When there is an antique samovar in the house, it would be a shame not to use it at least on special occasions. You can even avoid the hassle of lighting a fire and simply pour ready-made boiling water inside. At first, that is what I did, until I decided to equip this relic with Read more…
A compact electronic regulator that makes it possible to smoothly and over a fairly wide range to change the brightness of incandescent lamp filaments, the power of a household electric heater, or the rotational speed of an AC motor shaft can be built even by a not very experienced radio amateur. After all, the proposed Read more…
Every motorist knows how difficult it can sometimes be to start a car engine on a winter morning after a long standstill. However, a relatively simple device powered from a 220 V AC mains supply will make this task much easier. The device consists of two parts (Fig. 1): one is a mains power supply Read more…
Security systems are a rapidly developing area of modern electronics. A huge number of various circuits and designs have been published that anyone who has held a soldering iron in their hands at least a couple of times can build. For example, “electronic guards” can warn of an intruder entering a room or signal the Read more…
Explosions and fires caused by gas leaks are, unfortunately, not uncommon. While giving due credit to the work of administrative bodies and emergency services, radio amateur designers can also do something themselves to minimize this danger. However, in the field of gas monitoring there are almost no simple, reproducible devices, or they are unreasonably expensive. Read more…
It is hard for an outsider to understand anglers who sit all day, as if hypnotized, with a fishing rod, never taking their eyes off the float. Of course, patience eventually runs out even for the most devoted, especially if the fish does not often reward them with bites. That is why many experiment, trying Read more…
When I needed a megaphone, I looked at the prices of industrial Chinese products: as it turned out, they cost from $45 to $235, and I decided that I could assemble a similar device with my own hands in a couple of hours. A megaphone (or loudspeaker), the electrical circuit of which I recommend and Read more…
If you’ve already put a couple of solar panels on your balcony and gotten used to the fridge and laptop running on “free” sunshine during the day — congratulations, you’re halfway to real autonomy. But at some point almost everyone hits the same ceiling: a standard 3–5 kW inverter handles lights, phone charging, and the Read more…
The welding apparatus I built is a modernized version of a device that has proven itself well in practice; its description and sketches were published in the magazine Modelist-Konstruktor No. 3, 1966. The main point is that the new “welder” is significantly more powerful than its predecessor, and simpler to build and operate. Without any Read more…
In large apartments and private houses, it is difficult in the evening and at night to walk along dark corridors or stairs and find the switch by touch to turn on the lighting. There is also an alternative — to buy autonomous “soft light” fixtures; they can be installed anywhere convenient for the owner. However, Read more…
