D&D Dome
1. Speak and Spell
2. GE Childs Walkie Talkie
3. Sears Child's Record Player
4. Wooden Coat Hanger
5. Craftsman 10" 28 tooth circular saw blade
6. Multi Colored golf umbrella lined with mylar.
7. 1980's Martinson Coffee Can
8. Pink Aluminium funnel
9. Television UHF tuner
The spindal which holds everything together The bolt is about a 1/8" x 2" bolt with the following pieces on it from bottom to top:
1/2" x 1/2" wooden dowel spacer
acorn type nut
wooden coat hanger
washer
stainless steel butter knife (pretty heafty one)
washer
acorn type nut
You'll also notice that the fork it attached to the knife by bending the knife blade over, and attaching a hinge between the fork and the knife to allow free movement for the fork.
These wires are soldered to 18 bobby pins which are notched into place on the wooden coat hanger.
You will barely notice, but on the back side of the bobby pins there are small brass "hairs" which drag along the surface of the saw blade. These hairs actually are from a bbq grill brush. The purpose for this is to make contact with the blade. If the bobby pin were actually the contact point it would eventually scratch the surface of the paint.
Just another view of the same, but you will notice that on the handle end of the knife there is a small screw which holds a rubber band again acting as a spring. The other end of the rubber band is attached to the coat hanger the same way.
A couple of things to notice.. 1) There is a rubberband which acts as a spring between the upright of the bend knife blade and the handle of the fork
2) There is a hole in the top of the knife blade to accomodate a rope made of clothes line rope.
3.On the leading arm of the coat hanger is an eye screw which the rope goes through. There is a safety pin on each side of the to act as a stopper. One end of the rope attaches to the knife and the other end is tied to a tree.
The thought is that as the wind blows, it will pull the rope, which pulls the knife and fork, which turns the blade.
The blade has a pattern painted on it so that when the bobby pin makes contact with the unpainted blade area, it sends a signal through the wires to the Speak and Spell. The Walkie Talkie is attached to the speaker of the Speak and Spell and acts as a transmitter to the UHF tunner, sending a signal through the umbrella satalite dish out to space.
Got that??
The transponder assembly is simply held together with 3 or 4 bolts. The can is bolted directly to the handle of the umbrella, and the UHF tunner if bolted directly to the can. The funnel is held in place by poking a hole in the plastic lid of the coffee can, and a 35mm camera film holder is used to secure it acting like a cap. There is a small antenae type plug on the tuner. The wire coming off the walkie talkie plugs into that plug.
The Speak and Spell has it's rear casing removed, along with the front plate which covers the speaker. A bundle of 18 different colored wires are then soldered to contact areas on the S & S board. The wiring then runs to the bobby pins which are attached to the coat hanger on the record player.