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From: cccph@eel.cs.ucla.edu (Charles Hobbs)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics,rec.ham-radio
Subject: Re: Has anyone made any homemade valves (tubes), semiconductors ...
Message-ID: <37291@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>
Date: 26 Jul 90 05:07:27 GMT
References: <872@massey.ac.nz>
Sender: news@CS.UCLA.EDU
Reply-To: cccph@eel.cs.ucla.edu (Charles Hobbs)
Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department
Lines: 31

In article <872@massey.ac.nz> GMoretti@massey.ac.nz (Giovanni Moretti) writes:
+
+ (stuff deleted)
+
>   You can make resistors out of pencil leads, capacitors and
>inductors are easy, headphones are possible (not easy) and you can
>use Galena (lead sulphide I think for a diode), but what about things
>with GAIN.
Homemade semiconductors, other than diodes, may be a problem; 
see below.

>I've had this dream of making a triode in a peanut butter jar (a
>small strong one :=) ...
You could do this successfully if you had some way of getting a  
good vacuum. (Commercial valves have chemical compounds known as
"getters" which aid in removing oxygen from the valve)
 
>Has anyone out there ever tried to make something like this or any
>homemade semiconductors ....
Transistors, etc. would most likely be too difficult to make at home
because of the necessity for "clean rooms" (rooms with no appreciable
level of dust floating around. Dust will short-out a transistor,
integrated circuit, etc.)

>And how about batteries with household chemicals (ie not sulphuric)
Try lemon juice....

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