INFORMATION CENTRA
By
CHARLES J.
SCHAUERS, w6Oty
WELCOME to
Information Central.
I
hope that as
you read some of the
an-
swers to the questions
selected for
inclusion
in this first column you will find one or more
items of interest to you. Although I've stuck
pretty close to the ham field for the past dec-
ade, I know
that the hobbyist
/experimenter
has just as many -if not more -problems,
many of which
I
hope can be solved through
this
medium.
The
questions answered in the first few
columns will be on topics of general interest:
some
pertain
to
SWL'ing,
some
to CB, some
to general experimenting,
and a
few
to repair
and maintenance. As is
my usual practice,
I
have
deleted
the
name of the
questioner
in
each case to elminate
any chance
of embar-
rassment.
Poor Signal
Pickup. I
have
a pair
of
Knight
-Kit
KG
-225
solid -state
wireless
in-
tercoms. These
units work
fine in
the house
and between
the
house and the
garage.
However,
when they
are
hooked up
between
the
house and the
barn (about
2500
feet
away),
the signals
are
too weak for
good
loudspeaker
volume.
Is
there
anything
I
can
do to
increase
the volume?
First,
make
sure that the house
and
barn
are
both
on the
same side
of your power
line distribution
transformer-
sometimes
they are not.
If
the same power
line feeds
both
the
house
and the barn, check the
line
voltage at both units.
Maximum
output
with this particular Knight -Kit
is realized
when the line voltage
is 120 volts.
It is possible that the "tuning"
of both
wireless intercoms
needs
to be touched
up.
This is
done
by peaking
up the coil shown
in
your
kit wiring diagram
as L -1. Put one
of the
units in "lock -to-
talk" position and
turn on an
AM radio so that the intercom
will pick up sound
from the radio
speaker.
At the other unit,
tune the slug
in L -1 with
a
square insulated
alignment tool for best
audio
output.
In some cases, signal
pickup can be im-
proved when the chassis
of the
intercom is
grounded.
However, these units
should be
usable
on quiet
a.c. power lines
for dis-
tances up to
about one
mile.
Electrified Fence. I
would appreciate your
publishing a diagram
for
a transistorized
electrified
fence that
I could operate
from a
six -volt
"hotshot"
battery.
I am sure
that
there
are other
farmers besides
myself,
with
cows
or pigs, who would
like
to have the
same
information.
The circuit diagram
for a
simple electric
EDITOR'S NOTE
The broadening
spectrum
and diversification
of
electronics has
bred
a
variety
of problems for
the
electronics
experimenter /hobbyist.
Not
only
are
many individual
components
difficult
to obtain,
but the "information
explosion" has
created
its
own brand of headaches.
There
are
just
too
many pieces
of electronic
equipment, too many
circuit diagrams,
and too
many
non-interchange-
able
components. No longer
can the
hobbyist
ex-
pect friendly
advice from
the
counterman
at
his
local
electronics
emporium
-he's
lucky if he
gets
waited
on.
To keep
abreast of the explosion, the
hobbyist needs
an extensive library,
catalog
file,
cross -referencing index,
and patience galore.
Is
there a
solution
that
might fit
the scope
of
this problem? Possibly,
and
in
an effort
to disseminate
useful information, POPULAR
ELECTRONICS
is
pleased to announce
a
new
monthly department
-our
version
of a "ques-
tion and answer" service-
Information Central.
This department will select about
20 questions
each
month from the reader
inquiries received
by POPULAR
ELECTRONICS and answer them
in print. The questions
and
answers
will
be
those which the
Editors feel are of greatest
and
broadest
value
to our audience.
Conducting
our Information Central column
will
be Charles ( "Chuck
") J. Schauers, W6QLV.
Chuck
is
the
newest member of our Contributing
Editor staff
and
is presently based
in Luzern,
Switzerland.
A retired Lt. Colonel
of
the U.S.
Signal
Corps, he
has
been
conducting
a some-
what
similar
column
in
a
ham
radio publication
for about
nine
years.
Besides his enthusiasm,
Chuck
brings
to
Information Central
a
world of
electronics experience
(plus
a
law degree), plus
proven performance
in being
a
helping hand
to the
experimenter /hobbyist
with
a problem.
68
POPULAR
ELECTRONICS
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