The Crackpot-on-the-Moor Affair

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Dr Pál Veres was the favourite sexologist of socialist Hungary without being a sexologist. He was a newspaper photographer, journalist and Hungarian history teacher, and only graduated as a doctor at the ripe old age of 56, when he was already well known for his popular articles in the Ifjúsági Magazin. He became famous for his radio programmes in which he referred to fucking by name. One of his listeners once asked him if it was possible to masturbate with a vacuum cleaner. Uncle Pali’s answer was succinct: “It depends on which end: the one that sucks or the one that blows?”

Markéta Baňková: The Magpie in the Realm of Entropy

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Format: Hardcover. You can purchase it on Knihobot The Hungarian edition was published by Typotex Publishing Ltd. in 2019 and can be purchased at Typotex. Ever since the world began, people have enjoyed telling and listening to animal tales. The fables of Aesop, Phaedrus, and La Fontaine were not written for children but intended for … Read more

The Selenium Rectifier

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Nowadays, in the age of semiconductor diodes, many people don’t even know what this thing is. Yet, they were used in radio and television receivers up until around 1975. Recently, at a ham radio flea market, I picked up an AEG selenium rectifier for a few forints. I started searching online for its datasheet, but … Read more

Weekend program: make a cat!

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A few months ago, I was looking at tests of robot vacuum cleaners. Reading the user reviews, I noticed that many people talk about a vacuum cleaner as a pet, and even talk about it as if it were their child. One young couple, for example, watched with rapt attention in the evenings as the little robot taught them how to move chairs, table legs and other obstacles in the room. Then, when it finally crawled onto its charger and slithered away, the couple dozed off. Admittedly, a robot is more suited to the hipster lifestyle than a dog or cat, and it cleans up and doesn’t need cleaning up after, but to quote Uncle Abel: “No, no!

The Secret of Cucumber Salad

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The salad is an undeservedly neglected part of holiday lunch. Hungarians just eat something pickled with the meat and call it a day, while food bloggers throw together something from the leftovers. Yet there’s real science in salad, let me tell you! The word “salad” comes from the Latin expression herba salata (meaning “salted herb”). … Read more

The Radio Speaks

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“It was still called broadcasting, and it cost a lot of money,When the first speaker excitedly sat down at the microphone.His ringing voice soared and flew far away,And in one listener, something responded:— The test was successful!”(LGT: The Radio) Today, digital technology is making its way into every area of communication and broadcasting. The crystal … Read more

Whistling Madness: Wojciechowski’s Cult Circuit Rebuilt

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This article revives a classic from Janusz Wojciechowski’s cult book Building Electronic Toys: a simple Hartley oscillator that does nothing—except beep endlessly. I once drove my father crazy with it and today it’s still a perfect tool for learning electronics. We explain how it works, show how to rebuild it, and explore Wojciechowski’s quirky ideas … Read more

Sargfabrik – The Remarkable Transformation of a Former Coffin Factory in Vienna

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Every September, Vienna opens its doors to the curious. During the Open House Wien festival, visitors can explore extraordinary buildings that are normally off-limits. On September 15-16, 2018 more than a hundred sites welcomed guests: from sleek office towers and renovated palaces to pioneering co-housing projects. The Department of Urban Planning at the Budapest University … Read more

Margolin Target Pistol

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The MCM sport pistol (in Russian: Пистолет Марголина Целевой Малокалиберный) may be familiar to those who learned to shoot in MHSZ (Hungarian Defence Association) clubs. Some people still use this weapon today, although it is increasingly being pushed out of competitive shooting by models from Walther, Pardini, and Smith & Wesson. Entire generations of sport … Read more

Our Forgotten Instrument: The GDO

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The Grid Dip Oscillator (GDO) is one of the most important instruments for amateur radio constructors. It was primarily used for tuning resonant circuits, but with a bit of ingenuity, it has a wide range of applications. The following text introduces this instrument and some of its potential uses, without aiming to be exhaustive. I … Read more