One of my favorite places in Chicago was the Museum of Science and Industry. We visited that place in the days when there was no admission charge. I was in my early teens or younger but really liked all the science stuff and exhibits in the museum. One exhibit was from the phone company; either AT&T or Illinois Bell - don't recall which. They had two panels shaped something like a parabolic parabola and maybe twice the size of a grown man. The bottom part of the panel was fairly flat but from about waist high on up is where the curves started. These two panels must have been around 50 feet apart. One person would stand a couple feet facing one panel, while another person did the same on their end. They were facing back to back and essentially talking into the panel. The fun was to whisper something as quietly as possible, yet loud enough for your partner to hear it. It worked beautifully in a straight line. The folks observing all this to the side of the panels heard nothing being whispered. Like your own sled amplifier, this set up used no wires or electronics whatsoever. People were skeptical and figured something was hidden form the observer. I doubt it. AT&T wouldn't lie, now would they?
There was a lengthy explanation of how it all worked but I probably didn't read it, or certainly don't recall if I did. It was a great experiment but couldn't see any practical application. It was a solution for which there was no problem.
GMO E. coli
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Re: GMO E. coli
They have those set up at a lot of places. The science center back home, and down here at a few places.
There is also this place here with a circular bench all the way around it. You stand dead center in the middle and talk or holler even, and nobody can hear you outside of the circle of benches. Trouble is, I don't remember enough about it to say why.
Once on vacation, there was this place where if you happen to have a compass, and you held it or sat it inside this circular area on the ground, it would spin. They swore there were no electronics in the ground causing it to happen, it just does. And supposedly, there are many places in our country and elsewhere where this same anomaly happens.
A parabolic curve has a focal point on it, which is why they are used as reflectors for satellite signals.
Also, sound can be directed and manipulated using pipes or tubes to make them directional.
Now if you think about a megaphone, it is a cone that compacts your voice into a directional signal, which is why it is louder.
Now, combine the directional pipe with a megaphone into the focused head unit, but flare the megaphone out wide.
So at one end, where you are speaking, the dish is sending your voice through the tube to the other dish, which then focuses on the tube, but the megaphone end amplify's the sound so you hear it clearly. But nobody around can hear it.
Something similar happens in domed rotunda's.
There is also this place here with a circular bench all the way around it. You stand dead center in the middle and talk or holler even, and nobody can hear you outside of the circle of benches. Trouble is, I don't remember enough about it to say why.
Once on vacation, there was this place where if you happen to have a compass, and you held it or sat it inside this circular area on the ground, it would spin. They swore there were no electronics in the ground causing it to happen, it just does. And supposedly, there are many places in our country and elsewhere where this same anomaly happens.
A parabolic curve has a focal point on it, which is why they are used as reflectors for satellite signals.
Also, sound can be directed and manipulated using pipes or tubes to make them directional.
Now if you think about a megaphone, it is a cone that compacts your voice into a directional signal, which is why it is louder.
Now, combine the directional pipe with a megaphone into the focused head unit, but flare the megaphone out wide.
So at one end, where you are speaking, the dish is sending your voice through the tube to the other dish, which then focuses on the tube, but the megaphone end amplify's the sound so you hear it clearly. But nobody around can hear it.
Something similar happens in domed rotunda's.
Re: GMO E. coli
I'm thinking the AT&T exhibit used the opposite of noise cancellation, i.e., sound amplification, to get the desired results. It all works on phase angles which means the sounding boards have to be placed at multiples (or fractions thereof) of the human sound waves. The parabolic dish could indeed focus the sounds to where the observer is standing, which is why outsiders did not hear anything. The circle you describe likely works on the opposite principle to cancel sound outside a certain distance. It never made sense to me but apparently it all works without the need for electronics.
I've not heard of the spinning compass phenomena, but it's not too hard to imagine why it works. The core of this planet generates one big magnetic field. It's a fluid iron core and we have talked about it flipping at some future point in time. Because the source of the magnetic radiation is fluid, I can see whirlpools scattered about in the core. Those whirling pools of molten iron might concentrate at some points on the earth's surface and cause compasses to go berserk.
This morning I saw a show about some hikers going through Yellowstone in the winter. The geysers were quite a sight. There was snow and ice al lover the place and then this hole in the ground spewing out hot steamy water. And if you really want to think about strange, there are those auroras at the north pole which generate spectacular light scenes. There sure is some amazing stuff going on here.
I've not heard of the spinning compass phenomena, but it's not too hard to imagine why it works. The core of this planet generates one big magnetic field. It's a fluid iron core and we have talked about it flipping at some future point in time. Because the source of the magnetic radiation is fluid, I can see whirlpools scattered about in the core. Those whirling pools of molten iron might concentrate at some points on the earth's surface and cause compasses to go berserk.
This morning I saw a show about some hikers going through Yellowstone in the winter. The geysers were quite a sight. There was snow and ice al lover the place and then this hole in the ground spewing out hot steamy water. And if you really want to think about strange, there are those auroras at the north pole which generate spectacular light scenes. There sure is some amazing stuff going on here.
Re: GMO E. coli
When I was a kid, we used to use paper cups with a hole in the bottom, a button tied to a string so it didn't pull through the bottom of the cup. That string could carry a voice a long way.
I know compasses are useless in the Bermuda triangle and in Central Africa. Probably due to Magnetite?
Lot's of things about Mother Nature are amazing to see!
I know compasses are useless in the Bermuda triangle and in Central Africa. Probably due to Magnetite?
Lot's of things about Mother Nature are amazing to see!
Re: GMO E. coli
I too made those paper cup phones when I was a kid. My uncle showed us how to do it mostly because I was skeptical even back then. Well it did work, but you had to speak loudly which defeated the purpose of using the phone. LOL Just one of many childhood disappointments.
Re: GMO E. coli
You know, that type of phone was invented like well over 2000 years ago.
A few were found in old tombs by archaeologists, and with very long lines on them too.
My uncle Andy also made one that was really neat. He used a hollow rubber tube with a cloth braided covering over it.
It ran from my cousins room up in the attic turned bedroom, down to the kitchen. It worked fairly well too.
A few were found in old tombs by archaeologists, and with very long lines on them too.
My uncle Andy also made one that was really neat. He used a hollow rubber tube with a cloth braided covering over it.
It ran from my cousins room up in the attic turned bedroom, down to the kitchen. It worked fairly well too.
Re: GMO E. coli
I thought the wire or chord had to be taught to make the cup phones work. A loose string conductor would not transmit the sound. The craziest thing I recall from childhood were metal tubes in the walls into which you spoke. My grandpa had one in his kitchen and the other end of the pipe was at the front door by the mail box. It was a two flat building so that the mailbox had two of those pipes. My godmother also had one in her kitchen but that one went straight upstairs to that apartment where her sister lived. It worked very well from what I recall. The voice fidelity was pretty close to natural; natural if you are used to somebody talking to you from inside a pipe. LOL
Re: GMO E. coli
Yes, the ones with a wire or string had to be pulled taut.
But the ones made using tubes did not.
In fact, the commercially made ones had a whistle stopper in each end.
You wanted to let someone know you wanted to talk to them, you blew air into the whistle, backwards so it didn't whistle, and the air going through the tube would make the whistle at the other end whistle. Then you took the whistle out to talk.
Heck, doctors today still use the old tubing type of sound transfer, it's called a Stethoscope, hi hi.
When my late wife did medical transcription, the earphone device they used was made like a stethoscope, and the speaker was way down at the bottom, where the pick-up is on a stethoscope. These were much clearer for voice than using electronic headsets which is why they were still used in the 1980s by transcriptionists.
Come to think of it, isn't his what they used on old sailing ships, even in WWI and WWII?
No electronics to break, hi hi.
But the ones made using tubes did not.
In fact, the commercially made ones had a whistle stopper in each end.
You wanted to let someone know you wanted to talk to them, you blew air into the whistle, backwards so it didn't whistle, and the air going through the tube would make the whistle at the other end whistle. Then you took the whistle out to talk.
Heck, doctors today still use the old tubing type of sound transfer, it's called a Stethoscope, hi hi.
When my late wife did medical transcription, the earphone device they used was made like a stethoscope, and the speaker was way down at the bottom, where the pick-up is on a stethoscope. These were much clearer for voice than using electronic headsets which is why they were still used in the 1980s by transcriptionists.
Come to think of it, isn't his what they used on old sailing ships, even in WWI and WWII?
No electronics to break, hi hi.
Re: GMO E. coli
I don't recall what grandpa's talking pipe had, but my godmother would simply yodel into the tube to get her sister's attention. LOL I think there was some kind of plug too, but the memory is all too fuzzy for me to recall details. You probably are right about sailing ships using the same kind of communication system. All I know about those things is what I've seen in the movies. I think you are correct about the audio clarity too. There is nothing between the sending and receiving ends to distort the audio. That seems like a critical advantage when you are a doctor. You want to hear true sounds in those stethoscopes.
Re: GMO E. coli
Technology sure has come a long way. Now whether that is good or not remains to be seen, hi hi.
Re: GMO E. coli
I've been looking at hearing aids and simply am blown away by the ads. Not that I trust the ads, but I do believe hearing aids are much improved over what they used to be. The one I saw recently was a tiny funnel-like horn that actually touches the eardrum. For some reason or another this is better than having an air gap to transmit sounds. I believe this gizmo was programmable too like the larger ones. And, the size is the amazing part. It fits inside the ear canal so that it can reach the ear drum. I've always thought ear wax would be a problem with regular hearing aids. But this one seems as if it can easily be covered up by ear wax given it's small size. I can't imagine what it would take to get THAT out of your ear.
Re: GMO E. coli
Don't know if I would like one that actually touched the eardrum. Seems like it would cause a bacterial infection or worse, your eardrum could reject something touching it and self-destruct.
Re: GMO E. coli
You are right to be suspicious of the hearing aid attached to the eardrum. It seemed odd to me as well, but this company has been selling these things for a while. I suppose the ad could have been misleading, or more likely I didn't read it closely enough. The problem with my hearing, and with many other folks my age, is that the hairs in the ear that sense high frequencies die off. Thus there is no sensor for those upper frequencies and the rest of the audio spectrum is affected by it. The ideal hearing aid would be able to detect and transmit those high frequencies, which is likely what normal hearing aids try to do. The one touching the eardrum might have an advantage in that the transmission from the hearing device to the eardrum is direct because it is touching. Thus more of the power associated with those lost frequencies can be sent to the brain.
Ringing in my ears is probably more annoying than not being able to hear certain sounds. The ringing is cause by the brain trying to compensate for no input of high frequencies. They know that much about tinnitus but they don't know how to fix it given that they don't know why the brain tries to compensate in the first place. I've read an article by a clever inventor similar to yourself. He invented a device that is placed on the skull near the ear. This device can be tuned and tweaked to generate audio tones. The author claims if he can simulate the exact frequency that the ringing produces, that will stop the ringing immediately. He didn't say how long this lasts, but he claims to have found a way to turn it off. If the hearing aid that touches the eardrum works the same magic, it would be worth it for that alone.
Ringing in my ears is probably more annoying than not being able to hear certain sounds. The ringing is cause by the brain trying to compensate for no input of high frequencies. They know that much about tinnitus but they don't know how to fix it given that they don't know why the brain tries to compensate in the first place. I've read an article by a clever inventor similar to yourself. He invented a device that is placed on the skull near the ear. This device can be tuned and tweaked to generate audio tones. The author claims if he can simulate the exact frequency that the ringing produces, that will stop the ringing immediately. He didn't say how long this lasts, but he claims to have found a way to turn it off. If the hearing aid that touches the eardrum works the same magic, it would be worth it for that alone.
Re: GMO E. coli
I haven't lost any range of hearing that I didn't lose when I was a small tyke.
I've had tinnitus since I was around 25 years old. My mom had it since she was around the same age.
I think most people eventually get it. It usually starts out like you can hear crickets in a field faintly, then over the years it slowly changes to a whistle like sound that fluctuates up and down.
They do have devices that work sorta like noise cancelling microphones to prevent feedback, that is supposed to add a sound that cancels the tinnitus hum, buzz, or whistle we hear. Don't see how they would work though, maybe it just floods your brain with a sound so the brain turns off that sound, and along with it the tinnitus, hi hi.
I've had tinnitus since I was around 25 years old. My mom had it since she was around the same age.
I think most people eventually get it. It usually starts out like you can hear crickets in a field faintly, then over the years it slowly changes to a whistle like sound that fluctuates up and down.
They do have devices that work sorta like noise cancelling microphones to prevent feedback, that is supposed to add a sound that cancels the tinnitus hum, buzz, or whistle we hear. Don't see how they would work though, maybe it just floods your brain with a sound so the brain turns off that sound, and along with it the tinnitus, hi hi.
Re: GMO E. coli
Whoever invents a way to treat tinnitus will become wealthy. A lot of people have it, and some literally go insane because of it. No doubt they will find the cause and effect at some future time.
I did a little, very little, research regarding the ear lens I mentioned earlier. It seems to be a passive device that increases the range of frequencies sent to the eardrum. This is sound (punny) theory in that high frequency hearing loss is the root of many hearing problems. I did not ask for additional information so that I don't know how it works. It looks like a very small disk with some thickness, and it can be fine tuned with a smartphone app, of course. That fine tuning would suggest electronics, which would mean a battery. But they explicitly point out that batteries are not used with this device. So, it must be like those sound horns of the old days. The sound was amplified without electronics. Beats me how they do it.
I did a little, very little, research regarding the ear lens I mentioned earlier. It seems to be a passive device that increases the range of frequencies sent to the eardrum. This is sound (punny) theory in that high frequency hearing loss is the root of many hearing problems. I did not ask for additional information so that I don't know how it works. It looks like a very small disk with some thickness, and it can be fine tuned with a smartphone app, of course. That fine tuning would suggest electronics, which would mean a battery. But they explicitly point out that batteries are not used with this device. So, it must be like those sound horns of the old days. The sound was amplified without electronics. Beats me how they do it.
Re: GMO E. coli
I see ads on Farcebook all the time for Tinnitus cures, hi hi. One is a magnetic band you wear over your head at night, hi hi. All the rest are just snake oil.
Technically, a device doesn't need a battery in order to receive signals from a Schmartz-Fone.
Think about those Crystal Radios you built as a kid, or even those that used a cats whisker on a razor blade to pick up radio stations strong enough to drive an earplug speaker.
But companies who make devices that don't use batteries don't get a kickback from the battery manufacturers association.
Technically, a device doesn't need a battery in order to receive signals from a Schmartz-Fone.
Think about those Crystal Radios you built as a kid, or even those that used a cats whisker on a razor blade to pick up radio stations strong enough to drive an earplug speaker.
But companies who make devices that don't use batteries don't get a kickback from the battery manufacturers association.
Re: GMO E. coli
Conventional hearing aids can be made with adjustable audio equalizer circuits. The beauty in that is that you can select which frequencies and what amplitude thereof sound best in a given situation. That can't be done, as far as I know, by applying a simple rf carrier to a passive detector, such as a Piezoelectric crystal. The circuitry required to resonate with the smartphone carrier would not fit inside your ear, not to mention that the phone can only broadcast rf for a relatively short amount of time before its battery dies. It is amazing that those crystal radio sets could drive a headset without needing external power. I'm not sure why that is possible other than the crystal must accumulate a greater charge than I imagine. Regardless, the smartphone simply would have the equalizer instructions. How the hearing aid applies those instructions is the mystery.
As far as I know, which admittedly isn't very far, all Motorola cell phones operated on batteries. They didn't make the batteries. They bought them from somebody else. There was certainly some kind of discount applied for the quantity purchased, but I'd not call that a kickback. Then again, I never ran a business. How would I know?
As far as I know, which admittedly isn't very far, all Motorola cell phones operated on batteries. They didn't make the batteries. They bought them from somebody else. There was certainly some kind of discount applied for the quantity purchased, but I'd not call that a kickback. Then again, I never ran a business. How would I know?
Re: GMO E. coli
I have no idea how they work, so can't expound on anything about them, other than they are expensive, hi hi.
You remember those tiny little earplug speakers I'm sure. They didn't require much to drive them.
A Cats Whisker radio only had a few parts. An empty toilet paper tube you wrapped a bunch of magnet wire around, a double edge razor blade, and of course the whisker from a cat, or from the tail of a horse I found worked better. To tune the radio you moved the whisker back and forth near the edge of the razor blade.
I know they also had crystal radios which worked much better, but the simple one I mentioned did not use a crystal, at least not that I recall every having to buy anything to make it, other than the earpiece which came from a dead radio anyhow.
You also had to roll the whisker in soot if I recall or it wouldn't work either. It was a picky little device. If you had a super fine piece of wire, like one strand from a stranded electrical wire, that worked better than the carbon coated whisker too.
You could also buy small crystal sets that came with all the parts you needed. We always grounded the radio to the metal dial stop on the dial telephone, and stuck a wire to the copper metal screen on the house to get them to work.
But the point is, they actually did work, some much better than others, especially if you lived near radio stations.
At one time I used to rebuild battery packs for nearly anything. I had access to all the styles and types of nicads available back then and the equipment to put them together and put the case back together properly. But on my own equipment, I usually just held the case together with electrical tape so it would be easier to replace the batteries in the pack the next time.
You remember those tiny little earplug speakers I'm sure. They didn't require much to drive them.
A Cats Whisker radio only had a few parts. An empty toilet paper tube you wrapped a bunch of magnet wire around, a double edge razor blade, and of course the whisker from a cat, or from the tail of a horse I found worked better. To tune the radio you moved the whisker back and forth near the edge of the razor blade.
I know they also had crystal radios which worked much better, but the simple one I mentioned did not use a crystal, at least not that I recall every having to buy anything to make it, other than the earpiece which came from a dead radio anyhow.
You also had to roll the whisker in soot if I recall or it wouldn't work either. It was a picky little device. If you had a super fine piece of wire, like one strand from a stranded electrical wire, that worked better than the carbon coated whisker too.
You could also buy small crystal sets that came with all the parts you needed. We always grounded the radio to the metal dial stop on the dial telephone, and stuck a wire to the copper metal screen on the house to get them to work.
But the point is, they actually did work, some much better than others, especially if you lived near radio stations.
At one time I used to rebuild battery packs for nearly anything. I had access to all the styles and types of nicads available back then and the equipment to put them together and put the case back together properly. But on my own equipment, I usually just held the case together with electrical tape so it would be easier to replace the batteries in the pack the next time.
Re: GMO E. coli
I owned at least one crystal radio set, possibly two. The one I remember was a kit. The crystal was about the size of a large pea and was embedded in a metal cup. There was a upside down J bracket with the short end of the J pointing down to the crystal. The whisker was a coiled copper wire wrapped around the J bracket and was rather stiff. It might have been something other than copper but the end of the coil was at least an inch of straight wire that rested on the crystal. The tuning coil was wrapped around something that resembled a toilet paper tube and the wire was lacquered to insulate the turns. Across one side of the coil was a row of bare metal. I seem to recall having the ability to place a wire along that bare strip at just about any location. The idea was to give you the ability to tune in on specific radio station. We had many to choose from because I lived in Chicago at the time. Somehow the headset was connected, which I think was just an earphone from an old transistor radio. There was no razor blade as far as I remember. I also remember not having any success tuning into one specific radio station. WGN was (an may still be) a clear channel station and that is what dominated the reception no matter where I put the cat's whisker or tapped into the coil. I believe WFAA in Texas was the next loudest signal. My frustration with the crystal radio is what encouraged me to seek out an actual short wave receiver which in turn led to my interest in ham radio.
Re: GMO E. coli
I had a few factory assembled crystal radios, one was shaped like a rocket ship if I recall correctly.
It had a permanently affixed earphone, and you slid a metal bar up out of the top to get the station you wanted.
You clipped one wire to ground which was usually the dial phone stop if metal, and the other end connected to an antenna wire which was also supplied in the kit. Even so, using the copper window screen on the house still worked better, hi hi.
The novelty of them wore off pretty fast after dad bought me a small transistor radio. It took a 9 volt battery which didn't last very long. It too had an earplug earphone. And if I recall, it didn't pick up any of the stations I really wanted to listen to. The only loud ones were like talk radio and something else. KMOX I believe was the talk station, and the mighty KXEN was the lousy music station, hi hi. Couldn't get KXOX the rock n roll station, because KMOX drowned them out, hi hi.
But then transistor radios improved considerably and my next one could pick up any station in a 50 mile radius, hi hi.
By the time I was 10-1/2 I had some old HF receivers from my uncle, learned my Morse Code and got my first Ham license in 1959 at the age of 12. My uncle gave me an old Heathkit Sixer he retired, so I quickly upgraded to Tech Class to use it.
I was already hooked on CW, so over the years, I was usually on 40 and 80 meters using CW. It wasn't until I began building Heathkits myself that I got interested again in all that Ham Radio had to offer.
It had a permanently affixed earphone, and you slid a metal bar up out of the top to get the station you wanted.
You clipped one wire to ground which was usually the dial phone stop if metal, and the other end connected to an antenna wire which was also supplied in the kit. Even so, using the copper window screen on the house still worked better, hi hi.
The novelty of them wore off pretty fast after dad bought me a small transistor radio. It took a 9 volt battery which didn't last very long. It too had an earplug earphone. And if I recall, it didn't pick up any of the stations I really wanted to listen to. The only loud ones were like talk radio and something else. KMOX I believe was the talk station, and the mighty KXEN was the lousy music station, hi hi. Couldn't get KXOX the rock n roll station, because KMOX drowned them out, hi hi.
But then transistor radios improved considerably and my next one could pick up any station in a 50 mile radius, hi hi.
By the time I was 10-1/2 I had some old HF receivers from my uncle, learned my Morse Code and got my first Ham license in 1959 at the age of 12. My uncle gave me an old Heathkit Sixer he retired, so I quickly upgraded to Tech Class to use it.
I was already hooked on CW, so over the years, I was usually on 40 and 80 meters using CW. It wasn't until I began building Heathkits myself that I got interested again in all that Ham Radio had to offer.