The forerunner of the telephone was the telegraph. By 1870 all major towns in Europe and America had telegraphs, sending messages in 'on' and 'off' pulses (e.g. Morse code). It was while trying to improve the telegraph that Bell discovered the telephone. Episode Contents: Models: A tiny telephone system (less power supply!). A speaker using solenoid coil, magnet and base drum. A homemade microphone of plastic lid and carbon particles Machines: A cheeky store automaton that induces rabid commercialism. An acoustic probe by Rex. Guests: Several old telegraph machines using odd protocols. A 60s era mechanical "click and bang" telephone exchange (they are fun to watch). A funky 30's era burglar alarm complete with telephone dialer and a message for the police on the phonograph. Films: The cartoon life of that famous scot/canuck Alexander Graham Bell. An all singing all dancing Bell film promoting a phone every five feet. Extro: Stop motion phones. Air Date : 29th-Jan-1991
Cars started to become popular in the 1890s. Their success was partly due to the bicycle, which had given people a taste for a personal means of transport. It was also due to Daimler's high speed engine, the first internal combustion engine to be small enough not to make a vehicle ridiculously cumbersome. Episode Contents: Models: A gutted modern body shell. A running car stripped down to the chassis. An exposed brake glows as it's applied. Machines: A mini that drives away from itself! Guests: A penny farthing and other antique bicycles. A 1902 Woolsey. Films: The cartoon life Daimler und Benz. Some quaint english promo films for early cars and lots of assembly line footage. A late 40's ad for a "FUTURAMIC" oldsmobile. A 60's advert for an Austin mini. Citroen promo film showing the toughness of the bodyshell design. Extro: Crushing defeat. Air Date : 8th-Jan-1991 Read More
The first internal combustion engine was made by a Frenchman called Etienne Lenoir in 1859. He simply modified a steam engine to suck in and ignite the inflammable gas from his gas lights. Unfortunately the explosions were very violent and the engine was very inefficient. Episode Contents: Models: A gasoline powered lager can mortar. A cutaway model shows the fundamental features of the engine: piston, valves, etc. Machines: An odd little vehicle with a hydraulic life made for a tv show. Guests: A tiny model airplane engine shows amazing power/size ratio. A Hornsby Ackroyd (c.1895) engine runs on parafin. Films: 40's promotional clips for car culture... Cartoon lives of Otto and Diesel. Extro: Motor mad disciples carry an offering to Carhenge! Air Date : 15th-Jan-1991 Read More
All clocks and watches work by 'counting' some event which takes a fixed period of time, like the swings of a pendulum. The higher it goes the stronger the pull of gravity and the faster it comes back - so the swings always take a fixed time. The Quartz crystal in a watch vibrates at a fixed speed in a similar way. Episode Contents: Models: A stick. Demonstration of liquid crystal technology with metal coated glass plates and polarized sunglasses. Machines: Many of Tim's large outdoor clocks. A water clock by Rex. Guests: A 400 year old pendulum alarm clock. Various antique pocket watches. Different watch models track the evolution of quartz and digital watches. Films: Goofy 1940's wristwatch commercial ("Hey kids come on a running!") Almost as silly 70's ad for the first bulky LED watch. Extro: Oven door blooper and a melting digital watch. Air Date : 22nd-Jan-1991 Read More
The forerunner of the telephone was the telegraph. By 1870 all major towns in Europe and America had telegraphs, sending messages in 'on' and 'off' pulses (e.g. Morse code). It was while trying to improve the telegraph that Bell discovered the telephone. Episode Contents: Models: A tiny telephone system (less power supply!). A speaker using solenoid coil, magnet and base drum. A homemade microphone of plastic lid and carbon particles Machines: A cheeky store automaton that induces rabid commercialism. An acoustic probe by Rex. Guests: Several old telegraph machines using odd protocols. A 60s era mechanical "click and bang" telephone exchange (they are fun to watch). A funky 30's era burglar alarm complete with telephone dialer and a message for the police on the phonograph. Films: The cartoon life of that famous scot/canuck Alexander Graham Bell. An all singing all dancing Bell film promoting a phone every five feet. Extro: Stop motion phones. Air Date : 29th-Jan-1991 Read More
Any electrical spark creates radio waves and acts as a transmitter. You hear sparks on a radio as interference. That's why lighting makes radios crackle, and even the tiny spark in a switch is enough to make a noise on the radio when turning on a light. Episode Contents: Models: Toilet tube crystal set. Machines: Lovely little (1 metre long) RC car made by Rex for kids show. Guests: A Hertz induction coil and loop reciever. Early Marconi radios. Antique BBC transmitter (c.1920) and it's modern equivalent. Various antique sets and accessories. Films: The cartoon life of young Marconi and an old Armstrong. An ad for 1950 plastic RCA portables. Extro: Motorized novelty radios. Air Date : 5th-Jan-1991 Read More
The principle of magnetic recording was invented by a Danish telephone engineer called Valdemar Poulsen in 1899. He used an electromagnet to record the tiny electric currents from a telephone to magnetise a steel wire. This recreated tiny currents in the electromagnet when it was replayed. All tape and video recorders still work this way. Episode Contents: Models: A band saw magnetic recorder. Recording a signal on scotch tape covered in rust (FeO^2) particles. A large model of a VCR type head and it's concentrative powers. Illustration of helical scanning. Machines: Great intro scene by Tim and Rex (e.g. slanting cupboards, man eating garbage disposal, rabid mailman, dogfood eating kid, and the oblivious housewife). Rubber band powered beavers. Guests: An early Paulson wire tape recorder. A really impressive German "tapedeck" (c.1930) that used razor sharp steel bands running at high speed under high tension. An airplane black box. A 1940's German tape machine the Tonstreiber (sp?). Ampex VTR's at the BBC. A range of major domestic video formats. Films: The earliest video recordings. A dramatic illustration of generational loss in VHS (re)recordings. Sad adult cartoon characters trying to program their VCR. Extro: Very odd living room scene with mechanically animated knick knacks, spinning stools, tippy stereo components etc. Air Date : 12th-Feb-1991 Read More
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Lousy Carter 2023 - Movies (Mar 29th)
Even Hell Has Its Heroes 2023 - Movies (Mar 28th)
Silent Night 2023 - Movies (Mar 28th)
Double Soul 2023 - Movies (Mar 28th)
Haunting of the Queen Mary 2023 - Movies (Mar 28th)
Uproar 2023 - Movies (Mar 28th)
Peter Five Eight 2024 - Movies (Mar 28th)
Windcatcher 2024 - Movies (Mar 27th)
The Truth vs. Alex Jones 2024 - Movies (Mar 27th)
Easter Evil 2024 - Movies (Mar 27th)
The Iron Claw 2023 - Movies (Mar 26th)
Kung Fu Panda 4 2024 - Movies (Mar 26th)
The Book of Clarence 2023 - Movies (Mar 26th)
Molli and Max in the Future 2023 - Movies (Mar 26th)
Ordinary Angels 2024 - Movies (Mar 26th)
Imaginary 2024 - Movies (Mar 26th)
Easter Bloody Easter 2024 - Movies (Mar 26th)
Snow Valley 2024 - Movies (Mar 26th)
Drift 2023 - Movies (Mar 26th)
Good One A Show About Jokes 2024 - Movies (Mar 26th)
The Trades - (Mar 29th)
Family Guy - (Mar 29th)
We Were the Lucky Ones - (Mar 29th)
Royal Crackers - (Mar 29th)
Summer House - (Mar 29th)
The Nature of Things - (Mar 29th)
Manhunt - (Mar 29th)
The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy - (Mar 29th)
A Gentleman in Moscow - (Mar 29th)
BMF - (Mar 29th)
Next Level Chef - (Mar 29th)
The Good Stuff with Mary Berg - (Mar 29th)
The ReidOut - (Mar 29th)
All In with Chris Hayes - (Mar 29th)
Down Home Fab - (Mar 29th)
Alex Wagner Tonight - (Mar 29th)
Bangers and Cash - (Mar 29th)
Gardening Australia - (Mar 29th)
The Bidding Room - (Mar 29th)
The Woodland Workshop - (Mar 29th)