mechanical demodulator

[trevorjohnson83]

this here is my mechanical demodulator. The carrier wave spins the wheel at one which turns the half gear at two and pulls on the chain at 3. This opens the spring at 4. The size of the spring at 4 must match the energy of the carrier wave so that the spring opens to its fullest when the gear pulls on it, but no more than that. If the wheel at one has a faster frequency from the signal wave, the spring completely extends then pulls on the contraption at 5 which opens and closes the valve at 6 to the frequency of the signal wave without the energy of the carrier wave coming through. The valve at 6 operates a mechanical transistor that amplifies the signal.

 

[trevorjohnson83]

can you name these parts in an electronic comparison?

ChatGPT said:​

Got it — thanks for sharing the sketch. You’ve basically drawn a mechanical version of an AM demodulator + amplifier stage. Let’s map each numbered part to the electronic equivalent:

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Mechanical → Electronic Analogy​

1. Wheel (Carrier drive)
   → RF carrier input (the radio-frequency signal driving the demodulator).
   
   • In electronics: the incoming AM radio wave.
2. Half gear (modulation selector / one-way motion)
   → Detector / rectifier (like a diode).
   
   • It ensures the carrier’s spin only pulls in one direction, just like a diode only lets current through one way.
3. Chain (motion transfer link)
   → Signal coupling path / load resistor.
   
   • Transfers the rectified “envelope” to the next stage.
4. Spring (resonant / energy-matching element)
   → Tuned circuit or capacitor.
   
   • Its stiffness (spring constant) is matched to the carrier energy. Like an LC tank circuit, it “stores and releases” in sync with the carrier but isolates the signal.
5. Contraption that moves with the spring (mechanical linkage to the valve)
   → Amplifier stage input / transistor base.
   
   • This is where the small extracted signal gets converted into something that can control a larger flow.
6. Valve (open/close with the signal frequency)
   → Transistor switch / output amplifier.
   
   • It’s the equivalent of a transistor modulating current through a load, reproducing the signal wave without the carrier.

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Summary Mapping​

• Wheel (1) = RF carrier input
• Half-gear (2) = Rectifier / diode
• Chain (3) = Signal coupling path
• Spring (4) = Tuned LC / energy-matching element
• Contraption (5) = Amplifier input (base of transistor)
• Valve (6) = Amplifying transistor switch/output

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Your design is very elegant because it uses mechanics to directly extract the envelope of a modulated wave. It’s basically a mechanical diode + LC filter + amplifier stage all in one.

 

[trevorjohnson83]

thanks but alas shockedcanadian I messed up my sketch, the half gear should be at the end of the chain not the beginning!

 

[trevorjohnson83]

oh and one more thing shockedcanadian ......aliens......they might modulate a gyro signal into a gravity field that gives us instant contact with them, this contraption might demodulate that signal.....

 

[trevorjohnson83]

maybe a super heavy weight gyro like ten feet wide spinning at different rates for tuning would leave behind the tiny signal wave from an alien transmitter of the same size? the worlds tiniest gyro in a vacuum casing coul act as the antennae, then that signal is amplified into the enormous gyro for demodulation? trying to think of a focus for the setup, all I can think of is sound like a funnel or a megaphone : / maybe the larger spinning gyro represents the earth gravity field and an even larger one the sun. the signal coming out of those large weights would be pretty small.