reverse the 10 uf capacitor.
Even though the voltage gain of this circuit is very low (so far about 1/10), the power gain is
considerable and I believe this experiment definitely demonstrates transistor action from a
simple homemade field effect transistor. This experiment with a photocell is a positive first
step. It is fascinating to think about trying homemade thin films, and the results that might
be obtained, as Roger Baker did in 1970..
Corona Oscillator And Triode With Gain.

By Nyle Steiner K7NS Mar 2006.
Corona Oscillator
The picture above shows a corona oscillator in operation. This oscillator is capable of
producing frequencies between 500 khz and 2 mhz. The visibility of the corona has been
enhanced with a several second time exposure.
The Oscillator is made simply by placing the point of a pin near the head of a thumb tack.
The pin is connected to ground through a 1k resistor and the thumb tack is connected to
several KV DC positive through a 1 megohm resistor.
The 1k resistor has very little effect on the circuit but drops enough voltage to make the
pulse signal easy to see on an oscilloscope. The 1meg resistor mainly serves the purpose of
current limiting when the pin is brought too close to the thumb tack causing an arc.
The frequency of oscillation is dependent upon the voltage, spacing between the pin point
and the thumb tack head, and the strength of electrostatic fields applied near the tip of the
pin. A negative field will decrease the frequency and a positive field will increase the
frequency.
The frequency will also change as a charged comb is brought near the pin and thumb tack.
Interestingly, the frequency seems to have very little to do with resistance or capacitance
that may be placed in the circuit.
Corona Triode
A triode can be made by placing the tip of the pin inside a small loop of wire as seen in the
above picture. The loop is usually placed a small distance behind the point of the pin as can
be seen in the above picture. Bringing the loop closer to the point of the pin allows the loop
and a varying voltage applied to the loop to have more control over the frequency of the
oscillator. When moving the loop closer to the point of the pin or beyond (between the pin
point and the thumb tack) a point will be reached where oscillation and corona will cease.
The frequency of oscillation decreases as the amount of negative bias voltage applied to the
wire loop is increased. As the bias voltage is made even more negative, a point is also
reached where oscillation and corona will cease.
The pulses tend to stay the same width, therefore, voltage changes applied to the loop of
wire also control the amount of average current flowing between the pin and the thumb
tack. The amount of this current can be read at current meter I Osc.
As the bias voltage is varied over about 200 volts, there is a very big change in the plate
current (I Osc) as compared to a tiny change in bias current. This amounts to a significant
current gain or power gain in the triode.
This oscillator phenomenon is very consistent and seems to occur anytime a negatively
charged pinpoint is brought near a positive charged plate. I am not alone in observing
these pulses. They were observed and reported by Trichel in 1938. One can find his report
by putting Trichel Pulses on google.
Zinc Negative Resistance Crystal Oscillators.

A Continuation Of My Original Zinc Negative Resistance Oscillator Article.
By Nyle Steiner K7NS Feb 2008.
Update March 23 2008. 1.3 mile to 3.5 mile distance.
Update April 28 2008. 3.5 mile to 5 mile distance.
Zinc Negative Resistance Flea Powered 80 Meter CW

Transmitter.
While listening to a hand size short wave receiver with BFO (Degen 1103), I could hear the
flea powered transmitter pictured above from a distance of 5 miles (straight line GPS
distance).
Transmitter antenna was a random length wire run through a hole in the wall and thrown
into a tree. Ground was a clip lead connected to the screw of an electrical outlet cover.
The snow has finally receded enough that I could get to this 5 mile distant location up the
mountain. From here, I could hear the transmitter located in the small town below.
Zinc Negative Resistance Flea Powered 80 Meter CW

Transmitter. Clip Kludge Style.
This 80 meter transmitter using simpler construction, is identical to the one pictured above
and works just about as well.
Notice the "Rock Stable" mount for the zinc strip.
Schematic of CW transmitters shown above.

The 10k resistor provides a dc path from antenna to ground. This helps to prevent static
discharges from the antenna. A jumper across the 10k resistor is usually necessary when
running this transmitter without an antenna.
Zinc Negative Resistance Ham Band Oscillators.

This is a continuation of my previous article on negative resistance oscillators built using
the homemade zinc negative resistance diode.
My first article mainly described zinc negative resistance LC oscillators that I had made to
run anywhere from sub audio up to 2 mhz. I had not put a lot of effort into making a zinc
oscillator run above 2 mhz nor did I have much faith that one could run above that
frequency. After all, this zinc negative resistance device was already running much faster
than I had ever seen any unijunction transistor run back in the 1970's when unijunction
transistors were popular. Making these zinc negative resistance oscillators was a very
exciting experience but it left me with pipe dreams of being able to make them run on a
ham band above 160 meters.
Many of the rewards from writing web page articles come in the form of emails and gems
of information from readers. I recently received an email from Robert Nickels W9RAN
who had read my first article about the zinc oscillator. He reported success in making a
zinc negative resistance crystal oscillator run at 3.579 mhz (middle of 80 meter ham band).
I had not tried using crystals with the zinc oscillator in the past and was excited to hear of
his success at 3.58 mhz.
As you can imagine, I soon had my zinc negative resistance stuff back out on the table
along with my box of collected crystals. I also had no difficulty in getting 80 meter crystals
to oscillate. In fact with some experimenting and circuit refinement, I soon had a zinc
crystal oscillator running at 10 mhz.
If I could now figure out how to couple a zinc oscillator to an antenna, I could experience
the thrill of being able to transmit on a ham band using just a homemade semiconductor
and no tubes or transistors.
The schematic above and the section below "Coupling The Oscillator To An Antenna"
describe how I was able couple the zinc oscillator to an antenna making it into a
transmitter.
The diagram above shows the zinc negative resistance crystal oscillator. C1 is usually not
necessary for 80 meter crystals (3.5 - 4 mhz) but C1 makes it much easier with higher
frequency crystals such as 7 mh to 10 mhz.
As can be seen above, it is now routine to make an 80 meter (3.5 to 4 mhz) cw transmitter
using a zinc negative resistance crystal oscillator. At this point I have been able to make
zinc oscillators run up to about 13 mhz but stable and reliable operation for a 40 meter (7
mhz) transmitter seems more difficult. A 40 meter transmitter is definitely possible but so
far most of my effort has been concentrated on making an 80 meter transmitter.
I will report later on making a 40 meter transmitter if I can get one working well some
time.
I have identified some key refinements that help make these zinc oscillators able to run at
frequencies in excess of 10 mhz. The explanation is straightforward and intuitive. No mural
of mathematical hieroglyphics is necessary here. I don't speak that language anyway.
1: These zinc negative resistance oscillators are basically working as relaxation oscillators.
They will run just fine using just a capacitance across the zinc diode. In fact I was able to
obtain frequencies up to about 13 mhz just by running an oscillator in the relaxation
oscillator mode.
When a crystal is placed across the zinc diode, a relaxation oscillator is formed from the
capacitance of the crystal and the charging resistance comprised of the 25k pot and 1k
resistor. This relaxation oscillator can easily run at frequencies below the crystal frequency
while the crystal remains inactive. If the frequency of this relaxation oscillator is increased
to match that of the crystal resonant frequency, the crystal pops into action and has a
tendency to lock the oscillator to the crystal frequency. The relaxation oscillator must be
able to run at the crystal frequency by it's self in order to activate the crystal.
Difficulty is encountered when you have a high frequency crystal with too much built in
capacitance to allow the relaxation oscillator to reach the crystal resonant frequency. By
putting in a very small capacitance of several pf C1 in series with the crystal, the overall
capacitance is made small enough to allow the relaxation oscillator to reach the higher
crystal frequencies.
It seems that crystals up to about 4 mhz work well when connected directly across the zinc
diode whereas higher frequency crystals around 7 to 10 mhz work much easier with C1 in
series. I have been able to make C1 just by disconnecting one of the crystal clip leads and
laying it over the point where it was previously connected. A couple of insulated wires two
to three inches long twisted together also work well for C1.
2: I find it easier to get these oscillators running by using 18 vdc from two nine volt
batteries in series instead of using just 9 vdc from one battery. With a given amount of
current through the charging pot and 1k resistor, the capacitor can charge faster when
using 18 volts because it is charging more on the steeper part of the capacitance charge
curve.
3: It seems much easier to get these oscillators running if the zinc strip is positive with
respect to the catwhisker. This is a bit interesting since these zinc negative resistance
devices display very similar curves in both the positive and negative direction.
4: I have been having great success at using a multiple tip catwhisker. I take a piece of
stranded 26 gauge wire, strip 1/4" insulation from the end and arrange the protruding
wires in the shape of a fan. I then cut the end of the fan straight with a pair of scissors.
When using this as a catwhisker, I find the time looking for good spots on the zinc strip
much shorter.
Zinc negative resistance crystal oscillator running at 7.038 mhz.
Zinc negative resistance crystal oscillator running at 10 mhz.
Coupling The Oscillator To An Antenna.
Realizing that the zinc negative resistance oscillator can easily run at ham band frequencies
was exciting but I still had to figure out a way of coupling it to an antenna. As mentioned
above, any extra capacitance placed across the crystal will swamp the relaxation oscillator
and an antenna has plenty of capacitance.
I had success by coupling the antenna to the ground side of the crystal and running the
signal through the crystal into the antenna as shown in the 80 meter transmitter schematic
above. The antenna now provides a load for the crystal to work into instead of swamping
the circuit. The 10k resistor is simply a dc path to reduce static buildup and discharges
from the antenna. A jumper across the 10k resistor is usually necessary when running the
80 meter transmitter without an antenna.
My favorite antenna is a plain old random length long wire run through a hole in the wall
and thrown into a tree. I love the simplicity, no coax, no separate lead in, no bother with
swr etc. Each different length of wire will present its own impedance value to the
transmitter. If you can match and drive whatever impedance the random length wire is
presenting, it will radiate and you are ready to go.
Contrary to what many articles on antennas seem to imply, an antenna does not need to be
resonant in order to radiate a good signal. I believe that the biggest reason so much effort is
put into making antennas resonant is because the resonant condition is part of a total
configuration designed to present a 50 ohm impedance to the transmitter. 50 ohms is what
most modern transmitters are designed to match. In the good ole days, many transmitters
could be adjusted to drive almost any impedance whether it be 50 ohm coax, a random
length of wire or even a light bulb dummy load.
In years past, I have had many amazing cw qso's across the pacific ocean and across the
united states using less than one watt and a wire thrown into a tree. One one occasion while
using less than one watt near Los Angeles, I was having a qso with a ham in Japan using
the random length wire thrown into a tree. He said that I sounded like 100 watts into a
dipole.
Flea Powered Transmitter Output Levels.

The output power from a zinc negative resistance transmitter is very small (usually less
than one milliwatt) but as pointed out above, a signal with very little power can be heard at
unbelievable distances.
It can be difficult to determine how much power is being fed to random length long wire
antennas because of their wide variations of impedance but I believe you can get a
reasonable idea of how much power a transmitter will put into an antenna by driving
resistive loads and calculating the power dissipated by them. The zinc negative resistance
transmitter seems to be able to drive a wide range of load impedances reasonably well.
Different catwhisker settings produce various negative resistance characteristics and

therefore have an effect on the amplitude of oscillations and amount of output power.
Power output into a load seems to depend more upon a good catwhisker setting than it does
upon an exact impedance match with the load. Almost any ballpark load impedance from
an antenna therefore appears to be suitable for this transmitter.
I experimented with several output load resistor values in place of the antenna to get an
idea of how much power can be obtained from the 80 meter zinc transmitter. Using a 3579
khz crystal, I took measurements with four separate resistor load values placed between
the antenna connection point and ground: 56 ohms, 150 ohms, 220 ohms and 510 ohms.
The output power was derived by reading the peak to peak voltage across the load with an
oscilloscope, dividing it by two and multiplying by .707 to get the rms voltage value. The
rms voltage value was then squared and divided by the load resistance according to ohms
law to obtain the power being fed into the load resistor.
56 Ohms: Average 41.95 micro watts
80 mv = 14.3 micro watts
240 mv = 48 micro watts
I do not believe there was enough inductance in the resistors or capacitance in the scope
probe to adversely effect the quality of the above measurements. The output voltage
readings were essentially the same when the scope probe was switched between X1 and
X10.
I was able to obtain higher levels of power output using a 1 mhz crystal. A few
measurements were in excess of 1000 micro watts. In other words, a whopping 1 milliwatt.
Transmitter Adjustment and Keying.

Being a crystal oscillator, it is easy to adjust the transmitter by setting a nearby digitally
tuned receiver to the crystal frequency and turning on the BFO. I usually set the 25k pot to
approx 1/3 of its max resistance value, close the key and slowly slide the catwhisker along
the zinc strip while listening to the receiver. As the catwhisker slides a few bursts of
oscillations will be heard through the receiver as "chich" type sounds. When a steady
oscillation is heard, I let go of the catwhisker and adjust the pot for the most stable
oscillation. If it is unstable with a lot of warbles or does not key well with any pot setting, I
look for a better catwhisker spot. While some catwhisker settings produce unstable, warbly
and chirpy signals when keyed, other catwhisker settings will produce very stable signal
that sounds near perfect when keyed. These of course are the desired settings for the
catwhisker.
I personally would not complain anyway about a few warbles or chirps especially in light of
the tiny output power level and massive thrill level that this transmitter delivers using a
simple homemade semiconductor.
Zinc Negative Resistance Oscillator.

By Nyle Steiner K7NS 22 March. 2001
Anyone with a propane torch and a few scraps of galvanized sheet metal laying around can
easily make a negative resistance device. With this device, it is possible to make very simple
RF oscillators, audio oscillators and even amplifier circuits. It is almost like making your
own transistor.
Heat treated galvanized metal strip and curve produced.
Negative Resistance from heat treated galvanized sheet metal. Curve tracer is set
at 1v/div. horiz and 1ma/div. vert. Curve tracer was modified to apply ac to the
device.
This project was sucessfully done earlier using iron pyrites (see Iron Pyrites Negative
Resistance Oscillator) Iron Pyrites Negative Resistance Oscillator The heat treated
galvanized device however, is much superior in ease of use, consistancy and is very easy to
prepare. As with the Iron Pyrites oscillator, success with this experiment has been a very
exciting experience for me as it represents the ability to build a simple homemade active
semiconductor device. It is almost like making your own homemade transistor. This is an
actual realization of some very old, and esoteric 1920's experiments, by W.H. Eccles,
Greenleaf Pickard and Oleg Losev, that were so vaguely reported in a few articles that I
have often wondered if in fact it had actually been done. Even so, I have always had an
extreme fascination with those reports of being able to produce a continuous wave RF
signal from a crude semiconductor matarial back in the very early days of radio. From my
experiences in experimenting with negative resistance materials, I can now say that those
experiments done in the early days of radio, appear to be valid factual reports.
My fascination led me to purchase an old Tektronix 575 curve tracer so I could study the
curves of various materials that might have negative resistance or detector properties as
used in crystal sets. The curve tracer is not necessary in order to make and use the negative
resistance device and circuits as described below. It is instrumental however, in the
evaluation and discovery of materials which posess unique electrical properties. The 575 is
a vintage but great tool because it continuously shows the curve in real time as you
manually manipulate the samples. This is what is needed in order to make observations
while manually touching a piece of wire to a piece of material. I wanted to be able to
display both the positive and negative portions of the curves simultaneously and so had to
modify the curve tracer in order to do so.
Some articles refer to this negative resistance as being like that displayed by a tunnel diode.
It is true in the sense of having negative resistance, but it is in fact a different type of
negative resistance. This is ok since both types of negative resistance can have the effect of
gain, supplying enough energy to an LC circuit for it to become an oscillator.
Two types of negative resistance.
Left is type found in the galvanized sheet metal device. Right is type like a tunnel
diode.
The figure above shows how the two types of negative resistance curves are possible. These
drawings show the curves with the devices being biased in only one direction. The two
forms of negative resistance are sometimes called type S and a type N. The S type is the
type found here and in other devices such as a unijunction transistor and the old carbon
arc oscillators. The upper portion of the S curve is sometimes not seen because some
devices, such as the galvanized sheet metal device will destroy themselves before carrying
enough current to display the upper portion of the S type curve. The type of negative
resistance curve produced by a tunnel diode resembles the letter N. See also homemade N
type device. Homemade Tunnel Diode and RF Oscillator.
Making the galvanized sheet metal negative resistance device is very easy. Simply hold,
using pliers, the end of a thin 1/8 inch wide strip of galvanized sheet metal, of the type used
for furnace ducts, in the flame of a propane torch until it glowes bright red and shoots out
whit hot flares. It is a good idea to do this out of doors and to avoid breathing any of the
smoke or fumes. People who are knowledgeable about welding say that poisonus fumes are
produced when welding galvanized metal. After cooling, small dark spots will appear,
especially on the side opposite where the flame has struck. These dark spots are the main
negative resistance areas. The catwhiskers tried were 28 gauge steel wire and 30 gauge
copper wire. Both seemed to work well.
A good catwhisker arrangement can be made by putting two screws into a piece of wood
about 1-1/2" square near the edge. A piece of #28 gauge steel wire can be wrapped around
the two screws and cut to about 3" in length. The wire is then bent in an arch so that it
lightly touches the heat treated metal as the block is moved around. A heavy weight on the
block will make its position stable after making adjustments.
As can be seen on the curve tracer photo above, the curve can be quite symmetrical in both
the negative and positive direction, although I sometimes would observe a somewhat
asymmetrical curve. This picture was taken while the curve tracer was applying ac to the
device. I had to modify the curve tracer so it could apply ac.
Oscillator circuits can be made that run easily from one 9v battery. It often seems easier to
obtain steady oscillation when the catwhisker is biased negative with respect to the metal
strip, but biasing in either direction can work.
Negative resistance RF oscillator using galvanized sheet

metal.
The circuit shown is all that is necessary
to produce a continuous wave signal in
the am broadcast band. It seemed
difficult to get it to operate above 2mhz
but was easy to get it running at anything
below that, including audio frequencies.
It seems to prefer certain LC ratios
better than others. In the case of the am broadcast band, A 365pf variable capacitor
worked well with 50 turns on a piece of 1 3/4" outside diameter abs pipe.
The trickiest part of getting this circuit to operate is to be able to tell when it is oscillating.
The easiest way is to have an oscilloscope across the coil or across part of it with a tap. You
simply make adjustments until you see the signal appear on the scope. It can also be done
by adjusting the catwhisker while rocking the variable capacitor back and forth through its
range and listening with an am receiver. This takes a bit more skill but it can be done.
Another way to tell if it is oscillating is to put a diode and microameter across part of the
coil. When a steady deflection of the meter is obtained, the variable capacitor can be tuned
to the desired frequency using a receiver.
A good place to start making adjustments is with the pot set so that there is a total
resistance of about 4k ohms including the 1k resistor. The only function of the 1k resistor is
just to prevent a large amount of current flowing when the pot is set at zero resistance.
Some settings of the catwhisker allow the circuit to oscillate over very wide variations of
resistance (pot) settings.
Negative resistance audio oscillator using galvanized sheet

metal.
The audio oscillator is much easier to
adjust and to get running. It is simply a
matter of listening for a tone from the
speaker or headset while making
catwhisker adjustments. As with the RF
oscillator, a good place to start is with the
pot set so that there is a total resistance of
about 4 kohms including the 1k resistor.
Some settings of the catwhisker will make
the circuit able to operate over a very
wide range of resistance settings. You
may find it easy to get the circuit going
with just one 4.7k resistor in place of the
pot and 1k resistor.
This audio oscillator circuit can use the 120 volt side of a 120 volt to 12 volt transformer or
the 2k side of a 2k to 8 ohm transformer for the inductor. The output side of either of these
transformers, 12 volt or 8 ohm respectively, can drive a speaker with enough volume to be
heard across the room.
A pair of headphones of just about any impedance can be used in place of the speaker. A
headset will present less of a load than a speaker and will result in a higher Q LC circuit.
This can make it easier to obtain catwhisker settings that work well.
Negative resistance tone modulated RF oscillator using

galvanized sheet metal.
A tone modulated rf
oscillator can be made by
connecting both an rf LC
circuit and an audio
frequency LC circuit across
the negative resistance. This
circuit can oscillate at both
rf and audio frequencies at
the same time. It is possible
to adjust the circuit by
listening to the speaker or
earphone and then tuning
the variable capacitor untill
it is heard through an am radio. With many settings, a loud, well modulated tone will be
produced.
It is interesting to note that it is possible to get combinations of pot and catwhisker settings
where the audio circuit will oscillate but the rf circuit will not, the rf circuit will oscillate
but the audio frequency circuit will not or where both circuits oscillate at the same time to
produce the tone modulated rf signal.
Negative Resistance AM Broadcast band Oscillator.

It is possible to broadcast audio to a nearby am radio if a carbon microphone or
audio transformer is placed in series with the battery supply. It is hard to beat
the fun of broadcasting to a nearby radio with an electrified crystal set.
Negative Resistance Audio Oscillator.

Negative resistance audio oscillator driving speaker with enough volume to be
heard across the room.
How did I find out about galvanized sheet metal anyway?
A while ago, I wanted to make a simple electric buzzer using a coil of wire wrapped around
a bolt and a piece of galvanized sheet metal for the moving armature. It was of the DC type
where a contact point touches the metal and electrical contact is broken whenever the
magnet is energized and pulls the metal. This crude homemade buzzer worked as well as
one might expect but, it would not run very long. Some kind of black oxidation crud kept
building up where the metal was sparking against the electrical contact point and
preventing good electrical contact. Being somewhat disappointed, I dismantled the buzzer
and set the piece of armature metal aside where it sat around thereafter. Some time later,
after experimenting with negative resistance in iron pyrites and similar materials, I decided
to try the curve tracer on the black crud spots still on the galvanized sheet metal buzzer
armature. The results looked promising. This lead to heating another piece of galvanized
sheet metal in a propane flame. I was very pleased to discover many points that displayed
very usable negative resistance. I had finally found a negative resistance material that
could be consistently and confidently adjusted; usually within a matter of seconds.
After the metal is cooled, many black spots are found, surrounded with snow white
powdery zinc oxide. The white zinc oxide acts like an insulator and shows no continuity
whatsoever. The black spots are where most of the negative resistance is found. Taking a
wild guess, I would suggest the possibility of these dark spots being Zinc Ferrite Zn-Fe2-O4
or something similar, formed by the interaction of heat, oxygen and zinc, reacting with the
surface of the iron. The side of the metal facing away from the flame would be more more
likely to be in contact with oxygen than the side facing the flame. That may be why I seem
to find more good negative resistance spots on that side. Zinc ferrite is described in the
Handbook of Chemistry and Physics as a black material. It would appear that zinc is
playing an important role in the negative resistance. It stands to reason since zincite is
mentioned in early radio articles, as one of the best negative resistance materials. It would
be interesting to see what the curve, exhibited by zincite is like but I have yet to visit a rock
& mineral shop that has a piece of zincite available. Perhaps the performance of the heat
treated galvanized sheet metal is good enough to satisfy concerns about obtaining zincite.
Amplifiers using the negative resistance device.

I have been somewhat successful in making some amplifier circuits from the zinc negative
resistance devices. I have also been able to make a regenerative am broadcast band
receiver. It seems much easier however, to make an oscillator than an amplifier with
negative resistance because of the fact that most amplifier circuits have a great tendacy to
oscillate unless adjusted very carefully. Before writing more about negative resistance
amplifiers, I would like to put more effort into finding ways to get the most out of them.
"Easy Ten"
A simple 80 Meter CW Transmitter Using A
2N3904.
By Nyle Steiner K7NS April 2008.
I call this very simple transmitter the "Easy Ten" because it can be easily heard at a
distance of 10 miles. Transmitter antenna is a random length wire run through a hole in
the wall and thrown into a tree.
The white wire just visible in the upper left is the antenna. The Red clip lead that exits at
the upper right is a ground wire connected to the ground screw of an electrical outlet.
Looking toward the transmitter location in a small town that can barely be seen 11.5 miles
away. The transmitter could be heard clearly from this location, the top of a hill
overlooking a lava field.
Schematic Of Transmitter.
Antenna Adjustment.
I am not an antenna fanatic and I like to work with the simple stuff, especially when it
comes to working with frequencies in the 3.5 and 7 mhz range. Fussing around with coax
lines, SWR, baluns and all that fancy stuff does not usually appeal much to me, nor have I
found it at all necessary for getting a signal out. A simple random length of wire thrown
into a tree works very well if you can simply adjust the transmitter to put a signal into it.
I certainly am not trying to say this is the best way to make antennas. The point that I wish
to emphasize is that the simple techniques that I am describing here, do work well and
make good respectable antennas. I have made many many contacts across the pacific ocean
and across the United States using simple antennas as described here and just one watt of
output power. I have almost always been able to make contacts with stations at least two
states away from any given antenna setup using just one watt.
A simple homemade level meter can tell you when you have optimized the signal output to
the antenna. The signal meter is capacitively coupled to the antenna and reads it's RF
voltage level. A signal level meter can be easily made from a DC microameter and a
germanium diode. Connect the germanium diode across the meter with the cathode on the
positive side. Then connect one side of the meter to ground and the other side of the meter
to a short wire (one or two feet long) that rests near the antenna wire from the transmitter.
It does not matter which side of the meter goes where.
With the key down, adjust the 365 pf variable capacitor in the circuit above for a peak
reading on the meter. That is all there is to it. With the circuit described above, a big
antenna will tend to swamp the oscillator and prevent it from running. The variable
capacitor attains the best compromise between swamping the oscillator and having too
little of antenna coupling. The picture above shows a fixed capacitor feeding the antenna. A
variable capacitor was first used to peak the signal meter and then an equivalent fixed
value capacitor was put in it's place. A capacitor is not necessary at all sometimes with
shorter antennas. In this case the antenna can be connected directly to the transistor
collector.
This simple meter has worked well on numerous other transmitter projects. This meter can
not tell how much power a transmitter is putting out but it is very good for indicating when
the transmitter is putting the most signal into the antenna. For a given transmitter, you
don't really need to know how much power it is putting out. You just need to know when
the transmitter is putting what it is capable of into the antenna. This meter seems to
accomplish that.
With all other conditions remaining the same, the more signal voltage there is on the
antenna, the more power the antenna is radiating. It is that simple. Don't worry about near
field and far field theory or any of that stuff. According to theory that I have read, you can
not have a near field without having the far (radiating) field.
There is a basic rule about loading an antenna with this signal level meter. The indications
from the meter are valid as long as changes or adjustments are made between the meter
and anywhere in the transmitter. The meter indications may not be valid for any changes
made beyond the meter (farther out the antenna or ground lead).
When you want an idea of how much power the transmitter can put out, it is easy to
substitute dummy load resistors at different values in place of the antenna. The peak to
peak voltage across the resistor read by an oscilloscope, can then be divided by two and
multiplied by .707 to get the rms value. This value when squared and divided by the
resistor value will give the power being fed to the resistor according to ohms law. I am
usually curious about the values obtained using 50 to 220 ohm resistors.
It appears that the simple circuit shown above can work well into a wide variety of load
values without using any additional load matching components. Using a 9v battery I
measured the transmitter RF output power into several dummy load resistors as described
in the previous paragraph. The result was in the range of about 5 to 7 milliwatts. They are
listed below.
56 ohms 1.5v pp 5.02 milliwatts

150 ohms 3v pp 7.49 milliwatts
220 ohms 3.5v pp 6.96 milliwatts
510 ohms 5v pp 6.1 milliwatts
I was also able to run this transmitter on 3 volts but the power output was much lower - in
the range of 300 to 400 microwatts. These microwatt levels could still be heard (not as
strong) several miles away.
The circuit above is far from a representation of the amount of RF power output that can
be supplied from a single transistor circuit. The main purpose of this project was to get an
idea of what can be accomplished by simply coupling an antenna to a simple oscillator
circuit.
It seems that the biggest disadvantage to all this simplicity is the difficulty in knowing
exactly how much power is going up the antenna. Getting optimum power up the antenna
is not nearly as difficult and is the main concept presented here. The dummy load resistors
tell how much power can be put out with different loads but the exact load these random
length antennas present to the transmitter is a bit more difficult to determine. These
questions can be answered by delving into more sophisticated practices.

By Nyle Steiner K7NS Jan 2008.
Updated 3 Feb 2008.
The output power of this homemade flame triode is very small and probably offers very
little in the way of practical use. I found it exciting however, to observe that this simple
homemade device can exhibit gain. Some support for the idea, that this device exhibits
gain, was afforded by successfully building a dual triode free running multivibrator
oscillator.
Flame Rectifier
A piece of iron or steel that has had table salt applied to it and and another clean piece of
iron or steel will form a rectifier when put into a propane or alcohol flame. I wrote an
article about making a flame detector for a crystal set in the March1,1997 "The Xtal Set
Society Newsletter" Volume 7, No.2. This detector used a propane flame and a salted
cathode.
In the past, I have experimented with electrical conduction within propane flames but
recently started experimenting with denatured alcohol flames. The denatured alcohol flame
is cooler and allows the cathode to have a much longer lifetime however, the amount of
current flow through the alcohol flame is usually less.
More recently, I have tried applying Potassium Bitartrate (Cream of Tartar from the
kitchen) to the cathode instead of salt. This increased the connductivity of the flame
rectifier by many times. With a Potassium Bitartrate treated cathode and a steel anode in
just an alcohol flame, it was easy to rectify 120 VAC into a DC voltage sufficient to run a
neon bulb relaxation oscillator.
I suspect that the increased conductivity might have something to do with potassium
because potassium ferricyanide and potassium hydroxide also work well as a cathode
material. I want to try making a comparison between sodium chloride (table salt) and
potassium chloride as soon as I can get some potassium chloride.
The above curve tracer picture shows the curve when AC voltage is applied across a
rectifier made with an alcohol flame. In this picture, the current (vertical) is 10 microamps
per division and the applied voltage (horizontal) is 20 volts per division. The center of the
curve tracer screen represents zero voltage.
This second picture shows the curve when AC voltage is applied across a rectifier made
with a hotter propane flame. The current (vertical) is 5 milliamps per division and the
applied ac voltage (horizontal) is also represented by 20 volts per division. In this picture
you can just barely see the dot on the current sensitivity knob set at 5 ma. The center of the
curve tracer screen also represents zero voltage in this picture. Although the forward
voltage drop is high, this propane flame diode is able to carry 40 milliamps forward
current!!
If the anode is kept cool by making it large and having heat sink capability, the reverse
breakdown voltage of an alcohol flame rectifier can be kept quite high. Using a variac
driven neon sign transformer into this rectifier, I was able to observe a peak reverse
breakdown voltage in excess of 2 KV. One one occasion, a flame rectifier was withstanding
up to 4 KV peak reverse voltage. I found the flame rectifier however, to be more reliable as
a 2 KV reverse breakdown device.
With the 2 KV reverse breakdown voltage, I was able to charge a power supply capacitor
up to 1 KV (the rectifier must withstand the reverse AC voltage cycle in series with the
charged capacitor).
Very Intriguing Flame Phenomenon

While playing with the alcohol flame, I noticed some very intriguing characteristics. Most
articles about flame conduction, flame speakers etc, talk about how the salt on the cathode
puts ions into the flame to make it conductive. In the case of my alcohol flame experiments,
I found that the flame seems to conduct current even when the anode is not placed in the
ionized part of the flame. Even if the salted cathode is placed in the very top of the flame,
there is still current flow when the anode is placed in the very bottom of the flame.
Even More Intriguing Flame Phenomenon

What I find even more intriguing is that current can still flow even when the anode is up to
1/8" outside of the flame. The picture below was taken while current was flowing and in
low light to better define the edge of the flame. The anode which is a 6-32 cap nut, clearly
appears to be well outside of the flame. The cathode on the left is a piece of steel spring that
was previously dipped in Cream of Tartar.
I presently can not offer any good explanations for this phenomenon. Perhaps a flame has
an invisible outer layer of some kind that we can not see. Perhaps the cathode and flame
together form some kind of super cathode that can shoot electrons out through air at
atmospheric pressure. Or - perhaps the mean free path of electrons in air is much longer
when the air is hot. I don't have any data on the hot air theory but it will be interesting to
look into.
I will keep this article updated if I can find out more about this phenomenon
Inserting A Grid Makes A Triode With Gain

Numerous times I have experienced disappointment in observing that a grid placed
between a cathode and anode in any kind of ionized conductive gas or flame, can not
control current that is flowing between the cathode and anode. This also seems to be
common knowledge and I believe it is because of the ionized conductive atmosphere around
the grid acting as an electrostatic shield.
I have found however, that with the positive anode placed outside of the flame, a grid
placed within the space between the flame and the anode can control the amount of current
flowing to the anode - making a triode with gain. I believe I have been able to observe both
power gain and voltage gain with this flame triode. I find that this flame triode closely
resembles a vacuum tube triode. The grid is a very high impedance input that allows an
applied voltage to control the amount of electron current flowing from the cathode (inside
the flame) to the anode (outside of the flame).
The grid in the above picture is made of 28 gauge galvanized steel wire.
Gain
What is gain anyway. There are different ways that gain can manifest itself in a circuit. The
ones I am most familiar with are Power Gain, Voltage Gain, and Current gain. My
approach to gain evaluation as described below is crude and simplistic but I believe that it
produces sufficient evidence with a good margin for error, that this flame triode exhibits
gain. Exactly how much gain? I would expect data, taken by those who are truly
competent, to be quite different but still positive.
Power Gain
The schematic below shows how current flow and applied voltages can be varied and
measured. The applied B+ voltage was somewhere between 100 and 150 VDC. When the
grid voltage was changed from zero to approx -20 volts, as measured by volt meter V, the
grid current, as measured by current meter I Grid, changed an almost imperceptible
fraction of a microamp. An analog meter was used so it is difficult to tell accurately the
exact amount of grid current change. This change in grid voltage caused the current
through the load resistor RL to change about 6 micropmps as measured by current meter
IL.
Lets say that the grid current change was .3ua (I feel safe in saying that it was not more
than that). A 20 volt input times .3 ua calculates to 6 microwatts. A 6 microamp change in
the current through RL (if RL = 10 meg) calculates to be a minimum power dissipation
change of 360 microwatts from RL. This appears to be a power gain of around 60.
If RL = 1 megohm, the power dissipation change from RL would appear to be around 36
microwatts. This appears to be a power gain of around 6.
No doubt there are other factors in determining power gain in a circuit and the evaluation
here is simplistic, but I think it is a reasonable assertion to say that this flame triode
exhibits power gain when an input power change of 6 microwatts can cause at least a 36
microwat power dissipation change elsewhere in the circuit.
Since there was a tiny noticeable change in grid current we could perhaps view this device
as we would a bipolar transistor and say that it showed a beta of 20.
I intend to check further into these evaluations and will post appropriate updates.
Voltage Gain
The schematic below shows how an applied audio signal (in my experiments a sawtooth
wave), applied to the grid, can be amplified. I found that the amplifier worked best when
no bias voltage was applied to the grid. A 1.8 volt pp signal applied to the grid would
appear as a 3 to 4 volt pp signal at the anode.
As with a vacuum triode amplifier, the sawtooth input signal was inverted when viewed at
the anode output.
Since the anode load resistor is so very high, it is necessary to use at least a 10x scope probe
when observing this circuit. Voltage gain in this circuit was clearly observed to my
satisfaction using a 10x scope probe but I decided to further reduce the possibility of
misinterpretation caused by scope probe loading, by making circuit observations through a
100 megohm to 100 kohm voltage divider connected to the input of the scope. The scope
sensitivity had to be cranked up to 5 millivolts per division but the scope loading on the
circuit was now 100 megohms. With both the 10x probe and the 100 meg divider, I was able
to observe voltage gain in this flame triode.
Flame Triode Oscillator

It goes without saying that the thrill factor from making this flame triode experiment,
would be greatly heightened if I could use it to build a circuit capable of actually doing
something. I accomplished that by making a dual triode and building a multivibrator
oscillator circuit. I was also able to use this circuit as a code practice oscillator by inserting
a key in series with the power supply and coupling the output to a small audio amp.
See my links section for a video of this circuit in operation.
A multivibrator oscillator is a well known circuit consisting of two triode amplifiers, each
with its output capacitively coupled to the input of the other. Since the phase is inverted in
each stage, positive feedback is achieved, forming an oscillator.
The picture below shows a dual triode arrangement that uses a common cathode (left part
of flame) for both grids and plates. The screws supporting the plates (cap nuts) and the
wire grids are made long to keep heat from melting the plastic that supports them.
Multivibrator Oscillator Schematic and output waveform
Dual Flame Triode Multivibrator Oscillator Construction
Oscillator output can drive a small audio amp, visible at right end of above picture.
Code Practice Oscillator
Code practice oscillator is made by putting a key in series with the power supply.

By Nyle Steiner K7NS Oct 2007.
Several Homemade Cathode Ray Tubes.
This picture does not include the tiny 3mm dia crt.
3mm Outside Diameter CRT.
This very tiny CRT pictured above, was made using 3mm outside dia. glass
tubing. It's face can fit loosely inside a 1/8" hole. The cathode (visible on the far
end) is made of 1/16" dia. aluminum tubing. It also serves as the evacuation tube.
Cathode Ray Tube Details.

The cathode ray tubes that I am describing here are crude
and they are relatively easy to make at home. They are in
fact, much easier to build than most technically minded
people would ever imagine.
My reasons for building these homemade crt's should be
obvious; certainly not to save money in building a TV set,
but mostly because they emit a very intense fun field.
Building these crt's fulfills one of the passions I aquired very
early in life from looking into the back of a TV set many
times, and watching the glow of the vacuum tube filaments
and the wonderous light from the crt.
In order to be satisfied that I had really made a working
cathode ray tube, I had to build device that could direct an
electron beam toward a phosphor screen, and be able to at
least display Lissajous figures by deflecting the beam with
magnetic coils. All of these crt's did that to my great
satisfaction.
These cathode ray tubes are of the cold cathode type. That
is, the cathode is merely an electrode without a heater or
filament. They are simply a modified discharge tube
operating with ionized air at an easily attainable degree of
vacuum, even several hundred microns. I do not feel that my
observations of pressure are incredibly accurate but I

believe I was getting the tiny 3mm dia crt to operate at
pressures in excessa of 1 torr. As a general rule, the bigger
the crt, the lower the vacuum pressure needs to be. I believe
the large crt using the bottom of a vial inside a large glass
tube, was operating at around 100 to 300 microns.
The HV power supply for these crt's was improvised using
the output of a Variac into the primary of a neon sign
transformer. The secondary was rectified using a high
voltage diode that I found on ebay. The filter was three
microwave capacitors in series. Each capacitor had its own
10 megohm shunt resistor to keep the voltage distribution
across the capacitors uniform. It may also be possible to
improvise a high voltage rectifier by putting several 1N4007
diodes in series. Each diode should also be shunted with a 10
megohm resistor to keep the voltage distribution across them
uniform. Without these resistors, there is a tendacy for the
lowest voltage tolerant device to fail first, putting even more
voltage across the remaining devices. Each time a divice fails
the remaining ones receive more and more voltage until they
all fail.
With this power supply, it is easy to adjust the voltage
between zero and about 5 kv. These crt's seemed to operate
well in the voltage range of about 2 to 5 kv.
All crt's used a 1 megohm resistor in series between the
cathode and the negative end of the power supply. I made a
12.5 watt 1 megohm resistor using 25 1/2 watt 1 megohm
resistors soldered together in a series-parallel configuration.
When doing this kind of work, there is always the concern

about x-rays. I can not assure anyone that these cathode ray
tube experiments are free of x-ray hazards. I will say however,
that I have read somewhere that there is not much danger of
x-rays until you start using voltages above 15 kv. In all of my
experiments here, I have been using between 2 and 5 kv.
I do not have the facility to make high quality sealed vacuum
devices and therefore, these crt't are operated while the
vacuum pump is running. I control the vacuum pressure by
opening and closing a stopcock in the vacuum line. I used a
standard mechanical pump as used by refrigeration
servicemen and standard 1/4" flare fitting hoses. These hoses
are far from what any vacuum expert would consider
adequate for this kind of work.
I believe that if one were desperate and dedicated enough,
one of these smallest crt's could be made to work using my
simple homemade hand pump as described in the August
1966 Amateur Scientist column of Scientific american. I
intend to try it soon.
Cathode Ray Tube Misconception and the Morris & Lee

Quote.
There is a big misconception that says cathode ray tubes can
not operate at pressures as high as these are operating
because of a prohibitively short molecular mean free path.
Even many highly educated physicists will tell you that a crt
can not operate at these pressures. What many do not realize
however, is that while the molecular (air molecules) mean

free path is very short, the mean free path of electrons in the
same environment is many many times longer.
I would like to put here what I call the Morris & Lee quote,
an excerpt from a pamphlet I bought from them in the late
1960's. The pamphlet describes many interesting high
vacuum experiments.
"The distance a molecular or atomic particle can travel is
directly dependent upon the space between the stray molecules
in its surroundings. For example, air molecules at atmospheric
pressure can travel on the average only a few millionths of an
inch before they are deflected by collision, with another
molecule. At a a pressure of 1 mm Hg an air molecule can go
about .002" before collision and the much smaller electrons a
distance of about 3/8". At a pressure of 1 micron, these
distances increase to 2" and 30 feet respectively".
Because of this, these crt's work very well at vacuum levels
easily attainable by amateurs. That pamphlet was part of my
inspiration to build these crt's.
Imagine a very dense asteroid field like we see in many sci-fi
movies. It is easy to see that a large fast moving asteroid
would most likely collide with other asteroids before
traveling very far. In all these scenes however, you can
always see dark space in the background. It is easy to
visualise the possibility of shooting a tiny but fast bullet
between the asteroids into space without hitting any of them.
It would appear that many paths are available where a tiny
fast object could escape the asteroid field in a straight line

without hitting any of the asteroids.
Standard Discharge Tube.
The standard discharge tube is the basic element of making a cold cathode CRT.
This discharge tube is roughly one inch dia. The negative cathode is at the right
end and the positive anode is at the left end. A well filtered DC of several KV will
produce very distinct striations and discharge characteristics.
Dischage tube Made Into An Electron Gun.
Construction Details.
There are very few critical parameters when constructing
these cathode ray tubes. The spacing between the electron
gun anode and cathode was typically 1 to 2-1/2 inches in my
experiments. The distance between the electron gun and the
phosphor screen can vary greatly. Just keep in mind that a
shorter distance will tend to make a crt with a brighter
image and ability to work well at somewhat higher
pressures. Notice in the picture of assorted crt's that one crt
was built from a 1" diameter glass tube. The screen was a
glass vial, that fit loosely inside the tube. It's outside bottom
was painted with phosphor. The bottom (screen) of this vial
faced toward the electron gun and the image on the screen
was best viewed from the same side as the electron gun. The
distance between the screen and the electron gun could be
easily varied merely by tipping the whole crt and sliding the
vial from one position to another.
The electron gun is nothing more than a small diameter
discharge tube that has a small aperture in the positive
anode. Electrons traveling toward the positive anode are
moving fast enough that they travel right through the small
aperture forming an electron beam. If the evacuated space
extends beyond this aperture, you have a cathode ray tube.
Thats it!!! Electrons traveling through the aperture into the
evacuated space beyond strike whatever is in their path
whether it be the wall of the vessel, some phosphor, piece of
paper, metal or whatever. The electrons always seem to find
their way back to the positive anode that they left behind.
This beam of electrons can be easily deflected with a

magnetic field from either a nearby magnet or a current
carrying coil. I did manage to produce a deflection with an
electrostatic plate but things are different in this respect
from the commercialy made crt's, when the plate is in an
ionized gas. More on this later.
I made most of my electron guns from 5 or 6mm outside
diameter standard wall glass tubing. The positive anode (in
the picture above) can be a strip of thick aluminum foil (cut
from an aluminum pie plate) with a small hole punched in it.
After folding the foil around the end of the small glass tube,
the hole can be punched with a pin where it covers the end of
the tube. The anode can also be a very small diameter metal
tube. I also made an electron gun by simply constricting the
positive end of the glass tube and placing the positive anode
elsewhere in the crt.
The cathode (not visible) can be a 1/8" dia. aluminum
welding rod sealed (any way you find handy) in the opposite
end to the right. Note: It is best to use aluminum for the
cathode in order to minimize sputtering, a process where
metal atoms fly away from the cathode and coat the inner
wall of the glass tube. This shortens the life of the crt.
Aluminum has a very low sputtering rate as compared to
other metals such as copper or silver.
Electrical connection terminals through a rubber stopper
can be made using 1/16" dia. or smaller, welding rod or
music wire. Just put a piece in a drill and, being careful not
to also penetrate your fingers, drill it through the rubber
stopper.
This assembly using the rubber stopper (just visible in the

picture), can be stuck into one end of a much larger (1" dia.)
glass tube or the mouth of a glass vial. The diagram below
shows how to make a glass vial into a crt. Before inserting
the electron gun into the mouth of the vial, I took a little
phosphor powder (from the broken fluorescent light), mixed
it with some water and swished it around inide the bottom of
the vial until it dried.
Every crt has an optimum vacuum level at which it operates
best. The optimum vacuum level is always the highest level
of vacuum (lowest pressure) that can be achieved before the
discharge in the electron gun ceases. With every discharge
tube, the discharge will cease when the pressure gets to a low
enough level. A smaller diameter discharge tube will cease
operating at a higher pressure level than a larger diameter
discharge tube. Therefore, a crt with a smaller diameter
electron gun must operate at a higher pressure than one with
a larger diameter electron gun. A crt with the smaller
diameter electron gun would thus typically end up being a
smaller crt because of a higher operating pressure and
shorter travel distance for the electron beam.
There are many materials that will produce a glow where
they are struck by the electron beam. If the room is
darkened, a blue spot can be seen where the beam hits the
walls of the glass vessel.
For the face of most of my crt's, I used some phosphor
powder salvaged from a broken fluorescent light that fell on
the floor several years earlier. After some very choice words,
I realized the opportunity to acquire some phosphor that I
had always wanted to experiment with. The phosphor is a

fine white powder that can be easily scraped from broken
pieces of fluorescent light glass. It takes only a very tiny
amount of this phosphor to make a cathode ray tube. This
powder of course is one of the best materials to use for a crt
face as it is designed for this very purpose, to fluoresce when
bombarded with electrons. I simply mixed some of this
powder with water and applied it to the inside face of the crt
and let it dry.
YEA YEA YEA!!! I am already aware of most of the toxic
hazards of fluorescent lights but feel however, that these
hazards are less severe than most of the hazards we face daily
in our lives. I should say though, that anyone taking phosphor
from a fluorescent light do so at their own risk. I have my
opinions but I am certainly not an expert to give advice about
the toxic hazards of fluorescent lights. I will say that since an
early age, I have heard many times, never to get a cut or
scratch from a piece of a broken fluorescent light.
I also found that a piece of paper painted with a highlight
pen made a usable screen if the lights were very low. This
could be an advantage if you are trying to impress your
girlfriend. This screen as one might expect, worked best
when viewed from the same side as the electron gun. This
paper screen however, soon aquired a brown burn like spot
where the beam would hit most of the time. I would suggest
trying a flat piece of ceramic material painted with highlight
pen to make a screen. That might work well as a rear view
screen but I didn't try it for lack of a flat piece of ceramic.
Clorox laundry bleach powder will fluoresce in the electron

beam. I havn't tried doing this but, if this powder were to be
ground very fine and mixed with water into a paste, it might
make a usable screen phosphor. The highlight pen and
bleach powder do not seem to fluoresce as well in the
electron beam however, as they do under the influence of
ultraviolet light.
Diagrams.
The drawing below shows typical construction for a crt
using a standard glass vial. Almost any size can be used. A
second drawing shows the construction of a tiny crt with an
outside diameter of just 3mm.
With the 3mm crt, the spacings, between the anode and
screen and between the cathode and anode, are somewhere
between 1/8" and 3/16".
The screen was made by heating a glass tube in a flame and
pulling it to a fine thread. After breaking the thread in two,
it was fed into the flame to form a small sphere. The sphere
was then taken out of the flame and pressed into a wafer
shape between two microscope slides before it cooled. I had
to try this about four times to get one that did not break
after cooling and breaking off the remaining thread. This
wafer was then epoxied on to the end of the 3mm diameter
glass tube.
A tiny amount of phosphor powder can be dropped into the
front end before epoxying the anode in place. Shaking the
crt around with the face down will apply the phosphor to the
screen.
The electron gun anode was a piece of 1/16" o.d. brass
tubing about 3/8" long. The end facing the screen was made
into a tiny opening. This was done by putting the piece of
tube in a hand drill and spinning the end against a piece of
steel.
Firing Up The CRT.

When running these crt's they typically act as follows. The
high voltage is turned on and the vacuum pump is started.
Very quickly, the electron gun (discharge tube) starts to
glow. As the pressure gets lower, striations form in the
electron gun. As the pressure gets lower, the striations get

larger and fewer and they will be near the positive anode. At
the point of almost having no striations, a faint but fuzzy
glow will start to be noticeable on the crt screen. The
pressure is now getting just low enough that some of the
electrons coming through the anode can make it to the
screen. As the pressure gets still lower, the spot on the screen
will become clearer and much brighter. The crt is now
operating at the optimum vacuum (pressure) level. I always
keep it at this point by turning a stop cock, between the crt
and the pump, on and off. When the pressure gets still lower,
the glow discharge in the electron gun will cease entirely and
everything including the screen goes dark. Closing the
stopcock will allow the pressure to start rising again and the
spot on the screen and the electron gun will light up again.
It is easy to notice light from the electron gun hitting the
screen and interpret that as the electron beam spot. You can
verify that the spot on the crt face is the real deal by putting
a magnet near the crt. You should be able to move the spot
around very easily with a magnet.
You can put coils near the crt to deflect the beam
electronically. Placing a permanent magnet at the right
distance from the crt and in the right position, can act as a
centering control.
Electrostatic Deflection.
Even though these simple crt's lend themselves to the use of

magnetic deflection, I succeeded in producing vertical
deflection using an electrostatic deflection plate. I did not
put a lot of effort into this so It would not be surprising to
hear of someone getting different results than what I will
describe here.
Electrostatic vertical deflection plate and magnetic

horizontal deflection coil.
The vertical deflection plate on the bottom and the horizontal deflection coil on
the top appear to be opposing each other. This is the way it should be however
because the electrostatic plate deflects the beam directly away while the magnetic
coil deflects the beam at a right angle.
In all of my crt experiments I connected the electron gun

positive anode to ground and the electron gun negative
cathode through a 1 megohm resistor, to a negative dc
voltage of several kv. All voltages applied to the deflection
plate were relative to the ground potential of the positive

anode.
I drove this plate with the sound of an analog synthesizer
using an audio amplifier output to a step up transformer. A
negative bias voltage of 200 to 300 volts was applied in series
with the output of the step up transformer so that the audio
could deflect the beam through both negative and positive
excursions. Using a 60 hz driven horizontal coil, the audio
could be viewed much like you would see it using an
oscilloscope. You can view a video of this experiment at
youtube.com. Just search for Homemade Cathode Ray Tube
and Oscilloscope.
An electrostatic deflection plate behaves somewhat
differently in an ionized gas than it does in an ultrahigh
vacuum as is used in commercially made crt's. The ionized
gas tends to act as a conductive shield against the effects of
an electrostatic field from a grid or plate. I found this out
when experimenting with homemade vacuum tubes.
Whenever the inside residual gas was ionized, the grid had
no effect on electron flow between the cathode and plate.
In a commercially made crt, an electrostatic deflection plate
will push the electron beam away from it when a negative
voltage is applied and pull the electron beam toward it when
a positive voltage is applied.
In the case of these cold cathode crt's however, I observed
that with a negative voltage applied to the plate, the beam
was deflected away from it as expected. With a positive
voltage applied however, no deflection was observed.
Instead, the applied positive voltage to the plate had a

tendacy to sharpen the focus of the beam. The positively
charged plate did not have to be anywhere near the electron
beam in order to tighten the focus. The positively charged
plate could be almost anywhere in the crt.
Whenever a negative or a positive voltage was applied to the
deflection plate, a small current would flow between the
plate and the anode.
At first glance the picture above may look peculiar. The
vertical deflection plate on the bottom and the horizontal
deflection coil on the top appear to be opposing each other.
This is the way it should be however because the electrostatic
plate deflects the beam directly away while the magnetic coil
deflects the beam at a right angle.
I had little success with the use of both vertical and
horizontal deflection plates. That is why I used a horizontal
deflection coil and a vertical deflection plate in this
experiment. I believe that I once read somewhere online that
Braun the inventor of the cathode ray tube, had similar
results when trying to use electrostatic deflection with his
cold cathode crt's.
Simple Homemade T.E.A. Laser.

By Nyle Steiner K7NS Oct 2007.
Upper picture: An ultraviolet beam from a T.E.A. laser is striking a piece of paper covered
with highlight pen ink. Lower picture: An ultraviolet beam from a T.E.A. laser (partly
visible on the far right) passes first through the bottle on the right (water with laundry
whitener, blue glow) and then continues through the bottle on the left (water and highlight
pen ink, green glow) until it strikes a piece of paper (covered with highlight pen ink, green
spot).
I used to tell people "There is no such thing a true home made laser. There is always a
requirement for exotic parts that can only be obtained from a laser manufacturer, and - or
there is the requirement to perform exotic high vacuum, glass blowing and gas mixing
processes. This would defeat much of the satisfaction of building your own laser."
When I read about TEA lasers recently though, that all changed. Here is a laser that is
built from aluminum foil, a dielectric and some pieces of aluminum. It is amazing to think
of a laser project where a simple 4 to 6 KV DC power supply is the most elaborate
component.
Why I am building TEA lasers can be explained very simply: There is a great deal of
satisfaction in the idea of having built your own laser. These lasers are fascinating and they
emit a very powerful fun field in addition to their ultraviolet beam.
In spite of the simplicity, the idea of building a TEA laser of my own seemed very
intimidating. After all, it is a laser and some of the conditions necessary for it's operation
are very extreme. A high voltage transition must be faster than several nanoseconds and
the capacitors have to have extremely low inductance values in order to get that kind of
speed. I had the concern that my lack of expertise in the field of laser technology would
make it difficult for me to solve any problems if it didn't work.
As it turns out however, all of these extreme conditions are very easy to produce. It did not
take long to get a laser working reasonably well. My wife may not agree but, I find that it
easier to make a working TEA laser than it is to make a batch of cookies.
There are two main objectives in mind as I write this article. One is say that yes, the TEA
laser also works for me even though I am not an expert in laser technology.
The other objective is to demystify the homemade TEA laser and address many of the
concerns that I was plagued with in the beginning such as: How critical is the electrode rail
alignment? What if I make the foil plates the wrong size? Just how straight must the laser
electrode pieces be? What happens if I don't make the laser the right length? What types of
dielectric material will work? How much voltage is really required? Must it be filtered?
Will an AC supply work? What about the polarity of the voltage applied? How can you
possibly make a spark that jumps between two long electrodes, cover their entire length?
This article is mostly a detailed description of things that I found to work well. Not being a
laser expert, I would recommend reading the professors web site (in my links section) or
similar material for more details on how TEA lasers work and their characteristics. If I
understand it right, TEA stands for Transverse Excitation at Atmospheric pressure. What
is being Lased? It is just plain air and yes, at atmospheric pressure. Air must be very good
for building lasers because it is classified as super radiant, meaning no mirrors are
required to get laser action. We are breathing a very good laser material.
TEA lasers produce a beam of ultraviolet light in very short pulses but I have managed to
run them at a rep rate of up to 120 hz, making them appear continuous.
The ultraviolet output can easily be seen when it strikes UV fluorescent materials
commonly found around home.
The most critical part of making a TEA laser is in making the capacitors. According to
what I have read, the inductance inherent in these capacitors must be very low. Using too
thick of a dielectric will cause too much inductance for the laser to work. Aluminum foil
plates works as well as anything. Don't worry about having pieces of sheet aluminum cut.
The aluminum foil plates tend to cling to the dielectric, making thin, tight, low inductance
capacitors. Once you have these foil capacitors made as described here, you can get many
different strips of metal (usually aluminum) to work well as the laser electrode rails.
Typical Construction
The pictures below are placed in the same order you would see when constructing a TEA
laser. They were not all taken at the same time however. In some pictures, the dielectric is
frosted mylar. In other pictures, the dielectric is clear and not visible.
Start with a flat piece of particle board approx. 8 1/2" by 12"
Cover this board with aluminum foil. This will be a common electrical ground plane. Let
the foil hang over the back edge as shown. This will make it easy to connect to the power
supply ground.
Lay the plastic dielectric on the foil as shown. Notice that a section of the base foil (right
end of picture) is not covered by the dielectric. This section of foil is left bare in order to
make contact with the spark gap assembly.
Lay two 3" X 10" pieces of foil as shown so that there is approx 1/8" of space between
them. To prevent unwanted arcing, the edges of both pieces of top foil should never be less
than 1/4" from the edge of the dielectric whenever base foil is directly beneath. This is now
a basic TEA laser base consisting of two capacitors.
At this point you can add any laser electrode rail configuration that you choose whether it
be angle aluminum, rod, bars or even combinations of different shaped pieces. Below, I will
describe some that I have tried.
The "Against The Wall" Laser Electrode
Lay a piece of 1" x 1" angle aluminum (any thickness for this part) along the edge of one
foil plate as shown so that the bottom flat side faces away from the gap that is between the
two foil plates. The vertical face should sit just barely over the edge of the foil. The picture
below shows a closer view.
The above picture was also taken after a considerable amount of operating time on the
laser. The dielectric is clear but notice how it has turned frosty white near the edge of the
top aluminum plate.
This flat vertical face of aluminum will be one of the laser electrode rails. The other laser
electrode rail will be a piece of aluminum with a thin edge facing this flat wall, typically, at
a distance of approx 1mm and raised slightly so as to not touch the dielectric. I call this the
"against the wall" configuration. This is unlike most other TEA laser electrode
configurations I have seen which have a thin edge on both sides.
I really like making TEA laser electrodes this way. This method is very versatile and I have
been getting great results from it. From my observations, this "against the wall" type of
laser electrode configuration works as well or better than traditional configurations I have
tried, that use a thin edge on both sides. This configuration allows you to experiment with
many different shapes and sizes of thin edge material to face against this vertical wall of
aluminum. Pieces shorter or longer than this basic 10" angle aluminum wall will work as a
laser as long as they don't overlap the dielectric at a point causing a short.
Making The Other Laser Electrode Rail

I have tried many types of construction for the thin laser electrode but the method which I
am now describing, works very well and is one of my favorites. I start with a piece of angle
aluminum 1" x 1" and ten inches long. The thickness should not be any greater than 1/16"
(.063"). I have been using some angle aluminum that is .047" thick and it works great.
The picture above shows the thin laser electrode rail ready to be set in place. It is set on top
of the remaining piece of foil next to the flat wall electrode. The thin edge with the attached
wire will face the flat electrode at a spacing of approx 1mm.
I put one end of a piece of 18 gauge (.040) bare copper wire one foot long, into a vise and
stretch hard from the other end until it is very straight. Thicker wire will also work well if
you can get it straight. I then put it on the bottom of the angle aluminum piece about 1/16 "
from the edge. I file a small notch about 1/16" from the edge, in each end of the angle
aluminum. This allows the wire to be bent around the ends holding it in place.
Bottom view shows the 18 gauge copper wire which makes contact with the foil plate. One
of the conditions conducive to good TEA laser operation is to make contact with the foil
very near the discharge edge of each electrode rail. This piece of wire accomplishes that
and also holds the laser electrode discharge edge up away from the dielectric. For some
reason, it is difficult to get laser action when the edge is sitting down against the dielectric.
The picture above shows how the laser electrodes are placed as the angle aluminum faces
the flat wall of aluminum. Notice how the wire keeps the thin edge of the angle aluminum
above the dielectric. The wire must make contact with the entire length of the foil beneath.
The two electrodes are now each sitting on top of a separate piece of foil and are at this
point electrically insulated from each other.
Some electrode adjustment handles can be made easily by attaching a piece of plastic to
each end of the angle aluminum. The reason for the plastic handles should be obvious; to
prevent getting zapped. The laser electrode rail needs to be adjusted while the laser is in
operation.
Even though electrode spacing is critical, these plastic handles make the spacing
adjustment very easy to do from either end. Keeping the hands against the table greatly
increases the control needed for very fine adjustment changes.
The laser is very stable. Once the electrode spacing is adjusted, it will usually stay that way
for long periods of use.
An obvious improvement though, would be to make some kind of screw adjustment on
each end. I hope to get around to trying that soon.
Making A DC Path Between The Electrodes

The two electrode rails need to be connected by some kind of DC current path so that they
will both charge up to the high voltage simultaneously. This DC path is not at all critical
and can be made using either a resistor or an inductor connected between the electrodes.
Left picture: A resistor can simply be laid across the two angle aluminum strips. No
physical attachment is necessary. The laser works just fine with the resistor just sitting
there. The resistor value is definitely not critical and can be anything between 1k to 1meg.
A value of around 100k is my choice because it allows the laser to operate at reasonably
high rep rates without much possibility of effecting the laser operation in any way.
Right picture: As an alternative to the resistor, a handmade coil of approx 20 turns can be
laid across the two sides. As far as I have been able to observe, there is no difference in
performance when using the resistor or the coil. Personal preference would play the biggest
part.
I made the laser work quite well at a very high rep rate(120 Hz) by running the laser
straight from the NST with no series resistor or rectifier. This made the 100k resistor start
to burn up. In this situation, the coil was a better choice. At lower rep rates, there is
absolutely no problem with the resistor.
Spark Gap Assembly
The spark gap assembly is a 6-32 x 3/4" screw put through a piece of 1 1/2" long angle
aluminum. A cap nut is put on the end of the screw. The spark jumps between ground and
another 1 1/2" piece of angle aluminum sitting on top one of the foil plates. With the foil
plates being the same size as I have made them, there is little difference which side of the
laser the spark gap is on. Contact with the ground foil and mechanical stability are
enhanced by putting a weight on the spark gap assembly. The gap is adjusted by sliding the
assembly until a spark jumps regularly. I usually get best results when the gap is between
1/16" and 1/8" wide.
Completed T.E.A. Laser
Other Electrode Configurations That Work

Very Well
Double Inverted V Using 1/8 Inch Thick Angle Aluminum
Inverted V Against The Wall
Tiny Three Inch Long TEA Laser
The electrodes are made of 1/2" angle aluminum .047" thick and 3" long.
Sparkbangbuzz TEA Laser FAQ

At first the idea of building a homemade TEA laser seemed intimidating in spite of it's
simplicity. I was plagued by many questions. Below is an attempt to answer many of them
using my observations and experiences.
What safety concerns are associated with this TEA laser?

I take no responsibility for safety in this project. If you build this laser, you do it at your
own risk. I personally feel however, that working with this laser is less hazardous than
going shopping if proper precautions are taken. That is only my opinion though. Below are
some thoughts and suggestions about safety.
The most obvious safety concern would be the high voltage that is used. When using a one
megohm resistor in series with the power supply, safety can be improved by having the
resistor away from the laser. This will limit the amount of current that can flow through
you if you accidentally touch the wrong parts.
This laser also produces ozone. There are some who will tell you that ozone is detrimental
to health.
I can not tell you for sure that this device is free of x-ray radiation. I have never heard of
anyone having any problems with x-rays while doing open air high voltage experiments,
especially when the voltage is below about 15 kv.
Care should be taken to make sure that the beam never hits your eyes. Extra care should
be taken since the beam is invisible ultraviolet light.
When working with this laser, hearing protection should be worn. The sparking from this
laser produces very potent pops that are very loud and irritating. I can't imagine how
exposure to them could be anything but strain on your hearing.
What kind of power supply is necessary?

I have found with my TEA lasers, that power supply polarity makes little if any difference.
Any power source that can charge the capacitor part of this laser up to 4 to 6 kv can be
used. I have been using a NST (neon sign transformer) with excellent results. I normally
use a high voltage rectifier in series with a 300k to 1megohm resistor. No filter capacitors
are needed. Safety is better when no filter capacitors are used.
It is great to have a Variac driving the input of the NST so that many levels of HV can be
tried.
A good resistor can be made by connecting five 1/2 watt 1meg resistors in parallel. Make
five of these parallel configurations and put them in series (a total of 25 resistors). You now
have a 1meg 12.5 watt resistor that can be tapped for different values.
I found some high voltage rectifiers on ebay but one for this task can be made by putting 15
1N4007 diodes in series. Each diode should also be paralleled with a 10meg resistor. The
resistors are needed to equalize the reverse voltage drop across the diodes. I have been
using one that I made this way for rectifying 6kv and have had no problems.
Each 1N4007 is good for 1kv reverse voltage. Why then am I using 15 of them to rectify
6kv? If the laser capacitors are charged up to 6kv then the diode sees double that amount
on the reverse unused portion of the cycle. During the reverse cycle, the transformer
voltage and the charged capacitor voltage are in series across the diodes.
I have also been able to run TEA lasers that are directly connected to the output of the NST
using no series resistor or diode. The laser when connected this way will pulse at 120 hz
since it is firing on both the negative and positive half of the 60 hz ac high voltage. I believe
however that the dielectric is under the greatest stress when running at this rep rate so I
tend to run them at lower rep rates using the series resistor and diode.
Any voltage source, static generator or whatever, that can charge this laser up to 4kv or
more, should work just fine.
What is the best material to use for the capacitor plates?

In a state of intimidation when attempting to make my first TEA laser, I had a sheet metal
shop cut some pieces of .062 aluminum to use as the base and capacitor plates. I did get
these pieces to work but I soon tried using ordinary aluminum foil, as I had seen others use,
and found that it worked as well or better than the thicker pieces of aluminum sheet metal.
The thin flexible aluminum foil has a surprising tendency to cling to the dielectric because
of the electrical HV electrostatic attraction. This tends to make the capacitor have very low
inductance which is necessary for a TEA laser to work.
What size should the foil capacitor plates be?

The capacitor plates can be almost any width or length. A good rule of thumb is to make
the foil capacitor plates approx 3 inches wide and about the same length as the electrodes. I
have tried many different sizes of foil plates and they all work. The only critical thing is to
make the two capacitor plate edges straight and have about 1/8 inch spacing between them.
While experimenting with the "Double L" electrode configuration, I used 1 inch wide angle
aluminum. These electrodes each had a one inch flat bottom that would sit intimately
against the surface. I was able to get very observable laser action while these electrodes
were just sitting on the dielectric, without any top foil plates at all. There was more laser
output of course when I did use capacitor plates below these electrodes.
What about relative size of the foil capacitor plates?

In all of my experiments so far, I have always used top foil plates of the same size. This
always works well but at the professor's web site (see links), he talks about getting good
laser action with one top plate being smaller than the other. In this case it does matter what
side the spark gap is on.
What kind of material should be used for the dielectric?

The only question about dielectric materials is not if they will work but merely how long
they will work before breaking down under the HV stress and shorting the capacitor.
Every dielectric material that I tried worked well. One of the best of common materials
seems to be Mylar (trade name for Polyester). I have been using a piece of 8 1/2 X 11 inch
material 4mil thick (from a photocopy shop) used to make overhead transparencies. I don't
know if it is mylar, acetate or what but it has been holding up for a long time, works very
well and is an excellent choice. At this time, this 4 mil transparency material has never yet
failed under a lot of operation using 5.5 KV.
Polypropylene or flexible vinyl sheets usually last just a few minutes. The charging and
discharging of the capacitors puts a lot of stress on the dielectric.
What should the thickness of the dielectric be?

The thickness of the dielectric is a critical parameter. For TEA lasers to work, the
capacitors must have a very low self inductance so that the discharge across the electrodes
can happen in an extremely short time (several nanoseconds). A capacitor made with a thin
dielectric has less self inductance than a capacitor made from a thicker dielectric. Thus if
the dielectric is too thick, there is no laser action. The 4 mil dielectric material that I have
been using most of the time works great. I also used a piece of 8 mil mylar and it worked
well with perhaps a bit less output. The optimum dielectric would be to use as thin as can
be used without breaking down. The professor's web site says that 2,5 mil mylar is very
good. As soon as I can get a hold of some 2.5 mil Mylar I will be anxious to try it.
At the professors web site he points out that capacitors made from normal .062 thick
printed circuit material can not be made to work as a laser because it's thickness causes too
much inductance in the capacitor. He points out that a thinner but harder to obtain pc
material works ok. There is no need though, to worry about using pc material to make
capacitors for a laser. Pc material is expensive and a pain to work with if you are etching it.
The foil and plastic capacitors work very well.
A good material for the base and to build the capacitors on, is to use a good flat piece of
3/4" particle board.
How critical is the construction of the laser electrode rails with regard to
straightness, shape, length etc.?
The laser electrodes, where the actual laser action takes place between them, are usually a
couple of long pieces of straight aluminum with thin edges that face each other approx
1mm apart. The adjustment of this spacing is critical but easily done.
The idea of making electrodes parallel enough to discharge along their entire length is
intimidating especially if you have ever tried to do this along a very long spark gap. Under
normal conditions it is perhaps impossible to get a spark jumping across a long narrow
pair of electrodes, to cover their entire length. You will always get a tiny bright spark at
one place at a time. This was one of the reasons the TEA laser before building one, seemed
intimidating.
As it turns out in the case of TEA lasers, the extremely fast voltage transition between the
electrodes creates a discharge across their entire length. Adjustment for this condition is
relatively easy.
There are many materials and methods that work well for making TEA laser electrode
rails. I have seen and tried everything from aluminum welding rod to angle aluminum and
they all seem to work. My favorite right now is the use of angle aluminum. Angle aluminum
tends to be very straight and it resists the tendency to flex during adjustment. It is also a
very common material that can be purchased at almost any hardware store.
Try to avoid using anodized aluminum. I was able to make it work but I had to remove the
anodized finish on the facing discharge edges and wherever contact was to be made against
the aluminum foil plates. TRUST ME!! ANODIZED FINISH IS EXTREMELY HARD
AND REMOVING IT IS NO PICNICK!! You can tell if aluminum is anodized by using an
ohmmeter. Just touch both test probes to the aluminum. If it is anodized, the meter will
indicate open circuit. If it is not anodized, the meter will indicate zero resistance. Anodized
aluminum also tends to have more of a frosty white appearance.
1/8" diameter aluminum rod works well but tends to flex during adjustment especially
when there is three of more weights holding it down against the foil. Most of the lasers that
I made from rod also had the tendency to put out a broader beam (bigger spot on a
fluorescent piece of paper).
The pieces of aluminum should be thin at the point where they oppose each other. I found
that angle aluminum .047" thick works very well. 1/16" (.063") thick aluminum works
almost as well but I could not get the flat edge of 1/8 aluminum to work at all (unless using
the inverted V configuration described below).
The edge creating the discharge also needs to be raised slightly (typically about 1/16") so
that it is not touching the dielectric below. For some reason, lasers work much better this
way. I was able to get two electrodes (two pieces of angle aluminum) that were sitting right
down against the dielectric to work but adjustment was much more difficult and there was
less output.
I have been getting excellent results using pieces of 1" angle aluminum .047" thick and 10
inches long. I also get excellent laser action when just one of the two opposing electrodes
has a thin edge. One of the opposing electrode rails can be a flat surface. This configuration
is shown in the photos. The angle aluminum on the flat side is simply set flat on the foil.
This is perhaps my favorite configuration because it is so easy to test many different
electrode shapes and materials against the flat electrode. TEA lasers made this way work
very well. I call this the "Against The Wall" electrode rail configuration.
One of my favorite ways of making the thin electrode rail (opposite the flat wall) is to put a
piece of 18 ga copper wire near the bottom edge of a .047" thick piece of angle aluminum
(see photos). This wire keeps the edge up away from the dielectric while making contact
with the foil very near the discharge edge. I tend to get good bright output from a laser
built this way and the spot seems to be as good and tight as any of the methods I have tried.
Another excellent "against the wall" electrode rail can be made with a piece of 1/8" thick
angle aluminum. As I mentioned a while ago, I could get very little if no laser action using a
1/8" thick electrode edge. However, if the angle aluminum is put in an inverted V position
(see photos and drawings), you get a very good sharp corner that faces the opposite "wall".
This also makes an excellent laser. The inverted V rail is more difficult to set a weight on
top but whenever I have used this method, the 1/8" thick piece of angle aluminum was
heavy enough by it self to work well.
Two pieces of 1/8" angle aluminum can also be used in a double upside down V
configuration as shown in the drawing. This also works very well. The two pieces being the
same height, in this configuration, makes it easy to put a weight on top of both of them
using an insulator.
How long must the electrode rails be?

The electrode rails can be almost any length. I found it easy to make lasers work well at
any electrode length between 10 and 3 inches. The longer electrodes tend to give a brighter
output and a narrower beam. I have not yet tried making electrodes longer than 10 inches
simply because I don't have any dielectric pieces longer than 11 inches. I hope to try
making some 24 inch long electrode rails soon if I can get some dielectric material of
appropriate length.
I have put a video on youtube that shows one of my 3" long TEA lasers working. See my
links section. In the video, I can pick it up and aim it at different targets.
I see the possibility of a maximum electrode length beyond which there would be no further
gain in laser output because of speed of light or current flow limitations or something
similar but, I can not say as I am not a laser expert.
How wide can the area of contact between the electrodes and aluminum foil be?
It seems that narrower is better. I believe electrode rails that are sitting on the aluminum
should not be wider than about one inch.
Contact with the aluminum foil should be made all along the electrode length and as close
to the electrode edge as possible in order to minimize inductance.
What about bright sparks that jump between the electrodes in addition to the
blue glow?
With these TEA lasers. The hot spots are common and almost unavoidable. I have
managed on a couple of occasions to have a laser work with just the blue glow having no
hot sparks at all. I think it may have had something to do in part with the top foil plates
being shorter than the electrodes and not being too wide. From all of my humble
observations, I have not observed any detrimental effect caused by these hot sparks when
compared to not having hot sparks. Lasers that have had hot sparks and the few that I
made that had no hot sparks, seem to work the same.
I am speculating with my limited knowledge of laser physics, that the laser action occurs
first and is finished before the hot sparks occur. From my experience, I would say that
amateurs building TEA lasers need not worry much about the hot sparks across the
electrodes.
How do you adjust the electrode spacing?

Almost every T.E.A. laser that I have made works reasonably well when the space between
the laser electrodes is adjusted to a width of 1mm. I found a paper clip that was made of
exactly 1mm diameter wire. A handy electrode spacing tool was made by bending this
paper clip straight and filing any burr off of its end. The laser electrode spacing is adjusted
by putting the end of this wire between the electrode pieces and pushing them together
against the wire. This is done on both ends of the laser electrodes. Sometimes slight width
adjustments beyond this will optimize the output of the laser.
The biggest breakthrough though, in my ability to make TEA lasers work well was the
addition of a piece of plastic on each end of an electrode (see photos). These pieces of plastic
are very easy to grab hold of (without getting zapped) for adjusting the electrode spacing.
With my hands resting on the table I find it relatively easy to make fine electrode spacing
adjustments.
The hot sparks that jump between the electrodes are a good indicator of how parallel the
electrodes are. If they are not parallel, the sparks will tend to be concentrated near one
end. Pulling that end slightly farther apart will usually move the sparks more toward the
middle or to the opposite end.
Try moving the sparks in this way while using different electrode spacings. Do this while
watching a piece of sensitive paper near each end of the laser. When you get the adjustment
right, you will experience the excitement of seeing a spot appear on one or both of the
pieces of paper. When this happens you have a working laser! The paper can be made very
ultraviolet sensitive by covering it with ink from a yellow highlight pen.
An improvement would be some kind of screw adjuster at each end of the electrode rails.
These lasers typically emit a beam out of both ends simultaneously. It is sometimes possible
however, to get the beam to emit from just one end by slightly widening the laser electrode
spacing at that end.
What about using mirrors on a TEA Laser?

I did just a little bit of experimenting with a mirror on one end of the TEA laser. The
mirrors that I used were far from anything you would consider to be of laser quality. One
of the mirrors that I tried was an aluminized front surface type that I made many years
ago. Therefore I would say that I do not yet have much to say on the subject of applying
mirrors to TEA lasers. Whenever I tried using a mirror however, I put it on the end
opposite the sensitive paper. I aligned the mirror by watching its reflection on the paper
and aligning the reflection so that it was exactly on top of the spot made by the beam. In
these cases, I did not observe anything that seemed significant in spot brightness.
If you adjust the electrode gap to make the beam emit out of one end, how does
that compare to using a mirror on the end of a laser that is putting a beam out of
both ends?
That is a good question that I can not answer yet.
How do you make the spark gap?

The construction of the spark gap is done pretty much as the photos show. It appears to be
quite obvious that inductance in the spark gap assembly has less of a detrimental effect
than it does in the capacitors and electrode rails. You can see from the photos that current
flows through a relatively great distance (up one angle aluminum and down another) as it
passes through the spark gap. If current had to flow this far up and away through the
electrode rails, there would be absolutely no laser action. A path like this through the
electrode rails would create a prohibitive amount of inductance yet, the laser works just
fine with a path like this through the spark gap.
A TEA laser will work well with almost any spark gap that is placed between one of the
capacitor plates and ground. A TEA laser will also work very well when one of the
electrode rails is used as one side of the spark gap. A grounded piece of metal can simply be
placed near one of the electrode rails.
The distance across the spark gap can be between 1/16 to 1/8 inch.
You have not said much in this article about the theory of TEA lasers and how
they work. Where can I find out more about them?
One of the best places to go is to the Professors Web Site. Mark Csele gives a lot of great
info about TEA lasers and lasers in general. You can find his site by putting TEA laser on
google or going to my links section.
Drawings
Simple Conversion To Run A Lawnmower

On Propane.
By Nyle Steiner K7NS 24 July 2004.
Propane Powered Lawnmower Sitting On The Lawn It Has

Just Mowed.
All of the details of this crude conversion can be seen in the above photo. A can of
propane is connected to a piece of 1/4 inch copper tubing through a control valve
(which makes a nice throttle). The other end of the copper tubing is simply
inserted into the engine intake, left open when the carburetor was removed. The
control valve is part of an old propane torch.
This experiment is certainly not a recommended method of converting a gasoline

engine to run on propane but, it certainly was fun and it did provide a high level
of satisfaction. It is of course an experiment that is best done out of doors.
The maximum RPM attainable with propane (or any alternate fuel) is an
unknown factor. One must be careful with the throttle to prevent the engine
from running faster than the maximum RPM that it was designed for.
We recently decided that it was time to replace our very old lawnmower with a new one.
Before getting rid of the old lawnmower however, I decided it would be fascinating to see if
I could remove it's gas tank and carburetor and run it on alternate fuels such as propane.
With my first experiment of simply shooting propane into the intake, the engine ran so well
that I was able to easily mow the whole 625 square foot lawn (I might add, a thick healthy
robust lawn). The engine ran very smoothly, as well or better than it ever has, and had
plenty of power. I actually felt that the engine could possibly develop more RPM than it
was designed for so I was careful no to push the throttle too much. The aspects of a
lawnmower cutting blade flying apart, is definitely not something that I wanted to include
in this experiment.
If you want to know how efficiently it was using the propane, you are reading the wrong
article. I don't know. I am much more fascinated with making things work than with
making things efficient. The propane cannister shown in the pictures though, turned out to
be more than enough to mow the 625 square foot lawn.
Closer Details Of Propane Conversion.
The first picture shows a can of propane connected to a control valve and a
length of copper tube. The second picture shows how the other end of the copper
tube is simply inserted an inch or so into the engine intake. Note at the engine
intake, how there is much space remaining around the copper tube. This allows
air to flow in and mix with the propane.
The control valve was made by cutting the torch portion off of a propane torch. It is
important to also remove the fine orafice and filter from the propane torch. This orafice
and filter greatly restrict the flow of propane. When they were left in place, I was not able
to get enough propane flowing to run the engine.
A 1/4 inch flare fitting was soldered onto the cut off end of the valve, making it possible to
connect to a piece of copper tubing that was already around. I did this because the copper
tube already had a 1/4 inch flare and fitting on it's end. There are many ways however that
this copper tube could have been connected to the valve. It is also very likely that a piece of
plastic tubing could work just as well as the copper tubing.
I had best results running the engine with the can of propane upright (running propane in
the gaseous form into the tube). I did not get the engine to run when using the propane can
upside down (running propane in liquid form into the tube). When doing this the copper
tube became frozen and it was difficult to get gaseous propane into the intake.
To start the engine, the valve is opened slightly and the starting rope is pulled. The process
of opening the valve a little more and pulling the rope is repeated until the engine starts.
Once started, the valve can be used as a throttle. The valve should not be opened too far as
this would allow too much propane to flow, causing the engine to stop.
This lawnmower has a history of not being able to idle well. This made it difficult to fully
evaluate how well the engine could idle with this setup. I was however, able to control the
speed over a wide range by carefully manipulating the valve. A more refined conversion
procedure would at least include a pressure regulator and an air intake filter.
Baking Soda Variable Electrolytic Capacitor.

By Nyle Steiner K7NS 18 Oct 2003.
Homemade Wide Range Variable Electrolytic Capacitor.
Variable capacitor is controling the frequency of a relaxation oscillator. With a

circuit built around a 555 timer, it was easy to get a continuously variable range
of 20hz to 100khz, a ratio of 5000 to 1. Typical capacitance range from the piece
of aluminum in the above picture is from 10 uf to .002uf.
While experimenting with the borax rectifier, I found that everything also worked well
using a baking soda solution (1 tablespoon baking soda to 2 cups of tap water). The
aluminum strip shown in the above picture was cut from a piece of aluminum pie plate. I
also discovered, with either the borax or baking soda rectifier, that it acted like a large
capacitor as well as a rectifier when biased in the reverse direction. I had built a homemade
electrolytic capacitor. I decided to do some experimenting and measurements to see what
capacitance values could be obtained. I found it easy to get large values up to 100 uf. Since
the capacitance is based on a thin film of aluminum oxide that forms on the aluminum
plate, the capacitance can be varied by sliding the plate in or out of the baking soda soda
solution. By using a wedge shaped piece of aluminum, I was able to get continuously
variable capacitance ranges of up to 5000 to 1.
This capacitor of course must be used, as with any electrolytic capacitor, with a positive DC
bias on the aluminum plate. Although one would not expect great leakage specs from this
capacitor, I found it to be quite useful in practical situations such as for controlling the
frequency of a very wide range relaxation oscillator.
As far as I know, nothing like this has ever been available or even manufactured. most
variable capacitors are the type used for tuning radios and they rarly have capacitance
values above 365 pf and their ratio of variation is not much better than ten to one. We are
able to make here a variable capacitor with a capacitance variation range of 5000 to one
and with max values of 10 uf or more.
The schematics below show different types of relaxation oscillators with their frequency
determined by the value of the variable electrolytic capacitor. One is based on the 555
timer chip. Another is based on a UJT transistor. The choice of circuit is based merely on
parts availibility although it is easier to obtain a wider frequency range with the 555. For
those who are really adventurous, a zinc negative resistance relaxation oscillator can be
built and is also shown (see Zinc Negative Resistance Oscillator).
The capacitor is easily made by putting two electrodes into a solution of baking soda. One
electrode must be aluminum but the other can be just about anything that conducts
electricity such as lead, steel, stainless steel or even carbon. In the picture above, a piece of
stainless steel sheet is used for the electrode opposite the aluminum. Both electrodes can be
aluminum if you want to make a capacitor capable of working with ac voltages. The
electrode opposite the aluminum is kept immersed into the solution while the aluminum
electrode is moved in and out of the solution to vary the capacitance.
When the aluminum is first dipped into the solution, it causes a short to ground through
the solution. To form the capacitor, the aluminum plate is connected to a positive supply
(S1 in the case of the 555 circuit) through a 470 ohm resistor. The aluminum plate should at
this time be dipped most of the way into the solution and swished around for about 20
seconds while a thin film of aluminum oxide forms on it. The aluminum plate becomes the
positive side of the capacitor. The aluminum strip is then switched back to the oscillator
circuit (using S1). S1 is omitted in the UJT and negative resistance circuits for clarity but
the requirements for forming the capacitance are the same as with the 555 circuit.
The oscillator is most likely to start running when the aluminum strip is dipped a very
short distance into the liquid. The frequency may be out of hearing range and you may
need a scope to determine if it is running. The frequency will get lower as the strip is
dipped farther into the solution until the leakage becomes great enough to make the
oscillator stop. As the aluminum strip is repeatedly dipped in and out, the capacitance and
frequency range seem to improve until the strip can be dipped almost its entire length
creating the greatest frequency variation range. With the 555 circuit, I was able to make
continuous frequency sweeps from 10hz to 100khz.
If the electrode opposite the aluminum is slid in or out of the solution, very little effect on
frequency is noticed. This shows that the capacitance is happening at the aluminum
electrode (strip).
Wide frequency range oscillators with homemade variable

capacitor.
Three different relaxation oscillator circuits capable of very wide frequency

variations when connected to the homemade variable electrolytic capacitor. For
the really adventurous, a zinc negative resistance circuit is also shown.
Baking Soda Variable Electrolytic Capacitor.

Homemade Wide Range Variable Electrolytic Capacitor.
Variable capacitor is controling the frequency of a relaxation oscillator. With a

circuit built around a 555 timer, it was easy to get a continuously variable range
of 20hz to 100khz, a ratio of 5000 to 1. Typical capacitance range from the piece
of aluminum in the above picture is from 10 uf to .002uf.
While experimenting with the borax rectifier, I found that everything also worked well
using a baking soda solution (1 tablespoon baking soda to 2 cups of tap water). The
aluminum strip shown in the above picture was cut from a piece of aluminum pie plate. I
also discovered, with either the borax or baking soda rectifier, that it acted like a large
capacitor as well as a rectifier when biased in the reverse direction. I had built a homemade
electrolytic capacitor. I decided to do some experimenting and measurements to see what
capacitance values could be obtained. I found it easy to get large values up to 100 uf. Since
the capacitance is based on a thin film of aluminum oxide that forms on the aluminum
plate, the capacitance can be varied by sliding the plate in or out of the baking soda soda
solution. By using a wedge shaped piece of aluminum, I was able to get continuously
variable capacitance ranges of up to 5000 to 1.
This capacitor of course must be used, as with any electrolytic capacitor, with a positive DC
bias on the aluminum plate. Although one would not expect great leakage specs from this
capacitor, I found it to be quite useful in practical situations such as for controlling the
frequency of a very wide range relaxation oscillator.
As far as I know, nothing like this has ever been available or even manufactured. most
variable capacitors are the type used for tuning radios and they rarly have capacitance
values above 365 pf and their ratio of variation is not much better than ten to one. We are
able to make here a variable capacitor with a capacitance variation range of 5000 to one
and with max values of 10 uf or more.
The schematics below show different types of relaxation oscillators with their frequency
determined by the value of the variable electrolytic capacitor. One is based on the 555
timer chip. Another is based on a UJT transistor. The choice of circuit is based merely on
parts availibility although it is easier to obtain a wider frequency range with the 555. For
those who are really adventurous, a zinc negative resistance relaxation oscillator can be
built and is also shown (see Zinc Negative Resistance Oscillator).
The capacitor is easily made by putting two electrodes into a solution of baking soda. One
electrode must be aluminum but the other can be just about anything that conducts
electricity such as lead, steel, stainless steel or even carbon. In the picture above, a piece of
stainless steel sheet is used for the electrode opposite the aluminum. Both electrodes can be
aluminum if you want to make a capacitor capable of working with ac voltages. The
electrode opposite the aluminum is kept immersed into the solution while the aluminum
electrode is moved in and out of the solution to vary the capacitance.
When the aluminum is first dipped into the solution, it causes a short to ground through
the solution. To form the capacitor, the aluminum plate is connected to a positive supply
(S1 in the case of the 555 circuit) through a 470 ohm resistor. The aluminum plate should at
this time be dipped most of the way into the solution and swished around for about 20
seconds while a thin film of aluminum oxide forms on it. The aluminum plate becomes the
positive side of the capacitor. The aluminum strip is then switched back to the oscillator
circuit (using S1). S1 is omitted in the UJT and negative resistance circuits for clarity but
the requirements for forming the capacitance are the same as with the 555 circuit.
The oscillator is most likely to start running when the aluminum strip is dipped a very
short distance into the liquid. The frequency may be out of hearing range and you may
need a scope to determine if it is running. The frequency will get lower as the strip is
dipped farther into the solution until the leakage becomes great enough to make the
oscillator stop. As the aluminum strip is repeatedly dipped in and out, the capacitance and
frequency range seem to improve until the strip can be dipped almost its entire length
creating the greatest frequency variation range. With the 555 circuit, I was able to make
continuous frequency sweeps from 10hz to 100khz.
If the electrode opposite the aluminum is slid in or out of the solution, very little effect on
frequency is noticed. This shows that the capacitance is happening at the aluminum
electrode (strip).
Wide frequency range oscillators with homemade variable

capacitor.
Three different relaxation oscillator circuits capable of very wide frequency

variations when connected to the homemade variable electrolytic capacitor. For
the really adventurous, a zinc negative resistance circuit is also shown.
Simple Homemade Thermoelectric

Generator, Thermistor and Pressure Sensor.
By Nyle Steiner K7NS 12 Sep 2003.
Homemade Thermoelectric Generator, Thermistor and

Pressure Sensor.
A thermistor can be easily made using copper oxide. Two clean copper wires were mounted
on a board as shown in the picture above. One or both of the wires were heated red hot in a
propane torch while separated. After cooling the wires were adjusted so that they lightly
touch. An ohm meter connected between the two wires would measure a high resistance
(typically 40 to 100k). Holding a flame under the point where the two oxidized wires touch,
can make the resistance fall to 1k or less. After the heat is removed the resistance will rise
back to the original high value.
This simple homemade device can also be used to sense pressure. Squeezing the two wires
gently will make the resistance reading on the ohm meter drop in proportion to the applied
pressure.
In addition, this device can actually produce a voltage by heating the end of one of the
oxidized wires. A volt-ohm meter set to the lowest dc current range will easily show the
voltage generated. This can produce more voltage than any thermocouple that I have yet
made. A meter set on the lowest dc current range also serves as a very low voltage meter.
A typical thermocouple like the ones used in gas water heaters when heated with a flame,
can produce typically 20 to 30 millivolts. These two pieces of oxidized copper wire under
similar conditions, can easily produce more than 300 millivolts. The gas water heater
thermocouple however, has the advantage of being able to produce a much greater amount
of current.
Peculiar Sounds from Aluminum.

By Nyle Steiner K7NS 15 Sep 2003.
Peculiar Sounds from a Drop of Saltwater on Aluminum.
When the aluminum and contact wire above are connected to an audio amplifier,
very strange and interesting sounds can be heard. This cell also produces a small
voltage and there is generally more activity when R (100k to 1meg) is in the
circuit drawing some current.
One of the materials tried with the drop of salt water, for photocell action was aluminum
(see my article on the homemade photocell). No photocell action was observed with the salt
water and aluminum cell but I did hear some very interesting sounds when it was
connected to the audio amplifier. What makes these sounds interesting is that they are not
just random noise as one might expect. The sounds contain many periodic pulse like tones
that vary in pitch.
Recorded sound of salt water and aluminum cell. (400K .wav file):Recording of sound from
the drop of salt water on aluminum.
Jet Negative Thrust by Sucking???

By Nyle Steiner K7NS 18 Aug 2003.
The issue has been raised as to whether forward thrust can be obtained by sucking in
through the front instead of blowing out the back. Feynman talks about a water sprinkler
that spins from water shooting out its ends but does not spin if it is submerged in water and
water is sucked into it (Search google with the words - Feynman water sprinkler). From
experiments that I have done and described below, there appears to be a very simple rule.
When you blow out a tube, you get positive thrust; when you suck in through a tube, you
get very little or no negative thrust at all in the opposite direction. The amount of negative
sucking thrust that I could observe from my experiments, was essentially zero. My thrust
measuring capability however, was not sophisticated enough to make very fine
measurements.
One of my friends who is a master degree research physicist, also found this experiment to
be very intriguing.
This is why the pop pop boat can produce thrust. It repeatedly pushes water out a tube and
sucks it back in again. It gets its thrust every time the water is pushed out but gets
essentially zero negative thrust when the water is sucked back in.
Ducted Fan and U Tube Construction.
U tube construction with electric ducted fan in upper picture. The tubing is 1
1/2" abs pipe. The long ends are 12" in length. The ducted fan is EDF-40H and is
sold by GWS.
I decided to build a U shaped tube with a ducted fan in the middle. All air that blows out
one end must be sucked in from the opposite end. The motor was run from two series
lithium ion cells taped to the side of the tube. The tube with the ducted fan was suspended
from the ceiling with two 5' 4" strings near a flat surface that could be marked to show
amounts of deflection from thrust.
By having both ends face the same direction, any forward thrust observed would indicate
that the blowing end was pushing more than the sucking end was pulling. This turned out
indeed to be the case.
U Tube Jet.
Left, the U Tube is hanging idle. Note mark by end of tube. Right, thrust is
clearly shown by deflection away from the mark. Positive thrust at the blowing
end is not cancelled by negative thrust at the sucking end.
What is the difference in thrust when the intake is facing

forward instead of backward?
The ducted fan was later mounted at the intake end of the tube as shown in the pictures
below. Deflections were observed with the intake facing toward the back and with the
intake facing forward. It turns out that no significant difference in thrust was observed. In
fact, in at least one instance of observing closely with another person present, the thrust
(deflection)surprizingly, was slightly greater when the intake was facing backward (same
direction as the output end). See pictures below.
Comparison of thrust with intake forward and backwards.
First picture, jet is idle. Second picture, jet is running with intake backwards.
Third picture, jet is running with intake forward. Casual observation shows
thrust (deflection) to be essentially the same in both cases.
How much negative thrust when the output end faces

downward?
So far, we have been looking at the results of the intake negative thrust working against the
output positive thrust. With the output facing straight down, it's effect is completely
removed and any thrust or deflection sideways to the right would be an indication of
negative thrust from the intake. The result in this case; no negative thrust or deflection was
observed. See pictures below. Much thrust was observed when the ducted fan was reversed
making the end pointing down the input and the horizontal pipe the output.
Effect of sucking input alone with output facing downward.
First picture, jet is idle. Second picture, jet is sucking into horizontal pipe but no
observable negative thrust (deflection). Third picture, Ducted fan has been
reversed and jet is blowing out horizontal pipe. Much positive thrust (deflection)
is observed.
Same results were observed using a plastic tube hanging

from a syringe.
With tube hanging and the syringe held in a steady position, much thrust was
observed when the piston was pushed into the syringe. No noticable tube
movement was observed when the piston was pulled.
The same results are observed by filling the syringe and tube with water and putting the
tube under water. I did notice with water that there is a small (fraction of a second)
momentary deflection of the tube when the piston is first pulled. After that, the tube
appears to have no movement at all. This effect probably has something to do with initially
getting the water in motion. When the piston is pushed, the tube moves energetically as
long as water is being pushed through it.
My first erroneous impression, when reading about the Feynman sprinkler was that a high
pressure can be pushed out; but, only one atmosphere can be sucked in, therefore much
more thrust can be produced by pushing air out the tube. This is not the case as I could
observe thrust by blowing my breath through the plastic tube and I know that I can not
come even close to producing one atmosphere of pressure with my breath. I was able to
suck much more pressure with the syringe than I could ever blow. My blowing produced
much more thrust or movement than the essentially zero that I could get by pulling on the
piston of the syringe.
Another explanation (which I find inadequate) for this lack of negative thrust when
sucking in is as follows. When air or water is sucked into a tube, it enters from all
directions. When air or water is blown out a tube, it shoots out in a concentrated stream in
one direction. One would expect that even though air or water is coming in from all
directions, there would still be a percentage coming straight in that would at least create a
lesser but observable amount of negative thrust. With this experiment we are observing
zero negative thrust.
I do not claim to have a better explanation for these observations but would suggest that
the lack of negative thrust from the intake may be because air or water can flow into the
intake so readily that a lower pressure outside the intake can not form easily. There is no
pressure differential between the intake and the outside air or water. Air will always tend
to expand into any sucking input and maintain atmospheric pressure. No thrust is
produced because there is no pressure differential. Imagine trying to pull yourself forward
by pulling on a large compressed spring that is expanding toward you. When a piece of flat
cardboard is held very near the intake however, negative thrust is finally observed and the
tube pulls toward the cardboard. This may be because the cardboard impedes the air flow
into the area very near the end of the tube and a lower pressure now forms between the
intake and the cardboard. Imagine the intake just fitting inside a closed cylinder. Lower
pressure would certainly form inside the cylinder and the intake tube would thrust itself
into the cylinder. One might wonder if in this experiment, a much greater velocity of air
flow might produce a more observable amount of negative thrust.
When blowing out, there is a definite pressure differential between the output and the
outside. This would create positive thrust.
Carbon Arc RF Oscillator.

Caution must be exercised when working with the high voltage and circuit shown here. In
addition to the shock hazard, this oscillator generates a lot of RF energy and noise. It should
only be used to light the lamp. Connection to any antenna or long wires should be avoided. It
is illegal to use this circuit for any kind of signal transmission.
The carbon arc oscillator is a crude form of "CW" oscillator and was actually used in the
early days of radio to transmit AM voice before the vacuum tube came into wide use.
The carbon arc can be made by using a couple of pieces of mechanical pencil lead. Almost
any size will do. I arbitrarily used HB hardness and tried several sizes. They all worked
well, but the larger size seemed to be more stable. The power supply can be from an old
tube radio or amplifier, or it can be built using rectifier diodes and 50 microfarad
electrolytics capable of operation at 500 vdc. L1 can be 100 turns of enameled copper wire
with a tap at every 10 turns. A good place to make the tap for the arc is about 20 to 30
turns. The top of the coil can be tapped anywhere from 70 to 100 turns. L2 which drives the
lamp, is a separate coil of 8 turns of vinyl insulated wire wrapped around the outside of L1,
near the ground end. The lamp used was a small 4 volt christmas tree lamp. C1 & C2 are
360 pf variable capacitors from old radios.
The setup that I made was very crude, but functionally, lived up to all of my expectations.
The two pieces of lead were held in aligator clip leads and held together by hand. It is a
good idea to mount the high voltage side carbon to the table and just hold the ground side
carbon to avoid getting shocked. The two leads are touched lightly to start the arc and then
held a small fraction of a millimeter apart to sustain the arc (which is sometimes difficult).
If the arc is done carefully, the lamp will glow brightly, indicating the presence of some real
RF energy.
The carbon arc transmitters were supposed to have worked on a principle of Negative
Resistance from the carbon arc and indeed, they resemble oscillator circuits built around a
tunnel diode. The circuit shown was built in an attempt to reproduce and observe the
negative resistance characteristic of the carbon arc. Close examination of this circuit,
however, seems to indicate that it is actually operating as a relaxation oscillator - much like
the ones built with neon bulbs (but much more potent !!). C1 charges up to a voltage high
enough to re-ionize the carbon arc and then discharges through it and part of L1, feeding
L1 & C2 with a pulse of energy. An oscilloscope across C1 shows a sawtooth waveform.
Using a 365 pf variable capacitor, the relaxation frequency can easily be adjusted to a
frequency above 1 mhz. The arc transmitters of a past age had numerous refinements
beyond what is shown here and this experiment does not necessarily discredit the negative
resistance explanation of their operation.
Simple Homemade Coherer.

By Nyle Steiner K7NS 23 December 2002.
Updated 9 July 2003.
The coherer was one of the very first radio detectors used way back in the begining of the
wireless telegraph. It is typically a simple device that consists of some metal filings placed
between two metal elecrodes. The coherer acts like an open circuit until a pulse of voltage
or rf energy is applied across it. The pulse somehow makes the metal filings cohere
together, causing the high resistance through them to drop to a very low value. The coherer
can then be turned back off by lightly vibrating it. After being actuated by an incoming
radio signal, a moving relay armature would typically be used to tap the coherer, turning it
off again.
Homemade Coherers with Iron Filings.
The upper picture above, shows two coherers made from flexible vinyl tubing
and iron filings, obtained by filing a nail. One is with 1/8" I.D. tubing and two 632 screws with the ends filed clean and flat. The other is made with 1/16" I.D.
tubing and two pieces of No. 12 copper wire with the ends filed flat.
Lower picture above shows coherer made with iron filings in a glass tube.
Electrodes are screw heads filed flat and reduced in size to just fit inside the tube.
All three coherers shown above work very well.
It has always seemed unbelievable that I could actually build one and make it work.
Perhaps important details about their operation may not have survived the one hundred
years since their use? That was my thinking until I received an email from Alan Hooppell
G4TKV who had read my web page. He happened to mention that he had made a working
coherer in the past and described the procedure to me. That inspired me to try making
some coherers of my own.
It turns out that making a coherer, that works impressively well, is easy. I had success
using just ordinary materials around the house. Its operation can be observed using an
ohm meter and a source of activation. When one of these coherers is working well, a spark
coil can activate it from across the room and cause its resistance to suddenly drop to a very
low value. It can be deactivated (returned to the very high resistance state) with a slight
mechanical tap. The coherer can also be activated by holding a small piece of metal and
touching one of the pickup wires with it.
Crude Iron Filings Coherer.
A hole in a board full of metal filings and two pieces of wire make a crude but
impressive working coherer. The wire is 24 gauge copper with the ends rolled
into tiny pancakes. The screws are #4 x 1/2" sheet metal type. The spacing, which
can be adjusted by bending the wires, is approx 1/16 inch.
My first attempt at making a coherer was to make it inside a piece of glass tubing, as
described in vintage radio books. It was filled with nickel filings and was somewhat
successful. I soon realized that I could make good working coherers by merely gouging a
hole in a piece of wood, filling it with metal filings and connecting two pieces of copper wire
for electrodes. Two good iron filing coherers were also made by inserting screws or copper
wire into the ends of short pieces of flexible vinyl tubing. The glass tube coherer mentioned
above was emptied and refilled with iron filings to make a good working coherer (see
pictures above).
I tried using filings from different metals, namely copper, iron, nickel and aluminum. All of
them worked. Some of the most impressive results have been obtained from iron filings and
screws or copper wires for electrodes. The iron filings were obtained by filing a nail that
was held in a vise. The filings were collected by brushing them from the top of the vise onto
a piece of paper (see pictures above).
Since the iron filings coherer works well with 1 1/2 volts across it, I was able to make a
receiver simply by connecting an ohm meter across it and attaching two clip lead wires to
pick up the signal. A signal from the transmitter causes a very high ohm meter reading to
drop to a very low value. The receiver could be reset and made ready to receive another
signal by tapping the coherer, returning the resistance to a very high value.
Another receiver that worked very well was made by connecting an LED and 3 volts across
the coherer. A signal from the transmitter causes the LED to turn on. Tapping the coherer
turns the LED back off. See the photos and diagrams. I was able to activate both receivers
from a distance of greater than 20 feet using the transmitters described.
A transmitter was made by using an auto ignition coil as shown in the diagram. Even
though the ignition coil is intended to be used with 12 volts, it will operate with less. With
just two AAA cells connected in series, I was able to get a small spark, capable of activating
the coherer from a distance of greater than 20 feet. A shorter spark gap that produces a
quiet spark, seems to be able to actuate the coherer at a much greater distance than a
longer gap that makes a bright noisy spark. I am not sure why but a book published in
1906 said the same thing. The spark gap can therefore be adjusted for optimum
transmitter performance.
Another type of transmitter was made by attaching two clip leads to a barbecue piezo
ignitor and supporting them with a dowel. The leads were attached so as to form a 1/8" to
1/4" spark gap in the middle. This transmitter could activate the iron filings coherer from a
distance of greater than 20 feet whenever the button was pressed.
With the iron filings coherer, the ohm meter (2000 ohms/volt) worked well on R x 10, R x
100 and R x 1k. When the iron filings coherer was working well, the ohm meter indications
would jump from essentially open to about 20 ohms when a signal was received from the
transmitter.
A coherer made with copper filings from a piece of copper pipe, also worked well. The ohm
meter indications from the copper coherer would go from essentially open to about 400
ohms.
Coherer Receivers.
Iron filings coherers can be made into receivers by connecting them to an ohm
meter and pickup wires.
A coherer receiver can also use an LED and two AA cells instead of an ohm
meter. These receivers work well.
Diagrams For Two Different Receiver Types.
Spark Coil Transmitter.
Transmitter made with auto ignition coil, can actuate the receiver from more
than 20 feet.
Barbecue Ignitor Transmitter.
Transmitter made with barbecue ignitor, can actuate the receiver from more
than 20 feet.
Diagrams For Two Different Transmitter Types.
Copper Filings Coherer.
Coherer using copper filings works well. I was able to make working coherers
with filings from several different kinds of metal. It doesn't seem to matter much
what metal is used for the connecting electrodes.
One important point to remember when experimenting with coherers is that the voltage
across them when they are open, can not be too high. After all, it is a voltage level that sets
them off. With some of the coherers that I made, I found it necessary to keep the voltage
across them as low as 1/2 volt. Too high a voltage and they will not turn off when tapped.
The diagram below shows how a coherer can be used with lower voltages across them.
Since the iron filings coherer worked very well with 1 1/2 volts across it, the ohm meter
configuration worked well with it.
Circuit for use with coherers at lower voltages.
Some of the coherers that I made would not turn off unless the applied voltage
was as low as 1/2 volt. This circuit can use the coherer at any voltage between
zero and three volts.
Characteristics that I have observed with coherers.

Every coherer that I have made so far has worked, some better than others. I define
working as being able to respond to a pulse, from a few feet away, by dropping its value of
resistance and then being able to be reset to a high resistance again with a light physical
tap.
Some coherers, when tapped, seem to turn completly off (open circuit), while others may
just return to a higher resistance value. A coherer that will not turn completely off or not
turn off at all when tapped, may be a sign that the applied voltage across it is too high. The
nickel filings coherer had the tendacy to not turn completely off when tapped, wheras the
copper and iron cohers, when working well, would turn off to essentially an open circuit.
The iron filings coherer so far is my favorite as It was as sensitive as any, able to drop to a
few tens of ohms when actuated and return to open circuit when tapped.
The strength of the actuating signal can often affect how hard the coherer turns on. A
strong pulse may make the coherer turn on at a much lower value of resistance than a
weaker pulse. I have also observed occasionally, only when receiving weak pulses, that a
coherer can be partially turned on with one pulse and somewhat back off again with a later
weak pulse. I have never yet observed any tendacy for a coherer to turn off from a strong
pulse.
It seems that coherers respond to the amount of current that flows through them. In other
words, each given amount of current through the coherer will cause the coherer resistance
to drop to a specific value. Thus it would appear that tiny rf pulses from a spark coil across
the room or a distant transmitter, do indeed cause current values in the milliamp range to
flow through the coherer even though it may be for only a few microseconds or perhaps
even nanoseconds.
The graph below shows voltage readings, measured across the glass tube iron filings
coherer, plotted against various amounts of applied DC current from a variable DC
current generator. The heavy line with arrows pointing to the right and upwards is a set of
voltage readings taken across the coherer as the current through it is steadily increased
from zero to 40 ma. If at any chosen point along this line we decide to reduce the current
again, we will get voltage readings that form a line with arrows pointing downward to the
left. Lines with arrows pointing downward to the left tend to be consistant and voltage
readings obtained from varying the current anywhere along any of these lines are quite
repeatable as long as the applied current does not exceed the highest applied current value
since being tapped. As soon as a current is applied that exceeds the point at the right end of
a line (with the arrows pointing downward to the left), the coherer will drop to a lower
resistance value and create a higher line (arrows pointing downward to the left).
The coherer is very stable for any given applied current but very unstable when applying
hard voltages. An applied voltage is unstable because it causes a given current to flow,
setting the resistance lower which in turn causes a higher current, which in turn causes a
lower resistance etc.
As can be seen on the plot, the coherer resistance (represented by one of these lines with the
arrows pointing downward to the left), can vary somewhat with the applied voltage.
Negative Resistance Oscillator with

Homemade Tunnel Diode.
By Nyle Steiner K7NS May 9. 2002
Updated March 2003
I have found that it is easy to make an N type negative resistance device, similar to a tunnel
diode, by lightly touching a piece of #28 galvanized steel wire against a piece of aluminum.
This project may not be very practical but I find it to be a very exciting experience. When I
first heard about tunnel diodes many years ago, they seemed to me, to be one of the most
exotic devices on earth. It was very exciting to discover that I could easily make at home, at
least in very crude form, an actual working device that is similar.
Home made device similar to a tunnel diode and curve

produced.
N type negative resistance device, made simply by lightly touching the side of
some #28 gauge galvanized steel wire to a piece of aluminum. Curve tracer was
set at 5ma per division (vertical) and .1 volt per division (horizontal). Notice the
peculiar hysterisis like loop at the negative resistance point. The device seems to
respond in this way to the wide bias voltage excursions from the curve tracer.
This does not seem to be a problem when applying a steady bias from a low
impedance dc source.
A similar project, but using S type negative resistance instead, was sucessfully done earlier
using iron pyrites or a heat treated piece of galvanized sheet metal. The heat treated sheet
metal device, being an S type negative resistance device, is much different than the device
described here, and operates in a much higher voltage region.

Iron Pyrites Negative Resistance Oscillator
Zinc Negative Resistance Oscillator
I am guessing that the natural zinc oxide layer that forms on the wire may be responsible
for the negative resistance of the device described here. The voltage level where the
negative resistance happens is fairly consistant and is almost always between 200 and 250
millivolts. The current level where it happens however, can vary widely between 20 and 100
milliamps.
This circuit can be easily powered from a 1.5 volt battery. One characteristic of N type
negative resistance devices is that they typically require a very low bias source resistance in
order to keep the bias voltage stable within the negative resistance region. With too high of
bias resistance, the voltage, as it enters the negative resistance region, will have a tendacy to
suddenly jump past it. This is why a gap is seen in the curve (see photo). This homemade
device, with its narrow negative resistance region, requires an even lower bias source
resistance than a typical tunnel diode. A typical tunnel diode can be biased within the
negative resistance region with a bias resistance of around 20 ohms. This device works best
when the bias resistance is 1 ohm or less. Unlike this N type device, S type negative
resistance devices, such as the heat treated galvanized sheet metal device, act in the
opposite way and bias stability is best with a higher bias source resistance.
This device, like many others that I have been making, has a symmetrical curve in both the
positive and negative direction and can work with the battery connected either way. Just
for the sake of being consistant, I did most experimenting with the aluminum biased
positive with respect to the zinc covered wire.
The low (approx 250 millivolt) bias voltage for this device was produced across a .47 ohm
resistor, connected to the battery through a 5 ohm pot. This means drawing 500 to 600
milliamps from a 1 1/2 volt battery in order to supply approx 35 ma to the device. A 5 ohm
pot is not as common as a 50 k ohm pot but can be easily obtained at a surplus outlet. It
might also be easy to improvise a 5 ohm pot from something like a pencil lead. It was easy
to run the circuit from a single AA cell but of course a D cell is much more suitable when
drawing this much current. An emitter follower circuit could be a much more efficient way
to bias this device but I like to have this circuit completely void of any commercially made
transistors or other active devices. I wanted to be absolutely sure, that this homemade
device is indeed what is actually producing the oscillations. Below are schematics and
waveform pictures of an LC oscillator and a relaxation oscillator.
Negative resistance LC oscillator from homemade tunnel

diode.
Negative resistance relaxation oscillator from homemade

tunnel diode.
This relaxation oscillator can be made to run at any frequency from audio to 12
mhz by changing the value of the inductance. A headset of any impedance can be
used at audio frequencies to make adjustment easy. The switch can be a key for
use as a code practice oscillator.
Adjustment of these circuits can be tricky but easily done if things are set up rite. I have
had very little success in getting the circuit to oscillate while trying to adjust just the
catwhisker with a set bias voltage. The easiest and best way to adjust this circuit is to
switch the device out of the circuit and to a curve tracer. Adjust the catwhisker until you
observe a negative resistance region, similar to that shown in the picture above, and then
switch the device back into the oscillator circuit. The bias pot is then adjusted, looking at
an oscilloscope, for a clean oscillation signal. The circuit above, for the sake of reducing
clutter, does not show a dpdt switch that I sometimes use to switch the negative resistance
device between a curve tracer and the oscillator circuit.
A curve tracer is not always a handy thing to have around. The circuit can also be easily
adjusted by using just an oscilloscope and a 12 volt transformer, as shown in the partial
diagram below. While the normal dc bias is applied and adjusted to approx 200 to 250
millivolts across the .47 ohm resistor, 12 volts ac from a transformer can be switched into
the circuit through a 100 to 200 ohm resistor. This applies a varying dc bias to the negative
resistance device. The catwhisker can then be adjusted until you see 60 cycle bursts of rf on
the scope. If the ac voltage is now switched off, a continuous oscillation can usually be
achieved by watching the oscilloscope and adjusting the bias pot. The circuit will then be
running entirely from the 1-1/2 volt battery.
The audio frequency oscillator can be easily adjusted without an oscilloscope or curve
tracer by simply connecting a pair of headphones across the inductor. The temporary
application of the 12 volts is still helpful.
Using 12v ac to adjust oscillator without the need for a curve
tracer.
I have had some success in getting the circuit to run without the use of a 12 volt ac source
or curve tracer by connecting an analog volt meter (250 mv full scale), across the .47 ohm
resistor. With some practice, it is possible to adjust the catwhisker while watching the
voltage and then adjust the bias pot until you get oscillations on the oscilloscope. An analog
volt meter is usually better than a digital one for applications like this because you need the
instant response of the needle while making adjustments. A volt-ohm meter set to read on
the 50 microamp scale will usually suffice as a low voltage (around 250 millivolts full scale)
dc volt meter.
So far, it is easy to get a continuous sine wave signal at 1 mhz. The amplitude of the
oscillation is typically between .35 to 1 volt pp. Few things can beat hearing a hetrodyne on
a radio receiver that is the result of a homemade active device.
With the am broadcast band LC circuit, the signal is usually a nice looking sine wave with
the frequency being adjustable across most of the am broadcast band by turning the
variable 365 pf capacitor. The coil is 100 turns of .034 dia. enamel covered copper wire on a
piece of 1-1/2" abs pipe (1-7/8" outer diameter). Taps were placed at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30,
40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 turns. As shown in the diagram, the very low impedance of the
device worked best into the 5 turn tap. The variable capacitor was connected to between 70
and the full 100 turns of the coil.
In trying to produce higher frequencies of the order of 7 mhz, I substituted an LC circuit
with a smaller inductance coil. While using this higher frequency LC circuit, the long
sloppy clip leads used to build the circuit, were a much greater factor in determining the
frequency than the LC circuit was. By taking the LC circuit out and substituting it with
just varous sized inductors or even just pieces of wire, in series with the negative resistance
device, a relaxation oscillator was made. This relaxation oscillator could be made to run
anywhere from audio frequencies to (with careful coaxing) 12 mhz, depending on the size
of the inductance in the circuit. The higher frequencies were produced just by putting
various lengths of the wire in series with the device.
The only limitation on the lowest frequencies attainable with this relaxation oscillator,
seems to be the internal resistance of the inductor. Big inductors tend to use more wire and
thus have a higher resistance. With this circuit requiring such a low bias resistance, one
ohm is close to the maximum internal resistance that is usable in an inductor. The inductor
for audio frequencies should therefore be made with as few turns as possible and as large
diameter of wire possible into a toroid core with a high permeability. A typical inductance
for attaining audio frequencies with the above relaxation oscillator, is 2 mh.
The negative resistance part of the curve can form at many different current levels. With
the relaxation oscillator, negative resistance at higher current levels seemed to produce
lower frequencies. This is probably because the overall resistance across the inductor, is
lower when the negative resistance is at a higher current level.
about 1-1/2" square near the edge. A piece of #28 gauge galvanized steel wire can be
wrapped around the two screws and cut to about 4 to 6 inches in length. A heavy weight on
the block will make its position stable after making adjustments. This N type negative
resistance device worked well by bending the tip of the wire around so that the zinc plated
side of the wire, instead of the tip, touches the aluminum.
Several different pieces of zinc from different sources, in addition to the galvanized wire,
were tried and they all seemed to work for making the negative resistance. I also had
success using different pieces of aluminum from different sources. None of the pieces of
aluminum were anodized. I was even able to get the circuit to work after buffing the
aluminum and galvanized wire with a piece of "Scotchbright" like material. No special
treatment or heating needed to be done to either the zinc or aluminum. The aluminum and
the galvanized steel wire were used in their original condition.
Homemade tunnel diode and oscillator circuit setup on table.
Negative resistance oscillator circuit can be seen in the foreground. Notice the
dpdt slide switch used to switch the negative resistance device between the curve
tracer (right of picture) and the oscillator circuit. The extra stuff in the
background is not part of this project. A crude knob had to be improvised from
a piece of aluminum in order to easily turn the 5 ohm pot which had only a
screwdriver slotted shaft less than 1/8" long.
Iron Pyrites Negative Resistance Oscillator.

By Nyle Steiner K7NS 22 Feb. 2001
Iron Pyrites with #30 copper wire catwhisker. Curve tracer shows negative
resistance in the reverse bias portion of the curve. Curve tracer is set at 2v/div.
horiz and 2ma/div. vert. Curve tracer was modified to apply ac to the device.
Success with this experiment has been a very exciting experience for me as it represents the
ability to build a simple homemade active semiconductor device. It is almost like making
your own homemade transistor. This is an actual realization of some very old, and esoteric
1920's experiments, by W.H. Eccles, Greenleaf Pickard and Oleg Losev, that were so
vaguely reported in a few articles that I have often wondered if in fact it had actually been
done. Even so, I have always had an extreme fascination with those reports of being able to
produce a continuous wave RF signal from a crude semiconductor matarial back in the
very early days of radio.
My fascination led me to purchase an old Tektronix 575 curve tracer so I could study the
curves of iron pyrites, galena and other detector materials that we normally play around
with to make crystal sets. The 575 is a vintage but great tool because it continuously shows
the curve in real time as you manually manipulate the samples. This is what is needed in
order to make observations while manually touching a piece of wire to a piece of rock. I
wanted to be able to display both the positive and negative portions of the curves
simultaneously and so had to modify the curve tracer in order to do so.
Visable on the curve tracer, is a negative resistance curve that could be obtained from
several different pieces of iron pyrites (with much finicky adjusting). Not all pieces of iron
pyrites seem to work. I found that the kind with a lot of little crystal formations worked the
best. The fact that several pieces that I happened to have, worked, makes it appear that a
working crystal is not all that rare. It was nice to realize that this phenomenon was not just
the result of some fluky "one in a trillion" find.
Adjustment of the catwhisker is very critical however, and requires a lot of patience in
comparison to adjusting as a receiving detector. For every spot that produces a useable
negative resistance, there are many many settings that would make an excellent detector
for reception.
As the curve tracer photo above shows, the negative resistance region is in the reverse bias
portion of the curve at approximately -8 volts and 8 ma. Some of the articles refer to this as
being like a tunnel diode. It is true in the sense of having negative resistance, but it is in fact
a different type of negative resistance. This is ok since both types of negative resistance can
have the effect of gain, supplying enough energy to an LC circuit for it to become an
oscillator. The negative resistance portion of the curve is obtained when negative voltage is
applied to the catwhisker.
Two types of negative resistance.
Left is type found in iron pyrites. Right is type like a tunnel diode.
I am not an expert on negative resistance but I once read an article many years ago, that
described how negative resistance is in two forms. I seem to recall them being a type S and
a type N (I don't even remember for sure which is which. I welcome any enlightenment on
this). One type is the type found in a tunnel diode and the other type is the type found here
and in other devices such as a neon lamp, unijunction transistor and what I believe to be in
the old carbon arc oscillators. The figure above shows how the two types of negative
resistance curves are possible. The negative resistance seen on the curve tracer is upside
down with respect to that shown in the left part of the above figure so that both the positive
and negative portions of the curve can be displayed.
The circuit shown is all that is necessary to produce a continuous wave signal in the
broadcast band. It seemed difficult to get it to operate above 2mhz but was easy to get it
running at anything below that, including audio frequencies. It seems to prefer certain LC
ratios better than others. In the case of the broadcast band, A 365pf variable capacitor
worked well with a 190uh coil (100 turns on a TP roller).
Once a good piece of iron pyrites is selected, the curve tracer is not necessary for making
circuit adjustments. A meter or oscilloscope, to indicate that the the circuit is oscillating, is
the most important tool in making circuit adjustments.
Broadcast band Iron Pyrites negative resistance oscillator.
Carbon Mike enables am broadcast to nearby am radio.
Iron Pyrites Negative Resistance Oscillator Board.
Circuit can run on 18 volt supply (two nine volt batteries). Note "Tone Arm"
catwhisker.
When adjusting the 1k pot, I could find a range where the oscillation amplitude would vary
with the voltage from the pot. This suggested the possibility of voice amplitude modulation
with a carbon microphone. I was indeed able to hear my voice on a nearby radio with a
carbon microphone placed in series with the battery supply. Just imagine the fun it was to
be able to talk on the radio with an electrified crystal set.
I found it extremely difficult to get steady oscillations with conventional type catwhiskers. I
tried a simple idea that I call the "Tone Arm" catwhisker because of it's resemblance to the
tone arm of a phonograph. With it I can often obtain steady oscillations that last indefinite
periods of time (several minutes anyway). This catwhisker also worked very well when used
with a normal crystal set. I got good results using #30 gauge copper or #28gauge steel wire
for the catwhisker. Those sizes are what I happened to have handy.
"Tone Arm" catwhisker close views.
This closeup is an improvement over the tone arm seen in the oscillator board
picture above.
The idea of the Tone Arm catwhisker is to make it light and easy to move up and down, but
rigid in sideways motion. This makes the catwhisker able to rest on slanted crystal facets
without sliding off. The picture of the Tone Arm is self explanatory; a triangular wire
frame, a weighted base (with three felt bumpers on the bottom) and hinges to allow the arm
to move up and down easily. The catwhisker itself, can be any chosen piece of fine wire
connected to the end of the arm, by wrapping or soldering, and pointing downward. The
coil on the base is thin 30 gauge copper wire to make electrical connection to the arm
without interfering with its delicate movements. A small weight can be put on the end to
increase catwhisker pressure.
To connect to the iron pyrites, several turns of bare #18 copper wire were wrapped around
it and twisted tight. I have always found this kind of arrangement to be as good as
anything. It has never seemed that casting in molten metal etc. is at all necessary for any of
the crystals I have ever experimented with. Another copper wire over the crystal and
wrapped around a couple of screws in the board works well for mounting the crystal.
The best way to get the circuit going is by setting the 1k pot to a mid point and then
patiently and carefully probing with the catwhisker. Catwhisker adjustment is by far the
most critical part of the process. Many points will be found where the meter will jump
momentarily. These are good places to stop and try some fine adjusting, by gently nudging
the wood block that supports the "tone Arm", for a steady meter indication. If nothing
happens, the pot level is raised a bit and searching on the crystal continues. The ranges on
the pot that work are fairly wide in relation to the complete range of the pot. This puts
most of the burden of adjustment on simply searching the crystal. Use just the oscillation
indicator for adjusting. Get the circuit oscillating and then tune it to a selected frequency
on a nearby radio. Trying to adjust by listening to the the radio is futile because you would
have to search the crystal for each of many many different tunings as well as each of many
different pot settings. You can imagine how many combinations would have to be tried.
Scope picture of signal from Iron Pyrites Oscillator.
A clean continuous sine wave is attainable with careful adjustment. Many

adjustments however, produce a somewhat distorted sine wave. Frequency
shown is approx 700 khz.
Do not sell your expensive radio just yet. This circuit is far from being a replacement. It is
extremely finicky to adjust and is not great for staying in adjustment. However, I can
usually find a setting where the circuit can be run for a number of minutes while I walk
away and do something else. The biggest feature this circuit has to offer is the thrill of
watching it run.
See also Zinc negative resistance device. Zinc Negative Resistance. See also homemade
Tunnel Diode N type device. Homemade Tunnel Diode and RF Oscillator.
Other Homemade Semiconductor Materials

Make Negative Resistance Oscillator.
By Nyle Steiner K7NS 22 Mar. 2001
Horiz = voltage 1v/div. Vert = current 1ma/div.
Refer to the previous article on the Iron Pyrites Negative Resistance Oscillator. Iron
Pyrites Negative Resistance Oscillator I have found an easy way to make an excellent
negative resistance material. This material appears to be superior to Iron Pyrites in ease of
adjustment and consistancy in use.
The end of a thin 1/8 inch wide strip of galvanized sheet metal, of the type used for furnace
ducts, was held in the flame of a propane torch untill it glowed bright red. It is a good idea
to do this out of doors and to avoid breathing any of the smoke or fumes. People who are
knowledgeable about welding say that poisonus fumes are produced when welding
galvanized metal. After cooling, small dark spots would appear, especially on the side
opposite where the flame struck. These dark spots are the main negative resistance areas.
The catwhiskers tried were 28 gauge steel wire and 30 gauge copper wire. Both seemed to
work well. The circuit (as with the iron pyrites) seems to be very forgiving as to applied
voltage level (pot setting).
As can be seen on the curve tracer, the curve can be quite symmetrical in both the negative
and positive direction, although I sometimes would observe a more non symmetrical curve.
It is also possible that applied dc could have some cumulative effect on the symmetry of the
curve. This picture was taken while the curve tracer was applying ac to the device. I had to
modify the curve tracer so it could apply ac.
The oscillator circuit can be run easily from one 9v battery and it seems easier to obtain
steady oscillation when the catwhisker is biased negative with respect to the metal strip.
Some steady oscillation was obtained however with the catwhisker positively biased. As
with the Iron Pyrites oscillator, the frequency range seems to be limited to about 2 mhz.
Heat treated galvanized nail and zinc chromate nut. Either can produce
oscillations. Nail was somewhat difficult to adjust but nut was easy.
It seems that anything associated with zinc can make a negative resistance device. Even the
heat treated galvanized nail can produce oscillations with careful adjustment. A heat
treated zinc chromate 6-32 nut seemed to work very well and was very easy to adjust.
I was able to obtain audio frequency oscillations using a piece of heat treated steel music
wire but operation was unreliable and djustment was very difficult.
I was also able to get steady oscillations using some labatory grown pure bismuth crystals
from a rock and mineral shop. It had a dark bluish color from a thin coating of bismuth
oxide. It was a lot more stringent in it's voltage adjustment. The Bismuth oxide can have
many interesting colors caused by light interference in the oxide coating.
I also obtained steady 40 mhz oscillations from a piece of pure silicon obtained at a rock
and mineral show. It was supposed to be a byproduct from the semiconductor industry. It
seemed to have a mind of it's own, oscillating between 10 and 40 mhz even though it was
connected to an AM Broadcast Band LC circuit. It is also interesting stuff, but being from
the sophisticated semiconductor industry, tends to defeat some of the fun of making an
active semiconductor from materials found at home.
March 2002. A negative resistance device that seems almost indistinguishable from the
heated galvanized sheet metal device was made by bringing a red hot flattened nail head in
contact with a burning piece of magnesium ribbon. This seems to work about as well as the
heated galvanized sheet metal for producing audio oscillations. Rf has not been tried yet.
I will try to keep this document updated for future developments.
Code Practice Oscillator made from

Homemade Active Semiconductor.
By Nyle Steiner K7NS 28 Mar. 2001
Code Practice Oscillator, also useful for testing homemade negative resistance
materials.
Code Practice Oscillator Schematic. T1 is a small Radio Shack 12vac center

tapped transformer. 12v winding connects to headset. 110v input winding is part
of LC circuit.
This simple circuit is just like the Negative Resistance RF Broadcast Band circuit except
that it uses an audio frequency LC circuit instead of an RF LC circuit. See Iron Pyrites
Negative Resistance Oscillator Since writing the article on the iron pyrites oscillator, I have
found a much superior way to make the negative resistance device. It is by heating a strip
of galvanized sheet metal in a propane flame as described later.
Listening for a tone through a pair of earphones makes it easy to experiment with negative
resistance materials without having to use a radio or any test equipment such as an
oscilloscope or curve tracer. The heat treated zinc material seems to be the king so far for
ease of use but I was even able to get audio oscillations from a heat treated piece of steel
"music" wire. The procedure is to hunt around with the catwhisker at different pot settings
until a tone is heard in the phones. A high impedance earphone is best as it tends to put less
of a load on the circuit and thus increases the chance of getting oscillation. A low
impedance load will work however, in fact; an 8 ohm speaker worked well and put out a
faint tone that could be heard across the room.
Actual sound of Negatave Resistance CPO using heat treated galvanized sheet metal. (84K
.wav file):
This circuit can easily produce RF frequencies in the AM Broadcast band if an appropriate
LC circuit is connected in place of the audio one. Not all catwhisker settings that produces
oscillation at audio frequencies, however, will oscillate at Broadcast band frequencies when
switching LC circuits. It must be that different catwhisker settings can produce different
bandwith capabilities. Nevertheless, it is very exciting to hear the audio tone that ensures
that the negative resistance material is operating. A key in series with the battery makes
this circuit into a good code practice oscillator. It is best however, to have the key mounted
away from the oscillator, preferably on your lap or another table as the catwhisker is
vibration sensitive.
The negative resistance device was easily made by putting the end of a thin 1/4 inch wide
strip of galvanized sheet metal, of the type used for furnace ducts, in the flame of a propane
torch till it glowed bright red. It is a good idea to do this out of doors and to avoid
breathing any of the smoke or fumes. People who are knowledgeable about welding say
that poisonus fumes are produced when welding galvanized metal. After cooling, small
dark spots would appear, especially on the side opposite where the flame struck. These
dark spots are the main negative resistance areas. The catwhiskers tried were 28 gauge
steel wire and 30 gauge copper wire. Both seemed to work well. The circuit (as with the
iron pyrites) seems to be very forgiving as to the applied voltage level (pot setting).
As can be seen on the curve tracer, the curve can be quite symmetrical in both the negative
and positive direction, although I sometimes would observe a more non symmetrical curve.
It is also possible that applied dc could have some cumulative effect on the symmetry of the
curve. This picture was taken while the curve tracer was applying ac to the device. I had to
modify it so it could apply ac.
The oscillator circuit can be run easily from one 9v battery and it seems easier to obtain
steady oscillation when the catwhisker is biased negative with respect to the metal strip.
Some steady oscillation can be obtained however with the catwhisker positively biased.
Horiz = voltage 1v/div. Vert = current 1ma/div.
Heat treated galvanized nail and zinc chromate nut. Either can produce
oscillations. Nail was somewhat difficult to adjust but nut was easy.
Normal catwhiskers seemed difficult to adjust so I built what I call a "Tone Arm
Catwhisker" because of its resemblance to a phonograph tone arm. The idea of the Tone
Arm catwhisker is to make it light and easy to move up and down, but rigid in sideways
motion. This makes the catwhisker able to rest on slanted or round surfaces without sliding
off. The sliding off aspect does not seem as important though when used on the flat strip of
heat treated galvanized sheet metal. The picture of the Tone Arm is self explanatory; a
triangular wire frame, a weighted base (with three felt bumpers on the bottom) and hinges
to allow the arm to move up and down easily. The coil on the base is thin 30 gauge copper
wire to make electrical connection to the arm without interfering with its delicate
movements.
It seems that anything associated with zinc can make a negative resistance device. Even the
heat treated galvanized nail can produce oscillations with careful adjustment. A heat
treated zinc chromate 6-32 nut seemed to work very well and was very easy to adjust. I was
able to get oscillations with somewhat more difficulty, using a heat treated strip of thin
brass.
Zinc Negative Resistance RF Amplifier for

Crystal Sets and Regenerative Receivers Uses
No Tubes or Transistors.
By Nyle Steiner K7NS 20 November. 2002
Negative Resistance R.F. Amplifier for Crystal Set.
Am broadcast band R.F. amplifier using a homemade negative resistance device.
I have found that building negative resistance audio amplifiers, especially for crystal sets,
can be a challenge owing to the fact that their gain is greatly affected by their input and
output impedances and also because of their tendacy to act as oscillators. I find that
building a broadband audio amplifier is easy only if the amplifier is driving a pure resistive
load. Inductive loads such as a transformer or headset, which are usually the easiest way to
make use of this gain, present varying impedances over the audio spectrum. I have had
some success building negative resistance audio amplifiers that only produce gain into a
headset over a narrow audio bandwidth. In addition, negative resistance amplifiers do not
seem well suited for amplifying the audio output from a crystal set because of the low
impedance that is usually required to drive the amplifier.
Using a negative resistance amplifier to amplify an RF signal however, is a much more
straightforward task as only one frequency need be amplified and the impedances on the
input and output can be easily chosen by using tap points on tuning circuits. An effective
AM broadcast band RF signal amplifier can easily be made using the same homemade
negative resistance device as is used to build the negative resistance oscillators written
about earlier. This RF amplifier, is made with a simple homemade semiconductor device
and uses no tubes or transistors. It can be connected to crystal set circuits to amplify the
signal from the antenna or to make them into regenerative receivers. The main reason for
building the receiver circuits described here is for the fun and satisfaction of doing it with a
simple home made amplification device. To find out more details, about this homemade
zinc negative resistance device, see:Zinc Negative Resistance Oscillator
Two circuit configurations are shown below. The coil is wound on 1 1/2 abs pipe with taps
every ten turns. The variable capacitor and detector diode tap points should be chosen for
best band coverage and optimal headset volume.
These amplified circuits seem to work best with lower strength radio signals. In my
location, there are a couple of very close radio stations that just tend to overwhelm the
circuit. In order to simulate weaker signals, I have been using a 12 to 15 foot antenna wire
strung up across the ceiling of my basement room. With the RF amplifier connected, I can
hear stations through the small indor antenna at a level similar to that of using a much
larger and higher outdoor antenna. It is sometimes possible, especially with the
regenerative configuration, to hear the audio hetrodyne with the incoming signals.
I also tried using this amplifier on a friends crystal set located where there are no strong
signals. I was able to clearly hear and understand a station that was otherwise too weak to
be intelligable.
Regenerative Receiver.
RF amplifier made from homemade zinc negative resistance device is connected

to crystal set in a regenerative receiver configuration.
Crystal Set with RF Amplifier.
RF amplifier made from homemade zinc negative resistance device, is connected

in series with crystal set antenna.
Making the galvanized sheet metal negative resistance device is very easy. Simply hold,
using pliers, the end of a thin 1/4 inch wide strip of galvanized sheet metal, of the type used
for furnace ducts, in the flame of a propane torch until it glowes bright red and shoots out
whit hot flares. It is a good idea to do this out of doors and to avoid breathing any of the
smoke or fumes. People who are knowledgeable about welding say that poisonus fumes are
produced when welding galvanized metal. After cooling, small dark spots will appear,
especially on the side opposite where the flame has struck. These dark spots are the main
negative resistance areas.
about 1-1/2" square near the edge. A piece of #28 gauge steel wire can be wrapped around
the two screws and cut to about 3" in length. The wire is then bent in an arch so that it
lightly touches the heat treated metal as the block is moved around. A heavy weight on the
block will make its position stable after making adjustments.
For this amplifier to be effective, the optimum point, where the antenna taps into the coil,
should be found. Negative resistance amplifiers are very fussy about the impedances they
are connected to. One part of the band seems to require a different tap point than another
part of the band. Each time a different station is tuned, different antenna tap points should
be tried. I have had good success adjusting the circuit as follows. Close the switch across
the zinc device. This disables the amplification and makes the circuit as a normal crystal
set. Choose a point on the coil and tap the antenna into it there. Adjust the variable
capacitor until you hear the station that you want. Open the switch, enabling the gain, and
move the catwhisker around while at the same time varying the bias pot. When you find a
catwhisker spot that makes a sudden jump in volume or hetrodyne type of sound, leave it
there and make adjustments to the pot and variable capacitor for optimum volume. If you
don't have much success, try connecting the antenna to a different tap point on the coil and
make the above adjustments again. Certain settings of the pot will sometimes cause
distortion. The idea is to adjust the pot for the highest volume without a lot of signal
distortion. With some practice you should be able to get impressively higher volume levels
than what can be obtained when the gain is disabled.
The configuration that amplifies the antenna signal was shown in a very excellent two part
article from The Wireless World and Radio Review October 1, 1924 and October 8, 1924
entitled "The Crystal As A Generator And Amplifier" by Victor Gabel. The article also
includes several regenerative receiver circuits that utilize the negative resistance device for
both RF amplification and detection. I have had success in the past building similar
regenerative receiver circuits but greater headset volume is produced when using an
additional detector diode, as I have described here. This article was found by Ken Ladd
and is absolutely the best article I have seen on the very esoteric subject of oscillating
crystal experiments performed in the 1920's. What a find this was!!! This article is very
generous with explanation, details and schematics. There is at present a question regarding
the ability to mass distribute copies of this article because of copyright but it is being
looked into.
I must point out that the term "oscillating crystals", as used here, should not be confused
with the piezo electric resonant crystals used nowdays to control oscillator frequencies. The
early negative resistance experiments were performed using the same crystal substances as
were used to make detectors.
Most of the experiments in many of the old 1920's article talk about the use of zincite as the
most successful negative resistance material. Some articles state that the zincite must be
that which is obtained from one place in the world, Franklin N.J. It is my opinion after
experimenting, that the simple home prepared heat treated galvanized sheet metal can be
used in most if not all cases, as a substitute for the zincite.
When reading various articles about the performance of crystal sets, one must be careful
about taking a lot of performance claims to seriously, owing to the many many
undocumented variables. Many will report about how something works as a detector for
example, but no information or definition is given to how powerful of station is being
listened to or how far away it is. One person might write about how a certain material
works well as a crystal set detector but for all we know, they may be one block from a 50
kw radio station. Another report may be written by a person who was 20 miles from the
nearest station. Under the circumstances of being one block from a 50 kw station, almost
anything would work as a detector; you would hear something, almost no matter what kind
of circuit or antenna is tried. I once knew a person who lived next to a 50 kw am broadcast
station. He was always hearing the station while using his normal telephone. Many of the
reports given by individuals about how well a crystal set works for them, are short on
documentation about their location and circumstances concerning the strength of the signal
being received.
There are also numerous claims in vintage literature, of being able to get amplification in a
crystal set by connecting a battery to the circuit or detector in some way or another. It is
probable that many of these increases in volume are not from amplification, but merely the
result of making the detector more efficient with biasing. Many types of detectors require a
small bias voltage across them in order for them to work well. Getting a louder signal when
a battery is connected has probably made many think that the circuit is amplifying when in
reality, it may have just been loosing less of the signal than it was before.
I wish to clarify these points and assure the reader of this article, that all observations of
gain in the circuits described herin, have been made with the above points in mind.
Another configuration for using the negative resistance device is to use it as a simple CW
RF oscillator or tone modulated RF oscillator. See circuit below. Through a nearby crystal
set it is possible to hear this oscillator as a hetrodyne with incoming signals or as an audio
tone. Why would anyone want to hear a hetrodyne with an incoming broadcast station?
Mainly for the rush it gives when you realize you have just made a tiny transmitter using a
homemade semiconductor.
Closing S2 puts the circuit in the tone modulated RF mode by including the phones and the
.1uf capacitor. This forms an audio frequency LC circuit. In this configuration, the circuit
can oscillate at both an RF and an audio frequency at the same time. The tone can be easily
heard on a properly tuned nearby crystal set.
The tone modulated mode makes adjustment of the catwhisker easy when listening for an
audio tone in the phones. This tone modulated circuit makes a very effective code practice
oscillator if S1 is replaced with a key. You can hear the tone through the phones in the
circuit or through a nearby radio. An element of excitement would be added to the teaching
of morse code to students when they realize they are actually hearing the signal from a tiny
nearby transmitter. Take out the RF LC part of the circuit, and you still have an audio
code practice oscillator by listening through the phones.
When making adjustments, it is necessary to listen for both an audio tone in the phones
and in the nearby crystal set. This is because some settings can cause just the audio portion
of the circuit to oscillate. Other settings may cause just the RF portion to oscillate. Hearing
the tone in the phones and the nearby crystal set indicates that both audio and RF circuits
are oscillating. When this condition is achieved, open S1 and then S2. When you close S1
again and you will usually have a CW RF oscillator which can be heard on the nearby
crystal set. Of course the variable capacitor must be tuned to adjust the oscillator
frequency to the crystal set frequency. The oscillator coil may need to be set near enough to
the crystal set that it interacts with the crystal set coil. Opening S2 without opening S1 first,
has a tendacy to destroy the negative resistance setting.
Hetrodyne Oscillator or Tone Modulated Transmitter for

Crystal Set.
This simple oscillator can be heard through a nearby crystal set as a CW

hetrodyne with incoming stations. In the tone modulated mode (S2 closed), morse
code can be sent to a nearby radio by using a key in place of S1.
Vacuum tube operation at amateur grade

vacuum.
Updated 8 June 2000.
I have found that a vacuum tube can operate at a vacuum level easily attainable by
amateurs. We certainly are not talking about optimum performance, but rather an
experiment to satisfy a life long curiosity about how high of vacuum is required to make a
vacuum tube operate.
I had a couple of 5965 (equivalent to 12AV7) dual triode tubes and opened one to the
atmosphere, let air inside and then attached a hose for connection to a vacuum pump. As
the picture below shows, it was a simple operation. Notice how the normally mirror like
getter (at the top of the tube) is now powdery white from being attacked by the air. It took
roughly 30 minutes for the bright silvery film to turn white after breaking the seal on top of
the tube.
The hose was glued on top of the tube with hot glue. The other end of the hose was attached
to a 1/4" flare adapter with hot glue. Many sizes of clear vinyl hose such as that used here
will collapse from atmospheric pressure. I used one with a thich enough wall to withstand
atmospheric pressure. The hot glue was a very handy way to go and it seemed to adhere
well enough to the glass. It was surprising how long I could run the tube without melting
the hot glue. It actually never melted, but I was careful not to run the tube for long periods.
The pump that I used is an old Robinair refrigeration service pump. I don't know how well
hot glue is suited for high vacuum connections, but The pump is capable of getting down to
10 microns or below according to a Supco thermister vacuum gauge. A small degree of
vacuum tube operation was observable at pressures as high as 1 torr but as expected, the
tube worked much better at lower pressures of about 50 microns and below. Most of the
experimenting described here was done at around 50 microns and below. When the
vacuum was close to 10 microns, I would turn on the filament and notice an immediate
climb in pressure from the hot filament outgassing. After several times of heating, however
the vacuum would stay down.
The first attempt of observing vacuum tube operation was to connect the cathode and plate
to an old Tecktronix 575 curve tracer. The grid was connected so that I could connect it to
either the cathode, the plate or a biasing pot connected to a 9 volt battery. This tube is a
double triode with a center tapped filament. This allowed operation of just one triode with
6 volts applied to one of the filaments. With the normal 6 volts across the filament, no glow
was seen because of the air inside keeping it cool. As the pump was turned on, the filament
started to glow, but maybe not quite so brightly as normal. Changes in current drain from
the filament were very noticeable as the degree of vacuum changed and thus changed the
temperature and resistance of the filament. This was observed simply by having a volt
meter across the filament and watching the voltage change from a varying load. With a
given voltage applied to the filament one might be able to build a good vacuum gauge by
using a vacuum tube connected to a bridge circuit and a meter.
In order to observe any vacuum tube action at all, It was necessary to run the filament
voltage much higher than normal - about 10 to 12 volts. According to the indications on the
curve tracer, the tube seemed to be operating to a reasonable degree. One certainly would
not expect full spec operation under these types of conditions. With 100 volt sweep on the
plate and a 20k resistor, I was easily able to get a plate voltage change of about 40 volts
from a 3.5 volt bias change on the grid. That seems to indicate a very usable amount of
amplification.
The next step was to put my home evacuated tube to the real test by connecting it into an
actual circuit such as an amplifier or oscillator. I did just that and had no difficulty in
making a Hartley type broadcast band oscillator run with 9 volts applied to the filament.
See schematic A. As the oscillator ran, I would turn off the vacuum pump and watch the
oscillator signal on an oscilloscope as the pressure rose. Unbelievably, I could keep the
oscillator running as the pressure rose to as high as one torr (1000 microns). The filament
voltage had to be raised to 11 volts in order to keep it going at this pressure. The oscillator
signal was much weaker at one torr, but it is fascinating that it could run at such high
pressure in the tube.
I also connected it into an amplifier configuration and varied the grid input voltage swing
while watching the plate voltage swing. See schematic B. I measured a voltage gain of about
15 or 16, a definitely usable gain.
Transconductance measurements were made using schematic C. The tube plate output
current curve reflects positive as well as negative grid voltage. I only made
transconductance measurements between zero and minus grid voltage. In this range the
tube generally drew about 1 ma plate current using 100 volt plate supply. That didn't seem
bad for a homepumped vacuum tube. Varying the grid voltage between minus 1.265 volts
and minus .679 volts (.586 volt change) caused the plate current to vary from .5 ma to 1.5
ma. This calculated to be a transconductance of about 1700 micromhos.
It may also be possible to make a vacuum gauge by measuring the plate conductance to the
tube. Perhaps a versatile gauge could be made for two different ranges of vacuum by using
the filament heat transfer method for one range and the plate conductance change method
for another range.
The use of vacuum tubes, under the conditions described above, is a very adverse condition
for the filaments. Four filaments became history in the course of the above
experimentation.
I hope soon, to try making a homemade vacuum tube completely from scratch. Even if it's
operation is crude and has to have the pump running during its operation, it will be a very
satisfying experience. It is something I have thought about all my life. The experiments
described above make prospects for a crude homemade vacuum tube quite encouraging.
Homemade Vacuum Tube Diode.
11 June 2000.
This is a follow up experiment from the report that I wrote previously about home
evacuation of a vacuum tube. The next step is to make my own vacuum tube from scratch.
This is my first attempt, a diode. The diode seems to work surprisingly well and makes the
thought of putting a grid between the filament and the plate very encouraging.
The diode was tested on an old tektronix 575 curve tracer. It was necessary to apply almost
the full 12 volts to the filament in order to get any action. Commercial vacuum tubes use
some kind of thorium treated filaments which allow them to emit electrons at a much lower
temperature. This filament, being just plain tungsten, had to be near its normal
incandescent temperature in order to emit electrons. With the filament connected to a 12
volt battery, It was very easy to get well over 100 milliamps of plate current - very
surprising! I have always wondered if it would be necessary to have a thoriated filament in
order to make a vacuum tube. It definitely seems not. Tungsten seems to work very well;
you just have to run it at a higher temperature.
The plate, with no voltage applied and connected to a dc voltmeter, produced negative two
and one half volts. The curve of the plate conduction shows a slight amount of current
increase up to several volts applied between the filament and the plate. After several volts,
the current starts to increase at a very steep rate with rise in plate voltage. I also noticed
what appears to be a small negative resistance region in the curve at about 125 milliamps
and 30 volts. This resembles the negative resistance region of a tunnel diode. I noticed
similar things during the previous experiments with the vacuum tube. I can't be sure yet if
the curve tracer is playing tricks of if there is something really interesting going on here.
The vacuum tube diode was made from an automobile tail lamp. As can be seen in the
picture, the top was filed open with an abrasive stone made for filing glass. The hole in the
top was made large enough to slip in a small brass plate and the evacuation tube.
The plate was a small piece of brass (.025 thick) soldered to a wire. The hose and the plate
wire were hot glued to the top in order to make the seal and hold the plate near one of the
filaments. The plate was spaced several millimeters from the heavy filament.
The tube was evacuated with the same Robinair vacuum pump as mentioned before. Most
of the experimenting was done at a vacuum of about 10 microns or below, but it was easy to
observe diode plate current with a vacuum of 50 microns.
Homemade Vacuum Tube Triode.
15 June 2000.
This is my first attempt at making a completely from scratch homemade vacuum tube
triode. There is not much more to say about the construction than what the picture says.
The filament is from a car turn signal lamp, the grid is a piece of steel wire bent as shown
and the plate is a piece of thin brass that was handy. They are all mounted with the screws
shown. The screws are connected through a flat piece of ABS plastic and sealed on the
outside with hot glue. A rubber gasket is laid on the plate around the outside and a small
bell jar (actually a glass salt shaker) is set over the whole assembly before evacuating.
The triode was first tested on an old Tektronix 575 curve tracer. As with the homemade
diode mentioned previously, it was necessary to apply almost the full 12 volts to the
filament in order to get any action. Commercial vacuum tubes use some kind of thorium
treated filaments which allow them to emit electrons at a much lower temperature. This
filament, being just plain tungsten, had to be near its normal incandescent temperature in
order to emit electrons. With the filament connected to a 12 volt battery, Tungsten seems to
emit electrons very well; you just have to run it at a higher temperature. The higher
temperature, however, does seem to create an additional situation as I will try to theorize
and explain below.
This homemade triode seems to be able to operate in two different modes. It can conduct
current from the filament to the plate through hot filament electron emission or, through
ionization of the residual air. When conducting through filament emission, it tends to
behave like a normal amplifying triode where the plate current is controlled by a voltage
applied to the grid. When conducting through ionized air, it acts more like a thyratron
where the grid only controls the ionization breakdown voltage. Because the tungsten
filament is running much hotter (near or at full incandescence), than a normal vacuum
triode thoriated filament, the heat or brightness (Iam not sure which), brings the residual
air close to ionization. This gives the tube a greater tendacy to behave like a thyratron.
It seems capable of behaving like a normal amplifying triode only at a plate current of
about 20 microamps and less when the filament is run at a lower temperature. The plate
current can be controlled with varying amounts of negative grid voltage. This tube did not
seem to respond as much to positive grid voltages as did the home evacuated factory made
vacuum tube. The point between where the filament is just hot enough to cause electron
emission and the point where it is so hot as to cause air ionization defines a small window
where the tube can operate at as a normal amplifying triode. Future attempts will be to
make this window of operation bigger. I believe that the homepumped factory made triode
worked better in this mode because its thoriated filament was emitting electrons at a lower
temperature where the air was not so easy to ionize. I want to try to optimise this window
of operation with the homemade vacuum triode.
The thyratron action worked very well and could carry much more plate current - in the
many milliamp range. Ionization (breakdown) voltages between the filament and the plate
could be adjusted all the way from about 25 up to the 100 applied plate volts by varying the
grid voltage from zero to minus 35 volts. The Ionizing voltage was greatest with the grid at
negative 35 volts.
It was very easy to make a simple relaxation oscillator with this homemade triode
operating as a thyratron. By varying the negative voltage on the grid, I could adjust the
amplitude of the sawtooth waveform over a wide range.
I will point out that with up to 200 volts applied to the plate, no reverse current was
observed during all of the experimentation. This was easy to check since I have modified
the Tektronix 575 curve tracer to be able to apply ac voltages across its devices udner test.
This means that it is easy to make a vacuum diode rectifier no matter what mode is used.
The tube was evacuated in the same way as the previous experiments using the two shage
Robinair vacuum pump. Most of the experimenting was done at a vacuum of about 10
microns or below. The thyratron action seemed to work well however, up to 50 microns. I
didn't operate the tube at much higher pressures in order to prolong the life of the
filament.
Permenant Magnet Levitation.
A permenant magnet being levitated. No superconductors, no electrically

powered feedback stabilization or spinning tops. It just sits there floating day
after day by the interaction of two permenant magnets.
In spite of what Earnshaw said, I have always believed in the possibility of permenant
magnet levitation. I found out about this at a very excellent web site called Scitoys.com. I
highly recommend looking at it. I just had to try building one of these myself. It worked
just like they said. The small magnet can be made to wobble around or spin by blowing on
it. It is stable and always returns to its center position.
It is always annoying to me when someone flashes a bunch of mathematical mumbojumbo
in our faces and says something is impossible. Many times the impossibility may be true in
the true sense of the mathematical definition, but mathematical definitions often fall way
short when evaluating our real and practical world. Someone named Earnshaw, using
mathematical mumbojumbo, said that a permenant magnet can not be levitated without
using some energy input for stabilization. In the practical sense, one would be a fool to take
the Earnshaw therom seriously. The picture shows that permenant magnet levitation can
easily be done at home.
The trick is a property of bismuth called diamagnetism. Diamagnetism is a property of a
substance to be repelled instead of attracted by a magnet. It also has the peculiar property
of not trying to rotate the magnet away from it during the repulsion. A diamagnetic
material will be repelled from a magnet no matter what pole it is near. Diamagnetism
probably does not fall within the definition of the Earnshaw therom but who cares.
The small floating magnet is repelled away from either of the bismuth plates and tends to
stay in the center. The weight of the floating magnet though is many times greater than the
diamagnetic force and would normally just sit on the bottom plate. The pull from the large
magnet above however, is carefully adjusted to just counteract the floating magnet's
weight.
I was able to achieve stable levitation with just one bismuth plate either above or below but
the adjustment was more sensitive and the floating magnet, if jostled, could go unstable
and either fall or be sucked up.
Bismuth seems to be one of the few materials that has enough diamagnetism to make this
work easily. It can be obtained by taking bismuth shot from shotgun shells. They are a
special kind that use bismuth shot instead of lead shot, to prevent lead poisoning to birds in
hunting areas. Most of the bigger sports dealers carry the bismuth shells. I used two shells
worth for each of the two bismuth plates shown. The shot was melted on my kitchen stove
and poured into the bottom of an upside down pop can (it was handy as suggested by
scitoys.com and is the only reason for their curved side).
For obvious reasons, be sure to remove the bismuth shot from the shells before
trying to melt it. I did it by prying the end (the end opposite the brass) of the shells
open. The best way however, seems to be by cutting the end open with a razor knife.
The picture is pretty self explanatory. It is important to use a Neodimium Iron Boron
magnet as the floating magnet because it is powerful enough to produce an adequate
amount of diamagnetic force. I got mine at Radio Shack. The two pieces of bismuth are
separated by two pieces of plastic that were handy. This separation distance is best
determined by experiment. I have two NIB magnets from Radio Shack and one floats
straight as pictured while the other one tends to float in a somewhat slanted position.
Perhaps the slanted magnet was manufactured crooked.
The other important thing is to use a big strong magnet as the lifting magnet above. It must
have a large magnetic field, compared to the small space where the small magnet floats.
This makes a small magnetic strength gradient in the space where the magnet floats. This
gradient must be smaller than the force gradient from the diamagnetic repulsion in order
to keep it from being suddenly sucked up as it rises. An example of a large magnetic field is
the earths magnetic field. We notice very little change in its strength as we travel miles. An
example of a small magnetic field is one from a magnet held in the hand. We notice a
drastic change in field strength by moving just one inch. As can be seen in the picture, the
large magnet above is simply two large ceramic disk magnets stuck together on a piece of
plastic. It is also important to support the magnet and plastic on nuts so that the height can
be carefully adjusted. There is a very specific height that must be found by
experimentation and turning the nuts.
This levitating process is similar to that of placing a magnet above a superconductor. The
only difference is that the superconductor has a very much larger diamagnetic force that is
sufficient to support the weight of the floating magnet. The magnetic field pulling from
above is not necessary.
Magnet Motor - Kicker.
Have you ever wondered how those magnetic motion toys work. The picture above shows
one and what is inside it. The circuit is very simple. It consists of a coil around an iron core,
an NPN transistor and a 9volt battery. That is it! No resistors, no capacitors; just the coil,
transistor and battery.
The coil is in two parts. An inner coil to drive the moving magnet and an outer pickup coil
with many many turns to sense the moving magnet and generate enough voltage to
momentarily turn on the transistor. The two coils are wound as though they are one with a
tap near one end. In other words, a single coil with a tap near one end would be phased
properly when connected as shown in the diagram.
With no moving magnet near the coil, the transistor is biased completely off (small
resistance of coil from base to minus) and no battery current is drawn. When a magnet
moves near the coil, it generates a voltage pulse that turns on the transistor and pulls
battery current through the low end of the coil. This energizes the core, enhances the drive
pulse to the transistor base, and produces a momentary magnetic kick to enhance the
movement of the magnet. The circuit only draws current from the battery during this short
kick pulse.
The driver coil that is driven by the transistor can be seen as a lighter color near the core.
It is wound of a larger diameter wire in order to carry a larger current supplied by the
transistor. The outer pickup part of the coil is of very fine wire for many turns. The more
turns, the more sensitive the circuit will be to a moving magnet. I estimated about 2500
turns on the inner coil and 8,000 to 10,000 turns on the pickup coil. The driver coil wire
measured to be about 5.5 mil thick and the pickup coil wire measured to be about 3.5 mil
thick. These measurements included the insulation enamel on the wire.
The polarity of the approaching magnet determines whether this kick happens while the
magnet is approaching or while the magnet is leaving the core.
I was able to make my own magnet kicker motor by winding a tapped coil on an iron bolt.
For simplicity, I used just one small wire size and wound it as shown (picture to come,
check back later). I used some 3.5 mil wire that was handy. The transistor was an NPN
2N3904, but just about any bipolar transistor will work. I have also seen this circuit made
with a PNP transistor.
I made an armature by simply gluing two disk magnets on to a piece of thin music wire
with hot glue. I could make it run like a motor by loosely holding it and giving it a spin
near the coil. The two magnets were glued on to the music wire in such a way as to similate
a shaft passing through the middle of a bar magnet. The poles face 90 degrees from the
music wire shaft so that one side of the armature is North and the other side is South.
Homemade Refrigeration System With

Propane Refrigerant.
There is no intention here to imply that any of the procedures discussed here are safe, legal or
even sane. I take no responsibility for what anyone may do with this information. The
&%$^#@ environmentalists have made the process of refrigeration into a big Three Ring
Circus. The regulations that they have brought about are so stringent that one should never
underestimate the ease of being a criminal when involved with any refrigeration process. Yes,
There are high pressures involved, and I know that propane (R 290) is flammable and
explosive and that there are many reasons that a system of this nature may not always be
suitable for domestic uses. So Please spare me from letters and comments about my stupidity.
This is not a plan for a practical, safe, reliable refrigerator. It's sole purpose was to observe a
working refrigeration process using materials obtained from the nearest hardware store. The
materials used are crude by refrigeration standards and the possibility of leaks are high,
making this a project to strongly consider being done out of doors.
I have always been fascinated by any process of refrigeration. I also enjoy doing experiments
whereby I can make some exotic phenomenon work without the use of exotic and proprietary
materials that have to be supplied or controlled by an exotic place or people. Making the process
of refrigeration happen using materials from the local hardware store would be a fascinating
project indeed.
There are some fairly common substances that make good refrigerants. Propane is one of them
and is classified as R 290. The ban on R 12 greatly intensifies the fascination of being able to use
ordinary propane, from the hardware store, as a refrigerant in a home built experiment. I decided
to build a crude system of my own and see if I could get something frosty in my own garage.
Sources say that propane is compatible with the mineral oil that is used in R-12 systems. Any
information on this subjuct is certainly welcome. I felt that the project would be a total success if
It could cause even a tiny spot, anywhere on the system, to get frosty. My best expectations were
greatly exceeded when the entire cold side of the system, including all the fittings and valves,
frosted up in just two or three minutes. It makes the kind of cold that grabs your fingers when
touched.
Before starting with the system described below, I did a simple experiment using just a can of
propane, and a thermometer. The cannister of propane was fitted with a valve from a used
brazing kit and had a rubber hose. The thermometer was of the glass mercury type that red down
to -30 deg F. I pointed the rubber hose at the bulb of the thermometer and opened the valve for a
few seconds, spraying it with liquid propane. The thermometer fell, in a few seconds, below the 30 deg f mark and went clear down into the bulb.
The next step was to make the refrigeration system after observing the dramatic refrigerant
quality that propane has. There was one exception made to using common hardware store
materials and that was in making use of an existing refrigerator pump that I had laying around
for more than a decade. I went to the hardware store and purchased 15 feet of 1/4" copper tubing,
4 small brass valves and various fittings etc. I also got a 14 oz can of propane, the kind used on a
blowtorch for soldering copper pipe.
The picture below shows how it was built. The 15 foot length of copper tubing was chosen
arbitrarily and cut in the middle; a valve (V3) was inserted to be used as the expansion valve.
This is the valve that takes the place of the normally used capillary tube. The valve has to be
adjusted all the time as the temperature changes and is quite critical. This is one of many reasons
why this system is not about to replace the refrigerator in my kitchen. The adjustment is easy
though because of the two meters installed. The reason for having the other three valves is to
make the system capable of evacuating itself prior to the addition of the propane. Since I didn't
have a special cooling radiator, the coiled tubing on the hot side was immersed in a pan of tap
temperature water to keep it cool. The picture is mostly self explanatory and a list of operation
procedures is given below.
Actual photo of operating system.

The tubing on the right is the same as that on the left, but looks white because it is covered with
frost.
Opreating Procedure.
1. Start by evacuating the system. V1 and V3 open, V2 and V4 closed. Run the pump for a few
minutes. At first air will be exiting from V1. After a while it will diminish to nothing. The meter
that I used for M2 happened to be the type that also reads vacuum. The system evacuated to
below 20".
2. Close V1 and open V2. The system is now running with most of the air removed. Connect the
propane cannister through a high pressure rubber hose to the inlet barb on V4. Having a fitting
on the cannister with a valve, as described above, is helpful. Open V4 and the valve on the
propane cannister until both meters read about 70 or 80 psig. V4 and the valve on the propane
cannister can now be closed and the rubber hose removed from the barb on V4. The system is
now charged.
3. Close V3 most of the way until you get a reading on M2 of between 15 and 20 psig. This
seems to be the optimal settings on my system. M1 should rise to 200 or more psig. Within
seconds, the copper tube on the low pressure side of V3 should start to frost up. As the system
runs, you will need to keep on top of the pressure setting on the meters by adjusting V3. The
system has been a thrill to operate in spite of this. Maybe later, I will find an improved form of
V3; it is a very crude expansion control. After a while, the water that is cooling the hot side will
get warm and the efficiency of the system will diminish, making a change of water desirable.
I weighed the propane cannister before and after filling the system. Using a kitchen food scale, I
could see that approx 1 oz. of propane had been used.
The psig pressure readings given for the meter readings above, mean pressure in pounds per
square inch as compared to atmospheric pressure. This is called gauge (g) scale. Pressure
readings sometimes are given as psia. This means pressure in pounds per square inch as
compared to an absolute (a) vacuum. Thus, the difference between a reading listed as psig and
one listed as psia would be roughly 14 to 15 psi. The psia reading would be higher because it
includes atmospheric pressure.
What is happening?.
Propane is compressed by the compressor into the hot side or high pressure side tubing. The
propane, like any gas tends to get hot. If the tubing is kept cool, the high pressure propane will
condense under the pressure into a liquid. Condensing tends to make it even hotter, but the idea
is to cool it down; in this case we are using water. This tubing full of room temperature liquid is
now the same thing as the cannister full of propane. When the expansion valve is opened just a
little, the high pressure liquid propane squirts into the cold or low pressure side tubing and
vaporizes; just like it did when squirting it on to the thermometer. Any time a liquid vaporizes, it
tends to absorb heat and make things, that it comes in contact with, very cold. The vapor finally
finds its way to the input side of the pump where it is compressed again.
Old Refrigerator charged with propane.

Again, There is no intention here to imply that any of the procedures discussed here are safe,
legal or even sane. I take no responsibility for what anyone may do with this information. The
&%$^#@ environmentalists have made the process of refrigeration into a big Three Ring
Circus. The regulations that they have brought about are so stringent that one should never
underestimate the ease of being a criminal when involved with any refrigeration process. Yes,
There are high pressures involved, and I know that propane (R 290) is flammable and
explosive and that there are many reasons that a system of this nature may not always be
suitable for domestic uses. So Please spare me from letters and comments about my stupidity.
This is not a plan for a practical, safe, reliable refrigerator. It's sole purpose was to observe a
working refrigeration process using materials obtained from the nearest hardware store. The
materials used are crude by refrigeration standards and the possibility of leaks are high,
making this a project to strongly consider being done out of doors.
Many old refrigerators that used R-12 can be charged with propane from the hardware store and
work just fine. One such refrigerator (shown below), converted by someone who will remain
nameless, can easily freeze enough water to pass the real test - that of producing enough ice to
make a batch of home made ice cream. Eight quarts of water were turned to ice overnight.
Some of the differences encountered when doing this are:
1. Propane operates at a higher pressure and the pump must be able to produce it. Most pumps
will do that. The high side pressure will typically be 100 psig higher than with R-12
2. The temperatures from the evaporating coil may be different enough to disrupt proper
operating of the thermostat since most systems sense the temperature of the evaporator coil. This
can be taken care of by making a duty cycle timer or an inside air temp sensor. At the time of this
writing, this has not been worked out. So far, the refrigerator has been operated by manually
turning it on and off. It seems to have no trouble running for many hours at a time.
3. The capillary tube (expansion valve in previous project) may not have the optimum resistance.
All cases tried so far have worked quite well. If not, a simple, and so far very satisfactory,
expansion valve can be made by pinching a piece of copper tube. This must be done while
watching meters to get it just right. Approx 15 psig seems to work well. The freezing of ice
mentioned above was done using a pinched tube. The pinched tube has been operating very
consistantly on an ocasionally used system.
4. And of course, propane is flammable. There are vary widely varying opinions about this.
Many believe the risk is minimal and are trying to promote the use of hydrocarbon refrigerants.
Propane for example, is an excellent refrigerant.
The standard 1/4 flare fittings and torch soldering seem to work well for making connections in a
system such as this.
Refrigerator converted to use Propane Refrigerant.

Note the buildup of frost on the return tube all the way to the pump.
Homemade Expansion Valves (Capillary tube substitutes).
Home made pinched tube expansion valve in action.

This replaced the capillary tube which was removed. This was done mostly to see if it would
work. The original capillary tube seemed to also work ok. This is where the high pressure liquid
refrigerant shoots into the low pressure side and evaporates to become very cold. Notice how the
low pressure side is completely covered with frost.
Throwing staples, tacks, screws etc..

A Fun, Impressive, and Inexpensive hobby.
As a youngster, I saw a man throwing all manner of sharp things and sticking them up in a plank
of wood - axes, hatchets, knives ,staples etc. His name was John Kneedy, the father of our
scoutmaster. It left a lasting impression on me; but it wasn't until recently, that I decided, while
on a trip back to my old homeland, to visit with my old scoutmaster, Larry Kneedy, and find out
if I was remembering correctly, his late fathers demonstration. He assured me of the affirmitive
and gave me some throwing instruction.
I decided to learn staple throwing since they are cheap. Staples, by the way, are those "U" shaped
nails that are used to attach wire fences to wooden posts. The best kind are the big ones, 1 3/4" 9
gauge. I get mine at the local hardware store for 88 cents a pound. Other sizes can also be thrown
but the big ones have more heft to throw at the target.
If you have ever tried knife throwing, you know how difficult it is to spin them just the right
amount so that the tip arrives first at the target. Staple throwing has the same kind of impressive
charisma but can be done reliably at any distance, if you know the trick. I didn't know how easy
it is, and so I spent several months learning how to do it. Since then, I have found that a good
percent of normally dexterous people, who have been shown, can do it in a day - or even
minutes.
Staples can be thrown underhand, sidehand, overhand or from just about any position. The trick
is to give them a good spin; not a spin like a knife, but a spin like a bullet. The axis of rotation is
the line between you and the target. This creates a gyroscopic action that keeps the staple in a
stable position facing foreward. If it is thrown with the sharp tips facing foreward, they will stay
that way all the way to the target. The pictures illustrate some of the ways of holding, throwing
and trajectory of the staple.
A good way of holding the staple for throwing (below). Although this holding position is
awkward for spinning of the staple with the fingers, a good spin can be generated by giving the
hand a side swipe motion just as the staple leaves the fingers. This position is very good for
getting a high throwing velocity and works well with overhand, side and underhand throws.
An alternate way of holding (below). This position is good for throwing with the arm out at the
side. This position can give a good spin just from flipping the fingers. The side throw seems to
give the lowest velocity, but gives a good reliable straight spin and accurate throw.
A good materials to practice throwing at include: A large cardboard box folded flat, a large
ceiling tile, hi density foam plastic or some foam rubber covered with about 5 layers of
newspaper.
Tacks, screws etc.

As with staples, Various objects such as screws, tacks etc. can be thrown with gyroscopic
stability as the pictures below show. The key is that the object have the characteristic of being
relatively short as compared to its diameter. A very long nail or screw is very difficult to
gyroscopically stabilize in flight. A short nail is shaped more like a flywheel and has gyroscopic
stability.
Various objects that throw well.
As you throw, spin with a flick of thumb and finger.

If you are interested in having a staple throwing competition, a set of standards has been
determined. The throwing distance is 15 feet. The target is a piece of 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper. A
playing card is laid in the middle and an outline is traced on the paper. A quarter is then laid in
the middle of this rectangle and its outline is traced on to the paper. For any staple that is thrown
to get any points at all, it must stick up. If it does not stick, it is a zero, regardless of where it hits.
One point is awarded for any staple that sticks anywhere outside the 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet even if it sticks in someone's tire. A staple stuck inside the sheet counts as 2 points. A staple
stuck inside the playing card area counts as 5 points and a staple stuck inside the quarter area
counts as 10 points. Staples that stick but fall out later still count.
Each contestant throws 15 staples to warm up. Each contestant then throws a second set of 15
staples and a score is recorded. Each contestant then throws a third set of 15 and the score is
again recorded. Each contestant then adds the two together and divides by 2 to get an average.
The one with the highest score wins.
BIG BANG WITH COMPRESSED AIR PVC

GUN
This device shoots the pvc cap at a dangerous velocity. Always aim the end of the pipe toward
a folded up blanket or similar to catch the flying cap. This is definitely a use at your own risk
kind of thing. We take no responsibility for anyone's usage of this information.
A big bang that will impress all your friends, can be made with a piece of SCH 40 2" dia. PVC
pipe about 23 inches long, two end caps, some PVC glue and a compressor capable of supplying
over 55 PSI.
Glue one end cap on well and let dry thoroughly. Drill a 3/16 hole in the cap that is glued on.
Press the other end cap on very tightly over the other end. Push it on with your entire weight
against the floor. You may have to select a cap that fits over the end nice and snug. If a tight one
can't be found, it can be made to fit tight by putting a thin film of glue around the end of the pipe
and letting it dry before pushing the cap on.
The gun is now ready to fire. Point the loose (unglued) cap end at a wadded up blanket or
something that can safely absorb the high velocity of the loose end cap when it blows off. Hold
the gun in one hand and the compressed air gun in the other with its end over the 3/16 hole in the
end. Push and hold the air gun button. BOOOOMMMM!!!
_____
_____
{-- | ---------------------------------------- | _____-T-___---________
|
2" dia Sch 40 PVC Pipe
|(______________-------{-- |
|
|
23" long
|
Air gun from
{-- | ________________________________________ |
compressor.
`---------`
^
End cap not glued.
End cap glued on.
Press on tight.
Hold pipe with loose (unglued) end facing away from you
or anybody else and away from anything that you don't want
smashed.
Press compressed air gun tightly on hole and shoot
air into pipe until unglued end shoots off with a big impressive
bang and high velocity.
If end fits tight and is pushed on with all your weight,

the pressure will build up to about 50 or 55 PSI before
going off.
Even
when going off at 30 PSI, the noise
made is impressive.
Static Electricity Generator with PVC Pipe.

The choices of static electricity generator designs that are available seem to be either that of the
simple Electrophorus or something much more complicated, such as the Wimshurst machine or
the Van de Graaff generator which involve mechanical rotators, motors, belts, pulleys etc. This
generator is extremely simple to make, but fills in much of the huge performance gap that exists
between the Electrophorus and the Wimshurst machines etc.
The generator is made by using a piece of 3/4 inch pvc pipe about four feet long and a piece of
cotton fabric. Paper seems to work quite well also. To operate, one simply holds the fabric or
paper with the left hand wrapped around the pipe. The pipe is then pushed and pulled through the
fabric, with large strokes, while holding the pipe near some fine wire tip pickups to collect the
charge. The wire tip pickups can be connected to a leyden jar or electrostatic motor etc. It is also
a good idea to hold in the left hand, along with the fabric, a piece of metal that is connected to
ground. This gives the generator a good voltage reference point and keeps the body from
building up a big charge that will zap you the next time you touch a grounded object.
With the spark gap set at about 1/4 inch, a spark can be produced across it with almost every
stroke of the pipe. This PVC pipe generator does a very good job of running an electrostatic
motor like the one described here. This generator worked well for me even on a very wet rainy
day.
Static Generator.
Film Can Capacitor (Leyden Jar).

The electrostatic generator needs a place to store and build up an electric charge. Without the
capacitor, a static generator such as the one made with PVC pipe would have to be operated in a
very dark room in order to see any sparks produced. The capacitor stores up enough of a charge
to make a very visible spark in broad daylight and, can also be heard.
The picture of the film can leyden jar is self explanatory. Now days, a film "can" is really plastic
but it is a kind of plastic that makes a great capacitor. The inside foil can be taped to the wall or
secured any way you want, so long as it makes good contact with the wall. One person wrote
back and reported that the film can exploded as a result of using rubber cement to glue the inside
foil to the wall. Rubber cement is highly flammable and explosive and was set off by sparking
inside.
28 Mar. 1996. Updated 2 Oct. 1999
Sound Modulated Light from Light Emitting

Diode.
This project can amplitude modulate the light being emitted from an LED using the 8 ohm
earphone output from a small radio or amplifier. For demonstrating, it is very convenient to use a
small radio to supply the audio signal. A small hand held audio amplifier from Radio Shack can
be used to drive the LED if you are using a microphone.
The receiver is simply a photocell connected to the input of a tiny hand held audio amplifier
from Radio Shack. Since the light intensity is varying according to the original modulating audio
signal, the photocell will put out an audio voltage that is like the original signal and will be heard
in the pickup amplifier.
The range of transmission can be greatly increased by:
Putting a convex lens in front of the LED and focusing the light into a narrow beam.
Putting a lens in front of the photocell and focusing (concentrating) the light beam on to it.
Using a Super Bright LED; the kind that say something like 2000 mc at 30 ma. Most LED's put out
typically 300 mc.
All of the above will give the maximum range and performance but the focusing with the lenses
requires careful adjustment.
/ Switch.
.-------/
o--------.
|
|
--- +
/
\ 1 K ohm
--- 9V Battery
/
\
--/
- 10 uf
|
|
cap
|
|
| |+ |
Audio modulated
|
}--------| |--|
light from LED.
|
8 ohm
| | V - - - - - - -}
|
audio sig. --- LED
|
input.
|
|
}-------------|
|
|
'--------------------'
.---------------.
|
ooo
|
|
ooooo
|
|
ooooo
|
|
ooo
|
|
|
|
Audio
|
|
Amp
|
--------------| |
| |
.----.
| |
|
|---|
|
|------ '
'----'
Photo cell
It is very fascinating to carry around just the photocell and the small hand held amp and listen to
various light sources. We put the photocell in front of a headlight of a parked truck with the
engine idling. We could hear noises from the engine. We even were able to hear an occasional
buzz as a bugs would fly through the headlight beam. Some flashlights will make a "ding" sound
if they are tapped while shining on the photocell.
If a fast rotating shaft is marked with a black marker, and the photocell is placed near it, a tone
will be heard in the amp and the rpm can be determined by comparing the musical pitch with a
pitch chart. If you don't have a chart you can determine a pitch frequency by starting at A 440 hz
and multiplying by 1.059463 each time to go up the chromatic scale or dividing by the same
number each time to go down the chromatic scale. To check if you are doing it right, you should
arrive at 880 hz after multiplying 12 times. You can go down the scale by dividing by the same
number above. After 12 divisions, you should arrive at 220 hz. A is the only note of the scale that
has a good even number as a frequency value. Each octave is exactly half or double a given
frequency.
Anything that emmits light can be a possibility for discovering something exciting.
Sound Amplitude Modulated Laser Beam.

Most Laser Pens can easily be adapted to send a sound amplitude modulated beam. The ones that
use the pocket clip as a switch are the easiest to use for this purpose, but the ones with a button
can still be used but not quite as conveniently.
With the modulated Laser Beam, a signal can easily be sent many many times farther than what
can easily be done with the modulated LED.
The trick to modulating a laser is to put a 10 ohm resistor in series with the batteries and couple a
sound signal across the resistor through a 100 uf capacitor from an 8 ohm audio source. The
source can be the earphone output of a small amplifier driven by a microphone or the earphone
output of a small transistor radio.
The kind of laser pen that uses the pocket clip as the switch is the easiest to use since the circuit
can be connected to a small piece of two sided copper clad PC board material. The PC board
material can then be easily slipped under the clip. This puts the circuit in series with the laser
power supply (batteries).
The kind of laser pen that has a button in the side can also be used but you will need to remove
the back end of the laser pen and connect the circuit between the center battery terminal and the
laser body. A bit of tape and ingenuity etc. will be required. The button on the side of the laser
can then be held closed with a piece of tape or rubber band around the laser.
+
_________/ o__
o_______| |_____|
|
| |
\
|
8 Ohm Signal
100 uf /
|
\ 10 ohms
|
/
|
o_______________|
|
|
|
Clip
|
|
_______________________
|
|
/
________\_\_____|__
|
|
_______________________________|
|__________________________________________________________
|
\
|
Laser Pen
-----}
|__________________________________________________________/
Warning: The signal should be very low level as it is may be possible to blow the laser with too much
signal input. The right amount of signal will sound very soft when driving just the radio speaker but will
be enough to modulate the laser well. The light from the laser should flicker only slightly when
modulated.
The receiver can simply be a photocell plugged into a small audio amplifier. Both are available
at Radio Shack. They have a tiny palm sized audio amplifier. This type of amp could also also be
used to drive the laser transmitter from a microphone.
Sound Amplitude Modulated Flashlight.

Even a flashlight can easily be adapted to send a sound amplitude modulated beam. The fidelity
is not as crisp as that of the modulated LED or Laser because the incandescent filament in the
light bulb has to change temperature at a rapid rate. The sound modulated flashlight works
surprisingly well in spite of this.
A small Maglight is a very good choice to use since it can be focused into a tight beam and thus
it will be easier to cover a greater distance.
To modulate a flashlight, you simply put an 8 ohm winding of an audio transformer in series
with the batteries. The primary winding should be 1 or 2 K ohm and can be driven from an 8
ohm audio source. The source can be the earphone output of a small amplifier driven by a
microphone or the earphone output of a small transistor radio.
The back end of the flashlight can be screwed off and the transformer connected between the end
of the battery and the flashlight case. A plug, made by wrapping up some masking tape could be
used to replace the original one. Two wires integrated into the tape plug can make the
appropriate connections.
The receiver can simply be a photocell plugged into a small audio amplifier. Both are available
at Radio Shack. They have a tiny palm sized audio amplifier. This type of amp could also also be
used to drive the flashlight transmitter from a microphone.
Broadcast a Signal on a Magnetic Field.

A Magnetic field created with an audio AC voltage can be picked up and heard with a pickup
coil plugged into a small amplifier. This magnetic field can be made to fill an entire house by
running one turn of copper wire around the house and driving it with the speaker output of a
small transistor radio.
Why does this magnetic field fill the entire house?

This experiment shows that the size of a magnetic field has nothing to do with its strength but
with the size of the coil that produces it. Try the above experiment again but instead of driving
the wire around the house, drive a loop that is only 3 inches in diameter and see how far you can
get and still hear the signal. You will only get a few feet at best. Imagine having a loop of wire
around the earth! The earths magnetic field is a large one; one that acts as though it were
produced by a huge current carrying coil wrapped around the earth out in space. The earths
magnetic field is not a strong one but an observer can travel many miles without noticing much
difference in its intensity. A magnetic field produced by a small coil will diminish greatly when
observed only a few feet away. If one could make a coil around the earth and drive it as in the
above experiment, you could probably pick up the sound from anywhere on the planet.
The drawing shows why this is so. Notice that all of the lines inside of the coil are all running the
same direction. These lines will all have a similar influence on a pickup coil that is placed
anywhere in the coil. Notice however, that the lines of force at a considerable distance from the
coil tend to be going in opposite directions and thus tend to cancel each other.
So now we can start to see why radio waves travel so far!

It is my belief that radio waves are nothing more than a simple magnetic field as described
above, that is produced as though it came from part of an infinitely large coil. How can this be.
Normally, we think of a complete circuit being required in order to carry current through a wire.
It is this current that produces the magnetic field. In the case of AC however, current can flow
through a wire back and forth if the wire is long enough. A complete circuit is just plain not
necessary. At radio frequencies, the wire does not have to be very long in order to get current to
flow back and forth without a complete circuit. A simple piece of wire stuck into the air will
radiate a magnetic field and thus radiate a radio signal if it is driven with an ac signal that is high
enough in frequency to make significant current flow through it. There is no "other side" of the
coil to create any cancelling magnetic fields as you get far away from the antenna.
Rite about now you may be asking, "What about a Loop Antenna?" The answer is that the
transmitting Loop Antenna is usually of significant size in comparison to the wavelength of the
radio signal being radiated. This means that the magnetic fields from the loop cancel in some
places and actually reinforce each other in other places.
That's it!! A piece of wire stuck up in the air makes a great antenna as long as an ac current can
be driven through it. The only reason very low frequencies are not normally used for radio
communication, is because of the prohibitively long lengths of wire required to make an antenna.
If the wire is not long enough, the current arrives at the end long before it is time to reverse and
flow in the opposite direction. At high frequencies, the current keeps reversing before the
electrons can travel very far in the wire and thus AC current flow is possible in a reasonably
short wire.
Misconception No. One!!

1. Radio frequencies are always higher than those of sound.
When we are taught about the spectrum of frequencies, we tend to get the misconception that
radio frequencies are always higher than audio frequencies and that the main difference between
an audio signal and a radio signal is their frequencies. Nothing can be farther from the truth. The
main difference between an audio signal and a radio signal is that an audio signal is vibrating air
and a radio signal is a vibrating magnetic field. Radio frequencies are part of the electromagnetic
spectrum and sound is part of the acoustic spectrum. Even though Sound and Radio signals
involve two separate mediums or spectra, their frequency ranges can certainly overlap. Audio
signals in the air can be produced at frequencies well into the multi tens of kilocycles, while
radio signals can be produced at frequencies way down into the audio spectrum or lower. As
stated above, radio signals in the audio frequency range are less common because of the very
long antennas needed to radiate them.
Misconception no. Two!!

Standing Wave Ratio is a sacred antenna parameter!!!
If you study a lot of antenna literature, particularly that written for Ham Radio operators, you
will get the impression that proper Standing Wave Ratio is the sacred key to good antenna
performance. Actually, Standing Wave meters are mostly the result of modern radio transmitters
being designed to drive only 50 ohm output loads. The easiest way to get a finger on matching an
antenna system to this 50 ohm transmitter is to use a meter that tells if the load is matched to 50
ohms. Someone decided to get everyone involved in looking at the concept of "Standing Wave
Ratio" instead of that of "Impedance Matching". In a way, the SWR meter gives an indication of
both. It would have been a lot easier if they had put the emphasis on the concept of "Impedance
matching" instead of "Standing Wave Ratio". The impedance matching concept is much more
intuitive and is more of the real issue than the concept of standing wave ratios. The standing
wave concept, being less intuitive, does not get to the real issue at hand. Many "Experts" talk
above everyone and sound smart because no one can understand them. Of course they are hard to
understand because they are not always making complete sense.
Impedance matching, by the way, is basically a concept of how some antennas can act like a 12
volt 50 watt light bulb or a 110 volt 50 watt light bulb. A power source for the 12 volt bulb will
need to supply more current at less voltage and the power supply for the 110 volt bulb will need
to supply more voltage at less current. Since different antennas can have different impedances,
the transmitter must be able to supply power at different impedances.
This misconception about standing wave ratio is not just my own opinion. A good book on the
subject is written by Walter Maxwell W2DU, an antenna specialist in the space program. His
book is called "Reflections" and is published by the American Radio Relay League. It goes into
great detail about the misconceptions surrounding "Standing Wave Ratio".
One of the best sources of Ham Radio literature on antennas is the Fifteenth edition of the ARRL
Antenna Book copyright 1988. This edition finally makes a lot more sense when it comes to
antennas.
Broadcast a Signal on a Magnetic Field.
A Magnetic field created with an audio AC voltage can be picked up and heard with a pickup
coil plugged into a small amplifier. This magnetic field can be made to fill an entire house by
running one turn of copper wire around the house and driving it with the speaker output of a
small transistor radio.
Why does this magnetic field fill the entire house?

This experiment shows that the size of a magnetic field has nothing to do with its strength but
with the size of the coil that produces it. Try the above experiment again but instead of driving
the wire around the house, drive a loop that is only 3 inches in diameter and see how far you can
get and still hear the signal. You will only get a few feet at best. Imagine having a loop of wire
around the earth! The earths magnetic field is a large one; one that acts as though it were
produced by a huge current carrying coil wrapped around the earth out in space. The earths
magnetic field is not a strong one but an observer can travel many miles without noticing much
difference in its intensity. A magnetic field produced by a small coil will diminish greatly when
observed only a few feet away. If one could make a coil around the earth and drive it as in the
above experiment, you could probably pick up the sound from anywhere on the planet.
The drawing shows why this is so. Notice that all of the lines inside of the coil are all running the
same direction. These lines will all have a similar influence on a pickup coil that is placed
anywhere in the coil. Notice however, that the lines of force at a considerable distance from the
coil tend to be going in opposite directions and thus tend to cancel each other.
So now we can start to see why radio waves travel so far!

It is my belief that radio waves are nothing more than a simple magnetic field as described
above, that is produced as though it came from part of an infinitely large coil. How can this be.
Normally, we think of a complete circuit being required in order to carry current through a wire.
It is this current that produces the magnetic field. In the case of AC however, current can flow
through a wire back and forth if the wire is long enough. A complete circuit is just plain not
necessary. At radio frequencies, the wire does not have to be very long in order to get current to
flow back and forth without a complete circuit. A simple piece of wire stuck into the air will
radiate a magnetic field and thus radiate a radio signal if it is driven with an ac signal that is high
enough in frequency to make significant current flow through it. There is no "other side" of the
coil to create any cancelling magnetic fields as you get far away from the antenna.
Rite about now you may be asking, "What about a Loop Antenna?" The answer is that the
transmitting Loop Antenna is usually of significant size in comparison to the wavelength of the
radio signal being radiated. This means that the magnetic fields from the loop cancel in some
places and actually reinforce each other in other places.
That's it!! A piece of wire stuck up in the air makes a great antenna as long as an ac current can
be driven through it. The only reason very low frequencies are not normally used for radio
communication, is because of the prohibitively long lengths of wire required to make an antenna.
If the wire is not long enough, the current arrives at the end long before it is time to reverse and
flow in the opposite direction. At high frequencies, the current keeps reversing before the
electrons can travel very far in the wire and thus AC current flow is possible in a reasonably
short wire.
Misconception No. One!!

1. Radio frequencies are always higher than those of sound.
When we are taught about the spectrum of frequencies, we tend to get the misconception that
radio frequencies are always higher than audio frequencies and that the main difference between
an audio signal and a radio signal is their frequencies. Nothing can be farther from the truth. The
main difference between an audio signal and a radio signal is that an audio signal is vibrating air
and a radio signal is a vibrating magnetic field. Radio frequencies are part of the electromagnetic
spectrum and sound is part of the acoustic spectrum. Even though Sound and Radio signals
involve two separate mediums or spectra, their frequency ranges can certainly overlap. Audio
signals in the air can be produced at frequencies well into the multi tens of kilocycles, while
radio signals can be produced at frequencies way down into the audio spectrum or lower. As
stated above, radio signals in the audio frequency range are less common because of the very
long antennas needed to radiate them.
Misconception no. Two!!

Standing Wave Ratio is a sacred antenna parameter!!!
If you study a lot of antenna literature, particularly that written for Ham Radio operators, you
will get the impression that proper Standing Wave Ratio is the sacred key to good antenna
performance. Actually, Standing Wave meters are mostly the result of modern radio transmitters
being designed to drive only 50 ohm output loads. The easiest way to get a finger on matching an
antenna system to this 50 ohm transmitter is to use a meter that tells if the load is matched to 50
ohms. Someone decided to get everyone involved in looking at the concept of "Standing Wave
Ratio" instead of that of "Impedance Matching". In a way, the SWR meter gives an indication of
both. It would have been a lot easier if they had put the emphasis on the concept of "Impedance
matching" instead of "Standing Wave Ratio". The impedance matching concept is much more
intuitive and is more of the real issue than the concept of standing wave ratios. The standing
wave concept, being less intuitive, does not get to the real issue at hand. Many "Experts" talk
above everyone and sound smart because no one can understand them. Of course they are hard to
understand because they are not always making complete sense.
Impedance matching, by the way, is basically a concept of how some antennas can act like a 12
volt 50 watt light bulb or a 110 volt 50 watt light bulb. A power source for the 12 volt bulb will
need to supply more current at less voltage and the power supply for the 110 volt bulb will need
to supply more voltage at less current. Since different antennas can have different impedances,
the transmitter must be able to supply power at different impedances.
This misconception about standing wave ratio is not just my own opinion. A good book on the
subject is written by Walter Maxwell W2DU, an antenna specialist in the space program. His
book is called "Reflections" and is published by the American Radio Relay League. It goes into
great detail about the misconceptions surrounding "Standing Wave Ratio".
One of the best sources of Ham Radio literature on antennas is the Fifteenth edition of the ARRL
Antenna Book copyright 1988. This edition finally makes a lot more sense when it comes to
antennas.
Borax or Baking Soda Rectifier and the glow.

How To Observe The Glow From A Borax Or Baking Soda

Rectifier.
Actual photo of the glow from two aluminum strips and the circuit for observing
it. This setup is like two diodes back to back and draws very little current. The
glow is produced on the reverse bias cycle of each rectifier. This is a circuit
connected directly to the power mains. Use proper precautions.
In the early days of amateur radio, the dc plate voltage power supply for the transmitter,
was often made using homemade rectifiers. From what I have read, these rectifiers would
usually consist of an aluminum and lead electrode in a jar of Twenty Mule Team Borax
solution. Borax is another name for sodium tetraborate. The aluminum becomes the
cathode after a forming process of applying some ac current through the rectifier. Often,
many jars were used in order to accomodate high voltages. It has been reported from
various sources, that these rectifiers would also emit a faint glow when in operation.
While experimenting with these rectifiers, I have found them to work quite well and I have
been able to observe the glow. It was also easy to make full wave rectifiers using more than
one rectifier in traditional full wave rectifier circuits.
A rectifier can be easily made by mixing borax or baking soda into a pint jar of water and
inserting an aluminum strip and a strip of another metal. After a forming process of
running ac current between the two electrodes, the aluminum electrode becomes the
cathode and the other electrode becomes the anode.
It seems that aluminum is necessary for the cathode, but the anode can be just about
anything that conducts electricity. The aluminum cathode can be a 3/8" wide strip cut from
an aluminum pie plate. The anode can be lead, carbon, steel or stainless steel. Copper tends
to make a bluish green mess and does not seem as desireable. I have found most types of
anode materials to work the same but the differences may be a long term effect not easily
observed in the course of my experiments.
In all of my experimenting, I have found that baking soda works the same as borax. The
solution can be made by either mixing 1 tablespoon of baking soda into a pint of water or
by mixing Twenty Mule Team Borax into a pint of water until no more dissolves. Also, this
is the first set of experiments that I have ever done with solutions conducting electricity,
where the solution has not turned some yucky dark color. The solution seems to stay
reasonably clear.
As mentioned earlier, there is a faint glow associated with these borax (or baking soda)
rectifiers that can be observed in a dark room. It seems that moderately high voltages are
necessary in order to produce the glow. The glow is produced on the aluminum plate when
it is at the positive (reverse bias) part of the cycle and minimum current is flowing. For
those who know what they are doing and are comfortable doing this kind of thing, the glow
can be easily observed by connecting a 75 watt incandescent lamp in series with the
rectifier and 120 vac line voltage. When first connected to the 120 vac, the lamp turns on at
full brilliance. After a few minutes, the rectifier forms and the light intensity dies down to
half brilliance. The lamp is now running on dc (half wave rectified). At this time the glow
can be observed on the aluminum electrode if the room is sufficiently dark.
A 75 watt lamp running even at half brilliance makes it difficult to darken the room
adequately. I find it easier to observe the glow by using aluminum strips for both electrodes
in the jar. This creates a situation of having two rectifiers back to back, allowing very little
current to flow through the lamp. When connected to power for the first time, the 75 watt
lamp lights up to full brilliance. The rectifying layer then start to form on the aluminum
plates until after a few minutes, the lamp brilliance dies down to nothing. At this time, both
aluminum strips will be glowing.
Where the electrodes contact the top surface of the liquid, tiny flashes can sometimes be
observed in addition to the glow that covers the entire electrode. This condition seems to be
more prevalent with the baking soda solution than with the borax solution.
You must do any experiments connected directly to the power mains, at your own risk. I
don't recomend doing this experiment unless you are familiar with the hazards that exist.
There are many who question the sanity of doing experiments that are connected directly
to the power mains. Granted, this creates hazards, but if precautions and common sense
are used, it is less hazrdous than driving to the grocery store or being a referee at your
daughters soccer game. I believe it is totally acceptable for a conscientious person with
common sense to conduct, with proper precautions, experiments that are connected
directly to the power mains. I will offer some suggestions however, which I do not claim to
be complete.
1. Treat all parts of the circuit as though they are a red hot heating element. Only touch
when you are sure the circuit is disconnected (unplugged) from the power mains.
2. Never do these experiments with bare feet.
3. Keep all parts of the circuit far enough away from metallic objects to prevent
inadvertent contact with them. Use a wood or formica table.
4. Do the experiments where you are not likely to touch any metallic objects or grounded
metallic objects such as water faucets, sinks, telephones etc.
5. Avoid doing experiments in wet environments.
6. Never connect experiments to other equipment unless you really know what you are
doing and can absolutely assure proper isolation.
7. When making necessary adjustments to an operating circuit, always strive to do it with
one hand and don't touch anything else while doing it.
8. Never leave exposed circuits that are connected to the power mains, unattended.
Characteristics of Rectifier.
The rectifier tends to also act like a capacitor. The first picture from curve
tracer, shows rectifier curve with very little plate area immersed in solution and
little capacitance. The second picture from curve tracer, shows rectifier with
more plate area immersed producing a lot more parallel capacitance. The third
picture from oscilloscope, shows waveform when one rectifier is used for half
wave rectification. The reverse breakdown voltage tends to adjust itself to a point
slightly below the peak value of the applied ac voltage. This can be seen by the
dip at the left of the curves and the small dip at the bottom of the half wave
rectified waveform.
The oxide coating on the aluminum plate tends to form large capacitance values in parallel
with the rectifier (up to many microfarads). The capacitance therefore can vary greatly,
depending on how far the aluminum electrode is dipped into the solution and how long the
rectifier has been forming. I have in fact, found it easy and practical to use one of these
rectifier cells as a wide range variable electrolytic capacitor capable of controlling the
frequency of an oscillator over a very wide range (see article on variable electrolytic
capacitor).
Because of this large capacitance, there seems to be an optimum plate area associated with
the aluminum plate. The curve trace on the second picture above shows a capacitance loop
caused by the aluminum strip immersed well into the solution. The curve trace on the first
picture is flat in the reverse direction because the aluminum strip was just slightly dipped
into the solution.
This opens up another very fasciniting possibility. A cell with two adjustable aluminum
plates (a variable capacitor) might very well be useable as an efficient light dimmer. With
varying capacitance, no power is dissipated in the cell when creating a drop in voltage
being applied to the lamp. I tried using a cell with two aluminum plates as a light dimmer.
By lifting both aluminum plates out of the solution simultaneously, I could dim the 75 watt
lamp to any desired brightness. The only problem is that as time goes on, the plates usually
continue to form, and the overall maximum capacitance eventually drops to a value too low
to supply adequate current to the lamp.
The forward voltage drop of these rectifiers seems to be about 5 volts.
The reverse breakdown voltage of these rectifiers tends to adjust itself to a point slightly
below the peak of the applied voltage. When the ac voltage is increased, this breakdown
value increases accordingly. When the ac voltage is decreased, this breakdown value
decreases accordingly. This can be seen in the pictures above as downward dips in left
portion of the curve from the curve tracer and at the bottom of the half wave rectified
waveform.
Negative Resistance.
I have observed an interesting N type negative resistance effect that happens only when the
tip of a very sharp aluminum electrode is just barely touching the top surface of the
solution. The curve trace is shown below.
There is a bright but tiny orange glow at the point of contact but I don't believe it is the
same phenomena that causes the rectifier glow because in this case, the glow happens when
the aluminum is biased negative. With the rectifier, the glow is generated when the
aluminum is positively biased.
This generates a lot of rf noise as the large misty area at the right part of the curve
suggests. Having done just a little experimenting, I have not yet heard a real clear tone
generated from this device but I can hear noise in a nearby am receiver up to the receiver's
limit of 30 mhz.
Borax Solution Negative Resistance.
An interesting N type negative resistance effect that happens only when the tip of
a very sharp aluminum electrode is just barely touching the top surface of the
solution. This generates a lot of rf noise as the large misty area at the right part
of the curve suggests.

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Cool Homemade Stuff etc.

This Page Started November 2007

Join the Blue Ribbon Online Free Speech Campaign!

Homemade Copper Oxide Thermoelectric Generator Can Light An LED.

Thermocouple Made From Ordinary Copper And Steel Wire.

Fly and Levitate Objects With Static Electricity.

Homemade Magnetic Amplifiers using common 12 Volt Transformers.

Homemade Magnetic Audio Amplifier using toroids found in parts box.

Homemade FET Transistor Made From Cadmium Sulfide Photoresistor.

Corona Oscillator And Corona Triode.

Zinc Negative Resistance Oscillator.

Zinc Negative Resistance Crystal Oscillators and Zinc 80 Meter CW

Zinc Negative Resistance Crystal Oscillators.

"Easy Ten" A simple 80 Meter CW Transmitter Using A 2N3904.

Flame Triode With Gain.

Homemade Cathode Ray Tubes.

Homemade T.E.A. Lasers.

It is easy to make a thermistor, thermoelectric generator or pressure sensor by heating a

Magnetic levitation using permanent magnets. No superconductors, no energy input for

A "Dry Ice Bomb"??? Who Needs Dry Ice? Airbomb

Send sound on a modulated Laser Beam. Sound Modulated Laser.

Send sound on a Modulated Flashlight Beam. Sound Modulated Flashlight.

Curve traces from two homemade memristors.

Memristor test setup and schematic.

I also tried putting a small pile of sulfur on a piece of sheet copper.

Sparkbangbuzz Home Page.

Copper Oxide Thermoelectric Generator Can

Just 16 copper oxide junctions can produce enough voltage

Making a simple copper oxide thermoelectric junction.

Coper oxide thermopile made with 16 junctions in series.

Thermocouples Made From Ordinary

Two copper and steel thermocouples.

millivolts. Accordingly, I have experienced difficulty in finding voltage versus temperature

Thermocouple loop made into a coil can deflect a compass

DC current probe meters are certainly not found

The compass needle is most easily deflected when it is

A flame held under one junction will cause an easily

When a flame is held under the opposite junction, the

The magnetic field of the earth pulls on the compass needle

With the magnets in place to counteract the earth's magnetic

If a good compass is not available, the same results can be

I noticed a peculiarity in the copper and steel thermocouple

But, as the temperature increased above this point, the

Fly Objects With Static Electricity

Static Electricity Walkalong Glider.

Evaporograph and Infra Red Images

Simple evporograph will produce an image when in contact

Cold coins from the refrigerator make an image on the

Membrane can be made sensitive to warmer temperatures.

Homemade Magnetic Amplifiers.

Magnetic amplifier made from common 12 volt

A magnetic amplifier is a circuit that uses changes in core saturation of an inductor to

Magnetic amplifier with reactance coils in series.

Magnetic amplifier with reactance coils in parallel.

Control of a l20 volt lamp using an output step up

Adding a couple of diodes causes incredible increase in gain.

Higher gain also achieved using homemade borax rectifiers.

And Now The Obvious Question.

Homemade Magnetic Audio Amplifier.

Magnetic audio amplifier schematic.

FET Transistor Homemade From Cadmium

CDS Photocell Made Into A FET Transistor

Photo Resistor Converted Into A Field Effect Transistor.

Input Sawtooth Waveform