Here's the inside of the second worst radio I've ever seen (the worst, naturally, being this abomination). After how bad the last one was, I somehow couldn't resist buying the other $3 radios (you pay

The simplest (and of the most common) semiconductor electrical component is the rectifier diode. In the simplest terms possible, a diode blocks electric current in one direction and one direction only.

I've decided to do two teardowns in a row because I got the tools to disassemble the radio on the same day that I picked up this cheap device. This will be a quicker post (I think). You've probably seen

I finally found the right screwdriver to get inside one of my handheld transmitters. These can be used to communicate with other people using the same kind of radio, or with local ham radio repeaters.

Another basic electrical component is the capacitor. A capacitor is a device that can store energy within itself using an electric field. These devices are the second most common component after resistors,

I had some time today to wrap up my relay radio transmitter. As expected (and hoped) it doesn't exactly produce enough signal to effectively cut out radios from more than a few feet away, but it does produce

Closer to the basics today with an introduction to the inductor, one of the fundamental passive electrical components. An inductor uses a magnetic field to store energy and as such has some interesting

Here begins a new series of posts I'd like to do on different basic electrical components and how they work. I'll begin with the relay, a type of electric on/off switch. The reason I'm starting with the

Far away from the sun lies the Kuiper Belt, a collection of massive icy objects slowly orbiting the sun. These objects lie past the orbit of Neptune, with the belt's most famous resident being the dwarf

If you've ever wondered what's inside the LED light bulbs that screw into the socket, you've come to the right place. I'll be showing you what is inside this cheapest of the cheap LED light bulb, and how

Today I've got a wireless mouse to take apart and explain. I got this useful little device on an Ebay auction for a few bucks. As the name implies, this computer mouse can be used to click on things without

Above the atmosphere, ionizing radiation from galactic rays and the sun become more of a threat. However, the worst of the radiation near Earth is trapped in a set of large belts surrounding the planet

I'm getting a bit addicted to writing posts about breaking into electronics, so here's a break down of my beat up AM/FM radio receiver. I purchased it at a local Radio Shack that was going out of business

Today I'll be showing you what's inside a cheap solar-powered USB power bank, used for charging cell phones or anything else with a USB charging port. The device is supposed to work by charging an internal

The second of the planet Mars' moons is a small rocky world called Deimos. Yesterday I wrote about Mars' larger moon, Phobos, here if you are interested. I thought it would be appropriate to cover Deimos,

Today I'd like to tell you about the planet Mars' largest moon, Phobos. The red planet has two small moons locked in orbit around it - Phobos and Deimos. Of the two, Phobos is the larger and lower altitude

I've had this little device on my desk for awhile. I got it for I think $1 last year off of Ebay (yes, I really like Ebay) to charge the various NiCd/NiMH batteries I had lying around from dollar store

An interesting electromagnetic effect that appears in many solids is the Hall Effect. Ordinarily, a conductive material (like a metal) will have the same voltage anywhere on it, so if you try to measure

One of the most remote areas of the southwest is the region north of where the Colorado river starts to form the Grand Canyon. A couple towns (Kanab, Paige), a somewhat polygamist settlement (Colorado

I know I've had quite a few teardown posts recently, but I just had this device come in this evening and would like to write about it. I have a post on Escalante National Monument I'm starting to write