A Whatchyamacallit

A Whatchyamacallit

Not sure what to call this thing made over 20 years ago. So, a whatchyamacallit it is. Not to be confused with the Whatchamacallit of Hershey bar in 1978.
“Continue reading” for more details and photos.

It used some sort of transistor oscillator (now covered in ancient tape) driving an E core iron electromagnet at >20 kHz. It runs from a small 9 V battery and has a reed switch in it to turn on. You bring the box of matches with a hidden magnet just visible here close to turn it on. (do they still make matches?).  It induces a current in the coil of unknown turns to drive two LED’s on a smiley face. The LED’s still light up about an inch away. It still works but I have replaced the LED’s after the leads broke and replaced some of the tape. So, remote signalling and remote power transfer 1980 style!

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External links

Whatchamacallit Hershey bar – Wiki

Photo Date: Aug 8, 2004

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