Mechanical genius

Mancie · 20-10-2006, 06:33

In another thread, a member was saying that back in the 70's his dad installed a solar heated swimming pool and built the first wind turbine in Ossie, all made from everyday dicarded materials.
Were/are any of your family or nieghbours a mechanical genius that could build almost anything?

I myself remember back in the 70's being the first in Accy to have a wireless internet connection thanks to my dad who built me a wireless PC made from an old typwriter,a portable telly, car battery and a coat hanger.

Less · 20-10-2006, 11:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mancie

I myself remember back in the 70's being the first in Accy to have a wireless internet connection thanks to my dad who built me a wireless PC made from an old typwriter,a portable telly, car battery and a coat hanger.

If you were the first (and therefore I presume the only), person with this type of device, who could you communicate with to test if it was working?

WillowTheWhisp · 20-10-2006, 11:47

The mothership?

SPUGGIE J · 20-10-2006, 11:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

The mothership?

How long did he take to build that???

LancYorkYankee · 20-10-2006, 17:00

My dad could build and fix most anything. I remember in the early 70s he reconfigured all the hot water pipes in the cellar to run through the woodstove. Hence we had "free" heat and hot water throughout the winter. It was free because of the slave labor of the middle male child who had to cut all the bloody wood with just a bow saw . . . oops. But anyhow he did do some nifty things!

Oh yeah, he also was a genius at saving $ on the electric bills by beating the crap out a ya if you left a light on!

Brian (3rd of 5)

WillowTheWhisp · 20-10-2006, 17:11

I could do with him here. I think my kids are trying to deplete the national grid single handed.

Billcat · 20-10-2006, 18:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

I could do with him here. I think my kids are trying to deplete the national grid single handed.

When I was about 18 months old, did likewise. Stuck Dad's keys into the electric socket. My hair has been nice and curly even since - once it stopped standing on end, that is!

Mancie · 20-10-2006, 23:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Less

If you were the first (and therefore I presume the only), person with this type of device, who could you communicate with to test if it was working?

Of course Less, the device was way to advanced for the age.. had to wait over a decade for technology to catch up.. (mind you the reception for BBC 1 wern't bad)

Retlaw · 20-10-2006, 23:12

I myself remember back in the 70's being the first in Accy to have a wireless internet connection thanks to my dad who built me a wireless PC made from an old typwriter,a portable telly, car battery and a coat hanger.[/quote]

Know any more fairy stories, you've got a vivid imagination, the internet had'nt been thought of then.
Walter.

shillelagh · 20-10-2006, 23:22

My dad built me a table tennis table the half the size of our back garden - it took 2 nets to go across it and you dodged the washing lines then fell down the sandpit and into the fence.

Mancie · 20-10-2006, 23:39

one particular winter it snowed heavily and everyone down are end were sledging in Oakhill park, my dad decided to make me a sledge out of wood and bent iron bars for the runners. trouble was it weighed a ton, I managed to drag it all the way to the park and up the hill.
we all got ready to race down the hill but when I sat on my sledge it was so heavy it just sank in the snow and dug into the grass! all my mates went flying down leaving me a the top trying to "gee up" like I was on a dead horse,
quite a traumatic experience really. LOL!

Less · 20-10-2006, 23:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retlaw

Know any more fairy stories, you've got a vivid imagination, the internet had'nt been thought of then.
Walter.

If you think about it, he might be joking.

However the internet does have a longer history than you might think:-

E-mail started in 1965 as a way for multiple users of a time-sharing mainframe computer to communicate.

Taken from wikipedia
This is just a short excerpt, but notice the date.
There are many more examples if you would care to take the time and look.

Merging the networks and creating the Internet

[edit]

TCP/IP

Main article: Internet protocol suite

With so many different network methods, something needed to unify them. Robert E. Kahn of DARPA and ARPANET recruited Vint Cerf of Stanford University to work with him on the problem. By 1973, they had soon worked out a fundamental reformulation, where the differences between network protocols were hidden by using a common internetwork protocol, and instead of the network being responsible for reliability, as in the ARPANET, the hosts became responsible. Cerf credits Hubert Zimmerman and Louis Pouzin (designer of the CYCLADES network) with important work on this design

Mancie · 20-10-2006, 23:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retlaw

I myself remember back in the 70's being the first in Accy to have a wireless internet connection thanks to my dad who built me a wireless PC made from an old typwriter,a portable telly, car battery and a coat hanger.

Know any more fairy stories, you've got a vivid imagination, the internet had'nt been thought of then.
Walter.[/quote]

no catching you out eh !