Retro Cool Technology

[Ravenous]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-36651271


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oramics

I want one of them! Looks like writing old style coding sheets, but for sound.

There's a bit more text in this report - and the original painting-on-glass version (and some ancient BBC radio from the '70s):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-36651270

I vaguely remember seeing this (in the science museum) a year or two back. I stared at it for ages, and was no closer to working out how it worked

 

[Notebook]

Fascinating machine, had no idea it existed. I knew of Daphne Oram, remarkable lady.

N.

 

[Andy44]

Now that is Retro-Cool!

 

[Andy44]

Techmoan is back with an old school wire recorder!

 

[Notebook]

Must admit I thought they had stopped years ago.

The last videocassette recorder (VCR) in Japan will be produced by the end of the month, according to the Nikkei newspaper.

Funai Electric has been producing VHS-playing VCRs for 33 years, most recently in China for Sanyo.

But last year it sold just 750,000 units, down from a peak of 15 million a year, and has been finding it difficult to source the necessary parts.

VCRs were introduced in the 1970s but were superseded by DVD technology.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-36857370

 

[Artlav]

I'm surprised they stopped.
On the other hand, tubes are still being produced in Russia...

 

[Andy44]

Speaking of how we used to watch movies, Engineer Guy has a new video up about projectors:

 

[Notebook]

Sort of retro, but does have valves(tubes)

http://www.instructables.com/id/Huge-Vacuum-Tube-Light-Fixture/

N.

 

[Andy44]

Yet another Techmoan score:

 

[Loru]

Yet another Techmoan score...]

Loved his previous one on this baby (Nixie tubes + osciloscope + radio reciever):

 

[Andy44]

Loved his previous one on this baby (Nixie tubes + osciloscope + radio reciever):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkCIdufSGS8

Yes! That thing is awesome. Wish I had room for a rack stereo system.

 

[Andy44]

 

[Sunhillow]

I hope this hasn't been shown yet - rotary engines per se are somewhat weird. The crankshaft is fixed to the airframe, engine and propeller are a rotating unit. This is being excelled by a motorcycle with a rotary engine inside the front wheel:

where the engine rotates 5 times the wheel speed :thumbup:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megola

 

[Urwumpe]

Well, somewhere the rotary engines have to go, if you are no longer allowed to build warplanes with them...

The engine mechanisms had been pretty sophisticated later...

 

[Sunhillow]

Seems to be the same pilot from Sweden :tiphat:

 

[Fabri91]

And enough rotating mass in the front to render the flight controls "flight suggestions" at best!

 

[Urwumpe]

And enough rotating mass in the front to render the flight controls "flight suggestions" at best!

That is why the later engine was having a counter rotating crankshaft with a flywheel.... :lol:

 

[Fabri91]

That must have meant that a very significant part of the aircraft's mass would have been spinning metal. :blink:

 

[Urwumpe]

That must have meant that a very significant part of the aircraft's mass would have been spinning metal. :blink:

Exactly. The rotaries had still a much better power-to-weight than the alternative inline engines, which made them very popular early in World War One. Still quality problems and the reliance on air cooling made them obsolete later in WW1.

 

[Andy44]

I hope this hasn't been shown yet - rotary engines per se are somewhat weird. The crankshaft is fixed to the airframe, engine and propeller are a rotating unit. This is being excelled by a motorcycle with a rotary engine inside the front wheel:
Megola - YouTube
where the engine rotates 5 times the wheel speed :thumbup:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megola

That is really cool. I am guessing that without some sort of clutch mechanism there is no way to keep the engine going once you stop at a traffic light, though. Kind of a design flaw lol.