h a l f b a k e r yWhy not imagine it in a way that works?
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I could be wrong, but I think if you put each can on a a branch T, then hung up the can with a tight clip on the string, it would mute that can from the rest of the line. |
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Well after that bird flu virus paper was published, the apocalypse is never more than 72 virgins away so this may come in handy one day. |
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These could be adjustable earmuffs if you don't mind walking on a leash. |
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How long can the string be before the sound is attenuated too much. |
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Given the shape of tin cans, one can envision a pneumatic tube system in a building. Want to talk to somebody ? put a sticky-note on the first tin can and phoom it through to the building operator who reads the sticky-note and sends it on through to the other party. |
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// string diode // That sounds like it would let the string move one way, not the other which would block an oscillating signal from being transmitted in either direction. You could create a mechanical amplifier to transfer the signal from one string to another with no way for signal to travel the other direction, but then you'd need a power source for the amplifier, perhaps compressed air. |
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An easier way to make it one-way is to modify the transceiver. For example, a funnel over the top of the can should still allow most of the sound energy to get out of the can, but the sound energy going into the can will be significantly reduced because of the small hole. If you use the funnel as an ear trumpet, you can probably reduce the size of the can and still hear okay which will further reduce the amount of sound you will transmit. |
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/reduce the size of the can/ |
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Now I am wondering. It seems to me that the
base of the can produces the sound like a
diaphragm: it is moved by the string. Stiffer is
better because vibrations would propagate most
easily. Maybe a crystal glass would best of all: the
2 wine glass string phone. |
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But size: the larger the diaphragm the more
energy to make it vibrate. So would a phone using
tomato paste cans be louder than one using
coffee cans? Or does the larger size make more
noise? |
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These are testable! They would make good
science fair projects. More interesting than the
mute function I initially proposed but that is the
HB. |
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Ultimately it was electric current that killed the can phone. Although without existing can phone infrastructure the idea for telegraph cables might not have been conceived. It's unfortunate that people gave up on the can phone because it could work just as easily for analog signals if each side was connected to a sort of seismograph or more appropriate but similar technology. |
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In the London Stock Exchange, there was a system
of "wire telephony" consisting of piano wires
stretched tightly between glorified (and fixed) tin
cans. The system even went around corners, with
the wires running over gutta percha "buffers" at
the corner. There were also T-junctions and
multi-way junctions pretty much as you describe. |
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The system worked quite remarkably well over
almost unlimited distances (though not around an
unlimited number of corners). |
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Each wire could also be 'cut off'. The wires had
pairs of loops in them, a few inches apart, and the
connection could be 'cut' by hooking a stretched
piece of india rubber between the two loops, so
that the tension in the wire was relieved. |
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"mute your can phone" will become a euphemism for "be quiet". |
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That can phone thing for the stock exchange was probably
contemporaneous with the zip line city basket transport. I
wonder what other Victorian tech marvels LOndon had.
That is a book I would buy. |
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Thinking about can phones. I think one could attach the string to an electric guitar pickup and produce a can speaker phone. A series of receiving speakers, themselves pointed into cans (possible custom parabolic cans) could allow a can phone system to be strung along multiple roof tops for many miles. You would need to enunciate, though. |
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