Timeline for Building a phone charger 500 years ago
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
21 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 8 at 18:27 | comment | added | Navin | @Phil No link is needed. Wall warts use either a bridge rectifier or a PFC filter and an active rectifier to convert AC to DC before stepping down to the USB voltage. You can google those phrases and confirm that PFC circuits and rectifiers can handle DC just fine | |
| Oct 24, 2019 at 19:59 | comment | added | Phil | I'm having trouble finding any corroborating detail for the claim that you can feed a wall wart DC and still have it work. Got a link? | |
| Oct 24, 2019 at 19:01 | comment | added | Nate S. | Insulating wire is easy -- just wrap it in a sleeve of cloth. Many of the wires in the walls of my house are insulated exactly that way. | |
| Oct 23, 2019 at 17:02 | comment | added | Luaan | @JRE You're still talking about the engineering problem. That comes much later. You're trying to convince people to help you in the first place. | |
| Oct 23, 2019 at 10:06 | comment | added | JRE | @Luaan: Take a simple example. Do you understand why none of the supports for a Wimshurst machine may be made of wood? You could mechanically build it that way but it won't work - it will not produce high voltage sparks if you use wood in certain places that must be insulated. You obviously can't use wood as a conductor - but you can't use it as an insulator, either. | |
| Oct 23, 2019 at 10:01 | comment | added | JRE | Explain to your jeweler why the supports for the contact pins to your micro USB connector can't be made of metal. Or rather, why the jeweler must separate the contacts with some non-metallic material. And, I am only thinking of "bare minumum to charge one phone" rather than anything more complicated. | |
| Oct 23, 2019 at 9:54 | comment | added | Luaan | @JRE The point is you don't have to. You're looking at the engineering approach, where you're trying to explain how something works so that people will find for themselves what is it good for. You need a more customer-oriented approach, explaining the "why", not the "how". We're not talking about actually re-estabilishing a modern high-tech society in the 1500s, just getting the support needed to keep your phone charged :) | |
| Oct 23, 2019 at 9:35 | comment | added | JRE | @Luaan: I don't doubt that people back then knew their stuff, nor do I assume they are stupid. I do however have some experience with old electronic equipment, and understanding things that don't match your current level of technology. The problem is making clear to someone with no concept of electricity why you have to do things a particular way. | |
| Oct 23, 2019 at 8:31 | comment | added | Luaan | @JRE Even in the 1500s (and longe before that), people weren't stupid, and they were well familiar with technology. Don't get too attached to poor fantasy/time-travel stories and Renaissance propaganda :) People definitely understood their technology better than most people today understand modern technology. | |
| Oct 22, 2019 at 19:10 | comment | added | John Hascall | Wireless charging avoids the problem of building a usb connector. And probably gives the V & I needs more “wiggle room”. | |
| Oct 22, 2019 at 8:05 | comment | added | JRE | @Benjamin: How much of your phone's battery will be left to impress the king after you've played "gaukler" for the common people long enough to astound them - without managing to get labeled a warlock or wizard along the way. | |
| Oct 22, 2019 at 5:44 | comment | added | JRE | @Mark: Explain all the details and measurements to your jeweler, and do it before your battery runs down. Then you'll see what I'm talking about. | |
| Oct 21, 2019 at 23:16 | comment | added | SurpriseDog | @JRE Astound the locals with this marvelous technology of the phone and then say it's for the King. You will get an audience. If the King is curious he will provide what's needed to keep the phone charged. | |
| Oct 21, 2019 at 23:14 | comment | added | SurpriseDog | It's literally 5 pins of which only 2 are needed to charge. I think you can manage: 4.bp.blogspot.com/-yi-dbdKLfNc/Vfzp4g13yVI/AAAAAAAAACU/… | |
| Oct 21, 2019 at 22:16 | comment | added | Mark | Any competent jeweler in the 1500s should be able to make a USB breakout connector. The smallest features on a micro-USB connector are roughly the same size as the fine wires used to create gemstone fittings; if you've got a charging cable to go with your phone, a type A connector is probably within the capabilities of a copper smith. | |
| Oct 21, 2019 at 20:32 | history | migrated | from electronics.stackexchange.com (revisions) | ||
| Oct 21, 2019 at 19:05 | comment | added | Bruce Abbott | @JRE ...and a very interesting device that might either give you some influence or get you killed, depending on how you present it. | |
| Oct 21, 2019 at 17:39 | comment | added | bandybabboon | I agree that it would be nearly impossible to measure the voltage of the battery. | |
| Oct 21, 2019 at 12:12 | comment | added | JRE | @JohnGo-Soco: If anything, I (and everyone else) is drastically over estimating how easy it will be to simply survive. You show up in funny clothes, speaking a funny language, and you need the assistance of the best craftsmen and finest materials - but you have no money, and no letter of introduction to get you into the society of people who have the things you need. | |
| Oct 21, 2019 at 11:30 | comment | added | John Go-Soco | I think you may be underestimating the engineering skills of the time. The first watch was made in 1505, after all. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watch_1505 | |
| Oct 21, 2019 at 11:09 | history | answered | JRE | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
