What Is It? Blog

What Is It?

What Is It? is a place for engineers to test their knowledge (and sense of humor). Each week (or month, or...) the CR4 team will post an unidentified picture of an object, tool, animal, something. We're looking for your best (or funniest) guesses at what it might be in the comments.

Yes, we take [appropriate] submissions. Send them to cr4admin@ieeeglobalspec.com.

Previous in Blog: What Is It? for 9/16/12   Next in Blog: What Is It? for 10/08/12
Close
Close
Close
29 comments
Rate Comments: Nested

What Is It? for 9/22/12

Posted September 22, 2012 9:33 PM by Mizuti

This weeks image!:

Edit: Since SolarEagle guessed it so very quickly, here's the inner workings of something. WHAT IS IT?!

Edit: Alright hotshots, here's a zoomed up picture of something. Last one for this week, sorry about the grainy quality!

Reply

Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.

"Almost" Good Answers:

Check out these comments that don't yet have enough votes to be "official" good answers and, if you agree with them, vote them!
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: by the beach in Florida
Posts: 33392
Good Answers: 1817
#1

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/22/2012 9:59 PM

It's a portable cobbler's stand....

__________________
All living things seek to control their own destiny....this is the purpose of life
Reply
Guru

Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: New York
Posts: 972
Good Answers: 23
#2
In reply to #1

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/22/2012 10:40 PM

I thought it might be a little too easy to guess, try this other one I threw on there for size :D

__________________
The first law of thermodynamics is you do NOT talk about thermodynamics.
Reply
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: by the beach in Florida
Posts: 33392
Good Answers: 1817
#3
In reply to #2

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/22/2012 11:35 PM

Vintage radio...can't tell the brand or year though....maybe the 40's...

__________________
All living things seek to control their own destiny....this is the purpose of life
Reply Score 1 for Good Answer
Guru

Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: New York
Posts: 972
Good Answers: 23
#8
In reply to #3

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/23/2012 12:23 PM

Vintage 1946 RCA Victor Radio - Way to go! Got one more for you for this week. It's probably still easy, but we'll see.

__________________
The first law of thermodynamics is you do NOT talk about thermodynamics.
Reply
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: by the beach in Florida
Posts: 33392
Good Answers: 1817
#4
In reply to #2

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/22/2012 11:52 PM

Here's one for you....

__________________
All living things seek to control their own destiny....this is the purpose of life
Reply
Guru
Technical Fields - Technical Writing - New Member Engineering Fields - Piping Design Engineering - New Member

Join Date: May 2009
Location: Richland, WA, USA
Posts: 21017
Good Answers: 795
#5
In reply to #4

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/23/2012 12:06 AM

Mr. Jeeves, at your service.

__________________
In vino veritas; in cervisia carmen; in aqua E. coli.
Reply
Guru
Popular Science - Evolution - New Member Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member

Join Date: May 2006
Location: The 'Space Coast', USA
Posts: 11119
Good Answers: 918
#24
In reply to #4

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/24/2012 6:37 AM

Relic fron an early Flintstones outdoor theater.

Reply
Guru
United Kingdom - Member - Indeterminate Engineering Fields - Control Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: In the bothy, 7 chains down the line from Dodman's Lane level crossing, in the nation formerly known as Great Britain. Kettle's on.
Posts: 32175
Good Answers: 839
#26
In reply to #4

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/24/2012 8:10 AM

Scary!

__________________
"Did you get my e-mail?" - "The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place" - George Bernard Shaw, 1856
Reply
Guru
Engineering Fields - Mechanical Engineering - New Member Fans of Old Computers - TRS-80 - New Member Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member Safety - Hazmat - New Member Hobbies - Fishing - Fish On! United States - Member - New Member

Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Detroit MI, USA
Posts: 2496
Good Answers: 271
#23
In reply to #1

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/24/2012 6:20 AM

Gee, and I thought it was an early Bronze Age tooth extractor!

__________________
How we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life. --CAPTAIN KIRK, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Reply
Guru
Popular Science - Evolution - New Member Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member

Join Date: May 2006
Location: The 'Space Coast', USA
Posts: 11119
Good Answers: 918
#6

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/23/2012 9:24 AM

Old AM/SW table radio. You can see the huge tuning capacitor on the left and the IF can in the middle. Antenna is wound in a coil on the back cover.

Reply Score 1 for Good Answer
Guru
Hobbies - DIY Welding - New Member Hobbies - Target Shooting - New Member Engineering Fields - Civil Engineering - New Member United States - Member - New Member

Join Date: May 2009
Location: Red Hook, New York (Mid-Hudson River Valley)
Posts: 4362
Good Answers: 179
#7

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/23/2012 9:31 AM

HOT DAMN AH, you're good!

GA from me!

__________________
"Veni, Vidi, Vici"; hendiatris attributed to Gaius Julius Caesar, 47 B.C.
Reply
Guru
Popular Science - Evolution - New Member Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member

Join Date: May 2006
Location: The 'Space Coast', USA
Posts: 11119
Good Answers: 918
#10
In reply to #7

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/23/2012 1:32 PM

Thank you!

Tube junkie, what can I say. I have my grandfather's old Motorola HiFi console waiting to be restored. That will be a cool project and fun to use when it is done later this year.

It won't kick butt like my stereo, but it will still be a blast to watch people's faces when they see it playing or listen to some shortwave broadcasts.

Reply
Guru

Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Glen Mills, PA.
Posts: 2385
Good Answers: 114
#11
In reply to #10

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/23/2012 2:00 PM

I helped my brother take his Hallicrafters apart and rebuild. He made a new chassis in parts so he could look at the RF, IF and audio amplifiers separately. we played with several radios but I haven't see as many variable capacitors in on set before or since, it had two banks of them, the main tuners and the fine tuners.

Something like this one I just found on the web:

__________________
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
Reply
Power-User

Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 380
#17
In reply to #11

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/23/2012 11:49 PM

Perhaps it hasn't IF because it was "tuned frequence radio" in oppositive of heterodine type.Sorry i dont know the correct english name for that.-

Reply
Commentator

Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 62
Good Answers: 5
#18
In reply to #10

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/24/2012 12:07 AM

I, too am a tube junky! I don't care what solid state witchcraft you can come up with, nothing equals the sound of a warm tube amplifier!! And yes, I play guitar :) I even bought a genuine Hickok 539B :)

Reply Off Topic (Score 6)
Guru
United Kingdom - Member - Indeterminate Engineering Fields - Control Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: In the bothy, 7 chains down the line from Dodman's Lane level crossing, in the nation formerly known as Great Britain. Kettle's on.
Posts: 32175
Good Answers: 839
#27
In reply to #10

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/24/2012 8:11 AM

Is the seventies term 'HiFi' still in use?

__________________
"Did you get my e-mail?" - "The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place" - George Bernard Shaw, 1856
Reply
Guru
Popular Science - Evolution - New Member Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member

Join Date: May 2006
Location: The 'Space Coast', USA
Posts: 11119
Good Answers: 918
#28
In reply to #27

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/24/2012 8:44 AM

Most people know it as stereo, but before stereo was HiFi, which many of these old antique mono consoles were considered to be.

Reply
Commentator
United States - Member - "Proud to be an American"

Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Bryan/College Station, TEXAS; in the good ol' US of A
Posts: 73
Good Answers: 3
#29
In reply to #27

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/24/2012 3:47 PM

'HiFi' has been around since at least the 50s. It stood for High Fidelity, and meant better quality sound than 'regular' fidelity. It was still mono.

__________________
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong - A Lincoln
Reply
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: by the beach in Florida
Posts: 33392
Good Answers: 1817
#9

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/23/2012 12:36 PM

#3 car power supply converter ...

__________________
All living things seek to control their own destiny....this is the purpose of life
Reply
Guru
Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member United Kingdom - Member - New Member

Join Date: May 2007
Location: Harlow England
Posts: 16512
Good Answers: 670
#12

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/23/2012 4:06 PM

Took this pic when I had a few days away with Mrs Cat... I think it may be a relative!
Del

__________________
health warning: These posts may contain traces of nut.
Reply
Guru
Popular Science - Evolution - New Member Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member

Join Date: May 2006
Location: The 'Space Coast', USA
Posts: 11119
Good Answers: 918
#13
In reply to #12

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/23/2012 5:17 PM

Your hometown.

Reply
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: by the beach in Florida
Posts: 33392
Good Answers: 1817
#14
In reply to #12

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/23/2012 5:18 PM

Anyone look familiar here?

__________________
All living things seek to control their own destiny....this is the purpose of life
Reply
Guru
United Kingdom - Member - Hearts of Oak Popular Science - Paleontology - New Member Engineering Fields - Mechanical Engineering - New Member

Join Date: May 2005
Location: In the Garden
Posts: 3389
Good Answers: 75
#20
In reply to #12

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/24/2012 3:45 AM

Del wondering why his cat flap is suddendly 3 stories up....

__________________
Chaos always wins because it's better organised.
Reply Score 1 for Good Answer
Guru
Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member United Kingdom - Member - New Member

Join Date: May 2007
Location: Harlow England
Posts: 16512
Good Answers: 670
#21
In reply to #20

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/24/2012 4:52 AM

Made I splarf.

(... you can see I'm petrified)
Del

__________________
health warning: These posts may contain traces of nut.
Reply
Guru
United Kingdom - Member - Hearts of Oak Popular Science - Paleontology - New Member Engineering Fields - Mechanical Engineering - New Member

Join Date: May 2005
Location: In the Garden
Posts: 3389
Good Answers: 75
#25
In reply to #21

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/24/2012 7:42 AM

Now you see why the cat flap was moved

__________________
Chaos always wins because it's better organised.
Reply
Guru
Australia - Member - New Member

Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Thailand
Posts: 631
Good Answers: 3
#15

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/23/2012 10:22 PM

Shoe last

Valve radio

Electric bike controller & battery

__________________
Floss or die!
Reply
Guru
New Zealand - Member - Kiwi Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member Engineering Fields - Power Engineering - New Member Engineering Fields - Electrical Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Posts: 8777
Good Answers: 376
#16

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/23/2012 11:29 PM

The last picture is hard to see but looks like the insides of an RC vehicle, possibly an RC truck, vehicle scale unknown.

__________________
jack of all trades
Reply Score 1 for Good Answer
Guru

Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Phnom Penh
Posts: 4019
Good Answers: 102
#19
In reply to #16

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/24/2012 12:40 AM

That last one is a remote control unit on an RC "toy"

Looks alot like what I have on my toys.

__________________
Difficulty is not an obstacle it is merely an attribute.
Reply
Guru
Engineering Fields - Construction Engineering - New Member Engineering Fields - Civil Engineering - New Member Hobbies - Fishing - New Member Hobbies - Target Shooting - New Member Hobbies - Hunting - New Member Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member United States - Member - New Member Hobbies - DIY Welding - New Member

Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Latitude 38.701979 Longitude -90.439540 Coordinates 38.701979, -90.439540 N38°42.11874, W090°26.3724
Posts: 668
Good Answers: 15
#22

Re: What Is It? for 9/22/12

09/24/2012 4:58 AM

Last one is a Receiver & servo controller in a radio controlled car or airplane.

If I could make out the frequency I could tell you which since planes use different frequencies than cars do.

__________________
scotchdrnkr
Reply
Reply to Blog Entry 29 comments

"Almost" Good Answers:

Check out these comments that don't yet have enough votes to be "official" good answers and, if you agree with them, vote them!
Copy to Clipboard

Users who posted comments:

Anonymous Hero (5); CaptMoosie (1); English Rose (2); ferquiza (1); glrusl (1); jack of all trades (1); JPool (1); Mizuti (2); passingtongreen (1); PWSlack (2); scotchdrnkr (1); SolarEagle (5); Stuart21 (1); Tornado (1); tundrawolf (1); user-deleted-1105 (2); Wal (1)

Previous in Blog: What Is It? for 9/16/12   Next in Blog: What Is It? for 10/08/12

Advertisement