Day 1

Had a great day. It's lovely working with Jonathan - he's so mellow and we have the most surreal, bizarre conversations. And we managed to get so much done.

Transmitter: the sparks produce radio waves - huge change in current which leads to collapse of magnetic field which leads to big voltage.

And Jon helped me build a receiver...

Kept glancing over to see the two Mikes doing crazy things with the 'Zeus Machine' (the giant lime distiller). They were hitting it in different places with sledgehammers, clambering all over like monkeys and laughing like lunatics all day. A bizarre and entertaining spectacle!

Day 2

A long, hot and exhausting day - but a spectacular ending. It's just amazing to have convinced yourself something won't work in its current state - then you try one last tweak - and it does!

We began by stringing up an aerial for the receiver then tested out the receiver on the beach. A small square of wood, a coil, a chunk of coke, a bent safety pin and an old ear piece - I wasn't convinced it would work. But low and behold, after some attempts, we could hear a very, very faint sound of singing! My first radio receiver - ever!! Yipee! Wouldn't quite be able to dance around the room to it but if you listened really hard you could hear it - the Carriacou Christian channel!

Early on in the day we all had to help the two Mikes with their clocks. They wanted the huge, heavy water barrel at the top of the 'Zeus Machine'. Now, Zeus is about 2-3m high at the highest point - so this was no mean feat.

They told us just to do what they asked. When the 5 of us get together (especially at the end of the third day) we all start making suggestions for improvements and we can end up taking forever to explore all the options and get anything done.

But we had a small mishap - a beam that supported a critical beam became dislodged.

Me and Jonathan held the dislodged beam in place with ropes while Mike B hit it gently back into place with a sledgehammer (if Mike B can do ANYTHING gently with a sledgehammer!)

So Jon and I perched on top of one bit of Zeus, Mike B higher up and Mike L horribly close to the underside of the barrel all having been told "if it starts to go... run like hell". And it went. I was just pumped full of adrenaline. Run? Too late really. And it seemed all was stable without the beam.

Finally sorted the problem but trauma all round. Mike L doesn't like hearing too many suggestions about what to do. Jonathan always wants to give lots of options. Mike L angry that he's told to be 'in charge' then have to deal with lots of options. Ellen angry and upset. Sarah angry and upset. Film crew working on - all highly entertained and not upset at all. I suspected they'd have sorted it all out in seconds. I escaped and got on with work.

At the end of day J and I sat on the beach in setting sun, trying to get receiver to pick up transmitted sparks. We'd failed and failed. About to give up when I suggested trying a different coil in transistors. And joy ... tiny, tiny clicks - in amongst the hymns of the Christian Radio Channel. Hurrah! Chuffed to bits.

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Content last updated: 27/07/2006