The Telecalculograph finally has a suitable mouse!
Imaginary:
Though the eccentric Professor William C. Ravenscroft remains stingy on details of his “Telecalculograph“, he has recently allowed photography of the device with which its user controls it. These images, as well as speculation upon their contents follows:
My university’s chapter of the IEEE held a “Hacks/Mods/ Gadgets” contest a while ago, in which I entered the Telecalulograph and Vitorio-Nixie Tube. By sort of winning (there were only two other entries), I was awarded the chance to build the project of my choice–with them picking up the tab! I rather quickly realized that this would be the perfect opportunity to construct something that had been nibbling at the back of my mind for some time: a steam-powered Baird Televisor. While many people have built reproduction mechanical TVs, I am (to the best of my knowledge) the first to power it directly with a steam engine. I am beginning to see that there is good reason for this, but I am determined!
The project is in it’s infancy now (hence the “Part 1”), so there isn’t a whole lot to see yet. The physical framework and most of the basic components are built and functioning on their own, but the is an incredible amount of work to be done before the thing actually does anything interesting. I will be posting updates as I go along, so stay tuned! Photos and descriptions of what I have so far are after the jump:
This photo is sort of troubling. Who is this “Craig” that this small child is writing to? Where is he supposed to be taking her?
Possible kidnapping aside, the industrious Flickr member “Allwell.geo” has succeeded where I have failed: finding a source for the pen I used in the Victorio-Nixie Tube. It’s not quite as cheep as I’d like, but hey–better than nothin’, eh? Anyway, click on the above picture to be whisked away to said cyber-store.
Want something cheaper? Well, let me direct your attention to my most favorite catalog in the whole wide world: American Science and Surplus. Among their vast plethora of geekish goodies, they have this. It won’t be much good for an exact replica, but what fun would that be anyway?
Feel free to groan at the name 😀
Imaginary:
Slowly, powerfully, and with a certain indefinable confidence, the gleaming behemoth rolled towards the iron-clad fortress. 30 paces from the pitted wall, a great billow of steam burst forth and the elegant beast slowed to a halt. The unmistakable sound of massive, meshing cogs emanated from the monster’s head as the cannon lowered into place. A thunderous explosion rocked the ground and a barely visible blur shot out from the barrel. In an instant, a second blast was heard as the volatile capsule met its mark.
Poor Equipment with Good Results
This is the setup I used to photograph my Victorio-Nixie Tube project. This was the first time I used my cardboard-and-paper light box, and I was pretty happy with the results. (more…)
Want to know what my definition of “steampunk” is? The following trailer is about 95% accurate to that (needs more goggles).
Brought to my attention via: Brass Goggles
“Electro-chemical and electro-mechanical apparatus for the display of illuminated messages”
Imaginary:
This device was invented, designed, and built by the eccentric and reclusive Dr. Charles D. Ronalli in the late eight-teen hundreds. Click on the following links to see Dr. Ronalli’s original patent drawings and descriptions!
Victorio-Nixie Patent Diagrams
Victorio-Nixie Patent Description
Victorio-Nixie Patent Description (alternate download location)
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Jake of All Trades 
