Jake

Price List
Set of 10 alligator clips- 7.00
100 foot spool of insulated wire (22 gauge) - 5.00
1 AAA Battery- .50
1 LED Diode- 1.00
Telephone Headset- 8.00

Total Cost- $21.50

Building a Radio
Time: ~45 minutes
Cost (see below for details):
$21.50 (with headset)
$13.50 (without headset)

1. Take the cylinder and poke 2 holes (about .5" apart) at the top and 2 holes at the bottom.
2. Thread the coated wire through one of the holes and out the other nearby hole, leaving about 8" hanging out of the end of the cylinder.
3. Then begin wrapping the wire around the cylinder, and on approximately every 5^th loop, make a small wire loop that stands off of the cylinder.
4. Once you finish wrapping the cylinder, thread the wire through the two holes at the end to secure it and cut the wire, leaving about 8" once again.
5. Next, strip the coating off of the little wire loops you made and off of the two ends of the wire.
6. Next cut the end of the phone cord off you need to determine which wires go to the speaker.  Use any battery you have an alternate touching different pairs of wires to the two terminals of the battery.  When you hear a crackling sound in the phone, that is the correct pair for the speakers.  You can cut the other two wires off.
7. To make an antenna take about 50' or more of wire and strip one end off.  Attach the other end to the roof of your house, a tree, or something else high for best reception.
8. Using alligator clips, solder, or some other means of connection, wire up the circuit shown in the diagram below.
9. You can tune then antenna by connecting the Antenna-->Tuner wire to different small loops on the tuner.

• Know theoretically what components a radio needs (although I have never actually built one)
• Know a bit about analog & digital communication
• Know about antennas, electromagnetics (EM), RF circuits, and propagation
• Know a bit about EM interactions with biological tissues
  
• Can solder
• Can write C++
• Know a little HTML
  
• Some on-the-ground experience in rural Honduras.  We set up a computer lab at an orphanage there and attempted to set up an internet connection.  I guess then I have some idea what development challenges exist in the third world and how their technology needs differ from ours.
• Can search technical literature

• Matlab
• Various electromagnetic simulators
• Advanced design system
• A little experience with Linux/Unix, more with Cygwin

• I can read/write Spanish and French okay.
• I can speak Spanish & French poorly.
  

• My advisor is President-Elect of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society and she could possibly help with questions about the standard making process or anything having to do with the organization.  If not, she could probably put us in touch with someone who could.
• Our research group has access to the Illinois Wireless Wind Tunnel which can be used for testing antennas and communication schemes.  I could possibly get access to it for the class.
• Access to lab space + various tools
  
• Access to some electromagnetics oriented conference proceedings that are not available online
• Have (had?) a few contacts in Honduras and the US who have done technology development projects in impoverished areas (including some in rural parts of the US, the Caribbean, Africa and central America)
• Member of IEEE
• An uncle at a national lab (Livermore)
  
• A friend in the film industry in NYC
• My brother is a video production person and he is also a web designer

• Digital camera
• 802.11g router and access point (USB)
  
• Can probably get soldering iron and solder from our lab along with a lot of other tools
  
• Car (5 people)
• Laptop with wireless card
• Cell phone w/camera (I'm on the cutting edge, I know)
  
• GPS unit
• Scanner
• Photo printer
• Fax