Low Tech Devices in Critical or High Tech Applications

[sprinkles]

I was thinking of the irony that some times a low tech device has great benefits in certain applications. I've decided to list some of the more ironic ones that I can think of, let's also see what you guys come up with.

First of all, sound powered telephones. These are direct line telephones that require only an intact circuit and for the user to speak into it. The vibration of the speakers voice powers the telephone and allows the person on the other end to hear it. This is used in critical applications where people in different locations need to communicate and failure is not an option, as power can fail and batteries die.

Also, Hall effect switches and sensors. These are magnetic devices which are used in some kinds of keyboards and other sensors in critical applications where the switch must have a long life and not be prone to fail. Normal switches rely on physical contact, which can short out or become dirty and malfunction. A Hall effect sensor only requires proximity and uses permanent magnets which last indefinitely, for practical purposes. It is also easy to make waterproof, and since it doesn't use contact there is no contact bounce.

Good old vacuum tubes. Mostly replaced by solid state transistors in your everyday electronics, vacuum tubes are still used in larger and high powered projects such as particle accelerators and high powered radio equipment. Also interestingly, a typical microwave uses what is called a cavity magnetron, which is basically a glorified vacuum tube.

Electrical fuses. The high amperage failsafe. Circuit breakers are convenient because they are resetable but because they're mechanical, they can fail. Since a fuse is sacrificial and just completely melts it is much more reliable to break the line and protect equipment and people whenever there is a problem.

Triple beam balance scale. Used for reliably measuring mass, it requires no springs or electronics and the result is not relative to gravity. Still widely used for all sorts of sciencey things. Since it measures one mass in relation to a known mass rather than measuring against gravity, it will work just fine anywhere there is gravity. You would get the same readings on earth as you would on the moon, unlike with a standard weighing scale.

Micro film. Still used to archive blueprints for critical structures and devices, such as airliners. Made small to address storage concerns, but it is still a print and you can read it with a magnifying glass if you somehow don't have the machine, so you never ever have to worry about a digital format becoming outdated.

The abacus. Could come in handy one day, after the apocalypse or whatever.

Pencils and sticky notes. Where would we be without them?

 

[Rcs6r]

Paper maps. Remember those? And using street names, landmarks, the stars in the sky to help navigate?

Compasses can be thrown in there as well.

 

[sprinkles]

Paper maps. Remember those? And using street names, landmarks, the stars in the sky to help navigate?

Compasses can be thrown in there as well.

Yeah I wonder how many people these days would be boned without their GPS lol

 

[Tin Man]

Tapes are often used to back up servers.

There are a lot of low tech cables still used with high tech equipment.

Cars are a prime example of low tech and high tech combined. Even the most expensive, most high powered car will still be filled with low tech equipment.

 

[sprinkles]

Tapes are often used to back up servers.

There are a lot of low tech cables still used with high tech equipment.

Cars are a prime example of low tech and high tech combined. Even the most expensive, most high powered car will still be filled with low tech equipment.

Yeah. In a lot of ways there's simply no alternatives though. I'm more talking about things that have high tech equivalents but the low tech version is still better in some way or other.

 

[Hector]

Vacuum tubes in military planes won't burn in an EMP after the nuclear explosion.

 

[Hector]

Paper maps. Remember those? And using street names, landmarks, the stars in the sky to help navigate?

Compasses can be thrown in there as well.

Needle, cloth, leaf, pond = compas

 

[Skathac]

Over the past couple of years I have developed quite a fondness for analog technology. I am currently working on a single ended guitar amplifier, bout ten watts... the magic of how a signal is created from a metal string vibrating in an electromagnetic field-then riding the current through a laundrylist of resistors, capacitors, potentiometers, vacuum tubes and all the leagues of wire in between before a paper cone vibrates and turns that little string wiggling about into something of beauty....well I find it quite captivating. Most production amplifiers utilize a circuit board and if the board is compromised the circuit can be pretty much toast. Course if something is wired wrong and a component explodes or catches on fire, this is a pretty catastrophic scenario as well even with a handwired amp. Some folks state the old way of wiring amplifiers creates better sound, others state it does not matter. A defect is a defect and will produce unintended results...good or bad, sometimes turning your thousand dollar guitar amplifier into a radio that only picks up one station. It is easier to repair the old wiring imo, but both are just as deadly to go poking about in. If I had nothing but time and plenty of resources I could see making all sorts of strange devices out of technology that was considered cutting edge in the nineteen fifties.

Neat thing I learned about speakers is that they can be utilized as a rudimentary microphone, you won't get the best quality sound...but the application you describe is certainly feasible.

Consumerism has driven us to the point of making it easier to simply throw things away instead of fixing them, mainly due to the sourced parts needed for repairs sometimes costing more than the item itself. Sad.

 

[sprinkles]

Over the past couple of years I have developed quite a fondness for analog technology. I am currently working on a single ended guitar amplifier, bout ten watts... the magic of how a signal is created from a metal string vibrating in an electromagnetic field-then riding the current through a laundrylist of resistors, capacitors, potentiometers, vacuum tubes and all the leagues of wire in between before a paper cone vibrates and turns that little string wiggling about into something of beauty....well I find it quite captivating. Most production amplifiers utilize a circuit board and if the board is compromised the circuit can be pretty much toast. Course if something is wired wrong and a component explodes or catches on fire, this is a pretty catastrophic scenario as well even with a handwired amp. Some folks state the old way of wiring amplifiers creates better sound, others state it does not matter. A defect is a defect and will produce unintended results...good or bad, sometimes turning your thousand dollar guitar amplifier into a radio that only picks up one station. It is easier to repair the old wiring imo, but both are just as deadly to go poking about in. If I had nothing but time and plenty of resources I could see making all sorts of strange devices out of technology that was considered cutting edge in the nineteen fifties.

Neat thing I learned about speakers is that they can be utilized as a rudimentary microphone, you won't get the best quality sound...but the application you describe is certainly feasible.

Consumerism has driven us to the point of making it easier to simply throw things away instead of fixing them, mainly due to the sourced parts needed for repairs sometimes costing more than the item itself. Sad.

You can do a lot if you're handy with a soldering iron though. Just watch out for them capacitors.

Not long ago I replaced a microswitch in my computer mouse. The mouse is like $60 but the switch is like 10 cents. I didn't even have to buy one though because I had an old cheap mouse which didn't work laying around so I took the microswitch off that, and it even has two more I can use later if necessary.

Parts are parts and if you get the right one you can usually replace it, even with surface mount soldering. You just need to know the tricks to do it and know how the various kinds of solders and fluxes work.