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From: bill@flash.UUCP (bill)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics,rec.ham-radio,sci.chem
Subject: Re: Has anyone made any homemade valves (tubes), semiconductors ...
Summary: liquid semiconductors?
Message-ID: <972@flash.UUCP>
Date: 27 Jul 90 19:40:29 GMT
References: <872@massey.ac.nz>
Reply-To: bill@flash.UUCP (bill)
Followup-To: sci.electronics,sci.chem
Organization: ^
Lines: 29

In article <872@massey.ac.nz> GMoretti@massey.ac.nz (Giovanni Moretti):
>[...] 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.
>I've had this dream of making a triode in a peanut butter jar (a
>small strong one :=) ...

I recall one of the hobby electronics magazines (Popular Electronics?
Radio-Electronics?) ran an article on "liquid semiconductors" sometime
between May '68 and June '69 - maybe it was the April 1st issue. :-) 
Don't know how they formed the PN junctions. :-)

(I recall looking at the article, and yes, they were building components
in jars - but I didn't have the money then to buy the magazine. Anyone
else remember it? Now I am curious.)



>And how about batteries with household chemicals (ie not sulphuric)

I only tried once, in a few idle moments some time ago, with some
alumin{i}um foil, square of paper, a copper penny, and saltwater. Got
something like .6V open circuit, 1 mA short circuit (for a second or so,
then it started to drop to some lower level). I'm sure it could be greatly
improved. :-)

[I've added sci.chem to this because this is getting into their realm.
Any ideas, anyone? ..Larry? :-) ]