Youtube Video – Mr Sandman Remix

Mr Sandman is a popular song in 1950s, written by Pat Ballard and was first performed by The Chordettes. The song is about a request to Mr Sandman, a magical being who bring good dreams by sprinkling magical sand to the eyes of children while they were asleep.

The song was re-recorded over time, sometimes with male-vocalist, with the lyric altered to suit the gender of the singer. The particular remix is interesting because it involves a male singer with a mix of 60s music.

How to make foxhole radio receiver (with no batteries)

Foxhole radio receiver or Crystal receiver is a form of radio that does not operate on local oscillator, which makes it hard to be detected by other electronic device. One of the most interesting thing of Foxhole radio is that it could be operated without the use of batteries, as it is powered solely by the radio waves through its long wire antenna.

Foxhole radio was (supposedly) popular during World War II because it enabled the GI to receive radio broadcast in the middle of the war, particularly in France as the Germans has outlawed the use of radio by civilians, thus the American GI need to build their own receiver to receive broadcasts. Typical component of foxhole radio during those days are : a period razor blade (not the newer galvanized one), carbon (obtained from pencil) and some copper wire with woodblock or cardboard as its base.

I’ve found a video on Youtube on how to build a Foxhole receiver, it still requires considerable skills and experience to build a working version of the receiver though.

Old video of Lady Gaga, before she becomes famous

I always wondered how Lady Gaga looked like without the make-up, rumors from the internet (according to her roomate) said she was a plain looking girl during her university days. Today, I found a video of Lady Gaga taken before she become famous, under her real name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta.

Personally, I like Lady Gaga when she was Stefani more than now. But, it’s probably her current persona that made her famous now, cheers!

Easy to use 555 Timer Electronic IC Simulator Software

The (*)555 Timer IC software has been use in countless of electronic project that requires the use of square wave (Astable). NE555 IC can act as a timer, delayed switch (Monostable), Schmitt trigger and simple memory switch. Here a a selection of Youtube videos that demonstrate the usefulness of 555 IC timer for electronic hobbyist.

IC NE555 TImer

The 555 Timer can help any electronic hobbyist and newcomer to build circuits with Astable or Monostable configuration. The application is very easy to use as the user only need to key in their desirable value of when the 555 timer should activates or deactivates; and the software does the calculation for the capacitors and resistors value.

timer 555

The software is written by Andrew Clarkson, and you can download the software from http://clarkson-uk.com/555-timer/

Morse Code practice oscillator diagram

This is a Morse code practice oscillator has been built by N2UHC

The circuit is a simple oscillator circuit based on a 555 timer IC. There are only a few components needed to construct it.

Parts list:
IC1- 555 timer
R1 – 150k
R2 – 1K
C1 – 10 uF electrolytic
C2 – .01 uF ceramic disc
Speaker
9V battery clip

See the circuit in action (my own video) that I’ve built myself.