From bigclivedotcom.
This is an electronic pendulum ornament that I bought while visiting America many decades ago.
I’m not sure how many of these were made, but it definitely falls into the category of art and not a common gadget.
Aside from being handmade from wood, it also has a complex magnetic pulse circuit of a style I have never seen before. The circuitry is all assembled by hand with no PCB, which made it complex to reverse engineer due to its 3D nature.
The coil and electronics were held in place by a particularly tough glue that I had difficulty removing, especially as it was around the components. I completely missed one diode hidden inside a blob of glue and spent a lot of time puzzling over how the circuit worked at all, as the missing diode was crucial to its operation. It’s only when I was tracing it out for the third time and paring away the glue that I spotted it, and then the circuit made sense.
It’s a complicated circuit. I wonder how it would fare with one of the classic two transistor pendulum circuits. I may try that out. It’s also quite tempting to see if it can self start with the common solar style pendulum kickers.
Right now the coil has had its case cleaned of glue, slightly abraded and now two new thin wires added to the tiny windings before more glue has been added to lock everything in place. That gives me the option of trying different kicker circuits before putting the original back in.
If you have one of these you should treasure it. It’s a very unique item.
If you don’t have one of these then this video is your inspiration to create your own version with custom circuitry. Note that the rigidity of the pendulum shaft is important for a proper kick, as a soft flexible support like string will not work.
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