Over the years of being passionate about water tourism, we have tried several variants of carts for transporting kayaks and equipment. And on hikes, we have seen many different portable transport devices. But all of them had design flaws that did not allow them to be used equally well both in short weekend hikes and Read more…
When heating a fireplace or sauna stove at a dacha with wood, the combustion process must be monitored from time to time: adding firewood, increasing draft, etc. The proposed electronic device can replace the “owner’s eye” and remind of this by signalling when the flame in the stove (firebox) diminishes. I experimented a bit and Read more…
Long-term storage of fresh vegetables and fruits is quite a challenge, especially in urban conditions. After carefully studying publications on mini-storage units («M-K» No. 2, 1984, «M-K» No. 8, 9 and 11, 1985), I must note that all these designs have rather complex thermoregulation systems and are made from materials that are rarely available in Read more…
In the second issue of “M-K” for 1976, I read an article “Electronics on a Motorcycle” about an electronic ignition system. It has a DC to AC voltage converter. This circuit requires a battery to operate. Many owners of motorcycles such as “Voskhod”, “Minsk” would like to equip their machines with electronic ignition, but they Read more…
Arch, gate, wicket gate, fence, pathway — as a rule, all these elements of landscaping a new homestead or garden plot are usually not done first: materials, building parts, tools, seedlings are brought in, the plot is processed, a structure is erected — there’s plenty of work, and the fence simply gets in the way Read more…
Winter has arrived, and the flow of motor vehicles on the highways of our country has noticeably thinned. The fleet of cars and motorcycles belonging to individual owners is almost completely put away for the winter. There are many reasons for this, but one of the main ones is the mismatch between automotive “footwear” — Read more…
Almost all bicycle drive designs share a common drawback that reduces their efficiency. This drawback is the uneconomical expenditure of muscular energy when shifting effort from one leg to the other as the pedals pass through the “dead points” (vertical position of the cranks). Most of the muscular effort at that moment is directed toward Read more…
The kart design (Fig. 1) has no complex units requiring high qualifications of performers and can be replicated in technical clubs of schools or at young technicians’ stations that have a lathe and gas welding. The kart construction must be carried out in a certain sequence. First, the front and rear axles are manufactured, and Read more…
Many rural amateur constructors quite rightly consider the motor winch the most promising soil‑tillage unit. It is not without drawbacks, however. The main one is the need each time to drag a fairly heavy plow from the end of the furrow back to the start, while shifting the motor winch itself by the inter‑furrow distance. Read more…
Once upon a time, there was a popular TV show “You Can Do It” where craftsmen talked about the designs they had created. Perhaps it was there that information about air-cushion vehicles first appeared. And publications in the “Modelist-Konstruktor” magazine pushed many enthusiasts, including ours from Angarsk (mainly amateur fishermen), to build such machines with Read more…
