Articles Written by Tom Fox

Tom Fox is the author of many articles on projects for magazines such as Popular Electronics, Mother Earth News, and Computer Craft He is also the Workshop Editor for the Boys' Quest and Fun for Kids magazines.

Boys' Quest / Fun For Kidz magazines

Are you a reader of Boys' Quest or Fun For Kidz magazines and are interested in building projects in the Boy's Quest Workshop Column and having trouble finding some electrical or electronic part? If so, please visit our Magicland Electronics website.

Jumper Cable Wizard

The amazing Jumper Cable Wizard makes it nearly foolproof to jump start an automobile or any other engine that uses a a 12 volt starting system! Easy to build kits are available!

Jumper Cables are used to "Jump Start" an automobile or other device that uses an electric starting motor. Although jump starting is simple, it can be dangerous--especially if you make a "simple" mistake. All you need do to safely "Jump Start" a vehicle is to use jumper cables to connect the positive (+) terminal of the bad battery to the positive terminal of the good battery and likewise for the negative (-) terminals. However, if it is night, or the markings on the battery are hard to read one usually needs to make an intelligent guess on which terminals are positive and which are negative. If you goof, you may destroy the computer systems on one or both vehicles. Although unlikely, an explosion may even result. The Jumper Cable Wizard was designed to make Jump Starting a dead or weak 12 volt battery safer and easier. It also has a built-in feature which tells you, with colored LEDs, the condition of a 12 volt battery. It is designed to be connected and attached directly to a set of jumper cables. If you use the Jumper Cable Wizard according to the instructions you will never make a goof in jump starting a battery EVEN IN TOTAL DARKNESS!

Interested in purchasing the kit or parts? Please visit our Magicland Electronics website.