Conference 7.286::home_work

I've seen such a toy.  It uses a high beta transistor to amplify
thermal agitation.  It comes as a kit with earphones, but it
could be modified to play through a speaker (or a blaster box
with input jacks like a neighbor at MIT did).  It's sold by some
company in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  I may be able to find the
company name...

Otherwise, remove the antenna from your FM tuner and make a tape
of the noise between stations (on a bad night for reception).
Then play the same tape back on an auto reverse blaster box.

R.

    re: .1
    
    Might the company be PAIA?
    
    -joet

    A friend of got one and loves it.  She lives in a rather noisy part
    of town (Nashua) and can't sleep without it.
    
    I think she got it from the Sharper Image for about $49.00 plus s&h. SI
    is a yuppie hi tech mail order outfit (most of their products are very
    high priced and somewhat absurd for common folk).
    
    If I can find their catalog, I'll look tonight and see if they still
    carry it and its price.
    
    -Bob 

< Note 526.2 by JOET::JOET >
    Might the company be PAIA?
    
Yes!

    A peson I know bought a sound machine that made rain and wind etc,
    
    and got it at Speigels, its the same one as in Sharper image, but
    I think it runs for $100+ and was on sale at Speigels at the time.
    I'll get the info tonight, I have both books I believe...
    I just found the Spiegel's catalog she ordered it from here at work,
    that I brought in, It's called a MARSONA 1200 sound conditioner
    and was on sale in spring of 85 for $99 down from $139
    All sounds synthesized from solid state electronics, adjustable
    tone and rate...
    I'll check for Sharper image price.
    Jean
    

    I have a copy of the Sharper Image ctalog, if you give me your mailstop
    I send it over to you.  There is a Sharper store in Boston in the
    Quincy Market area.
    
    
    
    Dave

    I've been working nights for six years,so the fan and air conditioner
    come in handy during the Summer,however,Winter is a different story.
    I have tried putting the F.M. radio in between stations to create
    a light hiss,but can't get used to that,so the good old fan has
    been getting plenty of use lately; I too must have something to
    drown out the noisy kids. Edmund Scientific has cassette tapes of
    rain showers in the forest and ocean sounds,which I might try.I
    know what you mean about getting used to having it,can't sleep
    without it.
    I even cover up the windows with cardboard so I can sleep during
    the day (my wife thinks I'm nuts),but it works.
    
    	Steve McWilliams
    

I don't have an auto-reverse home tape deck and don't want to buy
one just for this purpose, so I need something other than a tape.
  I have heard of the Marsona 1200; Sears used to carry it too.
Do you have an up-to-date Spiegel catalog, or have the address to
order one from. I think it would be less expensive from Spiegel's
than from Sharper Image. I read a Sharper Image catalog a few
years ago and I agree, it is oriented toward the yuppie trade.

    Get a humidifier... DeVilbliss (sp?) makes a cool mister that, 
    besides increasing the humidity, makes a semi-quiet hissing 
    noise.  As I recall, it isn't very expensive, either (less 
    than $20).
    
    					andrew

    Why not just use a small fan like the ones in �VAXes or VT240s?
    
    They're very compact, make a "nice" noise and don't blow up a storm.
    
    -al

    I checked sharper image and forgot to bring it in, it was $129 in
    there. I'll see if I have an up to date Spiegels also, and try to
    remember for Monday!
    Jean
    

    One note regarding the Devilbis (sp?) humidifier: if it's under
    $20 then it's probably the one with a spinning disk that shoots
    droplets out into the air.  We came upon one of those free and tried
    it once.  When we found a VERY wet area around the front of it the
    next morning, we stopped using it.
    
    Again, you get what you pay for.
    
    Pete

note:  there is a discussion of white noise for offices in HUMAN::DIGITAL

  I discovered I "needed" white noise 10 years ago. I had been running the
A/C at night (mostly blowing, not cooling) and when it got too cool to run
it I missed the sound. I had a vaporizer and used it all winter. However,
I had two problems: there were some days when it was too humid to use it
and when it got old it started rumbling loudly. I then got the idea of
looking in Sears catalog to see if they had any sound conditioning devices.
I was lucky; they had the Sleep-Mate; this was 8 years ago.
  I almost forgot; I also had the problem of a wet spot on the floor
under the vaporizer.
  

    > ...When we found a VERY wet area around the front of it the
    > next morning, we stopped using it.
      
    I have a DeVilbliss humidifer, and on the first day I used it, had
    a somewhat damp spot on my carpet in front of the device.  I raised
    it up, so that it was further from the floor (from approximately
    6" above the floor to 40") and the dampness problem disappeared.
    
    					andrew

The last reply is almost 8 years old.  Where can I get a white noise generator
these days?

Radio Shack or any one of dozens of mail-order catalogs.  Marsona is the
most popular brand name.

					Steve