An Electrical Testing Instrument for Experimenters
The amateur having an ordinary flash light can make an instrument that will serve for a variety of purposes. It is only necessary to solder a piece of lamp cord to the spring of the battery which comes in contact with the lamp, and pass the end through a hole drilled in the top of the case. The end can be fitted with a cord tip.
An Instrument Made of an Electrical Pocket Flash Light for Testing Circuits and Instruments
To test batteries, take the flash light in the right hand and press the button, lighting the lamp, then place the bottom of the flash light on one binding post and the cord on the other. If the light burns brilliantly, the battery is dead, but if it burns dimly or goes out the battery is good.
It may happen that the experimenter's telegraph line is out of order and the trouble cannot be found. The sounder may be tested out by disconnecting the wires from the instrument and placing the bottom of the flash light on one binding post and the cord on the other. If the light goes out, the trouble does not lie in the sounder, but in some other part of the line. The line may be tested in a similar manner if one end is short-circuited and the flash light connected to the other.
A tester of this kind cannot be used on long lines, or on instruments of much resistance, as their resistance will overcome that of the light. Keep in mind the fact that the lamp will always burn on an open circuit and go out on a closed circuit.
Softening the Tone of a Talking Machine
An effective mute, for use on any disk talking machine, can be made by clamping an ordinary wood clothespin on the head of the setscrew that holds the needle. Thus the tone will be softened a great deal more than by the use of a wood needle. The record of a stringed instrument, such as a violin, will be almost exactly reproduced. It will also eliminate almost all the scratching sound caused by a steel needle.—Contributed by C. M. Reeves, Los Angeles, Cal.