Each unit in the Universe of Instrumentation program features a main video which covers the basics of sensors and instruments in a way which is easy to understand. Unfortunately one ten minute video just cannot communicate how awesome and diverse the field of instruments can be, so we have been publishing commentary from experts on various instruments in separate videos. here is a breakdown of some of the outtake videos we have published.
UNIT 1 videos:
Our first video is of Current Transformers featuring an interview we did in Western Colorado at Nucla power plant. The “CT” is important in instrumentation in that it allows us to use an ammeter on high tension powerlines. The CT has a transformer that scales the power down to a manageable amount (5 amps).
We had a lot of material on electric meters, so we had electrical engineer Bill Kornrumpf show us and talk about some rare vacuum tube multimeters from the archives of the Edison Tech Center. After this we had Bill do a second video interview featuring a simple 97 cent modern semi-conductor based multimeter.
UNIT 2 videos:
In the end of 2015 we interviewed electrical engineer John Lowe from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). We first had him talk to us about the problems with mechanical clocks in a short video. After this he talked a bit about Atomic Clocks. And finally we had him describe how they measure the phase difference between different oscillators using a Time Interval Counter. The time interval counter is an important instrument used at NIST. NIST in Boulder, Colorado is responsible for keeping US time synchronized by using the latest in atomic clocks. These clocks are necessary for keeping our GPS system running as well as other key functions such as economic markets.
UNIT 3 videos:
We talked to scientist Dr. Acton at Ball Aerospace to tell us about optics and telescopes. In this video here he tells us about the exciting new James Webb Space Telescope. Part of the telescope is being constructed at Ball and several people working on the program are connected to or worked on the Hubble Space Telescope mirror. This is the cutting edge of optics!
UNIT 4 videos:
We had physicist Bob Lillquist from the General Electric Global Research center tell us about a subject he loves, historic audio technology. In the first video we had him talk to us about the first microphones from Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison.
This is all the videos we have put out so far, stay tuned for more outtakes and our primary Unit 1 video on ammeters and voltmeters coming out soon!
