Re: Mechanical ringer

I've been experimenting with mechanical (phone) ringers

>to get an idea for how much I can tweek the sound.
>
>They (the armature, not the bell) seem to be mechanically tuned
>so pulling them much off of their intended "frequency" is hard
>and likely unreliable -- at least open-loop.

Yes, designed for a 20 Hz ring signal.

[Most of my samples are from WE; different mechanical assemblies
>as required by the different phones they inhabit but similar
>audible performance]
>
>Aside from cadence/ring-pattern, is there anything else I
>can do to alter the sound? Reducing drive seems to have an effect
>on loudness -- but, is dependent on the setting of the mechanical
>damper. I can close the loop (audibly) but only if the mechanism
>hasn't been tightened up to the point where I'm forced into an
>all-or-nothing approach.
>
>Alternatively, any simple hacks I can do to the mechanisms to
>alter the tuning?

Not really.

For the morbidly curious, Western Electric published a full article on the design of that ringer in the Bell System Technical Journal in the

Joe Gwinn

Yes, the usual ones for altering mechanical resonance:

2) Decrease frequency by increasing the mass of the clapper and secreasing the stiffness of the support wire (use a longer wire and bend it into a loop or a helix).

The overall amount of energy will be the same, but the frequency of maximum efficiency will change.

Yeah you can cut holes in the bell, like one of those "vented cymbals":

They still make them.

On the flip side, a lot of the "fun (new) stuff" to play with *only* comes as some spiffy no-lead micro-package that's impossible to work with unless you have a few "advanced" level tools.

I'd sure like to see you dead-bug an AS621x temp sensor with naught but a generic hobby-grade pencil iron. (For anyone keeping track; this chip is approx 1500 x 1000μM package with a 3x2 BGA on 400μM center-to-center spacing.)

It's not like when you were a kid, and the smallest component was a

Check out Schmartboards. They use extra thick solder mask to locate fine pitch parts.

Phil Hobbs

I've actually used their breakouts once or twice. They're okay enough; although I prefer adafruits because I can get 3 or 4 for the same $5 (granted nowadays I've moved off to just sending a gerber to jlc, etc.)

That being said, Sparkfun sells the already completed breakout board for under 10 bucks (okay, it might be 9.99, I can't remember and don't wanna double-check ;) ). There are a few extras I don't particularly care for (those "Qwiic[1]" connectors, power LED, and passives), but I can completely understand why they're on there.

Really though, I'm taking issue with the mentality of "look at the stupid kid, needing a breakout board for this microchip that I can't even see in the first place".

change the mass or material of the hammer. change the arm length or material. move gongs closer or further muffle the gongs cut or drill the gongs replace the gongs with cowbells etc. run the setup underwater.