Name the Thing Contest – 25

9

Congratulation to the last contest winner.

The prize this week is for the person who wants the convenience of having a TV remote available at all times or the prankster who wants to take control of every TV they see.

This contest will run for this weekend only (October 20 – 21, 2007) . Ending time is based on central standard time. To enter, identify the item pictured above and give an example of what can be done with it. Please do not give the answer in the comments.

 

Send an email to contest @ hackedgadgets.com with “Name the Thing Contest” as the subject, and the message body consisting of:
* The name of the item in the above picture
* An example of what the item pictured above can be used for

The winner will be chosen at random from all of the correct entries.

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Added October 24, 2007

The item to guess was a Zenith Space Command, Congratulation to the people who guessed it correctly.

“Zenith’s Dr. Robert Adler suggested using “ultrasonics,” that is, high-frequency sound, beyond the range of human hearing. He was assigned to lead a team of engineers to work on the first use of ultrasonics technology in the home as a new approach for a remote control.

The transmitter used no batteries; it was built around aluminum rods that were light in weight and, when struck at one end, emitted distinctive high-frequency sounds. The first such remote control used four rods, each approximately 2-1/2 inches long: one for channel up, one for channel down, one for sound on and off, and one for on and off.

They were very carefully cut to lengths that would generate four slightly different frequencies. They were excited by a trigger mechanism – similar to the trigger of a gun – that stretched a spring and then released it so that a small hammer would strike the end of the aluminum rod.

The device was developed quickly, with the design phase beginning in 1955. Called “Zenith Space Command,” the remote went into production in the fall of 1956, becoming the first practical wireless remote control device.”

Found via this blog.

The winner is Neal L.

Thanks to all who entered.
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Below are some pictures of the prize.

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9 Comments


  1. lol at the choice of prize


  2. Good contest this time.


  3. I think I know this!


  4. Wow lots of people know this one… We might get a record number of correct entries! The emails are just pouring in. 🙂


  5. This one is easy to guess, even if you haven’t used that particular model… It is an elegant design, and solved one of the problems that more modern versions still have.


  6. A slightly on topic comment for the October comment contest (gift cert, gift cert 🙂 ):

    I recently used the tripod I won (first time!) via “Name the Thing” contest to film a couple of videos for some projects I’m working on:

    * “Demo of Arduino with MCP23S08 8-bit SPI I/O Expander”
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCavKgJJmZs

    * “Demo of Arduino with WIZ810MJ Ethernet Module”
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ergT9y7Qg3g

    Thanks for the tripod and the competition fun. 🙂


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