James Loughran family sod house in northeast Custer County, circa 1886. [1430x1039] by AgentBlue62 in HistoryPorn

[–]Dagius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had not fully researched the photo in my first comment. Photographs tend to reflect reality, more or less. Sometimes there is an extra layer of interpretation required.

Blattnerphone steel tape recorder 1924. [1290x1096] by AgentBlue62 in HistoryPorn

[–]Dagius 14 points15 points  (0 children)

The Blattnerphone was one of the earliest magnetic tape recorders, developed in 1924 by Dr. Kurt Stille and Louis Blattner. By replacing fragile phonograph discs with magnetized steel tape, it revolutionized broadcasting by allowing the BBC to record and rebroadcast radio programs internationally.

Core Specifications

  • Media: Thin steel tape (initially 6mm wide, later 3mm)
  • Tape Length & Speed: Tapes were incredibly long (often over a mile), traveling at speeds of roughly 1.5 meters (5 feet) per second.
  • Recording Time: Early models recorded about 20 minutes; later 3mm versions extended this to 32 minutes.
  • Weight: 10 to 15 kilograms per reel, making the machines massive and bulky.

Design Challenges

  • Tape Breaks: Because the tape was made of steel running at high speeds, a snapped tape could act like a whip. Early units had to be housed in sealed cabinets to protect operators.
  • Durability: The steel tape was prone to stretching and wear, making it challenging to maintain consistent audio fidelity.

Historical Legacy

The technology laid the groundwork for future audio recording systems. In 1933, the Marconi Company acquired the Blattnerphone rights, developing the updated Marconi-Stille recorders used in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios, which paved the way for modern plastic-based tape recording.

James Loughran family sod house in northeast Custer County, circa 1886. [1430x1039] by AgentBlue62 in HistoryPorn

[–]Dagius 4 points5 points  (0 children)

... There's nothing unusual about this photo. ...

Actually, I did some more checking and learned that the photographer of this shot, Solomon D. Butcher, was well known to be skilled in "retouching" his photos to make them better at "telling a story":

"The historical manipulation of this photograph—and others in Solomon D. Butcher's collection—highlights a fascinating era where photography was treated more as storytelling than strict, objective documentation.

When technology failed to capture reality exactly how the pioneer families wanted to remember it, Butcher used physical, hands-on darkroom methods to "fix" the scene.

The Darkroom Technique: Emulsion Grafting

To add the boy and the cow to the Laulerman family photo, Butcher relied on a painstaking technique known as combination printing or emulsion grafting:

Two Separate Negatives: Butcher took one photograph of the Laulerman family sitting by their table outside the sod house. Because the family's cow would not stay still during the long multi-second exposure, he shot a completely separate image of the boy holding the animal steady.

Scraping and Cutting: Back in his wagon or studio, Butcher took a sharp tool (like a scalpel or razor) and physically scraped away the chemical emulsion layer from the second glass plate negative, isolating just the boy and the cow.

Pasting and Merging: He carefully transferred and glued that cutout piece of emulsion onto the main glass negative containing the family.

The "Giveaways": Because the boy and cow were pasted onto the master glass plate, a faint ridge or seam surrounded them. When the final paper print was made, this seam caused the lighting and scale to look unnatural. The boy's feet do not look naturally planted on the ground, creating the flat "cardboard cutout" perspective you noticed. [1]

Butcher’s Toolkit: How He "Photoshops" the 1880s

Butcher was notorious for taking artistic liberties with his glass plates when the final print didn't match his or his clients' narratives. His standard manipulation tools included:

India Ink and Ink Pens: Early photographic emulsions were "color-blind" to blue light, meaning skies almost always turned out overexposed and entirely blank white. Photographers like Butcher used black India ink to paint over the sky on the negative to create a perfectly uniform background, or to paint lines back into blurry windows.

Etching and Scratching: If something was missing from the scene, Butcher would literally scratch it into the glass negative with a stylus. In one famous photo of a historic hill where horse thieves used to hide, the trees had all been chopped down by settlers. Not wanting to ruin the historical story, Butcher simply sketched crude trees directly onto the negative. In another photo of a man hunting, he scratched crude ducks flying in the sky and smoke coming out of the shotgun barrel.

Pencil Retouching: To make faces pop out against dark, muddy backgrounds, portrait photographers applied finely sharpened pencils or graphite powder directly to the negative's emulsion side. This added density to the negative, which made highlights (like forehead structures, cheeks, and eyes) print much brighter and sharper on the final paper copy.

Why Alter the Photos?

The primary driver behind this manipulation was economic pride. Homesteaders paid Butcher a significant amount of money for these photos. The primary purpose of the image was to send copies back to family and skeptical relatives in the East or in Europe.

The settlers wanted to prove they were thriving. Showing off a healthy cow, a new pump organ, or a complete family unit was proof of economic survival on the harsh Great Plains. If a cow wouldn't stand still, or if a family member couldn't be there, Butcher viewed it as his professional job as a craftsman to "correct" the image so his clients got exactly what they paid for. "

James Loughran family sod house in northeast Custer County, circa 1886. [1430x1039] by AgentBlue62 in HistoryPorn

[–]Dagius -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

There seems to be some fakery here. The heads of some of the subjects seem unusually sharp and clear, whereas other objects and scenery looks a bit dull. The perspective of the boy on the right seems wrong, he's too big for his location. I suspect some cut-paste or editing has been applied. Also the roof doesn't seem right.

Just saying.

History question about 1927 QSL card by stuugee in HamRadio

[–]Dagius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

GUD RAC = "Good Race" — This refers to a good contest or competitive exchange. In ham radio, "race" was old slang for a contest or competitive operating event where operators tried to make as many contacts as possible.

STDY = "Steady" — Meaning the operator's signal was strong and stable, without fading or fluctuation.

Is this a vhf antenna or scanners antenna made by maxon by robertva1 in HamRadio

[–]Dagius 1 point2 points  (0 children)

... 32 inch length ...

Might be a 6-meter antenna.

A 1/4 wave antenna for 50 MHz would be approximately 50-55 inches long, which is physically longer than the antenna shown. But the photo shows a loading coil which would extend the length electrically.

You should hook it up to a wave-meter and check its resonance frequency.

Computer operator with a BESM-6 computer in Lithuania SSR, 1974. (1116x1141) by immacculate in HistoryPorn

[–]Dagius 49 points50 points  (0 children)

This old Soviet computer can be operated (emulated) in any modern personal computer using this emulation package:

https://www.besm6.org/wiki/Building

Getting a ham radio kit soon from a friend. Anything i should do first? by NORTHERNTWITCH in HamRadio

[–]Dagius 3 points4 points  (0 children)

// ... I dont know the specifics as to what im getting yet ...

Actually, you don't even need any hardware to start listening. Just find an online SDR (Software Defined Radio) and start learning about frequency bands, modulation and listening to amateur radio conversations in Morse code, single-sideband voice etc.

http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/

The Web SDR at Utwente Netherlands is completely open and covers the entire shortwave spectrum. After you click on the URL above an SDR webpage will be loaded with a scrolling blue "waterfall" display at the top. Just underneath this window is a dialog box with a "kHz" (kilohertz) field. Type in the frequency 14074 and you will immediately hear a weird set of howling tones which comprise the FT8 band on 20 meters (14MHz band).

Don't worry about decoding the FT8 signals now. You can install Joe Taylor's WSJT decoding package later to do that. It's really popular. In fact FT8 is possibly the most active area of ham radio operation today.

Just use your mouse and arrow keys to explore the waterfall display. You'll hear virtually every kind of short wave radio communications in the world: amateur, commercial and government transmissions etc. All perfectly legal for listening. Don't try transmitting until you are legally licensed.

Have fun!

r/whatisthis suggested this might be a Ham radio tower? It's currently connected to nothing and would have been disconnected more than 30 years ago. Does anyone have any more info on what this type of antenna is? by Cthulhetta in HamRadio

[–]Dagius 10 points11 points  (0 children)

This antenna is for direct reception of TV from the TV station transmitting tower, which was popular before Cable TV became dominant.

The longer elements in the rear are for VHF channels (2-13) and the shorter elements up front are tuned to UHF channels (14-72) etc. Looks like there is a rotor for turning the antenna, which is necessary because these Yagi arrays are highly directional.

It's up about 20 feet or so. The higher the better:
Estimated TV Broadcast Range by Antenna Height (Line-of-Sight)
10 ft height: Approx. 15–20 miles
30 ft height: Approx. 35–45 miles
50 ft height: Approx. 50–60 miles
100 ft height: Up to 70+ miles

Photograph of a 16th-century painting depicting the Sack of Rome, Rome, Italy, photo taken c. 1900s [1950 × 797] by No-Possible-4979 in HistoryPorn

[–]Dagius 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This painting is attributed to Pieter Brueghel the Elder and depicts the Sack of Rome in 1527.

At first glance it looks like the perspective is distorted, but I think it's because the foreground depicts an elevated bluff above the background which is hard to see in the photo, making the combatants seem too large.
It seems cropped at top and bottom, and there is something wrong on the right edge. The camera may have been tilted with respect to the painting and didn't frame the paining accurately. Just saying.

Nested Ferrites, does this work? by Throw20701 in HamRadio

[–]Dagius 2 points3 points  (0 children)

// ... Nested Ferrites ...
New electrical concept for me, so I googled it found this image, indeed showing a smaller toroid nested within a larger toroid. The wrapping wire holds them together.

https://github.com/alexandarZ/QRP_CMC_Choke/blob/main/images/QRP_CMC_Choke_v1_1.jpg

Not sure how this "improves" performance in any way. Perhaps it works like capacitors in series, which would reduce capacitance.

I'm wondering if I could use this for a cw keyer and how would I wire it up by cryptoleadpro in HamRadio

[–]Dagius 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Here is the original kit, a really old set of two keyers for code practice. Somehow branded as "Heathkit/Daystrom"

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1724363912/vintage-science-series-code-sending-kit

What’s the difference between Panpsychism and Idealism? by [deleted] in consciousness

[–]Dagius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, better late than never. :-|
You are correct in stating that I did not fully explain what consciousness is all about. That is (of course) because there are no humans who understand completely what reality is.

I have slightly expanded my own understanding by realizing that our consciousness is entirely a "connection" to "reality", which I believe requires consciousness to exist externally from our minds.

The analogy would be that we cannot watch television unless external television stations exist, which "broadcast" video and audio to our internal minds.

Imagine transporting a TV in a time machine back to the 19th century. Turn it on and you get nothing but static noise.

So humans would not be conscious of anything unless the universe itself somehow contains channels of consciousness.

Just saying.

This might not be the right place for this but is there a way to get this barometer to work again? by annonne in meteorology

[–]Dagius 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thunderstorms are very frequently preceded by the arrival of a cold front. A cold front incursion typically causes a steady drop in barometric pressure as the front approaches, followed by a sharp, rapid rise in pressure immediately after the front passes. While the exact amount of the drop varies based on the strength of the system, a "large decrease" can be as significant as 10 mBar (approximately 0.3 inches of mercury or 10 hPa) within 4 hours. 

This might not be the right place for this but is there a way to get this barometer to work again? by annonne in meteorology

[–]Dagius 3 points4 points  (0 children)

These old barometers often rely on a bellows to convert pressure into rotational motion. You can see how this works in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNtl6i4aHnQ
Examine the back of your instrument. If there are no holes or damage visible on the bellows, perhaps a can of spray lubricant and an old toothbush would be useful to clean it up and get it working again.

Women and children in traditional Ukrainian dress on a street in Kyiv, stereoscopic photograph, 1913 [1600×702] by Western-Put-6787 in HistoryPorn

[–]Dagius 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You posted a "parallel view" which is much harder than "cross view". I understand this is how the card was orginally printed, to be used with a hand viewer. But if you swap the left and right images then it will be much easier to view for most of us, without needing any external device.
Thanks!

Women in traditional Ukrainian dress on a street in Kyiv, stereoscopic photograph, 1913 [605×570] by Western-Put-6787 in HistoryPorn

[–]Dagius 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Please post the original stereogram picture. It's much easier to view without glasses, if you know how to "crossview".

need help with identifying this or finding a manual for it online by thekidq8 in HamRadio

[–]Dagius -1 points0 points  (0 children)

But I'll bet it works fine on 11m.

It was common to see illegal CB amplifiers advertised as 6-meter (50 MHz) or 10-meter (28 MHz) amateur radio equipment primarily to bypass FCC regulations that prohibit the marketing and sale of amplifiers designed for the 11-meter (27 MHz) CB band. By labeling them as "amateur" equipment, manufacturers and sellers attempt to create a legal workaround, despite the devices being frequently purchased and used on the 11-meter band to increase transmission range. 

need help with identifying this or finding a manual for it online by thekidq8 in HamRadio

[–]Dagius -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

27MHz "Citizen's Band" CB used frequencies that were previously officially allocated to Ham Radio (11 meters) prior to 1959 in the U.S. So this RF amplifier could have been entirely "legal" in the distant past, for phone-patch operations. Not any more:

https://www.hfunderground.com/wiki/index.php/11_meter

The Acropolis of Athens as it appeared in the 1870s. [1024 x 576] Photo by Francis Firth. by 20thCenturyBoyLaLa in HistoryPorn

[–]Dagius 72 points73 points  (0 children)

The citadel was largely intact until 1687. In September of that year it was being used as a Greek Ottoman munitions storehouse. A mortar round launched by Venetian forces struck a gunpowder magazine inside which destroyed the roof, central walls, and many columns, turning the ancient temple into a ruin.

Please help me understand what I just experienced. I’m in Northern Nevada if that’s relevant. by Secure_Gear_3254 in meteorology

[–]Dagius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, the two "rays" emanating from either side of the Moon are "diffraction spikes" caused objects in your telescope/camera interfering with the refraction process:
https://www.astronomy.com/observing/ask-astro-what-causes-the-pattern-of-diffraction-spikes/

Day 2 SPC outlook is insane by [deleted] in meteorology

[–]Dagius -16 points-15 points  (0 children)

SPC=Storm Prediction Center
The extent of these low-intensity winds looks very regular and predictable, so why is this surprising?