14-year-old Texas boy arrested for bringing homemade clock

[lilpixieofterror]

That you act like the work of a 14 year old who is interested in electronics will look like crap

Even than, I don't think he's aware that electronics of the 60's and 70's are in some ways easier and in other ways harder, than modern ones. They are easier in the sense they were often made to be easier to repair or didn't have a computer program running inputs and outputs (therefore making it easier to follow the wiring along to where you needed to). They were harder in the sense that you often had relay's and vacuum tubes turn each other on and off and took up quite a bit more room.

[Teallaura]

Even than, I don't think he's aware that electronics of the 60's and 70's are in some ways easier and in other ways harder, than modern ones. They are easier in the sense they were often made to be easier to repair or didn't have a computer program running inputs and outputs (therefore making it easier to follow the wiring along to where you needed to). They were harder in the sense that you often had relay's and vacuum tubes turn each other on and off and took up quite a bit more room.

I had a transistor radio when I was three - I doubt many vacuum tubes were in production models by then ('68). I doubt they had been for a while, given that a transistor radio was affordable enough to be a gift for a small child by '68.

Weren't transistors the genesis of 'solid state'? If so, they were definitely in most production by the '60's. I think vacuum tubes were on the way out by the mid to late Fifties if not earlier (most the things we had that used them were much earlier, '30's and '40's). You could still buy them readily because a number of older products that used them still worked well enough to be worth repairing.

[lilpixieofterror]

I had a transistor radio when I was three - I doubt many vacuum tubes were in production models by then ('68). I doubt they had been for a while, given that a transistor radio was affordable enough to be a gift for a small child by '68.

Weren't transistors the genesis of 'solid state'? If so, they were definitely in most production by the '60's. I think vacuum tubes were on the way out by the mid to late Fifties if not earlier (most the things we had that used them were much earlier, '30's and '40's). You could still buy them readily because a number of older products that used them still worked well enough to be worth repairing.

Depends on the application that you're using them in. Vacuum tubes are still used today in a few applications due to various reasons (in the civilian world, they are used in radio transmitters and the military still uses them in some applications because they are less susceptible to inference from solar flares and EMP's). I also think they were still in use, in TV sets, up until the late 70's because I do remember my dad and my grandparents talking about how you used to have to replace tubes in TV sets and how you could buy replacement's at the store. I don't remember having to do this myself (most TV's had been replaced using ones without tubes, by the time I could remember anything).

[Cow Poke]

Depends on the application that you're using them in. Vacuum tubes are still used today in a few applications due to various reasons (in the civilian world, they are used in radio transmitters and the military still uses them in some applications because they are less susceptible to inference from solar flares and EMP's). I also think they were still in use, in TV sets, up until the late 70's because I do remember my dad and my grandparents talking about how you used to have to replace tubes in TV sets and how you could buy replacement's at the store. I don't remember having to do this myself (most TV's had been replaced using ones without tubes, by the time I could remember anything).

Yeah, I remember as a kid (60's and 70's) running down to the local convenient store that had a tube tester. It was a box like a small desk with a bunch of places you could plug in the various types of tubes, and you looked up on a chart what tube number it was, then set all kinds of dials and switches, then pushed a button and it would tell you if the tube was good or bad.

tube tester.JPG

[rogue06]

Yeah, I remember as a kid (60's and 70's) running down to the local convenient store that had a tube tester. It was a box like a small desk with a bunch of places you could plug in the various types of tubes, and you looked up on a chart what tube number it was, then set all kinds of dials and switches, then pushed a button and it would tell you if the tube was good or bad.

My brother and I competed for the "honor" of doing it, which was quite frequently considered that my dad loved tinkering with old (and not so old) TVs. If the tube was bad there were all of these pigeonhole like slots with what seemed like a gazillion different types of tubes and you tried to find one that you could use to replace it with.

[Cow Poke]

My brother and I competed for the "honor" of doing it, which was quite frequently considered that my dad loved tinkering with old (and not so old) TVs. If the tube was bad there were all of these pigeonhole like slots with what seemed like a gazillion different types of tubes and you tried to find one that you could use to replace it with.

Yup, and you just hoped like heck that the half dozen tubes you took to the tester were different enough that you would put them in the proper socket when you got back home. You didn't necessarily know WHICH tube was bad, so you had to take all of them out of the TV or radio or console stereo.

(Sometimes it was easier, because one of the tubes wouldn't glow at all, and the others did)

[lilpixieofterror]

Yeah, I remember as a kid (60's and 70's) running down to the local convenient store that had a tube tester. It was a box like a small desk with a bunch of places you could plug in the various types of tubes, and you looked up on a chart what tube number it was, then set all kinds of dials and switches, then pushed a button and it would tell you if the tube was good or bad.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10102[/ATTACH]

Those were years before my time, so I don't ever remember having to do it. I just enjoy the history of electronics and how they have changed things over the years. Early and modern electronics really hasn't changed in the fundamentals, just in how they do things today. Most electronics today uses software to accomplish what used to be done with relays, switches, vacuum tubes, etc hooked together to turn on and off other relays, switches, vacuum tubes, etc. That way, your electronics can be made smaller and more powerful, while taking up a far smaller area. Plus it is far easier to change up how a program does things than it is to change up an entire circuit.

[lilpixieofterror]

Yup, and you just hoped like heck that the half dozen tubes you took to the tester were different enough that you would put them in the proper socket when you got back home. You didn't necessarily know WHICH tube was bad, so you had to take all of them out of the TV or radio or console stereo.

(Sometimes it was easier, because one of the tubes wouldn't glow at all, and the others did)

You could have always used an ohmmeter to check.

[Cow Poke]

You could have always used an ohmmeter to check.

Actually, no, because the heater circuit is what caused the current to be allowed to flow from anode to cathode (or was it the other way around) and you had to have specific voltages on specific pins. The whole principle (which was used later in transistors) was to control a larger amount of electricity with a smaller amount.

An ohmmeter would only work when you knew what the expected resistance should be, or if you were checking for "closed" or "open".

[rogue06]

You could have always used an ohmmeter to check.

My father had at least half a dozen of them and he probably did check them before sending us out for replacements but didn't want to spoil our fun.

[Cow Poke]

And, since I'm a poopiehead, I'll point out that you probably meant VOM or multi-meter, because, technically, an ohmmeter only checks for resistance, not voltage or amps or anything else.

[lilpixieofterror]

Actually, no, because the heater circuit is what caused the current to be allowed to flow from anode to cathode (or was it the other way around) and you had to have specific voltages on specific pins. The whole principle (which was used later in transistors) was to control a larger amount of electricity with a smaller amount.

An ohmmeter would only work when you knew what the expected resistance should be, or if you were checking for "closed" or "open".

I haven't worked with vacuum tubes, so thanks for the pointer. I know with semi conductors, you can simply reverse bias and forward bias them, using a meter, or battery to see if they work correctly.

[lilpixieofterror]

And, since I'm a poopiehead, I'll point out that you probably meant VOM or multi-meter, because, technically, an ohmmeter only checks for resistance, not voltage or amps or anything else.

I said ohmmeter because, as I recall, muti-meters are more of a modern invention and ohm meters are the only one that actually use a small electrical signal to check the circuit with (volt meters use what is already there while amp meters either use a clamp or have to be wired in series to be used). And if you were trying to bias a circuit, you'd want something that can send power down a wire.

[rogue06]

And, since I'm a poopiehead, I'll point out that you probably meant VOM or multi-meter, because, technically, an ohmmeter only checks for resistance, not voltage or amps or anything else.

This was all slightly before my time. I was probably 8 or 9 when I would take tubes up for testing.

[Teallaura]

While I remember vacuum tubes, my Dad never took a bunch out of a TV that I recall.