He continued taking things apart to find out how they worked for the next 20-odd years, until he started putting them back together again, and the RinkyDink Mk.1 was born.

The first step to cycle power was simply to attach a car alternator to a bicycle wheel - and it worked! The Mk.1 Dink was only efficient enough to power a small ghetto-blaster, but soon it was mobile...

The breakthrough came when Dan met Bill Wright, who had been working for years designing super-efficient generators to power radio equipment for Flying Doctors in Africa. Bill had designed a unit with an (unrivalled) efficiency of 70% (most generators manage only ...%); Dan bought his prototype moving magnet generator, and it powers the RinkyDink to this day.

From that moment, the RinkyDink Sound System has become a familiar and welcome sight at festivals, environmental showcases and street events throughout Europe as well as Britain. On one occasion they even stopped a riot...

It was a hot afternoon on one of London's anti- Criminal Justice Bill demos, and the Dink arrived in Hyde Park just as people were getting a bit worked-up after a long afternoon's march, and a few scuffles were beginning to turn serious... But with RinkyDink favourites like 'Sugar Sugar' and 'Dancing Queen', smiling and dancing seemed to be a better idea than fighting; the Dink ended up leading the party out of Hyde Park again, dispersing a happy crowd in its wake.

Over the last couple of years, through being so visible, so audible, the RinkyDink has gathered attention and a group of fellow-travellers which extend the concept and the possibilities much further.

yes, but how does it work?