OT: Scam electronics

On Dec 14, 10:18 am, "N_Cook" <dive...@tcp.co.uk> wrote:

I will be giving a talk on scam electronics, ie totally bogus devices sold
to the public. I have full details of a couple of such devices but would
like to know of a few others - particularly any giveaways or signatures to
them being scams , without having to open the boxes. Pointers etc to some
scam products would be appreciated - or www site specializing in exposing
them. Adverts appearing in the respectable press, for such items ,is no
guarantee of genuinness .

This goes back a very long way. In the early days of "wireless", there
were devices claiming to improve reception when plugged into your
aerial (antenna) socket, or even replace an outside long wire aerial.
All they had inside was a capacitor. I think I have one somewhere.

Chris

 

[Duh_OZ]

On Dec 14, 4:18 am, "N_Cook" <dive...@tcp.co.uk> wrote:

I will be giving a talk on scam electronics, ie totally bogus devices sold
to the public. I have full details of a couple of such devices but would
like to know of a few others - particularly any giveaways or signatures to
them being scams , without having to open the boxes. Pointers etc to some
scam products would be appreciated - or www site specializing in exposing
them. Adverts appearing in the respectable press, for such items ,is no
guarantee of genuinness .
================This is a well known scam in the metal detecting world:

http://www.rangertell.com/

A nice 'breakdown' of it:
http://www.geotech1.com/cgi-bin/pages/common/index.pl?page=lrl&file=reports/examiner/index.dat

 

[bud--]

Adrian C wrote:

On 14/12/2010 10:18, N_Cook wrote:
I will be giving a talk on scam electronics, ie totally bogus devices
sold
to the public. I have full details of a couple of such devices but would
like to know of a few others - particularly any giveaways or
signatures to
them being scams , without having to open the boxes. Pointers etc to some
scam products would be appreciated - or www site specializing in exposing
them.

Big market in the supply of power factor correction devices to consumers
who due to bill measuring method (kWh instead of kVA) won't see much
difference in their electric bills. Some are proper kit sold in the
wrong market, others are bogus.

http://open4energy.com/forum/home/scam/energy_saving_scams

This one also exposes some other scams.

http://electricitysaver.com.au/home/index.php/how-does-it-work

In the US, in addition to KWH industrial sites may also meter KVAR -
reactive 'power'. Power factor correction, matched to the reactive load,
can save a lot of money at those sites. Reactive 'power' is not metered
for residential and these black boxes for residential are a scam.

Some of these scams say (or imply) that the reactive 'power' registers
on a utility KWH meter - a lie.

A couple others:
"SAVE UP TO 25% ON YOUR MONTHLY ELECTRIC BILLS!"
http://www.power-save1200.com/1200.html

"Who Else Wants To See Savings of Up To 15% Off Their Home Electric Bills?"
http://thezapbox.com/products/zap-boxes-for-your-home.html

=================
The same type of scam as the Iraq IED "detectors" were sold in the US.
Basically a fancied up dowsing rod 'detected' drugs and other items.
There were interchangeable modules to detect different things. They were
bought by police departments, schools, .... Exposed on one of the TV
news magazines like 60 minutes. I believe the US government put them out
of business.

I think many millions have been spent on the scam used in Iraq. Sold out
of England?

==============================
Some of the clip-to-your-fuel-lines-to-save-gasoline scams were just
"cow magnets".

--
bud--

 

[Adrian C]

On 14/12/2010 10:18, N_Cook wrote:

I will be giving a talk on scam electronics, ie totally bogus devices sold
to the public.

OK, how about the fake cache scam on 486 motherboards? And fake chipsets?

http://www.redhill.net.au/b/b-bad.html

"black plastic things with metal legs on"

Then there is the market in counterfeit electronic parts, but those are
not marketed as magical items to normal folk, just us :-(

--
Adrian C

 

[Meat Plow]

On Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:18:34 +0000, N_Cook wrote:

I will be giving a talk on scam electronics, ie totally bogus devices
sold to the public. I have full details of a couple of such devices but
would like to know of a few others - particularly any giveaways or
signatures to them being scams , without having to open the boxes.
Pointers etc to some scam products would be appreciated - or www site
specializing in exposing them. Adverts appearing in the respectable
press, for such items ,is no guarantee of genuinness .

Thing that plugged into an outlet to turn your whole house's wiring into
an antenna. All these ultrasonic pest repellents where it has been proven
the audio output is beyond the pest's hearing.



--
Live Fast, Die Young and Leave a Pretty Corpse

 

On Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:18:34 -0000, "N_Cook" <diverse@tcp.co.uk>
wrote:

I will be giving a talk on scam electronics, ie totally bogus devices sold
to the public. I have full details of a couple of such devices but would
like to know of a few others - particularly any giveaways or signatures to
them being scams , without having to open the boxes. Pointers etc to some
scam products would be appreciated - or www site specializing in exposing
them. Adverts appearing in the respectable press, for such items ,is no
guarantee of genuinness .



While not strictly electronic, here are a few.

The 'Cell Phone Antenna Booster (an adhesive label with a squiggly
copper pattern on it).

'Pyramid power'

'Crystal power'

Copper bracelets (to prevent arthritis)

Magentic titanium necklaces

Televangelists

And the universal one - any politician's campaign ads.

Magnets to go under the mattress.

As far as a general method of identifying electronic scams, the old
aphorism 'If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.' is always
valid.

PlainBill

 

[Jim Yanik]

"William Sommerwerck" <grizzledgeezer@comcast.net> wrote in
news:ie7kp0$vhv$1@news.eternal-september.org:

I will be giving a talk on scam electronics, totally bogus
devices sold to the public. I have full details of a couple
of such devices but would like to know of a few others --
particularly any giveaways or signatures to them being
scams, without having to open the boxes. Pointers, etc,
to some scam products would be appreciated -- or Web
sites specializing in exposing them. Adverts appearing
in the respectable press, for such items, is no guarantee
of genuinness.

I'm not sure what you mean by "scam", other than fraudulent medical
devices, or the E-meter.

like those "shaker" LED flashlights that didn't have the coil connected,no
magnet(just a mild steel bar),and had a pair of lithium coin cells actually
powering the LED.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

 

[Ron]

On 14/12/2010 19:17, PlainBill47@yawho.com wrote:

Copper bracelets (to prevent arthritis)

Magentic titanium necklaces

Televangelists

And the universal one - any politician's campaign ads.

Magnets to go under the mattress.

Well now,previously, I would agree with you there. However, for the last
couple of years I`ve had quite bad arthritis in my hands and fingers.
Bad enough to make using a screwdriver a painful experience.
Chatting with a musician chum of mine, he revealed that he wore a
magnetic bracelet to relieve his arthritis, and claimed it works wonders.

Somewhat sceptical, but willing to try anything once to rid myself of
the rotten pain, I winkled a couple of super magnets out of an old disk
drive, and made a makeshift bracelet out of a section of elasticated tube.
Three weeks later, much of the pain and swelling has gone, still a bit
stiff, but I can play guitar again and hold a screwdriver.
I don't know if it's the magnets or wishful hoping, or maybe the
arthritis got better by itself, I just know that I felt an improvement
within a few days. I don't really care if there`s a rational
exp0lanation or not.

There is one drawback, I keep getting attached to metallic objects!


Ron

 

[William Sommerwerck]

The snake oil that I like that pops up every few years
is the "you don't have to exercise and sweat" gizmo.
It pulses "your muscles" while you lay around watching
TeeVee. The effect isn't deep enough into the body to do
what is advertised.

This device is nearly 60 years old. It was called a "Relax-a-ciser", and put
voltage through your abdominals to contract them. It appears that some
people who used it lost weight. As to whether it could contract your
abdominals sufficiently to develop a visible six-pack -- it doesn't seem
likely.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

There is one drawback -- I keep getting attached
to metallic objects!

"I am... De Clraw."

"Well, Mr Craw..."

"Not De Craw! De Clraw!"

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:56:58 +0000 (UTC), Meat Plow
<mhywatt@yahoo.com> wrote:

Thing that plugged into an outlet to turn your whole house's wiring into
an antenna.

That's what got me started in electronics. I was an 11 year old brat
reading Popular Electronics at the time. Plenty of ads for "Turn your
house wiring into a giant TV antenna" all over the place.
<http://books.google.com/books?id=4NsDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA33>
Inside the box was a "capacitator", which coupled the twinlead to the
AC power line. If you happen to have an AC/DC TV, with no power
transformer, you ran a 50% chance of getting electrocuted by the hot
chassis. I liked the concept, which inspired me later to invest in
the TV sales and repair business, where one could cheat the customers
without also electrocuting them. Set top antennas that look like
radar dishes, signal boosters, picture enhancers, bizarre looking
outdoor antennas, "premium" cables, garrish colored power strips, etc
are all part of the business. I've also thought of expanding one of
those cell phone "signal enhancer" stickers to TV size, but don't
think there's an area large enough on the current HDTV sets to attach
one. I was thinking that Liquid Crystal TVs might benefit from
installing a quartz crystal or other semiprecious gem stone nearby in
order to benefit from the healing properties of the stone to repair or
possibly prevent post warranty failures.



--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[JeffM]

N_Cook wrote:
I will be giving a talk on scam electronics,
ie totally bogus devices sold to the public.

Rich Webb wrote:
The IED "detectors" reportedly being used at bomb checkpoints in Iraq.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/11/04/when-antiscience-kills-dowsing-edition/

Anything being used by the Security Theater folks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_theater
is, at best, being oversold relative to what it can actually do.
--and backscatter X ray gear will give more people cancer
than the number of terrorists it will locate
....but Michael Chertoff had to have something to hawk
after he passed out the revolving door from "Homeland Security".

The snake oil that I like that pops up every few years
is the "you don't have to exercise and sweat" gizmo.
It pulses "your muscles" while you lay around watching TeeVee.
The effect isn't deep enough into the body to do what is advertised.

This guy isn't selling.
Rather, he has been trying to get investors for decades.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Searl_Effect_Generator
He claims that his copper-disk gadget
will gather 15kW of random-wavelength energy out of the air
and convert it to usable electricity.
He doesn't mention what that kind of a radiant field
might do to a human standing next to the device.
One of my favorite radio hosts, Cary Harrison,
who is usually skeptical about things, fell for it hook, line, and
sinker
when he had Searl on his show.

 

[Ron]

On 14/12/2010 19:57, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:56:58 +0000 (UTC), Meat Plow
mhywatt@yahoo.com> wrote:

Thing that plugged into an outlet to turn your whole house's wiring into
an antenna.

That's what got me started in electronics. I was an 11 year old brat
reading Popular Electronics at the time. Plenty of ads for "Turn your
house wiring into a giant TV antenna" all over the place.
http://books.google.com/books?id=4NsDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA33
Inside the box was a "capacitator", which coupled the twinlead to the
AC power line. If you happen to have an AC/DC TV, with no power
transformer, you ran a 50% chance of getting electrocuted by the hot
chassis. I liked the concept, which inspired me later to invest in
the TV sales and repair business, where one could cheat the customers
without also electrocuting them. Set top antennas that look like
radar dishes, signal boosters, picture enhancers, bizarre looking
outdoor antennas, "premium" cables, garrish colored power strips, etc
are all part of the business. I've also thought of expanding one of
those cell phone "signal enhancer" stickers to TV size, but don't
think there's an area large enough on the current HDTV sets to attach
one. I was thinking that Liquid Crystal TVs might benefit from
installing a quartz crystal or other semiprecious gem stone nearby in
order to benefit from the healing properties of the stone to repair or
possibly prevent post warranty failures.



Or you could just invest (pun intended) in some white and gold robes,

and go around 'blessing' folks TV sets - If you have faith brother you
WILL get a better picture...

Ron

 

[mm]

On Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:18:34 -0000, "N_Cook" <diverse@tcp.co.uk>
wrote:

I will be giving a talk on scam electronics, ie totally bogus devices sold
to the public. I have full details of a couple of such devices but would
like to know of a few others - particularly any giveaways or signatures to
them being scams , without having to open the boxes. Pointers etc to some
scam products would be appreciated - or www site specializing in exposing
them. Adverts appearing in the respectable press, for such items ,is no
guarantee of genuinness .

Well, I've wondered about the plug in things that make a noise they
say that repels mice and rats. That was dubious, but they have
another model that does mice, rats, ants, and cockroaches, I think it
was, and I don't think that could work .
>

 

[Jim Yanik]

"William Sommerwerck" <grizzledgeezer@comcast.net> wrote in
news:ie8gro$8dc$1@news.eternal-september.org:

The snake oil that I like that pops up every few years
is the "you don't have to exercise and sweat" gizmo.
It pulses "your muscles" while you lay around watching
TeeVee. The effect isn't deep enough into the body to do
what is advertised.

This device is nearly 60 years old. It was called a "Relax-a-ciser",
and put voltage through your abdominals to contract them. It appears
that some people who used it lost weight. As to whether it could
contract your abdominals sufficiently to develop a visible six-pack --
it doesn't seem likely.

if your muscles contract,they use energy.
It's no different than your body's own electrical system causing the
muscles to contract.
Except that you don't have to do it consciously,it's done by the EMS unit's
electronics. EMS=electro muscle stimulation

the only difference I can see is that the EMS unit only works a few muscles
around the electrodes while moving your body will work more muscle groups.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_muscle_stimulation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcutaneous_electrical_nerve_stimulation
(TENS)

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

 

[Baron]

Ron Inscribed thus:

Magnets to go under the mattress.

Well now,previously, I would agree with you there. However, for the
last couple of years I`ve had quite bad arthritis in my hands and
fingers. Bad enough to make using a screwdriver a painful experience.
Chatting with a musician chum of mine, he revealed that he wore a
magnetic bracelet to relieve his arthritis, and claimed it works
wonders.

Somewhat sceptical, but willing to try anything once to rid myself of
the rotten pain, I winkled a couple of super magnets out of an old
disk drive, and made a makeshift bracelet out of a section of
elasticated tube. Three weeks later, much of the pain and swelling has
gone, still a bit stiff, but I can play guitar again and hold a
screwdriver. I don't know if it's the magnets or wishful hoping, or
maybe the arthritis got better by itself, I just know that I felt an
improvement within a few days. I don't really care if there`s a
rational exp0lanation or not.

There is one drawback, I keep getting attached to metallic objects!


Ron

I seem to recall that there is some scientific basis for your
experience.

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

 

[Meat Plow]

On Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:57:47 -0800, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:56:58 +0000 (UTC), Meat Plow <mhywatt@yahoo.com
wrote:

Thing that plugged into an outlet to turn your whole house's wiring into
an antenna.

That's what got me started in electronics. I was an 11 year old brat
reading Popular Electronics at the time. Plenty of ads for "Turn your
house wiring into a giant TV antenna" all over the place.
http://books.google.com/books?id=4NsDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA33> Inside the box
was a "capacitator", which coupled the twinlead to the AC power line.
If you happen to have an AC/DC TV, with no power transformer, you ran a
50% chance of getting electrocuted by the hot chassis. I liked the
concept, which inspired me later to invest in the TV sales and repair
business, where one could cheat the customers without also electrocuting
them. Set top antennas that look like radar dishes, signal boosters,
picture enhancers, bizarre looking outdoor antennas, "premium" cables,
garrish colored power strips, etc are all part of the business. I've
also thought of expanding one of those cell phone "signal enhancer"
stickers to TV size, but don't think there's an area large enough on the
current HDTV sets to attach one. I was thinking that Liquid Crystal TVs
might benefit from installing a quartz crystal or other semiprecious gem
stone nearby in order to benefit from the healing properties of the
stone to repair or possibly prevent post warranty failures.

Ahh yes the cell phone signal enhancer that you stuck on the back of your
phone, inside a cover when possible. And all those weird looking set top
antennas some that looked like the were right out of a Buck Rogers TV
show. Solid gold bullshit.



--
Live Fast, Die Young and Leave a Pretty Corpse

 

[``ZACK``]

"William Sommerwerck" <grizzledgeezer@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:ie8gro$8dc$1@news.eternal-september.org...

The snake oil that I like that pops up every few years
is the "you don't have to exercise and sweat" gizmo.
It pulses "your muscles" while you lay around watching
TeeVee. The effect isn't deep enough into the body to do
what is advertised.

This device is nearly 60 years old. It was called a "Relax-a-ciser", and
put
voltage through your abdominals to contract them. It appears that some
people who used it lost weight. As to whether it could contract your
abdominals sufficiently to develop a visible six-pack -- it doesn't seem
likely.


thay had something like that in australia

it was called the abtronic

 

[Mike]

In article <ie7geu$m5k$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
N_Cook <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote:

I will be giving a talk on scam electronics, ie totally bogus devices sold
to the public.

Secret black boxes that can recharge your "Oyster" travel card, mobile top up,
electricity payment card etc. These can be demonstrated working at least once
before you buy it for ŁŁŁ's, and find it's an LED and battery in a plastic box.

Usually sold by a nice, honest man in a pub that's doing you a favour.

Those "food compatibility" meters that respectable honest companies like H&B
use in-store to test the resonant frequency of food samples and see if it
harmonises with the resonant frequency of your body?. Before giving you a
detailed report of foods that you are intolerant to.

Usually operated by a fully trained health practitioner in a white coat
and subsequently investigated by Watchdog for being totally unreliable,
unrepeatable, and apparently based on pseudo-science guff?

That sort of thing?
--
--------------------------------------+------------------------------------
Mike Brown: mjb[-at-]signal11.org.uk | http://www.signal11.org.uk

 

[JeffM]

Ron wrote:
magnetic bracelet to relieve his arthritis

Baron wrote:
I seem to recall
that there is some scientific basis for your experience.

Yup. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo