honig@calliope.ICS.UCI.EDU ("David A. Honig") (05/16/91)
------- Blind-Carbon-Copy Subject: How do mechanical car-radio preset pushbuttons work?? Date: Wed, 15 May 91 10:26:10 -0700 From: "David A. Honig" <honig@calliope.ics.uci.edu> Bcc: Blind Distribution List: ; I can't figure it out and its driving me crazy. Thanks. David ------- End of Blind-Carbon-Copy
jallen@csserv1.ic.sunysb.edu (Joseph Allen) (05/17/91)
In article <9105151026.aa18960@PARIS.ICS.UCI.EDU> honig@calliope.ICS.UCI.EDU ("David A. Honig") writes: >------- Blind-Carbon-Copy >Subject: How do mechanical car-radio preset pushbuttons work?? >Date: Wed, 15 May 91 10:26:10 -0700 >From: "David A. Honig" <honig@calliope.ics.uci.edu> >Bcc: Blind Distribution List: ; >I can't figure it out and its driving me crazy. Thanks. >David >------- End of Blind-Carbon-Copy The tuning capacitors (or inductors; many car radios were tuned by moving a slugs in an inductors) are attached to a shaft which runs the length of the buttons. This shaft has two parallel arms on it to make it into a rocker. I.E., if you press down on one arm, the tunning goes all the way to one and and if you press on the other, it goes all the way to the other end. Each button is on the end of sliding strip of metal- when you press or pull the button, the strip slides inward or outward. There are two levers on each strip. These two levers are fixed so that they are both always at the same angle. One lever is in front of the tuning rocker and one is behind it. Normally the levers are fixed into position (by being squeezed against the sliding strip). When you press a button, the front lever presses against the tuning rocker and the station is selected (by having the tuning rocker match the angle of the lever). When you pull the button out, the levers are allowed to move freely. So when the lever behind the rocker is pressed against the rocker, the angle of the levers is changed. This is basically how it works. It's probably done slightly differently in each radio. Arn't mechanical computers neat? There's lots of these things: - Some things have a row of buttons, but only one is allowed to be in at one time. Some even have more exotic combinations, button 1 & 2 may be in at the same time, but button 3 may be in only alone. How was it done? - How did electromechanical juke-boxes queue-up your record selections? - How did automatic record changers work? - How did dishwasher and washing machine controllers work? - How did slot machines work? - How did telephone switchers work? - How did 8-track players with direct track accessing (a button for each track) work? - How do automatic transmissions work? - How does spark timing advance work on car engines without computers? (I junked my last car because the electronic version of this broke. If it was mechanical I could have fixed it for very little money (and it probably wouldn't have broken)) - How do differentials work? - How does power steering work? - And, of course, how do clocks work? Especially ones with chimes? Anyone else can contribute to this list? I'd like to here about other nifty mechanical computers. I'm sure there's lots of them. -- /* jallen@ic.sunysb.edu */ /* Amazing */ /* Joe Allen 129.49.12.74 */ int a[1817];main(z,p,q,r){for(p=80;q+p-80;p-=2*a[p])for(z=9;z--;)q=3&(r=time(0) +r*57)/7,q=q?q-1?q-2?1-p%79?-1:0:p%79-77?1:0:p<1659?79:0:p>158?-79:0,q?!a[p+q*2 ]?a[p+=a[p+=q]=q]=q:0:0;for(;q++-1817;)printf(q%79?"%c":"%c\n"," #"[!a[q-1]]);}
johno@sail.LABS.TEK.COM (John Ollis) (05/17/91)
>Arn't mechanical computers neat? There's lots of these things: > >- Some things have a row of buttons, but only one is allowed to be in at > one time. > >- ...electromechanical juke-boxes ... > >- ...automatic record changers ... etc., etc., etc. One of the things that fascinated me is the Selectric typewriter. The keyboard mechanically produced a 6-bit binary code which is then interpreted by the type ball positioning mechanism (4 bits to control the roll of the ball and 2 for the tilt). The only place electricity was used in those things was to make the motor go around. And how about mechanical calculators. I have a lot of respect for the engineers who designed this sort of thing using that technology. Electronics makes a lot of things a whole lot easier. --johno
jallen@csserv1.ic.sunysb.edu (Joseph Allen) (05/18/91)
In article <9534@sail.LABS.TEK.COM> johno@sail.LABS.TEK.COM (John Ollis) writes: >>Arn't mechanical computers neat? There's lots of these things: >One of the things that fascinated me is the Selectric typewriter. The keyboard >mechanically produced a 6-bit binary code which is then interpreted by the >type ball positioning mechanism (4 bits to control the roll of the ball and >2 for the tilt). The only place electricity was used in those things was to >make the motor go around. Teletype were also like that- only they used a distributer (just like in a car) to decode the aynchronous serial signal. >And how about mechanical calculators. How do these things divide :-) >I have a lot of respect for the engineers who designed this sort of thing using >that technology. Electronics makes a lot of things a whole lot easier. Me too. It saddens me when I see mechanical engineers who don't even know how a car works. I got some responses about juke boxes- these have seen many phases of technology: From: Thomas Tonino <ttonino@bio.vu.nl> I've seen an electromechanical jukebox (tubes...) with a little mat of core memory... From: MULLIGAN@coral.bucknell.edu I have worked on a few of these things, and here's how: There is a big round storage device that holds the records. Each is accessed by turning this device until the desired record is at the correct spot for the arm to grab it. Around the outside edge of the device are metal fingers, one for each selection. The fingers on the desired selections are either pressed down or picked up (I don't remember which) and the unit revolves until the next set finger is reached. That's why the songs play in numerical order, even if that's not how they were entered. If you set the fingers by hand, the unit will play without putting any quarters in. Working at an amusement company helping to service jukes and video games can be fun! -- /* jallen@ic.sunysb.edu */ /* Amazing */ /* Joe Allen 129.49.12.74 */ int a[1817];main(z,p,q,r){for(p=80;q+p-80;p-=2*a[p])for(z=9;z--;)q=3&(r=time(0) +r*57)/7,q=q?q-1?q-2?1-p%79?-1:0:p%79-77?1:0:p<1659?79:0:p>158?-79:0,q?!a[p+q*2 ]?a[p+=a[p+=q]=q]=q:0:0;for(;q++-1817;)printf(q%79?"%c":"%c\n"," #"[!a[q-1]]);}
tonya@hpldsla.sid.hp.com (Tony Arnerich) (05/18/91)
>Arn't mechanical computers neat? There's lots of these things: > >- Some things have a row of buttons, but only one is allowed to be in at >one time. Some even have more exotic combinations, button 1 & 2 may be >in at the same time, but button 3 may be in only alone. How was it done? > >- How did electromechanical juke-boxes queue-up your record selections? > >- How did automatic record changers work? > >- How did dishwasher and washing machine controllers work? > >- How did slot machines work? > >- How did telephone switchers work? > >- How did 8-track players with direct track accessing (a button for each >track) work? > >- How do automatic transmissions work? > >- How does spark timing advance work on car engines without computers? >(I junked my last car because the electronic version of this broke. If it >was mechanical I could have fixed it for very little money (and it probably >wouldn't have broken)) > >- How do differentials work? > >- How does power steering work? > >- And, of course, how do clocks work? Especially ones with chimes? > >Anyone else can contribute to this list? I'd like to here about other nifty >mechanical computers. I'm sure there's lots of them. >-- First of all, I'd say that only a few of the above are computers. But clocks, auto transmissions, and juke box mechanisms would be excelent candidates. Most of these are just *machines*. (For example, a digital buffer is certainly not a computer, whereas a flipflop or an AND gate might be, according to some definitions of computer-ness). Other possibilities: All-mechanical vending machines; Combination locks with settable combinations; Planimeter (device that measures areas under graphs); Orrery (model of solar system - a clock is a model of only one body in the solar system); Pressure regulators; Stonehenge (maybe - if we can believe what some people say it predicts); At UC Berkeley I once saw an all-mechanical Fourier-transform calculator. That would certainly rate as a computer in my book! tonya@sid.hp.com
moonhawk@bluemoon.uucp (David Culberson) (05/19/91)
johno@sail.LABS.TEK.COM (John Ollis) writes: > One of the things that fascinated me is the Selectric typewriter. The keyboa > mechanically produced a 6-bit binary code which is then interpreted by the > type ball positioning mechanism (4 bits to control the roll of the ball and > 2 for the tilt). The only place electricity was used in those things was to > make the motor go around. > > And how about mechanical calculators. > > I have a lot of respect for the engineers who designed this sort of thing usi > that technology. Electronics makes a lot of things a whole lot easier. > > --johno How about the little animatronics that were popular way back, thew ones that could write phrases over and over and the like. Those are amazing, truly! So complex and all... David Now the world has gone to bed, MoonHawk@Bluemoon.uucp ////|all Darkness won't engulf my head, moonhawk%bluemoon@nstar.rn.com //// |hail I can see by infrared, \\\\///__|the How I hate the night. Yeah, this IS an annoying SIG. \\\\/ |miga
rrw@naucse.cse.nau.edu (Robert Wier) (05/20/91)
In article <9534@sail.LABS.TEK.COM>, johno@sail.LABS.TEK.COM (John Ollis) writes: > One of the things that fascinated me is the Selectric typewriter. The keyboard > mechanically produced a 6-bit binary code which is then interpreted by the > type ball positioning mechanism (4 bits to control the roll of the ball and > 2 for the tilt). The only place electricity was used in those things was to > make the motor go around. > I still have a Selectric II - don't know if that got any more "electrical" than the Selectric I or not. Back in the REALLY early days of small computers (about 1975) there were actually encoder kits which you could buy to read the codes generated by a Selectric keyboard. Making one into a printe r was a bigger problem. I remember one company came out with a ROBO TYPER which has a bunch of solenoids arranged in a keyboard pattern which you laid on top of the Selectric keyboard. It maybe ran at 10 CPS? I never knew anybody who actually bought one. - Bob Wier -------------- insert favorite standard disclaimers here ---------- College of Engineering Northern Arizona University / Flagstaff, Arizona Internet: rrw@naucse.cse.nau.edu | BITNET: WIER@NAUVAX | WB5KXH or uucp: ...arizona!naucse!rrw
mcovingt@athena.cs.uga.edu (Michael A. Covington) (05/20/91)
I actually have a "Dynatyper" (a thing with a lot of solenoids that sits on the keyboard of a Selectric II and types, connected to the parallel port of your computer). A colleague of mine bought it many many years ago and said it never really worked. One day I'll either use the parts for something else, or give it to the Computer Museum. -- ------------------------------------------------------- Michael A. Covington | Artificial Intelligence Programs The University of Georgia | Athens, GA 30602 U.S.A. -------------------------------------------------------