Do it yourself

Quote: Face

The resurgence of this thread reminded me of worm talk, so thought I'd throw this out there...

Maggots.

I've been messing with these quite a bit this summer. I remember a time when I was, like most people, completely repulsed by them. But a personal experience coupled with some learning kind of made me realize the disgust lies almost entirely within the environment they're usually found, and not the beings themselves. When found as a wriggling, bubbling mass in a carcass, pretty much universally retch worthy. But when you isolate them, raise them in a non-disgusting manner, they're pretty much indistinguishable from mealworms. Even better than simple earthworms, as there's no mess of mucus.

Anyways, I've found a great number of ways to "create" literal pounds of these things. A ziploc bag full of chicken water (the liquid remains post thawing) has been my best go for amount, ease, and lack of gag factor. Seeing as the amount of "seed" needed to attract, get flies to lay, and sustain the pupae until fat is damn near microscopic, and the fact I can go from a frozen chicken in the freezer to bags full of these things in 3-5 days, I can't help but think I'm onto something.

Alas, I'm short on ideas. They are far too fragile for any use I can think of. They have all the resilience of a chicken egg sans shell, and die from exposure in as little as 2 minutes if left on a dry concrete floor. I could easily freeze them into chunks for a sort of time release fish food, or puree and dry them on a sheet for fish flakes, but fish food isn't exactly a huge expense for me so any savings/profit would be minimal. It's a great new survival skill, but I hope to never use that particular accumulation of knowledge.

So, any ideas?

An old cowboy I knew had no problem with maggots. If we were out hiking or riding in the back country he always had bacon and we had no refrigeration, the bacon would always get maggots. He would just wash them off and eat it. His theory was they only ate the rotten bits of the bacon so it was safer after they did their 'cleaning'.

THE HOUR OF MAKING

FREE, YES... UTTERLY FREE.

THREE SESSION WEBINAR ON DIY DESIGN.

Requirements: Download the free design software and then sign up for three webinar sessions from a panel of several available sessions.

see: www.instructables dot com which is a sort of Pinterest site for people who have 3D printers and want to make useful practical items rather than gimmicks.

This is a DIY challenge though I do not see the reason to split that to a thread.

My brother wants to convert the old landline phones in his house to an intercom system for the kids to play with. They love playing with the "old" phone on the wall, so he wants to amp it up. He and I can be Adam and Jaymie if we put our minds to it, but some things I think will be a problem. Input desired!

First, these are old Bell System phones and not just some cheapo you later bought at Radio Shack. IOW, we can take them apart without destroying them. Next, assume the phone system in the house would work if they had Verizon turn it on. For those old enough to remember, years ago you could dial your own number then hang up just as the connection was made. Instead of a busy signal the phone rang. If picked up, you could talk within the house but the connection was made at a sub station. He is after them being able to talk and play on the phones.

He thinks getting power to the phones is enough. I told him more is needed. He is younger than me so has less memory of some of the old-school stuff. IIRC phones had 3 lines coming in. One for the speaker, one for the mic, and one for a trickle of power to ring the line. I think we could easily find which was which then engineer it. But I said we will need to rig a switch in his basement since the phones if powered would want to send a signal to the sub station. We need to re-route that to the "switch" which would connect the three phones. Connected the power should run the headset and they can then play telephone.

Thought is just let them pick up a phone and the other two ring since I have no hope of making a homebrew switch that can identify tones or pulses as dialed.

Thoughts?

Knowing kids they will be bored with them
quickly for the amount of work you put in.
Get them a pair of cheap walkie talkies, kids
love em.

Quote: Evenbob

Knowing kids they will be bored with them
quickly for the amount of work you put is.
Get them a pair of cheap walkie talkies, kids
love em.

Ain't the question. They keep playing with them so far. It is a challenge that has been laid down.

I just saw a "pickers" show about people collecting old pay phones and installing them. But can't help you here.

Quote: AZDuffman

This is a DIY challenge though I do not see the reason to split that to a thread.


Thoughts?

I don't know how to do what you are trying to do. I know we had clip phones out in the field and could open up a pedestal and clip on to a "pair" of wires and dial away. I believe still, those phones create their own electricity to dial with, and can be used during a power outage. That's all I got. Oh, one other thing, they are really well color coded on the pair they are hooked up to. Don't know if that will help?

I understand the gauntlet has been tossed and you are bound to pick it up, but I vote with Bob on this. They can use the walkie talkie in and out of the house and lots of other fun things. But I get it, and it might be cool. Buzz would know.

Ring signals are generated at the station and sent back to the phone so some power somewhere has to be available. Voice activated phones were used in the Navy though.

I would say too: just get a pair of walkie talkies... its two bucks to reinvent the wheel but its also 200 hours.

Just google it AZD I found several sites with instructions of how to build a simple switchboard to connect the 2 phones. The voltage on a phone system can actually give you a noticeable shock under the right conditions as dial tone is a nominal 52 volts DC.

Quote: AZDuffman

Thoughts?

Vintage Phone ring (funny video to prove she got a 1935 phone to ring)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-QFZpzjmpQ

There are multiple website that teach you how to "Build your own intercom or walkie talkie out of two old cordless phones"
http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-your-own-intercom-or-walkie-talkie-out-of-tw/

KIDS REACT TO ROTARY PHONES
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkuirEweZvM