It has been a while since I did a Viewer Mail, so here we go…
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That Heathkit metronome is charming. I love these viewer mails, cute things!
Have a happy Thanksgiving, Fran!
That's some lovely metronome teardown, deserves its own episode 🙂
Vacuum tube metronome? Interesting.
Now I'll probably end up flying down the rabbit hole of metronome principle of operation, design and engineering…
Crude speaker
Spark gap shorting into a wooden reed. Electro-percussion.
thats nonsence for "thats pretty cool".
Metronome uses a unijunction transistor, not something you find nowadays.
I was trying to make a "clicking" sound for my eBike turn signals (because I can't see the LED in the sun) and ended up using long-throw solenoids that that fit inside the handlebar tubes. They tap on the metal bars and vibrate the handgrip on each side respectively, they're not loud due to lack of air in the bar, but I can feel the haptic feedback so I never forget to turn them off. Heathkit would have been proud!
wow a mechanical volume control on that "solid state" metronome, way cool, thanks for sharing!
Screw blocking the batter is a requirement for shipping to remind shippers that only one Lithium battery is permitted in one shipment. This is true for US shippers, not sure about Canada (I'm a Canuck) and elsewhere.
Thank you for the videos and happy US Thanksgiving (we had ours a few months ago). 🙂
Christopher
I keep sort of wondering if there are "knock off" Duracell's out there – certainly used to be a favorite of mine – – now – – I'd never put one in anything I own – – they're terrible, but I just don't get what happened – were they always bad and it took me forever to figure that out? Maybe the power of TV advertising? One thing they are good at – leaking. 🤔
Mechanical metronomes are the best – if you're a serious musician, they will help you. Solid state devices, at least for me, always seem more difficult to "dial" into during practice sessions.
Wow, that metronome is pretty cleverly designed. Now I must obtain one.
It think the metronome circuit has a bit of a ring. Doesn’t sound like a good solid and stable DC pulse
Just an FYI but I can still clearly see the address under the blue tape if you want to do something about it early.
Where can I buy a Fran Lab shirt? Thanks! Long time subscriber and Patreon member.
fascinating how they used just a coil, with a washer on the wood veneer, to make the tick tick tick sound. very innovative! 😀
I knew it would have an oscillator circuit in it, but had no Idea this is how they turned that into a tick noise, rather then a timed beep.
The voice of the "Easy" button is reminescent of Adam West!
My experience with Duracell battery these days is that they cannot be trusted not to leak. Wrap them in kitchen cellophane to contain the mess; it's a good practice for any 9 V battery brand, but unfortunately cannot be used on so many modern devices that use multiple AA or AAA batteries in series. Anyway, the metronome is very cute.
Expect the screw is a requirement to stop kids eating the cell. New ones have a bitter tasting coating.
Single transistor design. I'd bet that is a UJT. Takes so few components to make a single pulse oscillator.
The Heathkit Metronome is the first Heathkit I ever built on my own.
13:39 – The 'C' in 'DURACELL' stands for 'quality' 🙂
I built one of those metronomes.. it pulsess a solenoid at a washer glued to a wooden diaphragm.
I was 13 I think. So cool to remember!
It is a small world for sure… The USB cable Tester seams to be from very close to me, maybe 20 minutes to got with the bicycle 😄
At 13:15 … well, that is realy a premium brand battery 😕😇
Were you a Robbie the Robot fan or a Robot Model B-9 fan (Lost in Space)?
Finally content we all want. Thanks Fran.
I admire your music talents. Have you ever met the swingin medallions
I love you Fran, you use the term "Valve" instead of "tube" for the thermionic valve. x
That metronome is so simple.
Neat
Some cool toys! Love the USB cable testers – those will save a lot of time making test ends and hooking up an ohmmeter to one lead at a time…
The metronome? That's a real blast from the Heathkit past! I wish you had fired up that keychain, but understand the value of intact shrinkwrap. I hope Thanksgiving Day was kind to you and yours, and that the upcoming Christmas holiday will be as well.
Useful cable testers, great for people who do a lot of equipment hook-ups. (I'm not the Peter who sent them!)
Dinky 9Vs.
I appreciate that you edited the cuts so that the metronome clicks aligned.