tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29104422271115795562024-03-24T00:24:29.214-07:00Project RepairUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-74117351216184371852016-10-09T00:01:00.000-07:002016-10-09T00:08:24.883-07:00Project "Audio Technica AT770 Mister Disc Portable Turntable"It's been a really, really long time since I created a post here.. but here's a recent turntable I've fixed up: the AT770 Audio Technica Mister Disc by Audio Technica made in the 1980s, also known as the AT727 Sound Burger depending on the region they were sold in. The Sound Burger and the Mister Disc are exactly identical (as far as I know) and I used the service manual for the Sound Burger from VinylEngine to service mine.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLB-6jK_jnWfxC6kN_It0-ipngkQhNvnxBGqK7gmPMCfszzBJ1C46FgifwAwmpM0ZNXHMgl8lWqMq6IwcOvpjK1fjbtC2xBE3LWxFpj7IeufVZQKp1CxOcFcY_EyLTcEZa00rOUjhF8Cc/s1600/IMG_8167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLB-6jK_jnWfxC6kN_It0-ipngkQhNvnxBGqK7gmPMCfszzBJ1C46FgifwAwmpM0ZNXHMgl8lWqMq6IwcOvpjK1fjbtC2xBE3LWxFpj7IeufVZQKp1CxOcFcY_EyLTcEZa00rOUjhF8Cc/s640/IMG_8167.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Won this pretty thing from an eBay bidding!</td></tr>
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I've been looking for this turntable for quite a long time but they go for pretty high prices on eBay for working copies.. and the non-working copies I found were in bad shape until this one came along.. cosmetically it was perfect and the seller mentioned that the motor spins but no sound comes out of the line or headphone outputs.. so it was right up my alley for a good restoration!<br />
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So this little thing plays both 33rpm and 45rpm discs and runs on 3 x C sized batteries. It has a single line-level output (red & white RCA), together with 2 x headphone outputs (3.5mm) which I assume allowed couples to bring this on picnics and connect two different headphones to it and listen to music without disturbing the peace, so it is a very nice touch. Nowadays this turntable is most useful at vinyl fairs where collectors can test the vinyl on the spot.. all in all still a very useful and unique turntable to own nowadays!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw1H2-L4VgeaWhWlUhXChtvgjEa0x_g175fgPMJZ99iKsMDm2d1utMlpWoEB_0tF02_zofGZrRcihiaTHr42ZK9mn8s-HHnb7IPqhRRcS5h4cVBuEpqpZt68yRsdPmYRjZ3-ZmJvIPCGI/s1600/DSC07811.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw1H2-L4VgeaWhWlUhXChtvgjEa0x_g175fgPMJZ99iKsMDm2d1utMlpWoEB_0tF02_zofGZrRcihiaTHr42ZK9mn8s-HHnb7IPqhRRcS5h4cVBuEpqpZt68yRsdPmYRjZ3-ZmJvIPCGI/s640/DSC07811.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Powers on okay!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No sound out of the line output, nor either one of the headphone outputs</td></tr>
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I knew beforehand that the outputs were not working.. and true enough when I powered it on and spun a record on it, I heard a half second burst of sound from the player's line out before it went silent.. and this indicated to me a clear case of faulty electrolytic capacitors.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJsk_t1YDgU4NJluPIx3Q4ot9hAr_ZEyax-Fw94_LKZRbxQlWe58h-_D79WRvYqSJZOmrhKecc9jrHC5s7hEeOwCTIRbXClyN5FdLJjGdkF9ehPuNJmqRF6CcgGz3ziE1ZPGv9iSG_px8/s1600/DSC07812.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJsk_t1YDgU4NJluPIx3Q4ot9hAr_ZEyax-Fw94_LKZRbxQlWe58h-_D79WRvYqSJZOmrhKecc9jrHC5s7hEeOwCTIRbXClyN5FdLJjGdkF9ehPuNJmqRF6CcgGz3ziE1ZPGv9iSG_px8/s640/DSC07812.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Time to start taking it apart!</td></tr>
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The service manual is available on http://www.vinylengine.com/ and includes clear instructions on how to strip the turntable down.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy3g_Y1hgZ0chNtDXQcO3sm_S6Zvni-Z0wv5OykxWIabfPk5BWEvSGPvLdtmnMP7hJptvm5ky8UaS_Tq_kW-3JuRn0BY6jhyphenhyphenil6-dlis2HyH_r_5WJwdf0F7zYY160Ga8tlgLc2DUOgEE/s1600/DSC07813.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy3g_Y1hgZ0chNtDXQcO3sm_S6Zvni-Z0wv5OykxWIabfPk5BWEvSGPvLdtmnMP7hJptvm5ky8UaS_Tq_kW-3JuRn0BY6jhyphenhyphenil6-dlis2HyH_r_5WJwdf0F7zYY160Ga8tlgLc2DUOgEE/s640/DSC07813.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top cover comes off first</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tonearm comes right off too</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieRk7cGa1P0RAM630ud7iwApu5PHX485uk5m4WzcCOMlDMaA2VO6Xnq4rWXepw_wCoAqaYEqG7kwAXDNzIb24Er7yymof9YCMJWZCfc8cazUDX6xQ8AIZgmUrgtTvYSsA0AdkNL3K9gJ8/s1600/DSC07831.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieRk7cGa1P0RAM630ud7iwApu5PHX485uk5m4WzcCOMlDMaA2VO6Xnq4rWXepw_wCoAqaYEqG7kwAXDNzIb24Er7yymof9YCMJWZCfc8cazUDX6xQ8AIZgmUrgtTvYSsA0AdkNL3K9gJ8/s640/DSC07831.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tonearm connectors are pretty small and have to be aligned perfectly before they can be slotted back in</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD6ABKUrpCgJLsHnQ1Ubg2T0Boy6aYkBJYGdJUQHoeps3i4YPqFuIm5KTNdLisHL7xreKYXIifEaRtcY-FpSbZ_AWXxk2yo5Ume4FMrC49cf5VOereuW1R-jos2ed_CxC1yz9WIsqdaS0/s1600/DSC07815.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD6ABKUrpCgJLsHnQ1Ubg2T0Boy6aYkBJYGdJUQHoeps3i4YPqFuIm5KTNdLisHL7xreKYXIifEaRtcY-FpSbZ_AWXxk2yo5Ume4FMrC49cf5VOereuW1R-jos2ed_CxC1yz9WIsqdaS0/s640/DSC07815.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">The motor with belt pulley, and the hand soldered circuit board</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigeV6qdI8Uea7cs6PHM40mc9vwEUNIn7WGTOmTE3kGxqL6415569o7oD-zc8ACQLCvNF-btK_mQir1-_jadwPr98Q-ky2nEaYCBcXkpnNnl8HLrowKOK5mmPDVvWx3GOeJ2JaL-9JIfpo/s1600/DSC07816.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigeV6qdI8Uea7cs6PHM40mc9vwEUNIn7WGTOmTE3kGxqL6415569o7oD-zc8ACQLCvNF-btK_mQir1-_jadwPr98Q-ky2nEaYCBcXkpnNnl8HLrowKOK5mmPDVvWx3GOeJ2JaL-9JIfpo/s640/DSC07816.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The motor with belt pulley, and the hand soldered circuit board</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkDrtFGJSIzr5qG3M_aYd6RfXtmdhSTZUeTPxoAQ0nLQ9AgTniwS-BKRLAHSj9EjUncSiT3c_IINkCMozYE9oGXHgxc6xImbOTtJNItAYnGfimvtHQZOjHKGxDwZLRdJt4IhoIbW10_rg/s1600/DSC07817.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkDrtFGJSIzr5qG3M_aYd6RfXtmdhSTZUeTPxoAQ0nLQ9AgTniwS-BKRLAHSj9EjUncSiT3c_IINkCMozYE9oGXHgxc6xImbOTtJNItAYnGfimvtHQZOjHKGxDwZLRdJt4IhoIbW10_rg/s640/DSC07817.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The belts seemed fine and didn't need to be replaced</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPy-HWAuCPYefAO7GLMTrGKDKw7PMGvLMWPNa01zrkN4411AnKQjT8h4UEATvj9AvlhrcpKWPzsS5fXH72RNPirzyRS27wunHvfvt9yB6GwKsOSwShnmCSzyOAkSMkquLtd_-cF4smQHg/s1600/DSC07818.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPy-HWAuCPYefAO7GLMTrGKDKw7PMGvLMWPNa01zrkN4411AnKQjT8h4UEATvj9AvlhrcpKWPzsS5fXH72RNPirzyRS27wunHvfvt9yB6GwKsOSwShnmCSzyOAkSMkquLtd_-cF4smQHg/s640/DSC07818.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The motor is able to spin at 2 speeds to allow 33rpm and 45rpm operation</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCN1131Jh-n0SdTcv6MYGMzLB4h9c3kZC1SoRyOPmzBLUqgmA4MB8dph5VnXcmJ9Tr01V0iKEIqRfPc5wA8q0GSfaAal0aEWbfHD1ALVGpwJUd10s1VqflGGrF-w87iLDP_c6AzxdHr6Q/s1600/DSC07819.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCN1131Jh-n0SdTcv6MYGMzLB4h9c3kZC1SoRyOPmzBLUqgmA4MB8dph5VnXcmJ9Tr01V0iKEIqRfPc5wA8q0GSfaAal0aEWbfHD1ALVGpwJUd10s1VqflGGrF-w87iLDP_c6AzxdHr6Q/s640/DSC07819.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top side of the circuit board with motor control and audio outputs all on board</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0b4EjJe6XAzMf5dD4KKkZDZEsx-rHFPlTwKClGN1_R9eSNZZPfQD96Nnb1ma6Uj156xFnNEtrkNxOoI0cMebUhzZy-wTMTyHswn0YgPFNf_Z_cTQthM8M2kWT8fH-s3r1f2rYLXcSfrE/s1600/DSC07822.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0b4EjJe6XAzMf5dD4KKkZDZEsx-rHFPlTwKClGN1_R9eSNZZPfQD96Nnb1ma6Uj156xFnNEtrkNxOoI0cMebUhzZy-wTMTyHswn0YgPFNf_Z_cTQthM8M2kWT8fH-s3r1f2rYLXcSfrE/s640/DSC07822.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see the dual headphone outputs on the left, and the DC input jack on the right</td></tr>
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The turntable also accepts a 4.5V DC input which you can use instead of batteries. But ensure that the polarity of your DC jack is correct before plugging one in!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First step of capacitor replacement: knowing which capacitors to buy</td></tr>
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As with all of my restoration projects, the very first thing I would do is to replace all of the electrolytic capacitors as they're usually the first components to fail after a few decades of service.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNXls73-xqrWFj2__Semfd_hESGRyN29zwwl41VpHdPEhs8YFQ2kdeka_1PDuCdGey87JN6qOo714Dap88FDUnm055ha6UdUmQT5_xsZM-7-fml07pV3nZLEn9_UlF0SXQkx4rF985otk/s1600/IMG_8191.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNXls73-xqrWFj2__Semfd_hESGRyN29zwwl41VpHdPEhs8YFQ2kdeka_1PDuCdGey87JN6qOo714Dap88FDUnm055ha6UdUmQT5_xsZM-7-fml07pV3nZLEn9_UlF0SXQkx4rF985otk/s640/IMG_8191.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Koba Electronics, where I usually get my audio grade capacitors</td></tr>
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I made a quick trip down to Koba Electronics in Chinatown (Singapore, if you're wondering) where they sell shelves upon shelves of Nichicon audio grade capacitors (my personal favorite) and replaced every capacitor there was to replace.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Xf4pq553beR27sem7wLy7UUXldhqg_sHxCa2vm01mJHkonj-FP2ftms4vTIQy9tesht99VCrzfdL_YYNh3NrIPXuSFFcx4698phEwudsGF8LDy8XJHoG22L1tTfICBOIP46Ist3gdmw/s1600/DSC07842.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Xf4pq553beR27sem7wLy7UUXldhqg_sHxCa2vm01mJHkonj-FP2ftms4vTIQy9tesht99VCrzfdL_YYNh3NrIPXuSFFcx4698phEwudsGF8LDy8XJHoG22L1tTfICBOIP46Ist3gdmw/s640/DSC07842.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nichicon Fine Gold and Elna capacitors as replacements!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Well there's your problem.. a blown capacitor!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A good amount of unmarked wires!</td></tr>
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There are a lot of wires connected to pins on the top of the circuit board so it would be a good idea to stick some labels to the wires to make sure you don't get lost trying to put them back together later!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Japanese capacitors in a Japanese machine</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cleaned the volume potentiometer thoroughly for good measure!</td></tr>
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I put the turntable back together after replacing all of the electrolytic capacitors and put a record under the needle and IT CAME ALIVE!! But..... for some reason the headphone outputs did not work.. I could hear a very very faint whisper of the the music that was playing. It bugged me for a very long time and I replaced just about nearly every component there was to be replaced.. the tantalum capacitors, ceramic capacitors.. and even spent a day in Sim Lim Tower searching for the replacement line out and headphone out amplifier chips (TA7330p and TA7331p) which I was pretty impressed that some vintage radio shops there still have stock on.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Replacing just about every single component that can be de-soldered and replaced!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Replacing just about every single component that can be de-soldered and replaced!</span></td></tr>
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After all that effort the headphone outputs still refused to come alive.. so I measured the output voltage of the transistor (TR1) and found that instead of outputting a voltage of 3.8V, the voltage was merely 2V! So for some reason the transistor had partially failed but that low voltage was enough to power the line out amplifier ICs (2 x TA7330p) but not the headphone out ICs (2 x TA7331p).<br />
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I found an equivalent transistor TIP41 which was quite a lot bigger than the 2SD471 but it could fit into the case with no problems so in it went!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TIP41 replacement transistor.. a lot bigger than the 2SD471</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large.. but still able to fit just fine..</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Replacement needle ATN-103</td></tr>
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Lastly for even more good measure I bought a replacement needle (also from eBay) ATN-103 and installed it on the tonearm.. powered it up.. connected some headphones to the outputs and heard wonderful music!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-10226392082225015122014-01-23T06:24:00.000-08:002014-01-25T01:24:41.835-08:00Project "Dictogrand Dictograph R-3 Horn Speaker" (2/2)I managed to fix this speaker up the way I wanted it, and I have to say it works beautifully!<br />
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I replaced the cardboard mini horn with a metal one with nearly the exact dimensions. I basically went into Daiso one fine day and went around with the cardboard horn/funnel and tried to find something as close and possible and I'd say I found something very close!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not bad for $2 eh?</td></tr>
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It is a measuring cup meant for bartenders to measure out shots for drinks and it is made of stainless steel.. perfect for my intended use! Just cut it at the joint and make a hole at the end and it is now a mini metal horn!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Like so!</td></tr>
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Using a metal cone/horn gives much more clarity in sound over the cardboard one, which to me sounded very bloated and muffled. I read up on the basics of using horns to amplify sounds and the design of the Dictogrand's horn amplifies the middle to high frequencies while attenuating the lower frequencies. In other words: you won't be hearing much bass coming out of the horn, which is okay because I didn't intend to use the horn for dance music anyway! Initial testing showed me that the horn speaker shines when playing acoustic music with uncomplicated arrangements, i.e: simple chill-out tones that do not have an overwhelming amount of instruments.<br />
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Moving on, I kept in mind that everything I planned to put into the box of the speaker should be kept replaceable in the event something better comes along in the future. Thus no epoxy or nails should be used or at least kept to a minimum. I attached this metal horn to the horn entrance plate by using hot glue, which can be easily peeled or dissolved with alcohol in the future if needed but strong enough to hold things together for a long time.<br />
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The last piece of the puzzle was extending the microUSB charging port from the X-Mini to the outside of the box. I couldn't find any proper microUSB breakout boards that could be mounted vertically and thus had to ask my brother who very graciously provided me with a solution by making one (or two) from scratch. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiny!</td></tr>
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I ended up only using 2 pins out of the 5 shown there for +5V and GND which are used for charging. It is possible to use the data pins on the X-Mini for audio playback but I intended to use the 3.5mm jack for that so I kept those pins unconnected. In the process of hooking this USB board up to the speaker I absolutely forgot to take a picture of it wired up before sticking it in. I basically got a standard microUSB cable (also from Daiso by the way!) and cut off one end. I soldered the +5V and GND wires to this breakout board and connected the other end of the cable to the microUSB port on the X-Mini.<br />
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All there was left to do was to drill the holes required and fine tune them with a file. I got my father to help with his experienced drilling skills and I fine tuned the holes ever so slightly for a nice fit.</div>
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As the interfaces were already extended out as shown previously in part 1 of this post, all I had to do now was put in the switches and jacks and wire them all up. The X-Mini is secured snugly in place by the isolating foam below and behind it, which is forcing it up against the metal horn. I tried shaking the box repeatedly and saw that the speaker did not budge at all so I decided against using any glue or other measures to hold it down.. all in the name of semi-temporal-permanent-ism! You never know if a year from now they come out with the X-Mini Uno EXTREME and I'd be kicking myself while I'm tearing out all the permanent fixtures I made previously to this current speaker. It isn't pretty now I'd admit that, but it will work just fine.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Power switch in place, ready to be wired up</td></tr>
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You can see the microUSB port in the picture below on the right below the 3.5mm jack. I applied a generous amount of hot glue to the parts that would be enduring a lot of pushing and pulling.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSsJCK3Q0l7mrFVwl2fdvDxXH_PgzwOn3MxDeaCokvEoYCy-Fc62NW1Q9-uwoH3RymtxHhnrSqktIlkIXkWvZ0eCF3bqlYJEhflw5dy38-O7awf5xoj3kncM3gMGfa6l5ud2NG_-Od84Q/s1600/DSC04109.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSsJCK3Q0l7mrFVwl2fdvDxXH_PgzwOn3MxDeaCokvEoYCy-Fc62NW1Q9-uwoH3RymtxHhnrSqktIlkIXkWvZ0eCF3bqlYJEhflw5dy38-O7awf5xoj3kncM3gMGfa6l5ud2NG_-Od84Q/s1600/DSC04109.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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The volume potentiometer was glued on to a horizontal balsa wood support (also from Daiso! Daiso has everything!) and aligned with the Dictogrand's volume knob, which I forgot to mention, was cut down to a much more manageable length as shown below so that it could turn the X-Mini's volume potentiometer with ease.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioPIKlHct__aS1lI6lGhDEfgJnL3FuwKsXdVB8R7RYyNxNDLnH_BkxH6TwNuqjIH6JNyRHSqM-tisk-yzvDIiOpNafvu1XgnXdlsdQmI2GQBmVPZEJvfSBAzxF7YEHshiAnDmIH807LHM/s1600/DSC04106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioPIKlHct__aS1lI6lGhDEfgJnL3FuwKsXdVB8R7RYyNxNDLnH_BkxH6TwNuqjIH6JNyRHSqM-tisk-yzvDIiOpNafvu1XgnXdlsdQmI2GQBmVPZEJvfSBAzxF7YEHshiAnDmIH807LHM/s1600/DSC04106.JPG" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPlcw7oXlN5Rkvd-Y5vIrAHrlg6sJl9OrMla3Luhh_9AjxtkZqfgPpGCvHqVCawST8-w76uLDZOO7BZwVJ-55Ug5Fba_iunpsV4b1pPphBwu5uM-wnBi7hZUrJWN21CnewvcLDRxKf8lw/s1600/DSC04110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPlcw7oXlN5Rkvd-Y5vIrAHrlg6sJl9OrMla3Luhh_9AjxtkZqfgPpGCvHqVCawST8-w76uLDZOO7BZwVJ-55Ug5Fba_iunpsV4b1pPphBwu5uM-wnBi7hZUrJWN21CnewvcLDRxKf8lw/s1600/DSC04110.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hot glue; it ain't pretty, but it gets the job done!</td></tr>
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Finally, I put another piece of isolating foam on the top of everything so that when I close the lid of the box it would sandwich the speaker in place very tightly.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz5gNBGtzYkFz9yoHVs5NzcEBCnvQKz_Bb8ibT2PJuz-WQ9-72bKCca-keWfW79JOSngKI9UDQ6EienZCXfhA1RyC8s6oMerBGm_91Kgy1Q3jejKcbQY5MZXEyNBIy8JAqA6-OMoy9Byk/s1600/DSC04111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz5gNBGtzYkFz9yoHVs5NzcEBCnvQKz_Bb8ibT2PJuz-WQ9-72bKCca-keWfW79JOSngKI9UDQ6EienZCXfhA1RyC8s6oMerBGm_91Kgy1Q3jejKcbQY5MZXEyNBIy8JAqA6-OMoy9Byk/s1600/DSC04111.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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The LED lights up blue when the speaker is turned on, and it changes to red when the USB charging cable is plugged in. The battery in the X-Mini is only 550mAh and is easily replaceable with another battery of a bigger capacity, but that would be a side-project for another time. Also, it is possible to power the speaker solely by USB power alone, so if the battery ever dies one day then the speaker would still be usable by plugging in a microUSB cable.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL42nYqg_ByHznhv8MF1iqcexBHLNSZwhzzfHszVgUPRwbu8465foEr6k07OlqEHg3jBERGTQ6MQ0lJ9d47Cw489cz2xI957mB34JNqU_0glUtmlF1gQHBgz7DmmOCh-uamAxjaZg0htw/s1600/DSC04108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL42nYqg_ByHznhv8MF1iqcexBHLNSZwhzzfHszVgUPRwbu8465foEr6k07OlqEHg3jBERGTQ6MQ0lJ9d47Cw489cz2xI957mB34JNqU_0glUtmlF1gQHBgz7DmmOCh-uamAxjaZg0htw/s1600/DSC04108.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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To celebrate the completion of this speaker, I made myself a 'commemorative' 3.5mm interconnect cable to always be used by this speaker. Just plug one end into the speaker and the other end to any compatible device like an iPhone or a MP3 player and it is good to go!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH3n9gpuTsHyyqvzFna4BP52Gm2CNBNOe6Inp72l9-ZK4tAwMznj2_E05iBcDuaS79GxU0BCzLocgF-EXA1YEW3vZdqEB-kdRMyYRbeghJxDL6z13ee5UCzWIVXHS_9tNShEX_CqAfHDY/s1600/DSC04112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH3n9gpuTsHyyqvzFna4BP52Gm2CNBNOe6Inp72l9-ZK4tAwMznj2_E05iBcDuaS79GxU0BCzLocgF-EXA1YEW3vZdqEB-kdRMyYRbeghJxDL6z13ee5UCzWIVXHS_9tNShEX_CqAfHDY/s1600/DSC04112.JPG" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-I7lwxn9icBiZFw8_ixZDi50x7I7wsdd6X3eFsk5LtMUrcuzxey_htMqrjkr48fuM5ExjvJv_qyMbPfTCpHid6bM_NbdoxHzuUxkTEAD1Dd55_ZEEmFbFXXYc_7ZZj20Kdau8VTFXMg/s1600/DSC04114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-I7lwxn9icBiZFw8_ixZDi50x7I7wsdd6X3eFsk5LtMUrcuzxey_htMqrjkr48fuM5ExjvJv_qyMbPfTCpHid6bM_NbdoxHzuUxkTEAD1Dd55_ZEEmFbFXXYc_7ZZj20Kdau8VTFXMg/s1600/DSC04114.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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And that.. is the story of how I got myself a snazzy horn speaker after all!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAvfob0vFtUYGIEUjzpJgUIrWQvDas7g_aKJBi2Zt2K9adU3Ea1F10nFUyoGqXbfzjo96BooiI5QhyphenhyphenkIfiYbZ8ipY8qBZwTIusUdAOrswVw9qHy9bZTzEcWf7nHlIEFzNcIanD5D3NTuc/s1600/DSC04116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAvfob0vFtUYGIEUjzpJgUIrWQvDas7g_aKJBi2Zt2K9adU3Ea1F10nFUyoGqXbfzjo96BooiI5QhyphenhyphenkIfiYbZ8ipY8qBZwTIusUdAOrswVw9qHy9bZTzEcWf7nHlIEFzNcIanD5D3NTuc/s1600/DSC04116.JPG" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
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It works wonderfully with jazz and easy-listening music, or period-correct music, if you will (tunes from the 1920s onwards to the 1970s). What the horn does is add a touch of reverb to every sound, so you can hear an echo that lingers after every note for a few milliseconds which is completely natural due to the acoustical design of the horn.<br />
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(<a href="http://projectrepair.blogspot.sg/2014/01/project-dictogrand-dictograph-r-3-horn.html">Link to part 1/2</a>)</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-37769924143219583582014-01-12T03:37:00.000-08:002014-01-23T06:33:47.584-08:00Project "Dictogrand Dictograph R-3 Horn Speaker" (1/2)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #222222; font-size: small; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6uXR7ZaxFgLFrDcpiQD-sPeVxp4F5jAk4xVQZEf9ByB6RJJc_GwTL8Bsoi5F_XwZvfOFgP6sPafIp-UI32x43HcIzqxomyc3ZUkt_Fs7DscuA_oZ0RVS2H1NkgasA34euWV6mTgC9yLs/s1600/DSC04048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6uXR7ZaxFgLFrDcpiQD-sPeVxp4F5jAk4xVQZEf9ByB6RJJc_GwTL8Bsoi5F_XwZvfOFgP6sPafIp-UI32x43HcIzqxomyc3ZUkt_Fs7DscuA_oZ0RVS2H1NkgasA34euWV6mTgC9yLs/s1600/DSC04048.JPG" height="640" width="424" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I won this obnoxiously big horn speaker on eBay and it finally arrived here on New Year's Eve all the way from the US of A. This is a Dictogrand R-3 Speaker made by the Dictograph company in 1923 according to the information on this renowned website <u>(<a href="http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/dictograph_dictogrand_r_3.html">http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/dictograph_dictogrand_r_3.html</a></u>) which makes this speaker about 90 years old. The horn is made of brass and is connected to a (cast iron?) elbow that links it to the speaker driver located in the rectangular box made of wood. It has a volume control knob on the front of the box where the brand is stamped.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZ9x5urt8Y7LZo5lJStXAF6tKWxJjWnqa6urCOBWaQXaqhI-MYSFFgdWIPv06yaPLf6nnZzyq9Sq5smOCQPRHpJGBoKaoNq9gT7fZ9IgMrfSQB0TwZUwfmb_nF9-yzP4jLRyFAZgYBlI/s1600/DSC04049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZ9x5urt8Y7LZo5lJStXAF6tKWxJjWnqa6urCOBWaQXaqhI-MYSFFgdWIPv06yaPLf6nnZzyq9Sq5smOCQPRHpJGBoKaoNq9gT7fZ9IgMrfSQB0TwZUwfmb_nF9-yzP4jLRyFAZgYBlI/s1600/DSC04049.JPG" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
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The funny reason why I bought this obnoxiously big horn speaker is as follows:<br />
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I was out in town some weeks ago and I saw a shop in Singapore selling this "Gramophone for iPhone and iPad" which really caught my eye because I am such a sucker for vintage audio stuff as this blog can attest for. I thought it was a wired dock which you can plug your iPhone into and it'll play it through the speaker but it is solely an acoustic amplifier with no electronics or active speakers whatsoever.. kind of steep considering it was selling for $400sgd++ (!!!) if I saw the pricetag correctly.. it looks beautiful though as a decoration piece but I feel it isn't exactly a 'functional' speaker. Also it isn't exactly 'real' vintage unless the horn was taken from an actual antique speaker but I couldn't verify if that was the case.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.restorationhardware.com/catalog/category/products.jsp?link=GramophoneforiPhoneAnd%2523174%253BandiPadAnd%2523174%253B&categoryId=cat2670002" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/3c/f1/a7/3cf1a7f983672e6ddda69ce65d8419c7.jpg" height="390" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Image from Restoration Hardware and for your reference only, click to go to their website</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I also saw this in another shop for a whopping $700sgd++ (!!!!!??) by enandis (en & is), which is also a really nice decor piece but also has no electronics and depends solely on the iPhone's built in speaker for sound before being amplified by the ceramic horn. Another nice curio for your home if you can afford it..</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://enandis.com/en/designs/megaphone.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://enandis.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Megaphone05_web.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Image from enandis and for your reference only, click to go to their website</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then finally there's this brilliantly designed project on Kickstarter: the Gramovox, which uses an active speaker to play sounds through the functional horn and even has bluetooth capability to stream music. It costs slightly more than $400sgd++ with shipping included (pricey but at least it has some functionality over the other two) which means taxes are applicable if I do purchase it and that would send the cost even higher.. so no snazzy retro horn speaker for me..</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gramovox.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://gramovox.com/assets/press/thumbs/gramovox_03_thumb.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Image from Gramovox and for your reference only, click to go to their website</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">At least until I found this gem on eBay and won the bid a few days before Christmas for $68USD! It isn't exactly 'cheap' as well but compared to the examples above it is very affordable.. and I would believe it is increasingly rare as well which justifies a little more cost. It is ideal for a modification project because it has a good sized box below the horn where the driver (speaker) sits and I would be able to replace it with whatever I wanted to. As mentioned earlier, it also comes with a volume knob on the front that I should be able to link to a volume potentiometer as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The horn is fixed to the back of the box by two easily removable thumbscrews</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Once the thumbscrews are removed, the horn slides right off the two screws and will be freed.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_BQk-ER9V6X4Zl7lXkeiblI0EgPgJa3Zt04FrFIqOHqiovaqct7XLy9x2uijgkJGi8pqrwY9qt1QnKyzCg5cG1yLW5ISK9S6FPdQSU-ro54dwXLYoR8aliA3kF4oKC79dgIc345RgIfE/s1600/DSC04057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_BQk-ER9V6X4Zl7lXkeiblI0EgPgJa3Zt04FrFIqOHqiovaqct7XLy9x2uijgkJGi8pqrwY9qt1QnKyzCg5cG1yLW5ISK9S6FPdQSU-ro54dwXLYoR8aliA3kF4oKC79dgIc345RgIfE/s1600/DSC04057.JPG" height="640" width="424" /></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdvaMnzJRJwkpfWNR3vyfz03llQtq3c0TLu-Hw32WacrebAIaVw0Ta7E0BiK6pNQzXbm2x_BStamrO_vYxSsdBLUok9guzhYcsug6sAE-_XaiNLoahM1Xx6PWr9QwmPWo9mhB5muGaXTE/s1600/DSC04066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdvaMnzJRJwkpfWNR3vyfz03llQtq3c0TLu-Hw32WacrebAIaVw0Ta7E0BiK6pNQzXbm2x_BStamrO_vYxSsdBLUok9guzhYcsug6sAE-_XaiNLoahM1Xx6PWr9QwmPWo9mhB5muGaXTE/s1600/DSC04066.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is a good sized horn, no?</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The bottom of the box can be removed as well and is held together by two fastening screws on either sides of the box shown here.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDaqxGBgS3M14cbt1W1hN3FbKt1xT_xMN-8yRdCKvTl38rsYMdqXOOme403QHUnNUzKjweg3DEC0IywhpiMCsgHvINfNrUeRotxuV6HNxG0rUroIV359_TlPEvMsv1x4pgGTEISRL6qs/s1600/DSC04056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDaqxGBgS3M14cbt1W1hN3FbKt1xT_xMN-8yRdCKvTl38rsYMdqXOOme403QHUnNUzKjweg3DEC0IywhpiMCsgHvINfNrUeRotxuV6HNxG0rUroIV359_TlPEvMsv1x4pgGTEISRL6qs/s1600/DSC04056.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Once the screws are removed then the bottom cover comes right off as well.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRQ5jIvsSMahupwZXDVwi5yIlCL4oFSsDcacBeAvlyoL4xPiT35I6QpJpoGeLXaD71a-1PwvrNun4Oi2MB2SxYFGoZq7SvfMKmPDv0e3cSkdQ0-0Yo92jzkEYfDC9KdVKMdsXdudtvLZM/s1600/DSC04058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRQ5jIvsSMahupwZXDVwi5yIlCL4oFSsDcacBeAvlyoL4xPiT35I6QpJpoGeLXaD71a-1PwvrNun4Oi2MB2SxYFGoZq7SvfMKmPDv0e3cSkdQ0-0Yo92jzkEYfDC9KdVKMdsXdudtvLZM/s1600/DSC04058.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The bottom of the box carries the now faded and torn instructions on how to use the speaker. There are readable examples available online but the instructions contain nothing useful in terms of modern day technology.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-tE9Ue-nfWDfVpPSU-UgWehvC3o61M0aOZ9bI6ggg68xpAQ5gOpViZt8uw-hYsah3fa872kIEDk6RUtiHaK5hndlofEsbrM6g-i0JqyggRjmyopDjXL8WKseGKJ5tutoZDYHgUo9Ss-w/s1600/DSC04063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-tE9Ue-nfWDfVpPSU-UgWehvC3o61M0aOZ9bI6ggg68xpAQ5gOpViZt8uw-hYsah3fa872kIEDk6RUtiHaK5hndlofEsbrM6g-i0JqyggRjmyopDjXL8WKseGKJ5tutoZDYHgUo9Ss-w/s1600/DSC04063.JPG" height="640" width="424" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It says: "Best results will probably be obtained by using about 67.5 volts (!!!!!!) of "B" battery on the amplification unit</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The antique speaker driver has an impedance of over 1kOhm which compared to modern speakers which are anywhere from 4-16 ohms is a great deal more and would not be compatible with modern day amplifiers because the sound would probably be too soft to be heard, assuming the driver works at all after 90 years! You could use a impedance matching transformer to hook up your modern day amplifier to this speaker but I believe the sound would come out very distorted.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaG5VmKQxHEKM6SLi-NLITmwSlgQjwFTMM7s7jy6hRI0tyY90EFmkXM__7PVb_2tcEgj3WLAFXKfBd7iltOMrw0yKdS-J3NRRnvFCR8wH28doktDic8rs1lPyPi9JNN3f1_RqEj297c50/s1600/DSC04059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaG5VmKQxHEKM6SLi-NLITmwSlgQjwFTMM7s7jy6hRI0tyY90EFmkXM__7PVb_2tcEgj3WLAFXKfBd7iltOMrw0yKdS-J3NRRnvFCR8wH28doktDic8rs1lPyPi9JNN3f1_RqEj297c50/s1600/DSC04059.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The gears you see connected from the volume knob to the speaker actually adjusts the distance of the speaker diaphragm to the horn entrance. When the volume is turned lower, the gear turns the mechanism inside the speaker that adjusts the diaphragm further away from the horn entrance at the back and it does the opposite when the volume is turned up. I do not have a powerful enough amplifier to hook this horn speaker up as it is and decided right from the beginning that it is time to remove this speaker driver and let modern electronics take over.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The volume knob is held by a retaining pin that can be simply pulled out and the whole knob can be taken out of the box. The speaker driver can then be removed by lightly (or violently, depending on how warped the wood box is after 90 years) tapping on the two screws at the back.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaxJj2aKVNtAd_GT_w-urPhbAaWojrZqD6MIp01a4JHRR_cU0bej3kwk3kC2ie6AX1FGsg8WQPhqVQ77NFkB577LhO8zFqbp8zYTvgAE8i9uvXdDaHamjGlmOhOJBfFJdjgTuTylmGlVs/s1600/DSC04062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaxJj2aKVNtAd_GT_w-urPhbAaWojrZqD6MIp01a4JHRR_cU0bej3kwk3kC2ie6AX1FGsg8WQPhqVQ77NFkB577LhO8zFqbp8zYTvgAE8i9uvXdDaHamjGlmOhOJBfFJdjgTuTylmGlVs/s1600/DSC04062.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBt3m2gOf1W_Z4r3wsPnAnxvIewjg4mHlgquukU9KHybFJJA6W_zSNsLk0jUClBY3ubQfK_6skPNOyGigUe8RbSgwAjW6nAAbUHZK4oyogdZGkbrXLbV3DLilSPSrPtRd4rn-JvwymIEk/s1600/DSC04064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBt3m2gOf1W_Z4r3wsPnAnxvIewjg4mHlgquukU9KHybFJJA6W_zSNsLk0jUClBY3ubQfK_6skPNOyGigUe8RbSgwAjW6nAAbUHZK4oyogdZGkbrXLbV3DLilSPSrPtRd4rn-JvwymIEk/s1600/DSC04064.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_VBvrSgl_aOSuXEEtW1SClWXOW1rM1a3l65qMjzuxArb5UQpHl1BdtvsPwXT111mquhz8khclrxqJztNNO4VM_fuKYFjr8Fqcr67MIdIQr2oNDaqprZHXdlhUQInnKKonetyFbTfgPaY/s1600/DSC04065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_VBvrSgl_aOSuXEEtW1SClWXOW1rM1a3l65qMjzuxArb5UQpHl1BdtvsPwXT111mquhz8khclrxqJztNNO4VM_fuKYFjr8Fqcr67MIdIQr2oNDaqprZHXdlhUQInnKKonetyFbTfgPaY/s1600/DSC04065.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is time for you to retire!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The back of the speaker driver holds the two (irremovable) screws that can still be used because they are needed to hold the horn in place to the box. The screws have been rusted shut, but a little machine oil left to seep in for 5 minutes helped make the task a lot easier. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXvD4HFuF_Lvj0Nrg8SYIvlYqRqLmvWDiHwU4FZXbCmLGANz8ShyqHSugQTA4g0odwZ-QiPUb9L8heFxBP1cqhcHvQDLriARppfhPwUIAfLaibexO1-mqlDXE_A2PLB-LBAse-zVnctX8/s1600/DSC04071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXvD4HFuF_Lvj0Nrg8SYIvlYqRqLmvWDiHwU4FZXbCmLGANz8ShyqHSugQTA4g0odwZ-QiPUb9L8heFxBP1cqhcHvQDLriARppfhPwUIAfLaibexO1-mqlDXE_A2PLB-LBAse-zVnctX8/s1600/DSC04071.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So that is a complete teardown of the speaker. I intend to make this into a self-powered speaker with a rechargeable battery similar to the Gramovox above, but without the fancy bluetooth feature (perhaps in the future). I did my research and found many possible components I can fit inside from sites such as Adafruit where they have a Class D amplifier breakout board together with a USB/DC battery charger that I can hook up together.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.adafruit.com/products/1552" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://www.adafruit.com/images/medium/1552_MED.jpg" height="246" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Image from Adafruit and for your reference only, click to go to their website</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.adafruit.com/products/259" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://www.adafruit.com/images/medium/259_MED.jpg" height="246" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Image from Adafruit and for your reference only, click to go to their website</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But then I realized, there is only 1 horn, thus 2 channels for stereo is overkill.. and I couldn't find an acceptable mono amplifier. The other big problem was sourcing for a good speaker: it had to be small, but able to play audio at a good volume with no distortion. The small speakers available for DIY projects (also available on Adafruit) are the common ones with paper cones and are designed for simple tones and buzzes and not built to handle music playback.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.adafruit.com/products/1313" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://www.adafruit.com/images/medium/1313_MED.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Image from Adafruit and for your reference only, click to go to their website</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So what then? Well, thankfully, the best small speakers (according to several reviews on the internet) is made right here in Singapore and it is the X-Mini Capsule speaker and it is readily available in all the shops here.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYaAIPhQWqnTWgE8VTGjQlvN307DaPphsJRJCTUX-GpI3N7JwH3eBZB5dLBeKf-YVmMaS6R9JXDgwbv6uDaj08g6tXf3iSycW3jIv0dtdH3vUNLig5hyphenhyphen7nGTFXSpeX1I08haAKpx5vz4/s1600/DSC04072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYaAIPhQWqnTWgE8VTGjQlvN307DaPphsJRJCTUX-GpI3N7JwH3eBZB5dLBeKf-YVmMaS6R9JXDgwbv6uDaj08g6tXf3iSycW3jIv0dtdH3vUNLig5hyphenhyphen7nGTFXSpeX1I08haAKpx5vz4/s1600/DSC04072.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Okay.. readily available except in the black color that I wanted it but heck.. </span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLyjsTasFjfmRWNUI7qurh6uv9jD9ZUxswhkyIoG3OFYkjGPXC5vwPsfq4nTee2agvsz9xdwfdsvhlqzp7f3BsxbZo3m20DYLS8mGE7TGl8SUvn6WmNYph64p_mUseEOU-hBYXHhpif3k/s1600/DSC04073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLyjsTasFjfmRWNUI7qurh6uv9jD9ZUxswhkyIoG3OFYkjGPXC5vwPsfq4nTee2agvsz9xdwfdsvhlqzp7f3BsxbZo3m20DYLS8mGE7TGl8SUvn6WmNYph64p_mUseEOU-hBYXHhpif3k/s1600/DSC04073.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The X-Mini is a very common portable speaker that has been around for quite some time now. It has an expandable accordion baffle in the middle that gives the speaker a lot more air volume to work with so the relatively small 40mm driver sound a lot better and louder than it should and so I felt it was very ideal for this current project. The <b>best part</b> is that it has a complete circuit built in, so there's no need for me to design a battery charging circuit with an amplifier with a speaker.. this single device combines everything I intended to build into one small capsule that would (most probably) outperform any speaker I source to use in this project.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The speaker is pretty easy to take apart as well. Remove the four screws on the bottom part of the accordion and the base will drop out, revealing the PCB.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt3RzyStNH_nRDME5XDx-3Lm-1q7LYFKk1tCMamXZt-Xw6a-iPYUqkrGKewOevRzxbjPllhRWq6xzItAPKUag2TocS6uUKMDXcJXGLc8mzF9NaSrPPYYyQeOPxfz4ENZ35xb4-a5Cy1Qw/s1600/DSC04074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt3RzyStNH_nRDME5XDx-3Lm-1q7LYFKk1tCMamXZt-Xw6a-iPYUqkrGKewOevRzxbjPllhRWq6xzItAPKUag2TocS6uUKMDXcJXGLc8mzF9NaSrPPYYyQeOPxfz4ENZ35xb4-a5Cy1Qw/s1600/DSC04074.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Remove the one screw on the PCB and everything will be exposed. I had no need to modify the upper half of the speaker where the driver is so I left that on its own. I planned to remove the switch, potentiometer and 3.5mm plug and extend it out of the box so I would be able to power on and off the speaker, adjust the volume, and plug in whatever music player I want to without opening the box to do so.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNw3FWTqlKyNAlkOcWkA_OS64G_tKAi8IAeZvEdec6pDCS3rQ2qF1U8eXv9w9AoKoNBp4SuN9aY904rb00Kxdn_2BhWTp78dg2ahOWHmGB2LO7sEp5aMmRcm4eM8MTCb0pXCtVvEN-ow0/s1600/DSC04077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNw3FWTqlKyNAlkOcWkA_OS64G_tKAi8IAeZvEdec6pDCS3rQ2qF1U8eXv9w9AoKoNBp4SuN9aY904rb00Kxdn_2BhWTp78dg2ahOWHmGB2LO7sEp5aMmRcm4eM8MTCb0pXCtVvEN-ow0/s1600/DSC04077.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I set about desoldering the components from the board, but I found it extremely difficult to do so because the components were mostly soldered on both sides via through holes and they were a real pain to remove. I yanked out the potentiometer together with its traces and I had to improvise with thin strands of wire to rebuild the traces. It wasn't pretty but it works.. hopefully if your project requires you to repurpose the X-Mini like this then you would have a good desoldering tool to help you.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji3wrFV4snJyvG_XZJSkgqBJ0beSd_x_alrXI056Wu1DTA7SH1UTet7XSMxdPsPBK4jRYcP4ySg4lTj_qCuPMVmlRKBK6obgmJ3uZ2YIMaRuVD1KTZ9tkeWvJls35z_B3eWCL-tfAEs8w/s1600/DSC04078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji3wrFV4snJyvG_XZJSkgqBJ0beSd_x_alrXI056Wu1DTA7SH1UTet7XSMxdPsPBK4jRYcP4ySg4lTj_qCuPMVmlRKBK6obgmJ3uZ2YIMaRuVD1KTZ9tkeWvJls35z_B3eWCL-tfAEs8w/s1600/DSC04078.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With the switch removed. The speaker uses a Double Pole Single Throw (DPST) switch but it only actually uses a single pole, thus a simple single pole switch would work.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDNSo8L-Y03oONg4x9eQWh_hYI1Fph-kSLs-x3Pms5-EaIl7tHkLpSuEyIeeZ3wEgqnnW2s4X22u8eFozCrxgrsTrzZToIY46RULzjTKQ1OBVTd6NOlUIUSQ5MxEvXBWuUzrDQMfLAdtE/s1600/DSC04081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDNSo8L-Y03oONg4x9eQWh_hYI1Fph-kSLs-x3Pms5-EaIl7tHkLpSuEyIeeZ3wEgqnnW2s4X22u8eFozCrxgrsTrzZToIY46RULzjTKQ1OBVTd6NOlUIUSQ5MxEvXBWuUzrDQMfLAdtE/s1600/DSC04081.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The black tape hides my demolition job on the volume potentiometer traces. They also act as a strain relief so I don't accidentally rip out their tracks again by moving the potentiometer around.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I desoldered the male 3.5mm connector and soldered a female connector at the end of the longer wire. This female connector will be accessible together with the on/off switch on the outside of the box. I also extended the LED indicator so I would be able to see if the speaker is on or off. I did not touch the USB connector that is used for charging the device, but I ordered a microUSB extension (that has yet to arrive) that I will plug into the port on the speaker and fix the female end to the rear of the speaker box.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1a4TDGZfsSrMZcx-pPaVI21Q-ear9CgDrepwdeCNhsPC9wXHXAlytDuKKUyOhTaTrhiX80cmK9F4qokQkwb_si4cJVpYw_tvk6Llxz5LMCSIXEBxVOXa9lVvavs9C_T7ty3235Iz-yfs/s1600/DSC04082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1a4TDGZfsSrMZcx-pPaVI21Q-ear9CgDrepwdeCNhsPC9wXHXAlytDuKKUyOhTaTrhiX80cmK9F4qokQkwb_si4cJVpYw_tvk6Llxz5LMCSIXEBxVOXa9lVvavs9C_T7ty3235Iz-yfs/s1600/DSC04082.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">TLDR; I will eventually be able to access all the features of the X-Mini without needing to open the speaker box, making it a fully portable standalone speaker.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">While the speaker has a 40mm driver, the entrance of the horn is a lot smaller at about 18mm. This means that simply placing the speaker at the horn's entrance would result in a lot of sound energy (volume) being wasted because the sound waves do not all enter into the hole.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV3qOCiRjLhSFX7UW7SrUKKt8s_5m7EfeVBsSE_lGI_0jxSUCS2nZEHIH0vOvsgAbGtBsJAdP7vQ_b-Ru-LNnXJEnejP2_Q5VEKARkjn85hGQgaJDVvUo78cLDB8Qcs6Xckj0gpsVWfjg/s1600/DSC04090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV3qOCiRjLhSFX7UW7SrUKKt8s_5m7EfeVBsSE_lGI_0jxSUCS2nZEHIH0vOvsgAbGtBsJAdP7vQ_b-Ru-LNnXJEnejP2_Q5VEKARkjn85hGQgaJDVvUo78cLDB8Qcs6Xckj0gpsVWfjg/s1600/DSC04090.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I basically needed a small horn to guide the sound waves emitted from the X-Mini into the horn's entrance. I found these hard cardboard cones from the shop "Spotlight" where they sell all sorts of handicraft materials and cut it down to size:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis0rHHxLIlR-BBDn0wd2fvZWqAG1V1XrTvKb_fGwOUj8cZ8umiuThXeBG_ZF-Ps0DoQduEtA1foF3uAwchumeDpuc2PBai3KZqe3Nc0cL04cAmO7QmXQ4ofgitJoizQ1GL8oFpXwgw8_g/s1600/DSC04091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis0rHHxLIlR-BBDn0wd2fvZWqAG1V1XrTvKb_fGwOUj8cZ8umiuThXeBG_ZF-Ps0DoQduEtA1foF3uAwchumeDpuc2PBai3KZqe3Nc0cL04cAmO7QmXQ4ofgitJoizQ1GL8oFpXwgw8_g/s1600/DSC04091.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I put everything together as shown below before closing it all up to give it a try, and it doesn't sound half bad! But I would prefer a metal cone rather than a cardboard one so this would only be a temporary fix just to get a feel of how it would fit and sound like. I will be taking a good look around to explore other options over the next few days/weeks and see what I can find.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX3SfWiLQ24QdIJtb5wLe0wp4-KpncNGOkTKbkGQJpE27VlQgSu0Nvfjss3OrxqtUpUfKpKi0J-NmQNPff1edpLzrJyPsaLkhPyp3gQxQ53BNDQkWIgM7COT8cYW5AC9y9iZBGmyBYH50/s1600/DSC04096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX3SfWiLQ24QdIJtb5wLe0wp4-KpncNGOkTKbkGQJpE27VlQgSu0Nvfjss3OrxqtUpUfKpKi0J-NmQNPff1edpLzrJyPsaLkhPyp3gQxQ53BNDQkWIgM7COT8cYW5AC9y9iZBGmyBYH50/s1600/DSC04096.JPG" height="640" width="424" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I made a simple recording of the capability of this project with my phone's camera, and I will make a higher quality video when I am finally done with this project.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/sO9MhSQQK4k?rel=0" width="640"></iframe></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(<a href="http://projectrepair.blogspot.sg/2014/01/project-dictogrand-dictograph-r-3-horn_23.html">Link to part 2/2</a>)</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-63659583777400457372013-09-06T07:22:00.001-07:002013-09-06T07:32:47.352-07:00Project "Technics SL-Q3 Direct Drive Automatic Turntable"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUX_DzioL8afPBBoJtWaCcElYGRw3v3hmwtUeJmid3slqrF2U77CXN6hwyPLdiBv9X0L6EXgdp7JgSUWKYWHo0HR94akosb15m1mYUYlAVEh2kzEiJLUUa8nGSd78BxujLJnidRXmIkNY/s1600/DSC03398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUX_DzioL8afPBBoJtWaCcElYGRw3v3hmwtUeJmid3slqrF2U77CXN6hwyPLdiBv9X0L6EXgdp7JgSUWKYWHo0HR94akosb15m1mYUYlAVEh2kzEiJLUUa8nGSd78BxujLJnidRXmIkNY/s640/DSC03398.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I have been using this turntable for about 2 years now and it has been chugging along steadily. It belonged to my father who said he bought it about 30+ years ago and the fact that it still turns at all is a miracle in this generation of gadgets that never seem to last longer than a couple of years before giving up the ghost. It originally comes with a thick rubber platter mat which I have since replaced with a thinner cork one. It spoils the look of it somewhat but it isn't going to win any design awards even with the black rubber mat anyway.<br />
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It is a quartz locked direct drive turntable, meaning no spinning motors or turntable belts, and if working well it would be spinning 99.9% (or so) at the correct speed all the time at either 33 or 45rpm. The tonearm moves automatically to the first track of a record when the start button is pressed, and returns automatically to rest when the end of the record is reached...simple and convenient. It does what it was designed to do with minimum fuss and performs well to my ears.<br />
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This turntable was built to last, but everything has its limits and recently I noticed it has been struggling to keep a constant speed. I can hear it every time I play a song with a sustained note and you can hear the pitch go up and down when it is supposed to be a steady pitch. A quick check with a stroboscope confirmed this and I set about dismantling the turntable to see what was up with it.<br />
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To take it apart, remove the platter mat and you will see two holes in the platter. Put a finger into each hole and GENTLY lift the platter up. Do your best to try and lift it straight up without knocking the against the center spindle as the direct drive motor magnets are there and might be damaged with rough treatment.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCXW47Lv_d8ajJCTwWE5zLguw0UqYQ32zBzQs8igoveEEGUXupnLp_bfYImwDmrVf16EjGgDg6qpAPyAg646_R-2DvVEepMZkhvkAiYaf8FAfd3nm98uxQ6Ra9EOylDPmMCJ6S6dJArgs/s1600/DSC03401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCXW47Lv_d8ajJCTwWE5zLguw0UqYQ32zBzQs8igoveEEGUXupnLp_bfYImwDmrVf16EjGgDg6qpAPyAg646_R-2DvVEepMZkhvkAiYaf8FAfd3nm98uxQ6Ra9EOylDPmMCJ6S6dJArgs/s640/DSC03401.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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You can see the direct drive magnets in the picture below. The black cover has 3 screws securing it to the turntable body. Remove these screws and the cover lifts right off.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRoo7n6rxRJS203OZYJl0ZCgAuolqBgO4MBeSEnmZ-tSxfwVDhBc4E7OYM2r-aJUaQ3pQZYs0wW3u4pux9Ff2SRZWnUVaaMlxt-uR8rhB78Y2SO9ak0CNn2M7BJtbFHw7zCTFiztSOgP4/s1600/DSC03402.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRoo7n6rxRJS203OZYJl0ZCgAuolqBgO4MBeSEnmZ-tSxfwVDhBc4E7OYM2r-aJUaQ3pQZYs0wW3u4pux9Ff2SRZWnUVaaMlxt-uR8rhB78Y2SO9ak0CNn2M7BJtbFHw7zCTFiztSOgP4/s640/DSC03402.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The cover has an indicator showing the front orientation so you can't put it back wrongly.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnTTg3ILZU8uqocPr46DL0gQJ8uDRpNUFBaoVFohITOsF52vSWcIe8W2fENoVy6ya9-nVmoljPaqZJg9ZeTuMtNlIk_XN3N3hgjWOCKcqNm9UhM5wOZDikR59tg0t1OSKcH39R1tUH1kA/s1600/DSC03403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnTTg3ILZU8uqocPr46DL0gQJ8uDRpNUFBaoVFohITOsF52vSWcIe8W2fENoVy6ya9-nVmoljPaqZJg9ZeTuMtNlIk_XN3N3hgjWOCKcqNm9UhM5wOZDikR59tg0t1OSKcH39R1tUH1kA/s640/DSC03403.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Lifting off the cover reveals...electrolytic capacitors!!! The number one most replaced component on this blog so far! They have been in service for 30+ years and it was time for them to be replaced...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFOJAu4j5oEquEEfVjyIY9Pp5iZTyA6g8CxHC_qyDQhBjeKMivbDS0Iuv-5pYZjRuq6kgh5FiMSFlC19ZU7txzJ9SO2RzJmkZApyK0Sl79eqyhbTNG-dn7VQByDfzPjf-Fobje75gvT9c/s1600/DSC03404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFOJAu4j5oEquEEfVjyIY9Pp5iZTyA6g8CxHC_qyDQhBjeKMivbDS0Iuv-5pYZjRuq6kgh5FiMSFlC19ZU7txzJ9SO2RzJmkZApyK0Sl79eqyhbTNG-dn7VQByDfzPjf-Fobje75gvT9c/s640/DSC03404.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The bottom plate has to be removed in order to access the bottom of the PCB. The four spring feet were in terrible condition and the rubber dampers we disintegrating as I handled them. They came apart as I unscrewed the four screws holding the bottom plate to the turntable body. I would obviously have to replace the feet as well.</div>
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What would you expect to find in a 30+ year old turntable? 30+ years worth to dust perhaps? Yep...it was so dusty that I took the entire bottom plate and ran it under a tap to wash away all the muck. I realize now that in my haste to assemble the turntable back later I forgot to take a picture of the clean bottom plate but trust me when I say I cleaned it up real good.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiJN70JU9HA8ZMqA5irG9IXJDTpPm1j6rTaupuKIgYz1aGfRgJ7SizpEUlZlN1o1tpCq3PF9Vb3wqlqDTK_Zvh8HSa7HoyMwQum-NEH_ji8DdLpLeIOk2wmU-XNHEm2cu9cNh_UL-hzno/s1600/DSC03407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiJN70JU9HA8ZMqA5irG9IXJDTpPm1j6rTaupuKIgYz1aGfRgJ7SizpEUlZlN1o1tpCq3PF9Vb3wqlqDTK_Zvh8HSa7HoyMwQum-NEH_ji8DdLpLeIOk2wmU-XNHEm2cu9cNh_UL-hzno/s640/DSC03407.JPG" width="424" /></a></div>
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With everything stripped away I now have access to the top and bottom of the PCB. You can see the intricate system of gears and pulleys that control the auto start and return system. No electronic servos or other high tech stuff here! Besides the quartz locked motor speed control which is electronically controlled, everything else is nearly mechanical which is very interesting to look at...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFv_255xp3_svdrwmcNSQ2ReGAjaCWLxErHyoqOTma3KPVvoawXJOybrmvPLq3iSnxlr912L41mcnyxAK-1A4n-1Ts7P9wZ8HaiSS9FWxdipJcCMtb8RbjO-xXd_gL6qmTKdiHdQx1-w/s1600/DSC03408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFv_255xp3_svdrwmcNSQ2ReGAjaCWLxErHyoqOTma3KPVvoawXJOybrmvPLq3iSnxlr912L41mcnyxAK-1A4n-1Ts7P9wZ8HaiSS9FWxdipJcCMtb8RbjO-xXd_gL6qmTKdiHdQx1-w/s640/DSC03408.JPG" width="424" /></a></div>
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Replacing the electrolytic capacitors was as simple as noting down the value and voltage rating and getting new replacements.<br />
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As always, modern equivalent capacitors are usually smaller than what they were 30+ years ago..<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHji8lceS2Q0L-X_Pq3nK13MiQSMqJHgP-Y8nJBStjIO6jOxMGsK_GRGzPRY_bReA7KadX4aTzXheQzV39IFT7ASmZQBPljpo_9it1Ej62U_PL_Wm2szzXnEbApjvcdZ2nLde_zh3DY4/s1600/DSC03427.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHji8lceS2Q0L-X_Pq3nK13MiQSMqJHgP-Y8nJBStjIO6jOxMGsK_GRGzPRY_bReA7KadX4aTzXheQzV39IFT7ASmZQBPljpo_9it1Ej62U_PL_Wm2szzXnEbApjvcdZ2nLde_zh3DY4/s640/DSC03427.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I found a few capacitors that were leaking as I desoldered them one by one. None of the other capacitors other than electrolytic generally require replacement after 10 years or so and they are usually the first components to fail, so do keep that in mind every time an old piece of equipment fails suddenly. You could bring it back to life by simply replacing the electrolytic capacitors as I have done many times on this blog with the other projects.<br />
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There...good as new for the next 10-30 years!<br />
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While I was at it, I decided to replace the corroded RCA plugs as well. These plugs connect to my pre-amplifier and have always needed an occasional twisting in their sockets to get a good connection and I was sick of it so it was time for them to go!<br />
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I ordered a good solid pair of Amphenol plugs and I couldn't ask for any better quality in a RCA plug (none of those 100% solid-gold-blessed-with-holy-water kind of plugs please...) Here's a short guide on how to replace RCA plugs on your player:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu0Wlvm3k6s9hD1nqMOCN1klmycQtMEr7Vp8fLgYD4ID5Fq0j6jj3PGWiLNxjs8EqUcLmKHz2gafy7Ndl2IJWuC34UUVIibCCbALKyGHmdEc11B38tCSiwheLFSYwxRhv7Gcj3dWsY-zY/s1600/DSC03418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu0Wlvm3k6s9hD1nqMOCN1klmycQtMEr7Vp8fLgYD4ID5Fq0j6jj3PGWiLNxjs8EqUcLmKHz2gafy7Ndl2IJWuC34UUVIibCCbALKyGHmdEc11B38tCSiwheLFSYwxRhv7Gcj3dWsY-zY/s640/DSC03418.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Strip the wire carefully to expose the shielding and the inner insulated core.<br />
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Twist the shielding to form a 'wire' on its own. This shielding is to be soldered on to the flat horizontal prong you see in the picture below.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Mk2N6OqK3ApL_lt7OODsh7OHqaNEYCAg1N2EpVJNRkw7TfWjPXBcIsf884pF9r2JEhWXiNtAVQGLzec-oztbBt7NSYL3VZPOhdpE8fGmFem_7_VZ4Im8w3tsy0f83M1HonGROC59bnM/s1600/DSC03419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Mk2N6OqK3ApL_lt7OODsh7OHqaNEYCAg1N2EpVJNRkw7TfWjPXBcIsf884pF9r2JEhWXiNtAVQGLzec-oztbBt7NSYL3VZPOhdpE8fGmFem_7_VZ4Im8w3tsy0f83M1HonGROC59bnM/s640/DSC03419.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Strip the inner wire ever so slightly and solder that to the center hole of the RCA plug. Solder the shielding as mentioned before and that settles this plug!</div>
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Rinse and repeat for the other plug and voila, new corrosion free plugs!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRoq78jXOU8woiJ_1jX6o4MZ-GXrIukYgDYhbA0_UYVY6r4ycYNnyKWODWGTe4MwYt7mjEurDk_bnQHjzInYchfY5rvbJIWOqPjrYtQBSwntqS-71oJwxoAMXs2OPKnMEeWxHvybWlqWU/s1600/DSC03423.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRoq78jXOU8woiJ_1jX6o4MZ-GXrIukYgDYhbA0_UYVY6r4ycYNnyKWODWGTe4MwYt7mjEurDk_bnQHjzInYchfY5rvbJIWOqPjrYtQBSwntqS-71oJwxoAMXs2OPKnMEeWxHvybWlqWU/s640/DSC03423.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The old spring/rubber feet could no longer serve their purpose of absorbing the vibrations from the surface which the turntable is coupled to, so I bought these solid metal cone feet to replace them. They act as mechanical diodes, allowing vibrations to transfer from the turntable down to the surface which it is sitting on, and not the other way around.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqYheg0QlDB1zINSCsy_OCI2g3tStHREzbm4Ha7_i_IvjjULFGIhrqb8p3JSyslcu6cZD0XJvm7qU9fV0-faB0X3rnfDUUUp1lgQPbcYp0uFmAkB0xanm12l7KfqI1o7kbwRD3COQG-Y/s1600/DSC03413.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqYheg0QlDB1zINSCsy_OCI2g3tStHREzbm4Ha7_i_IvjjULFGIhrqb8p3JSyslcu6cZD0XJvm7qU9fV0-faB0X3rnfDUUUp1lgQPbcYp0uFmAkB0xanm12l7KfqI1o7kbwRD3COQG-Y/s640/DSC03413.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I stuck cork pads on the corners of the base plate to give a buffer zone between the supports and the turntable for added dampening. This is beneficial especially if your speakers are near to your player and the vibrations induced by your speakers will result in audible feedback which is when the energy of the sound waves from your speaker causes your needle to vibrate, which in turn creates sound in your speakers, which in turn causes your needle to vibrate, which in turn...well...you get the picture...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP1hcn_nNpJJQBfiV_uUnuecxZmdLaXZXlLH43pNDzEV6UyFBHTC6aM4ohaCql-wn3yMIWkO7j1QkDRvNIyEj4ryjk2DHvf3xiQxXky1TkbZn_Omk0H10rQasy1dgpkqkb9rW5a2e5yaA/s1600/DSC03474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP1hcn_nNpJJQBfiV_uUnuecxZmdLaXZXlLH43pNDzEV6UyFBHTC6aM4ohaCql-wn3yMIWkO7j1QkDRvNIyEj4ryjk2DHvf3xiQxXky1TkbZn_Omk0H10rQasy1dgpkqkb9rW5a2e5yaA/s640/DSC03474.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Lastly, I also decided to give the dust cover a good cleaning and polishing as well. 30+ years of wear and tear has made it opaque. I used fine grade sandpaper for the more obvious scratches, followed by Novus plastic polisher no.1 and 2 which I last used with great results on the <a href="http://projectrepair.blogspot.sg/2011/01/project-westclox-big-ben-alarm-clock_17.html">Westclox</a> clock lens.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIEpI-B1ofKtyP6SN6JYUp2SxGBTJWdpdJHkYJx29C0c3dz8zkek9Ir7DZZXvcgAAWzQjd8gccmC9zIMNfU8VNXQoFBJuGLIc3GS68S5Uj0vrf_SCv8DnXAc4wxXJ8OS5vjdbg9hg_1OE/s1600/DSC03459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIEpI-B1ofKtyP6SN6JYUp2SxGBTJWdpdJHkYJx29C0c3dz8zkek9Ir7DZZXvcgAAWzQjd8gccmC9zIMNfU8VNXQoFBJuGLIc3GS68S5Uj0vrf_SCv8DnXAc4wxXJ8OS5vjdbg9hg_1OE/s640/DSC03459.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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It seems to be dusty but it is actually covered in many fine scratches from the years of daily wear and tear.<br />
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Apply a good amount and buff with a soft cloth:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjap-g_Xe-wPdBEg9rokaqSWvA57_y5e8Mwt6C_VbGajoDs1l3IL4E1fFoXoQapzVA6jQz65jX8-PSwPf4G7YcoHjxU7GjBCXRN8NjJF62OWh5LZH1QYYO1cliW4k-aRsQ-ghqlD8OK_9o/s1600/DSC03462.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjap-g_Xe-wPdBEg9rokaqSWvA57_y5e8Mwt6C_VbGajoDs1l3IL4E1fFoXoQapzVA6jQz65jX8-PSwPf4G7YcoHjxU7GjBCXRN8NjJF62OWh5LZH1QYYO1cliW4k-aRsQ-ghqlD8OK_9o/s640/DSC03462.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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It's not perfectly clear, but it is much better than before. You probably won't get it glass clear without using a electric buffer but this was good enough for me.<br />
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I put everything back together and now the turntable works perfectly again. </div>
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-The capacitor replacement cured the inconsistent motor speed.</div>
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-The new RCA plugs stopped the intermittent connection between the turntable and the pre-amplifier.</div>
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-The new cone feet reduced the vibrations absorbed by the turntable body, resulting in lesser mechanical feedback.</div>
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-The polished dust cover made the turntable slightly nicer to look at.</div>
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All in all a great success!</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-59364318590249996192013-08-17T07:06:00.000-07:002013-09-06T07:23:34.362-07:00Project "Mistral MM-1 Hybrid Tube Amplifier Modification"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYLMZcbYXz7j-Kxc-xheBPMjEpv8iXCG437zUY5RA4uqLIHi2iwr0Sg8PicrwwwRKa6hdqlPwgNYvdbDjWk3ERiRcsmlV4ViMiL1JTC6F2uIJncwyQ5gmiULU2WgCpTlZzw7EbpTYPm7Q/s1600/7722882444_3ac628c13e_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYLMZcbYXz7j-Kxc-xheBPMjEpv8iXCG437zUY5RA4uqLIHi2iwr0Sg8PicrwwwRKa6hdqlPwgNYvdbDjWk3ERiRcsmlV4ViMiL1JTC6F2uIJncwyQ5gmiULU2WgCpTlZzw7EbpTYPm7Q/s640/7722882444_3ac628c13e_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I bought this hybrid tube amplifier made by Mistral Audio (<a href="http://www.mistralaudio.com/Stereo.html">http://www.mistralaudio.com/Stereo.html</a>) from the shop Precision Audio in Adelphi (affiliated to Ban Leong Brothers Singapore) slightly over a year ago. It sounded really good when I first got it and only cost $169SGD (!!!!) which is the cheapest power amplifier I have seen in the entire building (The Adelphi has many...many high end audio shops with 4-5 digit product price tags).<br />
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It uses a pair of 6N1 triodes as well as a pair of 6P15 pentodes for the preamplifier section. The power output utilizes a pair of LM1875 solid state amplifiers capable of 20 Watts each.<br />
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After using it for a year I noticed the sound quality started to deteriorate really fast. It started buzzing, humming and distorting intermittently and really got on my nerves and my ears. I did some research and I found out quite a lot of disappointing things from many different forums, mainly:</div>
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-It isn't really 'made' by Mistral Audio. This amplifier is a generic Chinese designed and manufactured amp apparently in the same factory as where they build the other Mistral Audio amplifiers that cost more than a thousand bucks. This amplifier that costs $169SGD is made in that same factory (i think?) but wasn't designed by Mistral Audio; it was designed by a nameless company and they just slapped their brand on it...together with a few other brands such as Jaycar (model AA-0474) in Australia which they are discussing on this forum: </div>
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<a href="http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=277066">http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=277066</a></div>
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and it is also branded as Marriola on Amazon.com:</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Amplifier-4Tubes2x40-Natural-Marriola-RV-100/dp/B006IQ6Z90/ref=pd_sim_sbs_ce_1/279-2282004-0675031">http://www.amazon.co.uk/Amplifier-4Tubes2x40-Natural-Marriola-RV-100/dp/B006IQ6Z90/ref=pd_sim_sbs_ce_1/279-2282004-0675031</a></div>
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-All the tube heaters are actually over voltage and are running much hotter than they should be. I found this out from the audiokarma forum link above as well as from this experienced person's (cool386) website: </div>
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<a href="http://members.iinet.net.au/~cool386/jaycar/jaycar.html">http://members.iinet.net.au/~cool386/jaycar/jaycar.html</a></div>
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This means that the tubes will fail and burn out much sooner than their normal lifespan, bringing the sound quality down the longer they are run. They are not supposed to be as bright as they look in this picture:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg19Uea37kdnmYtKZGhqsT0wwYfouqu4MCo2D9EvE4-VUwSHUE642A5Pbc6te2hlImRXEZge66zT-7uxRXVS9WjdBO2XZaPGCYSVvQm94iJFTINIoJHeGQzNJzNVUQc7fooRwiAOeqWCeg/s1600/7722881616_fd939a3b50_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg19Uea37kdnmYtKZGhqsT0wwYfouqu4MCo2D9EvE4-VUwSHUE642A5Pbc6te2hlImRXEZge66zT-7uxRXVS9WjdBO2XZaPGCYSVvQm94iJFTINIoJHeGQzNJzNVUQc7fooRwiAOeqWCeg/s640/7722881616_fd939a3b50_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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-Also, only half of each triode is actually hooked up to the preamplifier circuit, meaning that while the tubes definitely do contribute to the sound, they are not actually fully utilized.</div>
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The bottom line is that the amplifier doesn't sound bad...it doesn't sound bad at all! But in order to get it working consistently at its full potential, a few modifications had to be made.<br />
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The first modifications I did was to reduce the heater voltages. I assumed the tubes were all burnt out after spending a year running hot and ordered a completely new pair of (Bulgarian/Ukrainian NOS tubes) 6N1s and 6P15s from eBay. The forum members on the audiokarma forum suggested putting voltage drop resistors which would work but after tracing the preamplifier PCB I could not understand the logic behind their suggested resistor placement and came up with a new one.</div>
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The amplifier can be dismantled easily; just remove all the screws on the edges of the bottom and the entire bottom plate comes off. Use a marker to mark all the connectors you see so you will be able to identify which connector goes back to which later on during reassembly.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyKsVr2O8dDYnJIQvND2Wz9q6vGNZ9cdLS7DFEI80YKyIdsXtZQPByYooRJWbOWGQpWmkig82fOhqRCFb3SlORnnkaJ2j4SEEko1g2icMPfSG3ThlBe_4d5gFmWayrPYdgKb6fbFT-0Bc/s1600/IMG_3425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyKsVr2O8dDYnJIQvND2Wz9q6vGNZ9cdLS7DFEI80YKyIdsXtZQPByYooRJWbOWGQpWmkig82fOhqRCFb3SlORnnkaJ2j4SEEko1g2icMPfSG3ThlBe_4d5gFmWayrPYdgKb6fbFT-0Bc/s640/IMG_3425.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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The preamplifier PCB can be accessed by removing all the tubes from their sockets and unscrewing the 12 nuts holding the PCB in place.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpyodE4vI52mVqN2UiLcE8j_HFpgXmtUfxS2bohKHgnzzgggbSeqt_y43pvdfntn-vmQzvqIpFkW2GYmG4Lu0WoKr8h_Oz5Y8WoRtk60IXwWlR5AAGPolKwQOBc78Zgw1LzrwY0e5GJ6E/s1600/DSC03435e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpyodE4vI52mVqN2UiLcE8j_HFpgXmtUfxS2bohKHgnzzgggbSeqt_y43pvdfntn-vmQzvqIpFkW2GYmG4Lu0WoKr8h_Oz5Y8WoRtk60IXwWlR5AAGPolKwQOBc78Zgw1LzrwY0e5GJ6E/s640/DSC03435e.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Be sure to click on the image above to get a closer view. The socket pins bounded in the red squares are the tube heater pins. From cool386's post on this amplifier he stated that the power from the heaters come straight from the 16VAC transformer winding. This 16VAC is fed through a diode to produce about 8.5V RMS which is above the required 6.3V heater voltage of the tubes.</div>
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I got 4 x 3.3ohm ceramic resistors rated for 4 Watts each and connected each tube heater in series with the 8.5V RMS source. This would drop about 2V for each tube, bringing it down to a more tolerable 6.5~V whilst each resistor would burn about 1.5~W each.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQQlRjlNLn_xtoKbj15i24O7bQdazy44lteOSXDyyI7uM5Apkjyubizow6ZGVfT5Y-44pTG2O24DvbeRG8XR4s3N9Qk8sUpJbw1cMC_CHTVn8Gvi7qgVskt-E9ljfZqXr7tUsst3G4zI/s1600/DSC03437e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQQlRjlNLn_xtoKbj15i24O7bQdazy44lteOSXDyyI7uM5Apkjyubizow6ZGVfT5Y-44pTG2O24DvbeRG8XR4s3N9Qk8sUpJbw1cMC_CHTVn8Gvi7qgVskt-E9ljfZqXr7tUsst3G4zI/s640/DSC03437e.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I apologize for my poor MS paint skills but I think this is enough to illustrate the modification. Cut the traces with a penknife at the red X's and wire up the resistors accordingly. All the resistors are of the same value and the blue colored one is only for the sake of clarity. I scraped away the track coating in the right yellow circle and soldered the resistors to the copper track directly as there were no pads available there. I placed heat shrinks on the legs of the resistors to prevent any shorts.The completed modification is as shown:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVTv_3f6HeznQHBqXyEPhdFX6d6utHAEPwkh-9rB-bRoNwkm6W3Kw7YNBU0h2GdtXXr2sn0xUUu4jKGgUzb05c9g-r8FiuGhMuVg2WVtiUQxt-fhYzW8cZHXSSERgKla3xmlm4Hz_gfbQ/s1600/DSC03438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVTv_3f6HeznQHBqXyEPhdFX6d6utHAEPwkh-9rB-bRoNwkm6W3Kw7YNBU0h2GdtXXr2sn0xUUu4jKGgUzb05c9g-r8FiuGhMuVg2WVtiUQxt-fhYzW8cZHXSSERgKla3xmlm4Hz_gfbQ/s640/DSC03438.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The next thing I looked at was the power amplifier stage which holds the solid state amplifiers as well as the power supply:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUDG3flBTqofOC46oNDvktWCh76IEFgMMRHgbFmDY9mxjSVl6KSn85f1tuL44493Vu54mEq_nvxPar2uDnyAX-Fp_XY1IjnIec7uCRod1WzaOiG8GkMRwISlvZb5Esb0nxnZhk-JUCC0c/s1600/DSC03431.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUDG3flBTqofOC46oNDvktWCh76IEFgMMRHgbFmDY9mxjSVl6KSn85f1tuL44493Vu54mEq_nvxPar2uDnyAX-Fp_XY1IjnIec7uCRod1WzaOiG8GkMRwISlvZb5Esb0nxnZhk-JUCC0c/s640/DSC03431.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Since the warranty for this amplifier was over, I decided to overhaul all the cheap electrolytic capacitors on this board to audio grade ones. There were also more electrolytic (decoupling?) capacitors on the top of the preamplifier board to be replaced as well:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJRlx18yuGIVsrpXe_b_ZmCwVzonCJ8VlmrVH9AwJodc4LSG3qtrU5m0ybWBUk4y3jWkif1LEXhPt6Pa_YZEUtnRfTGfODZKecOtdU8YzmmFO5x84RjwVLs894CQ_xBR36IHoBOG9fdkA/s1600/DSC03443.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJRlx18yuGIVsrpXe_b_ZmCwVzonCJ8VlmrVH9AwJodc4LSG3qtrU5m0ybWBUk4y3jWkif1LEXhPt6Pa_YZEUtnRfTGfODZKecOtdU8YzmmFO5x84RjwVLs894CQ_xBR36IHoBOG9fdkA/s640/DSC03443.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The replacement capacitors of my choice were the Nichicon "Muse" Electrolytic capacitors which are supposedly of 'audio grade'. I felt more comfortable having these high quality components rather than the chinese "Robicon" (ripped off from Rubycon?) and ChengX capacitors.</div>
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so it was out with the old and in with the new:</div>
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Some of the new capacitors were bigger than the old ones thus some slight bending and twisting was required to make them fit back into the chassis comfortably.<br />
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The tubes (6N1p pictured) also arrived and I replaced the stock Chinese ones with these NOS Russian ones which are supposedly military grade and more hardy:<br />
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After going through all that trouble, I switched on the amp...and...the buzzing and distortion was still there!!! How frustrating!!! You can hear the buzzing and distortion I am referring to in the before and after video at the end of this post.<br />
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I realized the distortion only comes during quiet passages of certain songs that were played. The noise got louder every time I increased the treble potentiometer so I traced the circuit from the pot and found that it led to a pair of JRC4558D op amps (the red squares in the picture below) on the PCB, one connected to the treble pot and the other to the bass pot.<br />
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I did some research and my description of the distortion matches what is known as "crossover distortion" (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossover_distortion">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossover_distortion</a>) where the distortion mainly occurs during low signal (soft passages in a song) voltages in a "push pull" amplifier but disappears in normal to loud voltages. I won't go into much detail about this but I spotted two transistors down the signal path that might suggest this is a push pull amplifier. Before attempting to try to change the transistors I decided to change the 4558 op amps first just to see if that fixes anything.<br />
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I removed the op amps and soldered on 8 pin sockets in their places. After trawling through many forums and webpages I found a suitable upgrade in the form of the LM833N op amp and plugged them in.<br />
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I switched on the amp and played the same song that was giving me so much distortion before and...it was perfect! Changing the op amps solved the 'crossover distortion' completely!<br />
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I did not connect the LED lighting for the VU meter because I felt it was far too glaring and spoiled the look of this otherwise good looking amp. The tubes also lost their lightbulb glow and is now glowing at what seems to be the correct brightness. The sound of the amp has also improved by a great amount and I don't mean it in the pretentious "the high end is clearer and the soundstage is wider etc etc" kind of way...I mean it REALLY improved and the video below proves it. Be sure to select and watch it in the highest definition to get the best audio quality.<br />
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I'm not going to state that the 4558D op amps are better than the 833N because of the sheer amount of arguments I have read on forums all around. I will only state that the issues I had with the 4558 might be because the pair of op amps I replaced were perhaps from a defective batch because they did not sound this way when I first bought the amp. But from the datasheet the 833N claims to be low noise and that justified a try and I'm happy I did.<br />
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Take note that the video was recorded using an external mic set on the speakers and that makes it sound worse than it actually does. But you should be able to hear the buzzy distorted vocals that are no longer buzzy after the modifications are made.<br />
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<span style="color: #e69138;">*EDIT*: unfortunately I realize that youtube isn't exactly the best place to compare audio quality. the buzzy distorted vocals before the modification sound way worse in the .wav file i saved but I think youtube downsizes the audio quality to 128kbps or so, thus smoothing over the buzzy vocals and making the distortion not that obvious..but take my word for it that switching the op amps in this situation really helped rectify the problem</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com63tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-72422235087593495772013-06-29T01:50:00.000-07:002013-08-17T08:59:20.323-07:00Project "Mitchell Model 1265 Portable Suitcase Record Player, Selenium Rectifier Replacement"It has been a long time since I made any new posts because I am no longer that free anymore as I am now working full time.<br />
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But today I finally got around to replacing the 'dangerous' selenium rectifier that is present in the Mitchell Model 1265 turntable that I restored some time ago. The rectifier can apparently fail catastrophically and emit poisonous smoke during use! I thank the person who left the comment here on this blog highlighting that fact to me.<br />
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I am not good with hardware and circuits, so I had no clue on what to replace the rectifier with. A good consultation with my more technically inclined brother revealed that I only required a modern day IN4007 diode to replace it: a very simple and quick fix!<br />
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This is the modern day diode versus the selenium rectifier (the component with the multiple gray square plates).</div>
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It only took me about 5 minutes but took my brother a good half an hour of circuit tracing and Googling!<br />
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After everything was done, I plugged in the player and it was still working like before...and now it is slightly more future proof and will hopefully last for a very very long time!</div>
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Link to previous post on the restoration of this player: <a href="http://projectrepair.blogspot.sg/2012/05/project-mitchell-model-1265-portable.html">http://projectrepair.blogspot.sg/2012/05/project-mitchell-model-1265-portable.html</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-74132011698875543962012-10-13T03:25:00.000-07:002013-08-17T08:59:31.761-07:00Project "Solder : Time IIâ„¢ watch kit, by SpikenzieLabs" (2/2)i have been spending the past few weeks integrating and programming the SolderTime2 to work with a BMP085 barometric pressure and temperature sensor and it finally works the way i want it to. it now functions like a (very) poor man's Tissot T-Touch (okay..just the barometric functions and not the touch functions).<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KeQmr90KyRU?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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the I2C port on the SolderTime2 makes it possible to add a whole lot of other I2C sensors (gyroscope, compass, humidity) to the watch as long as the additional modifications to the program does not bust the total amount of memory available on the watch which is 32kbytes.<br />
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i removed the worm animation mode as well as the scrolling text mode on the watch to free up some space in the flash and i have already used up about 26kbytes but i think it is largely due to my inefficient code! (still a work in progress)<br />
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i bought the sensor from adafruit.com here:<br />
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<a href="https://www.adafruit.com/products/391">https://www.adafruit.com/products/391</a><br />
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it requires either a 5V or 3.3V source so i also got a CR2032 battery holder from adafruit to power the sensor:<br />
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<a href="https://www.adafruit.com/products/653">https://www.adafruit.com/products/653</a><br />
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amazingly i also found that a tin of Milton Pastilles Candy (commonly sold in Singapore) has the exact diameter of the watch's front cover, give or take a millimeter or two, and can be modified to fit the watch with the additional sensor. i haven't worked on the tin yet but that will come later on when i have the time to get around to do it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj38OJ3XIN9tw752i86ZZpKh33iDsrHnummQRQlx-zd8Y2CdryO2GmJdt16vgnhRjqSzoxU5qeQHS0cg37W_s2X_Mc-h4BKNvKY7eHnlDQvDBnTx2nmkS1i4qy8aZPwvvMNro1fKoTy6Gk/s1600/DSC02677.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj38OJ3XIN9tw752i86ZZpKh33iDsrHnummQRQlx-zd8Y2CdryO2GmJdt16vgnhRjqSzoxU5qeQHS0cg37W_s2X_Mc-h4BKNvKY7eHnlDQvDBnTx2nmkS1i4qy8aZPwvvMNro1fKoTy6Gk/s640/DSC02677.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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the positive end of the battery goes to Vin and the negative goes to ground. after some simple circuit tracing, i found that the SCA and SCL ports can be wired to from the two resistors on the top left of the watch. the left resistor being SCL and the right resistor being SCA.<br />
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the ground of both batteries have to be connected together for the sensor to be able to recognize the data coming from the watch. i did not know this and spent a long time troubleshooting before my brother explained to me that it is required otherwise the sensor has no common reference to zero and any signal i send over is unrecognized. (wasted good portion of my life finding that out)<br />
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<span style="color: red;">*EDIT* i forgot to mention that the BMP085 sensor board from adafruit includes 10k pullup resistors for the I2C ports and they need to be removed by simply touching a solder to the resistor and taking them off. 10k pullup resistors are already provided on the watch, in fact the modification wires are soldered to the resistors themselves.</span><br />
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i have programmed the watch with an additional mode "ALT" to display the altitude above sea level in meters and also to be able to set the localized sea level pressure (obtained from any local country's weather website, also known as QNH). in this case, the pressure in singapore at the time of making the video posted at the beginning of this blog post was 1,008.14mb and when i set it to that pressure it displays 48.5 meters above sea level which should be correct as my location was situated on top of a hill.<br />
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it also has a mode "TEMP" displays the current temperature of the sensor, and the temperature goes up when i put my finger on the back of the sensor's PCB.<br />
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i will be happy to share the codes with anyone interested to make this modification to their SolderTime2, just drop me an email and i will send them over!<br />
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<a href="http://projectrepair.blogspot.sg/2012/08/project-solder-time-ii-watch-kit-by.html">(link to page 1/2)</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-58043814419602992372012-08-24T21:39:00.000-07:002013-08-17T09:00:04.789-07:00Project "Solder : Time IIâ„¢ watch kit, by SpikenzieLabs" (1/2)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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this was a DIY watch kit i bought a few weeks ago that finally arrived here yesterday. it is basically a microprocessor programmed and designed to function as a watch. it is completely 'hackable' which means that you can create and flash your own programs to the microprocessor and make it do whatever your creativity allows you to do.<br />
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its very easy to assemble and all i needed was a soldering iron, solder, and a pair of wire cutters. SpikenzieLabs have very clear and easy to understand instructions on their website here:<br />
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<a href="http://spikenzielabs.com/SpikenzieLabs/SolderTime_2.html">http://spikenzielabs.com/SpikenzieLabs/SolderTime_2.html</a><br />
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i wanted to buy the kit from their shop but they did not reply my mails regarding shipping price after many days so i bought it from adafruit instead:<br />
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<a href="http://adafruit.com/products/950">http://adafruit.com/products/950</a><br />
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it cost $59.95 USD for the kit, and if you want to upload your own sketches to the microprocessor you will need an FTDI cable. since i didn't have one around i bought one from adafruit as well here:<br />
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<a href="https://www.adafruit.com/products/284">https://www.adafruit.com/products/284</a> ($14.75 USD)<br />
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it's no rolex obviously...but it is a great introduction to C++ microprocessor programming! </div>
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you only need to install the battery holder, buzzer, two push buttons and four LED arrays and you're ready to go.<br />
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UNFORTUNATELY for me, the acrylic top plate of my watch was cracked on two of the four supports holding the plate together. the plate is still held together but i'm afraid any sort of pressure would snap it easily. i sent out an email to adafruit in hopes that they will send me a replacement or something but i don't know what is their policy on this. the other pieces of acrylic are fine but the top piece is the thinnest and might have cracked during packaging or in transit. i will update this post accordingly if they get back to me with a replacement.<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">*UPDATE* they got back to me really quick! and they've agreed to send me a new replacement plastics kit! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; text-decoration: underline;">*UPDATE 2* i have received the replacement kit today! 10 days after they said they'd ship another to me. i won't be removing the issue about the cracked acrylic because i want everyone to know what great customer support Spikenzielabs have given me!</span><span style="color: blue;"> I have plans to add an additional I2C device to the watch in the coming weeks and would probably make my own casing for the watch but I will definitely be reusing the front plate for my next project.</span><br />
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that aside, the watch worked fine when i put the battery in. the latest sketch was already pre-installed into the watch. i followed the instructions on SpikenzieLab's website and got the Arduino IDE on my laptop and spent some time reading and understanding the codes. if you have done any sort of microcontroller programming before it should be easy for you to understand how the program works. i have never touched any sort of Arduino before but it is all pretty straightforwards.</div>
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the programming (FTDI) port is located on the back of the watch and to upload your own sketch you just need to stick the pins of the FTDI Friend (for my case) into the port. make sure the correct pins go into the correct ports! the FTDI Friend needs some basic setting up on your computer as well but again, the instructions can be found online and is easy to follow:<br />
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<a href="http://www.ladyada.net/learn/breakoutplus/ftdifriend.html">http://www.ladyada.net/learn/breakoutplus/ftdifriend.html</a></div>
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the LEDs on the FTDI Friend will blink if the sketch is being uploaded. the pins do not click snugly into the programming port and the website suggests using a light diagonal force to ensure they make contact with the connectors and this is what i did in the picture above.<br />
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for a quick demonstration i just changed the scrolling text message to "Hello World" and set a slower scroll speed than the default one. i uploaded the sketch and sure enough the scrolling text showed the change:<br />
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this watch is HUGE and honestly hard to match with any outfit unless you're going to an electronics themed club or party. but as i mentioned before it is a very interesting way to dabble with simple programming and you get a cool watch out of it all!<br />
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<a href="http://projectrepair.blogspot.sg/2012/10/project-solder-time-ii-watch-kit-by.html">(link to page 2/2)</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-1018688777631495702012-07-08T21:52:00.000-07:002013-08-17T09:00:29.207-07:00Project "DIY Vacuum Record Cleaning Machine"<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IeOi2eHdbPM?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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i've always had a problem with dirty vinyl records and I know that playing records with all the muck in the grooves will eventually ruin both the record and the stylus of the player.<br />
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there are actually specialized vinyl record cleaners available commercially but they range from the simple Spin Clean machine that costs $200SGD (<a href="http://www.spincleanrecordwasher.com/">http://www.spincleanrecordwasher.com/</a>) to the extravagant Nitty Gritty that costs anywhere from $600SGD to $1700SGD (<a href="http://www.nittygrittyinc.com/">http://www.nittygrittyinc.com/</a>).<br />
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i don't have enough dough to spare for either and thus i decided to see if i could make my own machine and went down to the nearby Salvation Army thrift store and got a used vacuum cleaner to salvage the vacuum motor.<br />
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the machine case is made of 12mm Perspex which is slightly overqualified for this project (i would've used wood) but that was all that was available to work at that moment because there was some lying around. it adds the 'cool factor' of being able to see everything in operation when the motor is turned on though!<br />
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my father <b><u><i>very kindly</i></u></b> took my very crude and simple design and upgraded it. he drew the design up in AUTOCAD and used a CNC router to precision cut the case of the machine and i had the simple job of putting it all together with screws.<br />
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the platter and clamp is also made out of the same perspex. the spindle was machined using a lathe and attached to a simple ball bearing. the clamp works well to turn the record but unfortunately it is too light to do its job during the vacuuming phase and i have to turn the record manually by hand at the edges while vacuuming. i glued on hardened felt to the platter as well as clamp to give it some grip on the record when turning it.</div>
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the vacuum motor is fixed in the middle of the case and made to be as airtight as possible for the best possible vacuum efficiency. the exhaust side of the case has grilles cut into the perspex for the air to exit. the motor speed was found to be too powerful for this application and a motor speed control card was added to limit the power of the motor in operation.</div>
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a glass jar is placed at the intake with two holes cut on the top and some water is added to the jar so that any dirt and dust will settle in the water without going into the vacuum motor. there was no need for an exhaust pipe that extends to the mouth of the vacuum motor as the motor is strong enough to suck in air just by placing the jar in the compartment in front of the motor.</div>
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the side of the record cleaning machine is held by two clips and lined with rubber gaskets. this is so that it will be easy to remove the jar for cleaning without having a need to unscrew the supports.</div>
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the side of the machine also features an adjustable bleed air port. this was put in in anticipation of the motor being too strong and this sliding port would allow me to adjust the power of the motor. but with the addition of the motor control card this port is actually quite redundant now.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixJettSZbxL33STMzUbxNvenJvFIGywJUKbxexVDinHiR47mwtmblsUc9VU3UAixcnfWkUZKxCuOyN80XNOQ1BGtkhG6ks8BuzbxoN_P5vW_wo2gy5WB_A7UcSQRTW7DhAvf8zf011gt0/s1600/DSC02458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixJettSZbxL33STMzUbxNvenJvFIGywJUKbxexVDinHiR47mwtmblsUc9VU3UAixcnfWkUZKxCuOyN80XNOQ1BGtkhG6ks8BuzbxoN_P5vW_wo2gy5WB_A7UcSQRTW7DhAvf8zf011gt0/s640/DSC02458.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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the vacuum nozzle is made using simple PVC pipes. a 3mm slot was cut into the pipe and lined with high quality velvet. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsOiqdKAkEGhEqMgxM14PbbDbqNcRQk56gJS-UAqJvUGAphktq2KXshehAJKkLGEuCqRJWwyEJ1V3eCzxVIwmTxqw3Fv-1lxXv4jZZqwUANGk0HzIIAQEaH8ha0pQMJkCLb2fGdVlorQk/s1600/DSC02459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsOiqdKAkEGhEqMgxM14PbbDbqNcRQk56gJS-UAqJvUGAphktq2KXshehAJKkLGEuCqRJWwyEJ1V3eCzxVIwmTxqw3Fv-1lxXv4jZZqwUANGk0HzIIAQEaH8ha0pQMJkCLb2fGdVlorQk/s640/DSC02459.JPG" width="424" /></a></div>
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the record cleaning fluid is also DIY, made with 3 parts deionised water, 1 part isopropyl alcohol and 1 drop of dishwashing fluid. the brush is a good quality wet cleaning brush with sturdy nylon bristles to get the grit and muck out of the grooves and the vacuum will suck that all away.<br />
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if you ever intend to make one of these, it will be best if you get a smaller motor or one that has a controllable speed. the motor speed control card was only added after the initial design and if i knew it was going to be included i would have made the box a lot smaller than it is now (40cm x 25cm x 25cm).<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-12877213542362870072012-05-10T00:44:00.000-07:002013-08-17T09:01:22.275-07:00Project "Mitchell Model 1265 Portable Suitcase Record Player"<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bmebSp1adi8?rel=0" width="640"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/b3HqvJM_Q5g?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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i actually bought this player sometime last year from a seller on ebay without having any prior knowledge on both the brand (Mitchell) and the player. it wasn't in working condition and he was selling it at quite a cheap price (all in all plus shipping about $60 SGD). it could play 33, 45 and 78rpm records and it was electric so i decided to get it mainly to play 78's because although the gramophone i have could play 78's, its heavy tonearm would eventually ruin the records after many plays. this player had an inbuilt loudspeaker and would be ideal for listening to 78's (especially the more modern non-acoustically recorded ones).<br />
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i tried for many days to search online for this brand of player as well as the specific model, Mitchell Model 1265, but to no avail. there were no examples of it anywhere and those that i emailed had never heard of this model before. it comes in a plain suitcase form as shown below:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXmcFjhlaQXcI65Rf5cRxY9lMYA39TWmNKq5oojrMSSBcEpS2lKhsCkCTqYcCtzb2fPRN2oOgbCOzyA6fTUz27MYsLBb6mA1sjpSjU5Dg5hFn7_1ZXMb5qVW4RbR6MIfqKyu2XNcP2bLM/s1600/DSC00716.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXmcFjhlaQXcI65Rf5cRxY9lMYA39TWmNKq5oojrMSSBcEpS2lKhsCkCTqYcCtzb2fPRN2oOgbCOzyA6fTUz27MYsLBb6mA1sjpSjU5Dg5hFn7_1ZXMb5qVW4RbR6MIfqKyu2XNcP2bLM/s640/DSC00716.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf9kpGFXxRQjOOnRKu8BGQaGYLcfQA5KcPw_cZlNe_h5mLsgcES0LnOryHCJH3iFYRjglyCV_ZS92xyh78VMnNduVwTFwpefZzWE194ds6_TTcdwoVa3eyZlAW2eOUSJ7e82x0R9xFt_8/s1600/DSC00718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf9kpGFXxRQjOOnRKu8BGQaGYLcfQA5KcPw_cZlNe_h5mLsgcES0LnOryHCJH3iFYRjglyCV_ZS92xyh78VMnNduVwTFwpefZzWE194ds6_TTcdwoVa3eyZlAW2eOUSJ7e82x0R9xFt_8/s640/DSC00718.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHYXUjLnDfUryQD4zRN-T8K3uB3Q7-YM8jQRG7LPGchHSUK1V-k0C1aaPNunAS19xW-XHYmL7WsYZgWU3woDyY8rqu7gQhO_M3xJzOf0zC9fLd5YPG1muHTc4Fsfh8PEhckL504jpRsMw/s1600/DSC00721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHYXUjLnDfUryQD4zRN-T8K3uB3Q7-YM8jQRG7LPGchHSUK1V-k0C1aaPNunAS19xW-XHYmL7WsYZgWU3woDyY8rqu7gQhO_M3xJzOf0zC9fLd5YPG1muHTc4Fsfh8PEhckL504jpRsMw/s640/DSC00721.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3EmhzTUcBjmfnXTgyCzeyuczK0UD6TtLWeKOQ6sO20aKUkKpjA-eLNK3wtUqbsVNv_jEHDvrIwe-hDwCuMn_F0ZVLuG-rDQKd6SCOAM9kdARFsrM1n318sC6snXi1tLRTLmQTVE6eArs/s1600/DSC00727.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3EmhzTUcBjmfnXTgyCzeyuczK0UD6TtLWeKOQ6sO20aKUkKpjA-eLNK3wtUqbsVNv_jEHDvrIwe-hDwCuMn_F0ZVLuG-rDQKd6SCOAM9kdARFsrM1n318sC6snXi1tLRTLmQTVE6eArs/s640/DSC00727.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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when it arrived, i realized that i had made quite a big mistake. the player was made to be played in the USA and accepted only 120V mains supply at 60Hz whereas where i am (Singapore), it is 240V at 50Hz. while i could easily get a transformer to convert 240V to 120V, the difference in mains frequency meant that the motor of the player would not spin at the correct speed. the player also emitted a loud hum when i turned it on, and when i attempted to touch the tonearm i got a good shock from it.<br />
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i put the player into the corner of my room and never touched it for a few months while i occasionally went online to search for any other examples of the player and the brand (none at all, if you were wondering).<br />
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a few months ago i did take the player apart and took a good look at its innards...and it was a mess...and unfortunately at that time my compact camera that i had always used to take the pictures used in this blog decided to give up the ghost and i was left with just my phone's camera to take pictures and i didn't do a good job documenting it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgootUnmIu0UruKo3cg6AO0yLP_qaJcCx_BAnTEsw_KFgPCAo4PpBIMG1dtQIE9PRwvn_7CDHQ8_pTX3N0dmuoVKaGaolBq6oqP8cRwopJ-3Mr9nLNqLJHWlqsQ-Gqbk00kVe7WDDdsBBw/s1600/IMG_1224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgootUnmIu0UruKo3cg6AO0yLP_qaJcCx_BAnTEsw_KFgPCAo4PpBIMG1dtQIE9PRwvn_7CDHQ8_pTX3N0dmuoVKaGaolBq6oqP8cRwopJ-3Mr9nLNqLJHWlqsQ-Gqbk00kVe7WDDdsBBw/s640/IMG_1224.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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it wasn't pretty...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmvSQQLtCYjf3w3A7TZeTwltAjTU-ta_u7-jLunKsE2MEZhQQQuCfZvZT_-_xUiBe4PYvC3g_bHCIYOZHEtqSOECb3Kkt8RFhWcByV_jXnwcHn1wq8cwvgjGFHhPGUDZIdt6dQ49z9yhw/s1600/IMG_2007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmvSQQLtCYjf3w3A7TZeTwltAjTU-ta_u7-jLunKsE2MEZhQQQuCfZvZT_-_xUiBe4PYvC3g_bHCIYOZHEtqSOECb3Kkt8RFhWcByV_jXnwcHn1wq8cwvgjGFHhPGUDZIdt6dQ49z9yhw/s640/IMG_2007.JPG" width="475" /></a></div>
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to summarize quickly, i had to clean out the decades worth of dust and mold inside the suitcase and then replace the parts that were the most likely to have failed over the years. After taking a good look around, it was clear that the only components were the capacitors and the vacuum tube. in the picture above, i already replaced the biggest capacitor in the amplifier (the silver cylinder thing). it is actually 3 capacitors in one big cylinder with a common ground.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9_8DDixO97IYciuaLMvjQeEtZ3YIApc7ETXpO6zFZGt6kXmARnwxoQs-dVfleJTajLx9xmehg5VqG43I1LMto51bN9arwd1eFFICneu0tnTAT1RaBf9qcAGkhX2qstkzo0zYCY-9VZ0E/s1600/DSC00728.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9_8DDixO97IYciuaLMvjQeEtZ3YIApc7ETXpO6zFZGt6kXmARnwxoQs-dVfleJTajLx9xmehg5VqG43I1LMto51bN9arwd1eFFICneu0tnTAT1RaBf9qcAGkhX2qstkzo0zYCY-9VZ0E/s640/DSC00728.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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on the cylinder it is written:<br />
GUDEMAN (the brand)<br />
MEL - 42110 (the part number i guess?)<br />
RED 40MFD 150VDC<br />
RED 40MFD 150VDC
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BLU 20MFD 25VDC<br />
BLACK COM - NEG<br />
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so this means that the respective wire colors are connected to capacitors of that value and voltage rating inside the cylinder. i bought two 47uF capacitors rated for 160VDC and one 22uF capacitor rated at 50VDC as replacements and soldered the connections together. you can see the difference in sizes a few decades of technology has given us:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5xPqn42JbiqYkFVSw9HCQiUUblho_uylYen9uFAOXONCefHm3ofoAXt4x24x7vjwsvXt5Io9aUpvp_0Or_cNP-A3FewtuBvz5KeG0PMQrWK6AKO__WSqcgivX4C7P3qtrFN6GGgCy5rU/s1600/IMG_1231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5xPqn42JbiqYkFVSw9HCQiUUblho_uylYen9uFAOXONCefHm3ofoAXt4x24x7vjwsvXt5Io9aUpvp_0Or_cNP-A3FewtuBvz5KeG0PMQrWK6AKO__WSqcgivX4C7P3qtrFN6GGgCy5rU/s640/IMG_1231.JPG" width="476" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZGB8dr9qRPG4Jw_v9b_BVwYUQXXJvfCsIS6SCdFfOYOdv6IcK0BG2ByPxYo734qPleY3X4v7CiP-uzEYGgc_g86p0_CmiZI-Vv6E-d4suFvJDXaZslhRiCjE1pGYfpTw08cJOAjr71Io/s1600/DSC00729.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZGB8dr9qRPG4Jw_v9b_BVwYUQXXJvfCsIS6SCdFfOYOdv6IcK0BG2ByPxYo734qPleY3X4v7CiP-uzEYGgc_g86p0_CmiZI-Vv6E-d4suFvJDXaZslhRiCjE1pGYfpTw08cJOAjr71Io/s640/DSC00729.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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there was another capacitor in the amplifier and it was a paper-oil capacitor with a wax coating. after researching online, it was clear that this capacitor definitely had to be replaced because paper capacitors are well known to fail from old age.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg58A5SLeKTTmI7Aj2WPh52iDr9wNJFUSuy_9ssVwNHGfNP8HfkooGFgu__vUbpTOt9m9fWtjE_vvMOu_FTpj4ub8hyphenhyphenZ2M1QbGKTRiL-o5tfxr-Pn7ljGYzAfepJKvwmgfNyzHDsZ9o5WQ/s1600/IMG_2006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg58A5SLeKTTmI7Aj2WPh52iDr9wNJFUSuy_9ssVwNHGfNP8HfkooGFgu__vUbpTOt9m9fWtjE_vvMOu_FTpj4ub8hyphenhyphenZ2M1QbGKTRiL-o5tfxr-Pn7ljGYzAfepJKvwmgfNyzHDsZ9o5WQ/s640/IMG_2006.JPG" width="476" /></a></div>
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i bought a modern aluminium capacitor with the same ratings, .1MFD (100uF) and rated for 200VDC and soldered it into place.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8kt9eP0laj5ODx9qRmh8yoRrn4jHW1LQAOhc6SmyWlKOeMSWnyW9GLEbEltvEAoKexyKiNowO6LkdMD3YLutavwq5nwgw35T3xFH9vKfrp3mdG1SxBR9hEZX4r7MOqL3YV6tt23cs1Xo/s1600/IMG_2018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8kt9eP0laj5ODx9qRmh8yoRrn4jHW1LQAOhc6SmyWlKOeMSWnyW9GLEbEltvEAoKexyKiNowO6LkdMD3YLutavwq5nwgw35T3xFH9vKfrp3mdG1SxBR9hEZX4r7MOqL3YV6tt23cs1Xo/s640/IMG_2018.JPG" width="476" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQLXQv3iOsRSd00CUfHX_DKCTFsEFxWNvRaYrOlnFiBd828-9dUze6CK6ol1ZtljPPWbYBxFWGoBnFK9hmQQXGdKk6xoEuQdqNUeF5X0gbf4l2iCDTu-dZoFBMY70StZii77TEqvyZpyA/s1600/DSC00734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQLXQv3iOsRSd00CUfHX_DKCTFsEFxWNvRaYrOlnFiBd828-9dUze6CK6ol1ZtljPPWbYBxFWGoBnFK9hmQQXGdKk6xoEuQdqNUeF5X0gbf4l2iCDTu-dZoFBMY70StZii77TEqvyZpyA/s640/DSC00734.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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the amplifier has one 25L6GT vacuum tube and it glows orange when the player is powered up. i know next to nothing about vacuum tubes and i didn't fiddle with it. i know enough to identify that if the tube is glowing in colors other than red-orange then it should be discarded, and also that if the top has turned a milky white instead of transparent then it should also be replaced. this one had none of the above and so i kept it in place.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihzJl89C3pq7D8ngacJU9SD9SXvE1nAR5UjiyFUKj2HzQy3_BFVFjqR0Lw26QkNodreHPeOQrNDGpqkbNqFE6uNRtYnPf6vEuv8i_gZh007oZmHak8vh81_ew-8_Gsx2S1IWwKEdZxyDs/s1600/Untitled.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="532" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihzJl89C3pq7D8ngacJU9SD9SXvE1nAR5UjiyFUKj2HzQy3_BFVFjqR0Lw26QkNodreHPeOQrNDGpqkbNqFE6uNRtYnPf6vEuv8i_gZh007oZmHak8vh81_ew-8_Gsx2S1IWwKEdZxyDs/s640/Untitled.bmp" width="640" /></a></div>
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the loudspeaker on the player had a small tear on the cloth (more like paper) diaphragm and i did a quick fix by sticking a small piece of paper with some light glue over the hole. i've done this before and it works well...it's enough to stop air from leaking out and the sound will still be as good as a normal diaphragm.<br />
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the main problem after all this was that the motor still doesn't spin at the correct speeds. a record player is worthless if the songs it plays are all in slo-mo, unless you intend to use it in a horror house or something...<br />
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there is a knob on the side of the turntable to select the speed of the player. when it is in the off position, the motor still runs.<br />
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as you move the knob from one setting to the other, it adjusts the position of the grey wheel shown in the picture above. the wheel touches the shaft of the motor which has three different thicknesses. this enables the speed of the grey wheel to change while the speed of the motor stays constant. (think of it as a gearing system). to make the wheel turn at a faster speed, i put different thicknesses of heat shrink tubing over the shaft to make it thicker and allow the grey wheel to turn faster.<br />
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after a few hours of trial and error, i found one type of heat shrink tubing that added enough thickness to the shaft to make it spin at 78rpm when the knob is at 78. unfortunately, i could not get the correct shaft thickness for the 33 and 45rpm speeds but 78 is good enough for me!<br />
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again, if you're wondering how to verify your record player's rpm, just use a strobe disc that can be found on the internet and print it out. i've been using the same disc to calibrate my gramophone and it has been accurate enough so far.<br />
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as my country's mains supply is 50hz, any light will flicker at that frequency and when the bars of the 50hz strobe disc at the rpm you are calibrating for seem to be stationary, then you know that you have the correct rpm.<br />
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the last thing that needed to be replaced was the cartridge. the original one that came with the player was an Astatic cartridge that had the numbers "16L3" on it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzjlfwdSN6PTJJzjRaNL1DlbCsb1jTilR6ZllvF277ux6JMjVFYUxLZdf62WGYccpMFBa5j5ppQD_9TKfmuXGkCUanWVm6GHohTMbViSA8CZURQwpLEJghnsfU_Ahb2lJUPk0jaS4AOBw/s1600/IMG_1656.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzjlfwdSN6PTJJzjRaNL1DlbCsb1jTilR6ZllvF277ux6JMjVFYUxLZdf62WGYccpMFBa5j5ppQD_9TKfmuXGkCUanWVm6GHohTMbViSA8CZURQwpLEJghnsfU_Ahb2lJUPk0jaS4AOBw/s640/IMG_1656.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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again, there wasn't much information available about this cartridge online. i sent out emails to a few different turntable needle stores and only one had the exact same cartridge available but was selling it at $100++SGD which was insane.<br />
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i finally stumbled upon this site: <a href="http://www.needles4turntables.com/ceramic.htm">http://www.needles4turntables.com/ceramic.htm</a> and sent an email asking if it will work with my player. he replied and recommended that i get the Pfanstiehl P-51 cartridge with the 3mil needle that will work well with 78rpm records.<br />
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he shipped it out the day i made the order and it arrived in 7 days (USA to Singapore) and i proceeded to connect it to the tonearm.<br />
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the reason for the shoddy wiring you see in the picture above was because the new cartridge is a lot smaller than the old one, thus the wires could not reach the connections. i extended the wiring by splicing new wires to the old one but i didn't have wires of the same thickness, thus resulting in the frankenstein-ish work...<br />
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i turned the player on and used a toothpick to lightly brush the needle on the cartridge and there was sound coming out of the player's speaker!<br />
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i put the player back together and put on a 78 record and it came aliveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-90148044388114962842011-09-17T02:29:00.000-07:002015-02-13T06:22:10.108-08:00Project "Emerson/Baird Wondergram"<div style="text-align: center;">
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i bought this thing online and waited a long time for it to ship from halfway around the world. it was a gamble because i know from the seller that the motor on the player spins but the sound doesn't work at all and it would be worthless as a record player if it didn't make any noise whatsoever!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0BFs5m-nhMwq59MUPHse-LPHLw2CQBNi_DTjTropknEUqSZPYWgB_0YHGdmYk25fGttSLOF2DFhEGTsq4cMvygtrydSsEWU-ssoOAN6BTN4fGuBhm5FdJJTAwpJ7QIRnrRNKs3Rv5Yvg/s1600/DSCN8067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0BFs5m-nhMwq59MUPHse-LPHLw2CQBNi_DTjTropknEUqSZPYWgB_0YHGdmYk25fGttSLOF2DFhEGTsq4cMvygtrydSsEWU-ssoOAN6BTN4fGuBhm5FdJJTAwpJ7QIRnrRNKs3Rv5Yvg/s640/DSCN8067.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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so anyway, this is an Emerson Wondergram made in the 1960's. as you can see it is a battery powered portable record player that plays both 33rpm and 45rpm discs...a 'Wonder' for its time and weighs a 'gram' (ok not really, but see what i did there? hurhurhurhur) it comes with a holder on the top cover for a 45rpm adapter too which is pretty neat.<br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">*EDIT* i totally forgot to mention that this player originates from the UK made by a company called Baird, but sold in the USA under the Emerson brand. the player has the Baird brand on the bottom plate that say "Baird, Made in England, A Camp Bird Product" (what is Camp Bird anyway?)</span></i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;"><i>*EDIT* in case you're wondering the size of this, here's a tissue box for comparison:</i></span></div>
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when it first arrived, the motor spins but sounded like a jackhammer. when i tried to put the needle on a record, the entire player just ground to a halt. obviously the motor just didn't have the juice and was in need of some restoring.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVUPczfYEpq7ipjqiS65AYUEiVfkQmRy2mkmv0kAMggUB24fg_xxe5Scq8iHCm-3IipCImPkZvTd6lEYQgd9q70ZWKzlSFDcSeAoNpxU1YzMupYI-vz1JDNC1sMJW10Q5jlKQF7wEDYrw/s1600/DSCN8071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVUPczfYEpq7ipjqiS65AYUEiVfkQmRy2mkmv0kAMggUB24fg_xxe5Scq8iHCm-3IipCImPkZvTd6lEYQgd9q70ZWKzlSFDcSeAoNpxU1YzMupYI-vz1JDNC1sMJW10Q5jlKQF7wEDYrw/s640/DSCN8071.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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opening it up isn't hard, just remove all the screws you see on the outer shell and you can lift the innards all out. as you can see from the pictures above, this thing was hideously dirty and dusty inside. the dampening sponges under the speaker and the motor were hardened and flaking debris each time i moved it, in short it was a real mess.<br />
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the way the motor runs the records at 33 and 45rpm is a real curious thing as it doesn't 'directly' spin the record like in a normal player. you can see the motor in the picture above and the shaft is touching one of the two rubber wheels. when the motor spins, it turns both wheels as well. the clever bit is that both wheels are set at different distances and this enables it to play records at either 33 or 45rpm.<br />
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when you put a 45rpm record that has a smaller diameter than a 33rpm, it would only touch the inner wheel that spins the record faster since the wheel is nearer the center of the record. when you put a 33rpm disc it will touch the outer wheel. since the 33rpm wheel is further from the center of the record, a 33rpm record would not touch the 45rpm wheel at all because that wheel is smaller...ingenious!<br />
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after inspecting the circuit, checking for continuity, dry solders, cracked solders, broken wires, etc etc...i spotted this in the picture below:<br />
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well there's your problem! the capacitor across the speaker is obviously blown and its guts have leaked out. it needs to be replaced.<br />
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as you can see, i have a big thumb. and also this capacitor is 100 micro farads and rated for 6 volts. my brother was kind enough to explain to me what this capacitor is for (to convert a DC signal into an AC one so that the speaker would work) and even drew a diagram out.<br />
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the entire circuit in the player only has 3 capacitors. one going to the speaker (100ufF, one on the motor (100uF) and one on the main circuit board (10uF). i decided to change all 3 to modern day equivalents and although that's not the purist way to restore antiques, it is hard to trust 40 year old electronic components to last very long nowadays (if you can find them!).<br />
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the picture below shows the difference in size of the original capacitor and its modern day equivalent. i couldn't get my hands on a 6V rated one and got a 16V one (it doesn't matter).<br />
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while i was changing the capacitors, i managed to break some wires just by moving the player around my desk. the wires were all corroded and i replaced all the wires (not a lot, about 7 all in all) with new ones.<br />
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so its out with the old and in with the new!<br />
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the solders in the picture above shows that this machine was obviously assembled by hand. i used new solder for the new wires, and resoldered all the old solders as well just in case there were dry...i figured this would ensure there were no breaks in the circuit and give the player another few decades of life.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYPAOv81qxSFlhHo82owuaM-zshjUUwKmqmO-heEpUh2O395SQiil0Ccs9R3hU2uVfMXs4h1TmFD1NRMrLMudNTa003BtfcxS14zLW7MhNDFuWtxtxCSMXVyZ6QUzLYInr4Dnv18zs7x4/s1600/DSCN8109.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYPAOv81qxSFlhHo82owuaM-zshjUUwKmqmO-heEpUh2O395SQiil0Ccs9R3hU2uVfMXs4h1TmFD1NRMrLMudNTa003BtfcxS14zLW7MhNDFuWtxtxCSMXVyZ6QUzLYInr4Dnv18zs7x4/s640/DSCN8109.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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the single speaker has the brand 'ELAC', i googled the brand and apparently it's still around today...they must have partnered with Emerson back in the day when this player was produced.<br />
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on the left side in the picture above you can see the auto stop mechanism. when the arm reaches the end of the record the mechanism will push away a metal contact, opening the circuit and stopping the player completely.<br />
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after resoldering, rewiring and replacing the capacitors, i worked on the cosmetics of the player because it was heinously dirty! a quick polish with the novus plastic polisher (previously used on the westclox alarm clock) and it gave the shell a nice sheen to it. (before and after on the left and right respectively)<br />
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ok...granted it's not much of a difference but it'll take ages to buff the scratches away, i'll leave them there for the 'rugged' look.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;"><i>*EDIT* you can see the Baird brand between the two upper legs in the picture above</i></span></div>
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i managed to order a new needle online to replace the worn out one that came with the player, no prizes for guessing which is the new and old needle.</div>
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in case you're looking for the needle for this machine, it is an electro-voice 51 (ev51). it is a ceramic cartridge and has 2 sapphire tipped LP points (so more bang for your buck because its two needles in one!).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkB4XK_R4AFcXNfsJYDhdelZ7PWfRmwqyF6hF4r-PNxHy7ApTJclenQU1OxHUhKH3VXnhdPSX2oIDHUNU8HqXvCNy4v_a7xgLPonY4vX01zKQMXF-Kzs6QQZ0zXlvGOSpOlb0M2r3p9ho/s1600/DSCN8121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkB4XK_R4AFcXNfsJYDhdelZ7PWfRmwqyF6hF4r-PNxHy7ApTJclenQU1OxHUhKH3VXnhdPSX2oIDHUNU8HqXvCNy4v_a7xgLPonY4vX01zKQMXF-Kzs6QQZ0zXlvGOSpOlb0M2r3p9ho/s640/DSCN8121.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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so anyway all that was left was to slap in new fresh batteries (4 x C-sized, in case you're wondering) and test it out...and it works!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-9422992642232113522011-08-18T08:04:00.000-07:002013-08-17T09:02:43.535-07:00Project "His Master's Voice Soundbox No.5B"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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the current soundbox/reproducer i have on my <a href="http://projectrepair.blogspot.com/2011/01/project-his-masters-voice-gramophone.html">gramophone</a> was bought on ebay from india and it arrived in pretty bad shape. for starters, the diaphragm had a hole in it and the rubber connector crumbled into dust when i fitted it on to the tonearm.<br />
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i scrounged the world (online) for spare parts and managed to get a new rubber connector a few months ago but i had no luck with finding a replacement diaphragm...<b>UNTIL LAST WEEK!!</b><br />
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i would like to say a big thank you to Mr. Ken Priestley of the U.K for his expertise. i managed to find a new diaphragm from him and those of you looking for spare parts for your gramophone can look for him at his website: <a href="http://www.fonograf.talktalk.net/">http://www.fonograf.talktalk.net/</a><br />
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anyway i ordered a new diaphragm from him last week and it arrived here in singapore within 8 days (as fast as international mail gets around these parts).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ktHulaVR3034CahQG3qz_s6xAObUMDLIkuRoRAcU59tC7-2rK1S-bokghEcABgpkGycmAWUEkX_YCYyJ2SYoPJS_5SLPkNBceOzF9Fb4qtEzuYYIu_-6sHd1cdzL6vUfWDpPagKfEvU/s1600/DSCN8028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ktHulaVR3034CahQG3qz_s6xAObUMDLIkuRoRAcU59tC7-2rK1S-bokghEcABgpkGycmAWUEkX_YCYyJ2SYoPJS_5SLPkNBceOzF9Fb4qtEzuYYIu_-6sHd1cdzL6vUfWDpPagKfEvU/s640/DSCN8028.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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he packed it really nicely with cardboard spacer preventing the diaphragm from warping/tearing.<br />
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anyway...if you are interested to do a diaphragm replacement on a HMV 5b soundbox, this is how i did it:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXBgiocVY5MP0DOrtPeHnpkduNS910EPQq-Gof12hh0jtyx6Si1zJ4oaQuY0mRiTLQ6-vSkvVWJM38TzKvj4CWTRZKSkLM9r36QFjZyo5P_BUprtdgRsD4lckK5YNjazWqW1giuS-WLg/s1600/DSCN8031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXBgiocVY5MP0DOrtPeHnpkduNS910EPQq-Gof12hh0jtyx6Si1zJ4oaQuY0mRiTLQ6-vSkvVWJM38TzKvj4CWTRZKSkLM9r36QFjZyo5P_BUprtdgRsD4lckK5YNjazWqW1giuS-WLg/s640/DSCN8031.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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unscrew all four screws on the back of the soundbox and the rear (black) plate comes right off. in the picture above, you can see the felt gasket that is fitted around the edges of the diaphragm to make it more airtight. you can see the lousy repair job i did on my old diaphragm...i basically glued aluminum foil around the hole to patch it up!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi6FCuKo2Rfw9zj3LPbzlvNFJhJ2ETEA6hWpiUb9Llbhg4wXCjkhjtOH4ouybH69tsgVOdvVXvYG1JKqBlMgWKCarQjtptXMR3PiQCL2R8PJo1h0Qx28zrzVrKUFw60aNId7Z9UutE4IM/s1600/DSCN8033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi6FCuKo2Rfw9zj3LPbzlvNFJhJ2ETEA6hWpiUb9Llbhg4wXCjkhjtOH4ouybH69tsgVOdvVXvYG1JKqBlMgWKCarQjtptXMR3PiQCL2R8PJo1h0Qx28zrzVrKUFw60aNId7Z9UutE4IM/s640/DSCN8033.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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remove the four screws on the front plate of the soundbox. use a pair of pliers to hold the nut on the needle bar and gently unscrew the pivot screw (both of them). at this point the diaphragm and the needle bar can be gingerly removed from what's left of the soundbox.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5NxTFs8SoVO_uGjKDHpjFwDIdak9240cb6VWQ-wB05cnfIN_uVLomvA9kq-nGyM0lw1w1BRX6JMK_Wu3jQCBUpdByN4eyGQjOW3Cl_Z0zgoZxHLdZ1-P6GH3mzYgoqEIX6tFjjUvD3VY/s1600/DSCN8037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5NxTFs8SoVO_uGjKDHpjFwDIdak9240cb6VWQ-wB05cnfIN_uVLomvA9kq-nGyM0lw1w1BRX6JMK_Wu3jQCBUpdByN4eyGQjOW3Cl_Z0zgoZxHLdZ1-P6GH3mzYgoqEIX6tFjjUvD3VY/s640/DSCN8037.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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you should then be left with just the diaphragm and needle bar as shown in the picture above. the needle bar on mine was soldered on to the spider. you will obviously need a soldering iron to melt the solder, <b>so be extra careful during this step!</b> i put a small precision screwdriver to hold the diaphragm in place as i desoldered the needle bar from the spider like so:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBzWLaTTg_tJs-Wps5mBZ2-2yc99VqBPUpwlr-7tNgPwbh1kG4v-9hR1hGPFK3oERx5WnFzvekjC_3KYK6pBx8HCsNNgXCaX6z_suw4_1sX0JVpBhHUzIEh5W5QKeriMQiPrCunpEun3o/s1600/DSCN8038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBzWLaTTg_tJs-Wps5mBZ2-2yc99VqBPUpwlr-7tNgPwbh1kG4v-9hR1hGPFK3oERx5WnFzvekjC_3KYK6pBx8HCsNNgXCaX6z_suw4_1sX0JVpBhHUzIEh5W5QKeriMQiPrCunpEun3o/s640/DSCN8038.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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look at the difference in condition between my old tattered diaphragm as compared to the new one, no prizes for guessing which is which!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuwmR_do-hrQl1_SWA_-aAf8t4qe7AdwDm7nFi1HdEzhJg-266qOkM-EQrgWMhz0W0ZBar94hHcvzfN2ry1BkyY7b-BkrL-j642VgKgwoH2mS7H5N47LdZqVDDGZof5QYLX5IZFyY8zl4/s1600/DSCN8040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuwmR_do-hrQl1_SWA_-aAf8t4qe7AdwDm7nFi1HdEzhJg-266qOkM-EQrgWMhz0W0ZBar94hHcvzfN2ry1BkyY7b-BkrL-j642VgKgwoH2mS7H5N47LdZqVDDGZof5QYLX5IZFyY8zl4/s640/DSCN8040.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihOhmGSQ-ZpHtdjR29p83iLFiekwZ1SvQn8FJUTN5Smh29iqH8iLrPiOhipvBTdu60JllG3-RbnnJNHizHu9QQN-tHI6Edr8wzhh87HfzmMmsvP72GD6Ug383kHISkrWNw1Ta4QN5XLoY/s1600/DSCN8041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihOhmGSQ-ZpHtdjR29p83iLFiekwZ1SvQn8FJUTN5Smh29iqH8iLrPiOhipvBTdu60JllG3-RbnnJNHizHu9QQN-tHI6Edr8wzhh87HfzmMmsvP72GD6Ug383kHISkrWNw1Ta4QN5XLoY/s640/DSCN8041.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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i soldered the needle bar on to the new diaphragm, making sure to position it in the center of the spider. the soundbox can now be reassembled by working backwards from the steps shown above. if you find the needle bar is out of position after fitting the diaphragm into the soundbox, it can be repositioned by simply touching the soldering iron to the solder and small adjustments can then be made.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXGKHhrh2bzWaPYdTaR7keW7FPL-mMhHwfp3Tyn3r4ftKN2EnlPd1JY-OdGPvOYdmddX2ZsStULK9Wln014r2MQBkE7YcjjuLcpjMhbyXEnpIUk7dapt5Y9ygb6c1QJEv2F5Krf3YT30/s1600/DSCN8042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXGKHhrh2bzWaPYdTaR7keW7FPL-mMhHwfp3Tyn3r4ftKN2EnlPd1JY-OdGPvOYdmddX2ZsStULK9Wln014r2MQBkE7YcjjuLcpjMhbyXEnpIUk7dapt5Y9ygb6c1QJEv2F5Krf3YT30/s640/DSCN8042.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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i fitted the soundbox back on to the gramophone and played a few records. one of the obvious improvements i noticed straightaway was the increase in volume and overall fullness of the music, no more wasted energy due to air leaks! voices were clearer, strings were cleaner...its a pity i couldn't have gotten a perfect diaphragm sooner, but i'm very happy that i finally do!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-35165976578381851482011-08-11T21:10:00.000-07:002013-08-17T09:03:31.128-07:00Project "Wehrle Polo Alarm Clock"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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i saw this alarm clock at a flea market and noticed it had a second hand on the bottom. i'm not an expert in any way with clocks/watches but it seemed like a nice thing to have on an antique mechanical alarm clock so i bought it. it also has the words "made in germany" at the bottom so it should be of some value. (right? german efficiency and all that?)<br />
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it kept stopping on its own after every five minutes, so it was in need of a cleaning and tuning.<br />
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the problem with this clock is that unlike other 'normal' alarm clocks, this one had its back crimped on to the body. that makes it a few hundredfold harder to open. i applied some oil around the edges and slowly eased the back plate off the body with a small screwdriver.<br />
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another problem was that the knobs at the back could all be unscrewed except for one: the time adjustment knob which is in the center. it obviously couldn't be unscrewed because you can turn the knob both clockwise and anticlockwise to adjust the time.<br />
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to remove the knob you will have to pry open the back plate (like in the picture below) and use one pair of pliers to hold the shaft that it is attached to on the inside and another pair of pliers to slowly pull the knob out. (dabbing some oil would be good, the shaft in my clock had some rust on it and was nearly fused to the knob)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAwok6SWgnCPQl_qumkxIUpCxRokfWlkn9HwrezLCxKpSd9spTEBrVsHNaqP-iibptlGBFWZQ418HOoViHGiNMC7hyphenhyphenF50qTaEDOczxtH0xvS6fTAqVzDupurvLpHVZA0ACmRrLvMWdHOY/s1600/DSCN8002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAwok6SWgnCPQl_qumkxIUpCxRokfWlkn9HwrezLCxKpSd9spTEBrVsHNaqP-iibptlGBFWZQ418HOoViHGiNMC7hyphenhyphenF50qTaEDOczxtH0xvS6fTAqVzDupurvLpHVZA0ACmRrLvMWdHOY/s640/DSCN8002.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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remove the two metal feet from the bottom by simply unscrewing them from the body, once that is done the whole back plate can be removed.<br />
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the only thing holding the clockwork to the body now is the snooze button up on top. the button is held in place by a circlip shown in the picture below, pull the clip out (gently) with a small pair of pliers and the button can be removed.<br />
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once the snooze button is removed, the snooze button holder can also be removed and the clockwork comes right off the body. the snooze button assembly is really small and easy to lose so make sure you put it somewhere safe!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYbwEXmOzakzw2HTTquHS7UfQJSXNPvvzKw1jNcKtbhDIognmscOeRtnL-lAHCXiXVq4XJ8OuJZsCUuJlAiPAqFZw4aqYyxwhd39_kMleNmbavLnTOETQGXutzqxJg50OQdWXCncxhz_8/s1600/DSCN7989.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYbwEXmOzakzw2HTTquHS7UfQJSXNPvvzKw1jNcKtbhDIognmscOeRtnL-lAHCXiXVq4XJ8OuJZsCUuJlAiPAqFZw4aqYyxwhd39_kMleNmbavLnTOETQGXutzqxJg50OQdWXCncxhz_8/s640/DSCN7989.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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i can't really explain much about the gears, all i can say after looking closely at the mechanism i managed to identify the gears that were affecting the system and a few dabs of light machine oil here and there made the clock run smoothly without stopping (overnight) so it was better than when i first got it.<br />
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this video shows how the snooze button works:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="510" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8QelRJ7ZLNs?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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the top knob sets the time the alarm will ring. when it does ring and you press the snooze button, the ringing will stop and the button stays down. it will pop back up only if the alarm spring is rewound (which is what people will usually do before they go to bed). it doesn't sound like it's ringing because the back plate has to be on...it is definitely loud enough to wake someone up unless they're in a coma.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK74okzvHQZmXNIga7M_NVX7RlbgcPIzEJzmRBHDDBiOc9cdk4CaR6GzRTVR84nUeAx6kgH2JO9rLgHPXozq2bGzUBhBlf18LXc8ClS5fUcawrVXeor1Rf0uBrQercNnUSp5Z54fbJf3I/s1600/DSCN7995.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK74okzvHQZmXNIga7M_NVX7RlbgcPIzEJzmRBHDDBiOc9cdk4CaR6GzRTVR84nUeAx6kgH2JO9rLgHPXozq2bGzUBhBlf18LXc8ClS5fUcawrVXeor1Rf0uBrQercNnUSp5Z54fbJf3I/s640/DSCN7995.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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the glass (not plastic) lens simply needed a good cleaning with liquid glass cleaner.<br />
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before:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYtjKsBwSkAWY0S1qC9yWjbqke2uUugK_W4bcGbo9JaxdzvWxpfYsESQBYlzFKB_wxttFHiS_VU21nfyu4CD8g54PfWRAARg9wX3OhtWHFSoctOkNDAfGr8b4W6BuC4hxQZIie4Nma5vY/s1600/DSCN7990.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYtjKsBwSkAWY0S1qC9yWjbqke2uUugK_W4bcGbo9JaxdzvWxpfYsESQBYlzFKB_wxttFHiS_VU21nfyu4CD8g54PfWRAARg9wX3OhtWHFSoctOkNDAfGr8b4W6BuC4hxQZIie4Nma5vY/s640/DSCN7990.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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so now it was ready to be put back together!<br />
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on a side note: the back plate kind of looks like a sad, four-eyed alien, don't it?<br />
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i think it looks slightly more brand new now...but the body gives it away. still...it's a nice clock to add to my collection of old stuff!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-91725072679449332162011-05-17T02:00:00.000-07:002013-08-18T08:38:43.997-07:00Project "His Master's Voice Gramophone Model 102 Disassembly"i have been noticing that most of the people stumbling upon this blog are actually looking for information about the HMV 102 gramophone i did up a few months ago...today i decided to do a short instructional on how to strip the entire thing down. <b><u>(please click on the pictures to get a much bigger image!)</u></b><br />
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you will obviously need a flat head screwdriver, remove all the screws at the side and the two on the tonearm clip. remove the three screws on the tonearm base as well as having the tonearm out of the way would ensure you don't accidentally wreck it while moving the thing around. remove the circlip on the turntable and lift the whole thing off the gramophone.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJZn-diKMwz7v7SkWdUi4V5hGVp-H_0RwvmsnB3IoW_OaLQj8XKtrfl9WdrXVjYUGigjMBRFcDREdJw1WEh94dtOeqOIXSTclnCSAxyZhy-1vJzDo5dKyWDIPdGHeCBg7ZZW7ZsRLXVsM/s1600/DSCN7912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJZn-diKMwz7v7SkWdUi4V5hGVp-H_0RwvmsnB3IoW_OaLQj8XKtrfl9WdrXVjYUGigjMBRFcDREdJw1WEh94dtOeqOIXSTclnCSAxyZhy-1vJzDo5dKyWDIPdGHeCBg7ZZW7ZsRLXVsM/s640/DSCN7912.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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while doing all this, make sure you put all the screws and loose bits into a container of some sort as 50 year old screws are somewhat quite hard to find nowadays in the event one of them drops somewhere and disappear forever.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-5_3v16pLphwJyGRHtsAFl8XoRY0Xw1lkR4rCnlBlJUUa5DzYeE1yt7dGclbru96po72hwy8gN2-6DKgAVkWgBdFN5xpPxkngZEZJagb_hNZ0kiZvGHhiT_j-enKy72wCXHqBeAkOWDc/s1600/DSCN7916.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-5_3v16pLphwJyGRHtsAFl8XoRY0Xw1lkR4rCnlBlJUUa5DzYeE1yt7dGclbru96po72hwy8gN2-6DKgAVkWgBdFN5xpPxkngZEZJagb_hNZ0kiZvGHhiT_j-enKy72wCXHqBeAkOWDc/s640/DSCN7916.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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once all the screws are..er..unscrewed, remove the whole bottom portion (i call this the motorboard) out of the 'briefcase' portion and put the 'briefcase' somewhere safe (put a cloth below as it might be pretty dirty and oily). the next step is to unscrew the four biggest screws left on the motorboard (the ones with the washers on them) and now the motor will fall (gently) out of the motorboard.<br />
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turn the motor upside down and you'll see three nuts that need to be removed. use either a small spanner or a pair of pliers and keep these in your safe place.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8zGxU65gZ6xnS9R47BaJDXknTcrTH3_5e0i7e2ISPw7m2wzu-zGLEXQfo3JDXPlElN-M1avmqq0cedibJ_IbiFhJq0JaB-0R9UMgHi_p1t86vxRWobqua91MGhAi1tN8-Pi5kddraHhU/s1600/DSCN7921.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8zGxU65gZ6xnS9R47BaJDXknTcrTH3_5e0i7e2ISPw7m2wzu-zGLEXQfo3JDXPlElN-M1avmqq0cedibJ_IbiFhJq0JaB-0R9UMgHi_p1t86vxRWobqua91MGhAi1tN8-Pi5kddraHhU/s640/DSCN7921.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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the bottom plate of the motor comes right off, but be careful at this point as the spring might/should have some power left uncoiled and might jump slightly if you're not careful (fingers beware). the spring is kept inside the round container you see in the picture below, you would notice that my spring container has white tape all over it, and i'll explain why later.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsFcWwobeBGYCrVbX-CTsyupQEzUvCKJrrYIxI_h9pt_IER1R1AL88w985_9jESVFvSFPtNluOVuoedAUOR7ZGBTUDz4e8YfcFE04fFJbhk3lITyUuf_gX_azU-ZOwPKqFEpbIsb38xQo/s1600/DSCN7923.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsFcWwobeBGYCrVbX-CTsyupQEzUvCKJrrYIxI_h9pt_IER1R1AL88w985_9jESVFvSFPtNluOVuoedAUOR7ZGBTUDz4e8YfcFE04fFJbhk3lITyUuf_gX_azU-ZOwPKqFEpbIsb38xQo/s640/DSCN7923.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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the spring container can be removed by simply pulling it upwards off the center shaft. the container is kept shut by a retaining wire that is hard as hell to remove, and once removed, hard as hell to put back without accidentally ruining it (which is what i did). the last time i opened this was to install a new spring, and it looks okay so i won't be showing how to remove it in this blog post (it's a b*tch, but it can be done with lots of patience and/or cussing).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddRI-wxNwyv6xAjdyXeIkpfyJ95xqozXoHsqjCvThOzFjJtD7eFO5gEMwpML8tTk_2-qzpDOsSHOfw3q6VXI7j5lViArlWxQ5WLAN6wc0rSL7gvMH9G6B_V-svQ1mQKnDui6HdQbu1wg/s1600/DSCN7924.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddRI-wxNwyv6xAjdyXeIkpfyJ95xqozXoHsqjCvThOzFjJtD7eFO5gEMwpML8tTk_2-qzpDOsSHOfw3q6VXI7j5lViArlWxQ5WLAN6wc0rSL7gvMH9G6B_V-svQ1mQKnDui6HdQbu1wg/s640/DSCN7924.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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this part of the motor shown in the picture below is the governor and this is what ensures the spring doesn't uncoil all at once with a bang. how it works is that as the spring unwinds, the governor spins and the three metal weights you see would move outwards due to centrifugal force. as they move outwards, they move the disc towards the stopper (the black piece resting on the disc in the picture). the stopper restricts the distance the disc can move and the governor weights can't move any further and can't spin any faster either, thus giving you the desired speed. i realize i can't put it nicely in words so i provided a video for your better understanding.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfi2gm4z5qCJnNc-G0_PJEFDi91AHxUmtV1EUbHD655QnhEipMauKOph_8cd2vzHQ9vmCsZSRwlUMP7GE5h5ZRIrJ5KiYsYJDSQbPVrDMbRXoycVg61OvCSnns7j9wFwDp7_rSIuBnu7U/s1600/DSCN7927.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfi2gm4z5qCJnNc-G0_PJEFDi91AHxUmtV1EUbHD655QnhEipMauKOph_8cd2vzHQ9vmCsZSRwlUMP7GE5h5ZRIrJ5KiYsYJDSQbPVrDMbRXoycVg61OvCSnns7j9wFwDp7_rSIuBnu7U/s640/DSCN7927.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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so, now to put back everything together! starting with the spring container, if and when you manage to get the retaining wire back into the little groove that originally held it in place, it will probably be out of shape and spring out of position the moment you let go and that's where the tape comes in!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPXNDP4F7zNI_j24rNs3YvASloh-JCKN0Zruvt6sdkX8XahQ7_1DqGkKPL1SfdWidmxINenKDTcwp4PVCGriJ9vtoQK7yIjPgJ7rimb6AQd20T3I6kxXODrhrnaibpYzxE6yNb2VwnOp4/s1600/DSCN7931.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPXNDP4F7zNI_j24rNs3YvASloh-JCKN0Zruvt6sdkX8XahQ7_1DqGkKPL1SfdWidmxINenKDTcwp4PVCGriJ9vtoQK7yIjPgJ7rimb6AQd20T3I6kxXODrhrnaibpYzxE6yNb2VwnOp4/s640/DSCN7931.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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put the spring back onto its shaft. put the baseplate back on the motor. screw the nuts back onto the baseplate. put the motor back into the motorboard, and you will get to the picture below (whew!). now, to calibrate the speed of the motor so that it spins at 78rpm when the speed selector is set at..well..78rpm, you'll have to physically move the speed selector by hand as shown below. moving the speed selector to your right would make your speed selection faster, and moving it to the left would make everything slower...you'll have to do it for yourself to know what i mean.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1tbNa59iSXw3R7MWE-O82hxUUseOVYpgPKzlDCW_84DRxfzw23_UCvcyy-FPraQ64pHjxj4r-8lpSplhbtV4qhRoKKKD5-ypcq7vMx8Qoi56CmFfBJcLf80PSkD1PrC8veaD1vHvVKTM/s1600/DSCN7935.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1tbNa59iSXw3R7MWE-O82hxUUseOVYpgPKzlDCW_84DRxfzw23_UCvcyy-FPraQ64pHjxj4r-8lpSplhbtV4qhRoKKKD5-ypcq7vMx8Qoi56CmFfBJcLf80PSkD1PrC8veaD1vHvVKTM/s640/DSCN7935.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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you can check your speed by using a strobe disc with the same hertz as your power mains. as i am in singapore, this would be 60hz. turn on some lights and shine them on the disc while the turntable is spinning. if the lines at the 78rpm mark are stationary then you know you're at 78rpm! takes some trial and error but you'll eventually get there!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9om_x5dTlmPu3IEMge4B85dmbEYp0425maQQcxlIcDxI0bN3EMQGmRJfhd1rWBAOO6JJUlvLHrROmvQyTHXlpZjSLqdocBCM6NAkje9MuMy5hBUjvOChwlcASSCrKwS0qGDAm0sE343o/s1600/DSCN7937.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9om_x5dTlmPu3IEMge4B85dmbEYp0425maQQcxlIcDxI0bN3EMQGmRJfhd1rWBAOO6JJUlvLHrROmvQyTHXlpZjSLqdocBCM6NAkje9MuMy5hBUjvOChwlcASSCrKwS0qGDAm0sE343o/s640/DSCN7937.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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that's about it, i tip my hat (if i had one) to the engineers at HMV who designed this simple yet complex machine!<br />
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here's 'diamonds are a girl's best friend' by jo stafford:<br />
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(<a href="http://projectrepair.blogspot.com/2011/01/project-his-masters-voice-gramophone.html">link to page 1/3 of HMV restoration</a>)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-87140673028414331032011-05-14T06:32:00.000-07:002011-09-17T02:30:16.631-07:00Project "Technics SL-Q3,I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire, by The Ink Spots"i don't want to set the world on fire, by the ink spots...made famous all over again by a game called fallout 3.<br />
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i didn't fix this turntable, nor did i restore it in any way...this actually belongs to my father and i got it on a long term loan from him since he didn't really use it that much (nowadays, but it has surely been used for many many hours by now) and he's been keeping it in a good and working condition for about three decades.<br />
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anyway i have recently been extremely intrigued in records ever since i got my hands on the gramophone and brought it back to life and although i'm really lagging behind in terms of music technology, i think many people have been missing out on something.<br />
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records are difficult to maintain...they require a good cleaning with a velvet brush before every listening to get the dust out of the grooves otherwise you'd have clicks and pops. i have a cleaning solution specially just for the disc, and another different cleaning solution specially for the needle. troublesome...troublesome...but that's why it makes everything better.<br />
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it's just something about the tediousness of setting everything up that makes you appreciate the sounds even more, it's also something about the concept of being able to hold analogue music in a physical form instead of ones and zeros that makes it simply wonderful. on top of all that, i think the sounds coming from a vinyl disk sounds so much warmer and natural than from other mediums...plus they all come in a big folder that is so much easier to read than a standard CD album.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-69029975711199917862011-04-07T07:51:00.000-07:002013-08-18T08:39:17.221-07:00Project "DIY FreeTrack IR Headtracking for PC"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">i stumbled upon the concept of headtracking for the PC some two years ago when i was very into flight simulators (still am, but there aren't any new simulators that capture my attention). again, like the DIY PS3 mouse and keyboard adapter, i did not create or program this...i just followed the instructions online. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">basically, by using a webcam for the computer and some infrared LEDs, you are able to build your very own headtracking device that would work in games that support it (most flight simulators, racing games, even some first person shooters). so instead of using your hatswitch on your joystick or the buttons on your keyboard to look around in your virtual aircraft's cockpit, you can simple move your head around and your viewpoint would change accordingly.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">i actually smashed this setup together nearly two years ago to see if it works (and it did) and then i forgot about it after awhile. i didn't do a good job at all putting it together, but the idea now is to show how it works so just ignore the loose wires and *cough* universal black tape. there are two main versions of the 'rig' which is either mounting the LEDs on the rim of a cap, or mounting them on a 'clip'. many users have posted their builds here: <a href="http://www.free-track.net/english/hardware/point_model_gallery.php" target="_blank">http://www.free-track.<wbr></wbr>net/english/hardware/point_<wbr></wbr>model_gallery.php</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">the official name for this sort of device is a 'optical motion tracking' game controller. if you know how a Wii remote works then you already have the basic idea because it is very (if not entirely) similar. the official commercial product has been around since 2001 and was known as TrackIR 1, with the most recent version (TrackIR 5) being released in 2009. TrackIR retails for $150USD(!!!), and budgety ol' me doesn't have that kind of cash to blow on what is essentially some LEDs, a webcam and professional software. after looking around on the internet, i found a free(!!!) program created by some geniuses over at <a href="http://www.free-track.net/" target="_blank">http://www.free-track.net/</a> <wbr></wbr>and the best part of it is you have to DIY a simple rig together to make it work. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">by putting 3 infrared LEDs together in a triangle (or line, depending on whether you're building the cap version or the clip version) of specific dimensions (depth and height), the webcam and software would be able to detect and calculate how much and in which direction you move your head (as mentioned, like a wiimote). using 3 LEDs would enable six degrees of tracking; pitch, yaw, up, down, forwards and backwards. there is a version that uses only 1 LED but then you'll be restricted to just pitch and yaw as there is not enough information to calculate the rest.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">looking through the parts list, it is obvious it won't cost you more than a few bucks (cents for me because i already had all of it lying around):</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- 1 x resistor</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- 1 x standard USB cable</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">cut away one end of the USB cable and solder the resistors to the positive (red) wire to drop the voltage down to a level the LEDs can operate at. solder the LEDs together in series with enough wire length to space them apart to make the triangle of the specified/desired dimension. ignore the really shoddy build as shown in the picture below, it was hastily put together with nothing but black tape holding everything in place and the cap was the only free cap i had lying around (coincidentally its from the airshow and i use it for my flight sims...)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">there are quite a few webcams that are well suited for this program and there is a list here : <a href="http://www.free-track.net/english/freetrack/comment-ca-marche.php" target="_blank">http://www.free-track.net/<wbr></wbr>english/freetrack/comment-ca-<wbr></wbr>marche.php</a>, i borrowed a microsoft vx-1000 from my brother and it works fine.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">if you're wondering why infrared LEDs are used, it is because they do not emit visible light that would distract you and ruin your gaming experience. it is also possible for infrared light to be picked up by the webcam in broad daylight whereas normal LEDs would be overpowered by stray lights. one addition i made was to put a piece of developed but unexposed 35mm film in front of the lens of the webcam to filter out everything but infrared light and it worked spectacularly.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">you can tweak the program and set it up to your preference with settings such as deadzone and sensitivity and can save many profiles for use in different games. i won't go through the nitty gritty of how to set it up, but if you're interested there is a handbook on the official website here: <a href="http://www.free-track.net/fichiers/manuel21en.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.free-track.<wbr></wbr>net/fichiers/manuel21en.pdf</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9xdiqoQsySJoF5pe5IiGVTWqCTx0vt82PJFarvhvpj4QTpGdyMXgOLhyphenhyphenAfF3j7y_LEZaQQcgchkjBm8YnVweVsBSlykGv9PfIZdL92dN2ASVoMDg_ZSZHu7vGW4dP1dKr-UbrApVVrGw/s1600/freetrack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="449" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9xdiqoQsySJoF5pe5IiGVTWqCTx0vt82PJFarvhvpj4QTpGdyMXgOLhyphenhyphenAfF3j7y_LEZaQQcgchkjBm8YnVweVsBSlykGv9PfIZdL92dN2ASVoMDg_ZSZHu7vGW4dP1dKr-UbrApVVrGw/s640/freetrack.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">i haven't had any chance to try the TrackIR so i can't compare it with the FreeTrack version, but i'm sure the TrackIR should be more convenient in many ways (especially for people who don't like to DIY).</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-48565051734858596922011-03-10T06:14:00.000-08:002013-08-18T08:40:02.895-07:00Project "Sony Playstation 3, 'Phat' White"so i decided to make a small gamble by getting a faulty Sony Playstation 3 from a seller last week. it suffered from the "yellow light of death" otherwise known as YLOD which is where the indicator light on the unit blinks yellow instead of the usual green colour indicating a hardware failure. while this indicator light does not give specific information on the exact nature of the failure except that it is hardware, it is well known in the Playstation world that the first few generations suffered from a very common hardware failure: dry or cracked solders under the graphics processor (GPU) and/or the main processor (CPU).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhENuZE72oODqZGY7EMzuUrYk6UfxWKhPI_XhuEXDRh71JeXroxf48qHixOiHd1r1nKBKEsYOTw-jaWsYXiz9WVpuw5DonxUgeyvzUqpeAUhVHn0BkuhbHaGGcIWzN5MvNIbt3CqWhZvOs/s1600/DSCN7718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhENuZE72oODqZGY7EMzuUrYk6UfxWKhPI_XhuEXDRh71JeXroxf48qHixOiHd1r1nKBKEsYOTw-jaWsYXiz9WVpuw5DonxUgeyvzUqpeAUhVHn0BkuhbHaGGcIWzN5MvNIbt3CqWhZvOs/s640/DSCN7718.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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basically the older models of Playstation 3's (know as the "phat" version) tend to overheat and the lead-free solders under the GPU and CPU would fail due to the high temperatures. the solders would either become 'dry' or crack, causing a break in connection between the chip and the circuit which then causes the hardware failure and the YLOD. i didn't manage to get a picture of the yellow light but you'll find it easily by googling it.<br />
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one of the reasons for this failure is possibly due to a poor cooling system which many people have complained about online. i say possibly because although there have been numerous rants about the default fan in the unit, i found out that it was pretty huge and it was able to move a lot of air through the system. i suspect that the many people that have complained about this might have placed their unit inside an entertainment cupboard or shelf, which basically transforms the shelf/cupboard into an oven.<br />
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another reason would be the law that Sony has to follow when it designs a new console, which is that any toy that is sold to a kid cannot contain any form of lead. while this is really great for kids everywhere, leaded solder can withstand higher temperatures than lead-free solder and is better suited for use in the PS3...so...too bad for that...<br />
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anyway, there are a few ways to fix a YLOD PS3 but you will require proper equipment. one of the ways is to reflow (melt) the solder under the GPU and CPU and hope they form a new contact where it was previously broken. another way is to remove the GPU and CPU completely and remove the old lead-free solder and replace with leaded solder. the former is much easier than the latter, and in this post i have done the reflow method.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguJd7Pn89Z-7INv5Muegqg1wvREsUJUrKCGSMDPyc45dJ0rncozQkBxVaGosmpTgWgBsDRTs0I2oZ6jvBFdaOT_rQ7rjNW4S1Uf9CnGzwQREEgvmb2rzN3jjtV8Txfz3vdqez4cdj-iPU/s1600/DSCN7719.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguJd7Pn89Z-7INv5Muegqg1wvREsUJUrKCGSMDPyc45dJ0rncozQkBxVaGosmpTgWgBsDRTs0I2oZ6jvBFdaOT_rQ7rjNW4S1Uf9CnGzwQREEgvmb2rzN3jjtV8Txfz3vdqez4cdj-iPU/s640/DSCN7719.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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it goes without saying that once you open up the PS3, you'll have to remove the warranty sticker covering the first screw you need to open. it comes off easily, leaving behind many reminders that you have just voided your warranty. since this was a really old unit i had no trouble ripping the sticker right off.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52OxOQinoWmVqCvBm9FiODDMKUEWz7peo9Vkrs8IIJT5QaNCrCK9OFACIWoBydhI_ysnu_Pzvc1ftQ9JPUcPuaffkNsL6P55zgZ8PdIotKlCeBIavgoXWfjNsKu705qoWyE4Jqcn9rwY/s1600/DSCN7721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52OxOQinoWmVqCvBm9FiODDMKUEWz7peo9Vkrs8IIJT5QaNCrCK9OFACIWoBydhI_ysnu_Pzvc1ftQ9JPUcPuaffkNsL6P55zgZ8PdIotKlCeBIavgoXWfjNsKu705qoWyE4Jqcn9rwY/s640/DSCN7721.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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there are quite a number of screws of different sizes so be sure to be clear which screws of which size goes into which hole. the sequence i dismantled the unit shown in the picture above is:</div>
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1. blu-ray drive (big box on the right side)</div>
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2. bluetooth module (the PCB in the bottom left corner)</div>
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3. power supply (box on the top left side)</div>
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once those are removed, all that's left is the main PCB itself.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAdv2QiaquGVT2vQDlq5YtR-EN2G8zb9fRYVG6kLN9Gvf0nhjgrylNLCIdisDsNkVJ-a_0AS389WF1MWyjZR2FAQBFJitHhW3YNKnKHQCU9avWbZrr97PGskYTp48Ys642ep0Ar2lB68k/s1600/DSCN7725.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAdv2QiaquGVT2vQDlq5YtR-EN2G8zb9fRYVG6kLN9Gvf0nhjgrylNLCIdisDsNkVJ-a_0AS389WF1MWyjZR2FAQBFJitHhW3YNKnKHQCU9avWbZrr97PGskYTp48Ys642ep0Ar2lB68k/s640/DSCN7725.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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the most tricky part of this procedure is the reflowing itself and my brother did all of the work here because i don't really know how to use this equipment so i came to watch and learn. the board is first preheated to prevent it from cracking from uneven heating like so:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX9JqXUhoPhGkg8wjMPgjMoG6XzAQX8rY4MvmZ_3ldUytJgKovLeJcy3fXTfyZaSuJC5j5sRyrAsda7E5O2ksLEpKbYBswZC0oTBOGrEG1tzZx7yyFdqf6rcTFEZiYK1oLxCtkHreVspA/s1600/DSCN7734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX9JqXUhoPhGkg8wjMPgjMoG6XzAQX8rY4MvmZ_3ldUytJgKovLeJcy3fXTfyZaSuJC5j5sRyrAsda7E5O2ksLEpKbYBswZC0oTBOGrEG1tzZx7yyFdqf6rcTFEZiYK1oLxCtkHreVspA/s640/DSCN7734.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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we used a heat gun on the GPU and CPU which pumps out air at 350 degrees celsius. this causes the solders below the chips to melt and reform their contacts with the circuit. the aluminium foil is there to protect the other components around the GPU and CPU from overheating.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21pR1fSZ6wdBuU_dF27ypNQK9v5nDOgq4Nhv_ukpI8qR4fHHJUgPlVP8ddJR__Cd2b9DkNBsO0-ZHa6QPqGMsOfW0cae2CziCwzOUNa88u28i5UDkD9tKQkawtDnmw2Kdy4j90jbRaNI/s1600/DSCN7737.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21pR1fSZ6wdBuU_dF27ypNQK9v5nDOgq4Nhv_ukpI8qR4fHHJUgPlVP8ddJR__Cd2b9DkNBsO0-ZHa6QPqGMsOfW0cae2CziCwzOUNa88u28i5UDkD9tKQkawtDnmw2Kdy4j90jbRaNI/s640/DSCN7737.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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after that is done, all that's needed was a new coat of thermal paste and then it was ready to be reassembled.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8cG01SYKgGXZmML8OWBzY8vShZjRp2sNNsNaimuK1oiua23HXfT8bDO6NNIUiYvQlxais7eFCRcRDqwyY6kKnTHFqWXJSgGUB08V8a3RXp5EwOQDrhyphenhyphenoQu0l9864n1YbzfGJpQmXm_sU/s1600/DSCN7742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8cG01SYKgGXZmML8OWBzY8vShZjRp2sNNsNaimuK1oiua23HXfT8bDO6NNIUiYvQlxais7eFCRcRDqwyY6kKnTHFqWXJSgGUB08V8a3RXp5EwOQDrhyphenhyphenoQu0l9864n1YbzfGJpQmXm_sU/s640/DSCN7742.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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hooked it up to a television set and....it lives!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTA-U8GV16u_d0c8mZ6tiY2u7vLa8cBMs3zGEYTqTBLxc9BgMHlR7fpGBduZFOyY97xelk7kbzr5bfd3WiCVjFQTOSpxhU4dfOhLoYeU8oz3Au-SURzt6zLE7M8bwG4oeLBw9iNwNgWBA/s1600/DSCN7748.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTA-U8GV16u_d0c8mZ6tiY2u7vLa8cBMs3zGEYTqTBLxc9BgMHlR7fpGBduZFOyY97xelk7kbzr5bfd3WiCVjFQTOSpxhU4dfOhLoYeU8oz3Au-SURzt6zLE7M8bwG4oeLBw9iNwNgWBA/s640/DSCN7748.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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sadly this method is not a permanent fix, as the solders will eventually become dry and crack again one day. but this fix has shown that the problem with the Playstations are indeed due to their faulty solders on the chips.<br />
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if you notice that most of the recent posts are all about gaming related stuff, you're spot on...because i'm having my industrial attachment now and i don't have the time to find any antiques to restore...i am planning to do some DIY electronic projects in the coming weeks but that's for later...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-40710072303512258982011-02-09T05:06:00.000-08:002013-08-18T08:40:17.379-07:00Project "Gameboy Advance Cartridge Battery Replacment"this is a weird but potentially helpful post for people all over the world (if you manage to find this blog in the first place) about how to replace a battery inside a gameboy game cartridge.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-T5Yb9W7H8PgSROJXg6iR95IU8k_u0fAAOq3HZMfeIYZnSsqmD52jwd35dHQyhCIFxSJlYPND-HumR_4mJ2W601uMykLhB_YfyjiOrv4vqQFFYWhpiJBySIigexf8z6Wy4zUdGXOpos/s1600/DSCN7707.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="457" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-T5Yb9W7H8PgSROJXg6iR95IU8k_u0fAAOq3HZMfeIYZnSsqmD52jwd35dHQyhCIFxSJlYPND-HumR_4mJ2W601uMykLhB_YfyjiOrv4vqQFFYWhpiJBySIigexf8z6Wy4zUdGXOpos/s640/DSCN7707.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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i bought this GBA cartridge from a flea market recently and went home to try it. after playing for 5 minutes i saved the game and shut off the player just to see whether the save system works, and it didn't. i assumed that the cartridge was corrupted due to disuse or something like that and intended to throw it away, but i did a quick search online before i tossed it into the bin and i found out something that i didn't know before:<br />
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that there is a battery inside the cartridge that actually powers the RAM/EEPROM (or whatever the chip is) inside the cartridge. if that battery ever goes flat, you will be unable to save the game. a friend of mine did mention this to me before but i didn't think it was true because that would mean that one day when the battery does go out the cartridge would be useless, but he was right! i wonder how many people have thrown away perfectly good cartridges when a simple battery change would've done the trick...<br />
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i read online that apparently only pirated game cartridges have batteries, but this cartridge came in an original box and the screw that holds the cartridge together is the three pronged kind that comes with original nintendo gameboys, so i'm guessing some original cartridges did use batteries to save games.<br />
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anyway, after doing a few minutes research online i found out that the cartridge is powered by a 3 volt battery which is similar (if not exactly the same) as a watch battery. i bought a battery from a hardware store for $2SGD (which is the same price i bought the cartridge for!!) and went about dismantling the cartridge.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-8Rn8OCu0Ugu0ET9nDPBHSb13B6An9cbcPchcJcjjxboPhzihAYfTYaPcLiJnxfZ-1emFr1ElZD07LhEtKpGzt9ov8cnOmKyEOOw8e-W6pzNjKn86dwQVHuzWRrXH31cI9qNRQqF2pcM/s1600/DSCN7708.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-8Rn8OCu0Ugu0ET9nDPBHSb13B6An9cbcPchcJcjjxboPhzihAYfTYaPcLiJnxfZ-1emFr1ElZD07LhEtKpGzt9ov8cnOmKyEOOw8e-W6pzNjKn86dwQVHuzWRrXH31cI9qNRQqF2pcM/s640/DSCN7708.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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the yellow circle you see on the circuit board is the battery and it can be removed by simply removing the solders (with a soldering iron) on the metal contacts like so:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4znGFsQC4wWIOQ2QE_jUI5jIjFheOCNasmEGI-bDhktxJS-b2027LgTua0oMrMCJnUhVvaVyA2sqcOeUGt_9P_FVKteTg65HExbmzF0MEwcv5nXa8vDw8XtFkfKuAPeJXaaui8tXH4nM/s1600/DSCN7709.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4znGFsQC4wWIOQ2QE_jUI5jIjFheOCNasmEGI-bDhktxJS-b2027LgTua0oMrMCJnUhVvaVyA2sqcOeUGt_9P_FVKteTg65HExbmzF0MEwcv5nXa8vDw8XtFkfKuAPeJXaaui8tXH4nM/s640/DSCN7709.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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i saw online that they sell new batteries that come with the metal contacts for $10USD++ which is insane. i reused the contacts by ripping them off the old battery, but take note that it requires quite a bit of force as they're stuck to the battery pretty well.<br />
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the only problem i faced was that since i reused the metal contacts i had to attach them to the battery somehow. one of the ways i read online was to solder the contact directly onto the battery but i didn't like the idea of exposing a battery to a 200 degree heat source so i jury rigged it by using blu-tack! it was probably the most shoddy work i have ever done so far but hey...it will stick forever unless you throw the cartridge against a wall in which i think a disconnected battery will be the least of your concerns.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIIc1RcsDUIAveVy1AD0XoEfUC778-u2NtQgHsmgq2Dkr5zIeMOBCDPrXffZnDtCSIrIN3WfcOuhaGhYnu9dXwZUPROyAhmFDhco81ORHfsRwu6jLc46JsMdQcj9_mIe08uRLY2J__YoU/s1600/DSCN7711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIIc1RcsDUIAveVy1AD0XoEfUC778-u2NtQgHsmgq2Dkr5zIeMOBCDPrXffZnDtCSIrIN3WfcOuhaGhYnu9dXwZUPROyAhmFDhco81ORHfsRwu6jLc46JsMdQcj9_mIe08uRLY2J__YoU/s640/DSCN7711.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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i realized that i bought the wrong battery size but it didn't matter in the end because it still fit back into the cartridge. the original battery is CR1620 whereas i bought a CR2025 which is bigger but it's all good...now the battery will last even longer than before.<br />
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i powered up the unit with the cartridge slotted in and saved the game before shutting it off. when i turned it on i saw that my savegame was still there so there you go, a simple and easy way of fixing your 'corrupted' cartridge.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-57473237944806266032011-01-31T19:39:00.000-08:002013-08-18T08:40:35.810-07:00Project "Nintendo Gameboy Color"helped a friend fix a gameboy color, apparently the A and B buttons don't work anymore.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhay1jB5GxENSIvraoICbpA-_ENxgfimcGGd200LkTkKvnv8bi8PpyZY0XOyW7Mkzkjuxq8bLU_sa41UX0xnHvLo_2Z3F4phph3hmgduUC5bTG8qINs4uhJ1Q8tYTvkt31hNQoAb8HutEw/s1600/DSCN7693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhay1jB5GxENSIvraoICbpA-_ENxgfimcGGd200LkTkKvnv8bi8PpyZY0XOyW7Mkzkjuxq8bLU_sa41UX0xnHvLo_2Z3F4phph3hmgduUC5bTG8qINs4uhJ1Q8tYTvkt31hNQoAb8HutEw/s640/DSCN7693.JPG" width="582" /></a></div>
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the game 'included' is mario golf...tried playing it for a few minutes and i totally lost interest...mario should be best left climbing down sewer pipes and saving princess peach and not playing golf...maybe even take up go-karting but definitely not golf...<br />
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it was a very straightforward task, in fact the hardest part was trying to get it open because well you see, apparently screwdrivers were made differently back in the 90's...no i'm kidding it's probably some special screw to discourage kids from opening up their gameboys and making super gundam robots out of them:<br />
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anyway, all that was needed was a small enough flathead screwdriver to jam inbetween two of the three holes in the screw and it was enough to turn them. <br />
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the powerful 8MHZ processor with 32KB RAM and 16KB GFX processor!!!<br />
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the last picture shows the culprit of the malfunctioning buttons. it seems a layer of dust/corrosion built up on the contacts and some contact cleaning fluid and cotton buds got rid of it. all in all it works as good as it should right now, it should work as long as it is not neglected for the next decade or so!<br />
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oddly, even after i manually removed all of the visible dust out of the game cartridge and slot on the gameboy, the game still has glitches when you first slot it in. the one and only way to fix this is to blow air into the game cartridge and it works again...seems like that is the only way to get games of the 90's to work properly.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-1760214214062672592011-01-20T20:08:00.000-08:002013-08-18T08:40:43.302-07:00Project "Westclox Big Ben Alarm Clock, Style 6" (3/3)<b><span style="color: red;">EDIT: PLEASE READ!!!! before attempting any sorts of repairs to any sort of antique clock be aware that the luminous paint used on the face might contain radium which is extremely risky if it is ingested and/or inhaled. this can happen when you open the clock and the dust from inside gets out. if it glows regardless of whether you charged the face with an external light source or not then it surely contains radium or other radioactive substances and must be treated with care!</span></b><br />
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i have tested this clock for a few days already and it works fine and keeps accurate time. there is actually a way to set the speed of the regulator on the back of the clock to fine tune the time if it ever goes too fast or too slow. i suppose it was built in to take into account that the springs/regulator might not be consistent in the future and gave the option to recalibrate the timing.<br />
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the alarm works on time, and is LOUD...they weren't kidding when they put the 'loud alarm' wordings on the face. the clock is effectively one big bell and the internal striker hits the side of the clock and it sounds just like a fire bell (just not at such a high frequency). there is no 'snooze button', the alarm is toggled on and off by a knob at the back. the alarm will keep ringing for about 10 seconds, then stop for about 5, then ring again and will keep repeating this cycle until the alarm spring is unwound (about 2mins of ringing) so you will definitely wake up when this clock rings!<br />
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the clock itself runs for about 24 hours one a full winding. if the clock is left running until the spring has fully unwound, all that is needed to restart it is to wind it back up again and it should restart. i tried this a few times and there are times where the regulator doesn't kick in and all that is needed is a little jerk in the clockwise/anticlockwise direction and the clock starts up again without fail.<br />
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<a href="http://projectrepair.blogspot.com/2011/01/project-westclox-big-ben-alarm-clock_17.html">(link to page 2/3)</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-23127725848425953812011-01-17T01:18:00.000-08:002013-08-18T08:41:00.630-07:00Project "Westclox Big Ben Alarm Clock, Style 6" (2/3)<span style="color: red;"><b>EDIT: PLEASE READ!!!! before attempting any sorts of repairs to any sort of antique clock be aware that the luminous paint used on the face might contain radium which is extremely risky if it is ingested and/or inhaled. this can happen when you open the clock and the dust from inside gets out. if it glows regardless of whether you charged the face with an external light source or not then it surely contains radium or other radioactive substances and must be treated with care!</b></span><br />
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spent about an hour plus just polishing the plastic lens of the alarm clock...it isn't done yet and still requires a few more rounds of polishing especially around the sides but i think i did a pretty good job.<br />
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i used sandpaper (grade 2000) on the lens and then followed up with this plastic polisher, novus:<br />
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<a href="http://www.novuspolish.com/">http://www.novuspolish.com/</a><br />
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i came across this brand while researching online for something to clear up the badly fogged lens. it is very good for cleaning most kinds of plastics and comes in three grades. novus number 3 is for clearing deep scratches, novus number 2 for fine scratches and novus number 1 is just for cleaning and also gives the newly polished plastic a nice shine. i used novus 2 and 1 as i felt that the sandpaper would be equivalent to novus 3, works well enough!<br />
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i fixed the alarm issue and it rings on time now. i oiled the gears that i suspected are causing drag on the mechanism and now it doesn't stop every 30 seconds but it still stops after a few hours on its own. it needs a little jerk before it starts up again so i know that it is definitely a gearing issue...maybe dirt or rust causing a gear to stop every now and then.<br />
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<a href="http://projectrepair.blogspot.com/2011/01/project-westclox-big-ben-alarm-clock_20.html">(link to page 3/3)</a><br />
<a href="http://projectrepair.blogspot.com/2011/01/project-westclox-big-ben-alarm-clock.html">(link to page 1/3)</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-49060510282323597112011-01-15T07:47:00.000-08:002013-08-18T08:41:16.463-07:00Project "Westclox Big Ben Alarm Clock, Style 6" (1/3)<span style="color: red;"><b>EDIT: PLEASE READ!!!! Before attempting any sorts of repairs to any sort of antique clock be aware that the luminous paint used on the face might contain radium which is extremely risky if it is ingested and/or inhaled. this can happen when you open the clock and the dust from inside gets out. If it glows regardless of whether you charged the face with an external light source or not then it surely contains radium or other radioactive substances and must be treated with care!</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b>There was no visible glow whatsoever when I obtained this clock, whether in the dark or light. It only glows when I shine an external light source on to the face but it fades away after a few minutes and I have been informed that this behavior means that it is unlikely to be radium. Nevertheless I will continue to treat this clock as mildly radioactive and keep it a distance away until I can confirm it is indeed not radioactive. For more information please read the comments below.</b></span><br />
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obtained this antique alarm clock recently but haven't had the time to do much work on it yet, but i managed to take it apart and snap some photos. i personally think that it is an absolutely gorgeous looking clock and will not be touching up on its exterior because the beauty of this clock is the ruggedness that comes with its aged look.<br />
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a few problems, to name a few:<br />
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1. the face is OBVIOUSLY seriously fogged up, i don't know if it's due to age or due to exposure to the elements.<br />
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2. the mechanism doesn't run for more than a few seconds before stopping. the gears require my coaxing to run but it will just seize up on its own after maybe 30 seconds, could be a problem with the spring, or perhaps the gears need oiling.<br />
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3. the alarm setting is off by about an hour and requires calibration. meaning if i set the alarm at 5pm, it will ring at 4pm instead and that is NOT a reliable clock!<br />
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4. the luminous paint on the minute hand is flaking off even as i'm handling it (carefully) but i don't think anything can be done about that.<br />
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i managed to identify the make and model of the clock from this website <br />
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<a href="http://clockhistory.com/westclox/products/ben/style6/index.html">Big Ben Westclox history at www.clockhistory.com</a><br />
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from the examples on the website, this clock should be a style 6 model 211 alarm clock built between 1949 - 1956 so it is at least 50 years old. they sell modern replicas of this clock online, but those are powered by batteries which are nowhere as classic as this particular one i have which needs daily windings to keep it going.<br />
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i managed to take it apart right down to the gearings without much difficulty, but i am a little daunted by the complexity of this clock. granted, it is not a grandfather clock or something very complex but this is my first experience with a clockwork mechanism of any kind.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs47xewh7yVnhJKCzoKPITBgIF1Cxv486dyL5_0qbVcgjkXoi8SCNmMmrJxOSVyPp9HxHpUJej3p0IFOgZmY-aV8aL-h7ninSxogVXCpvVFJHcO6VHtr8Di8sgCzOMC1kNX-dZsHVUjf0/s1600/DSCN7669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs47xewh7yVnhJKCzoKPITBgIF1Cxv486dyL5_0qbVcgjkXoi8SCNmMmrJxOSVyPp9HxHpUJej3p0IFOgZmY-aV8aL-h7ninSxogVXCpvVFJHcO6VHtr8Di8sgCzOMC1kNX-dZsHVUjf0/s640/DSCN7669.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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that's a lot of gears for a first timer like me to handle but i will work at it and hope that my gamble in purchasing this clock will pay off if i can repair it.<br />
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if i am unable to fix it...then...well it'll still make a nice display piece on a cupboard, but it'd be 500% nicer if it worked. i can't think of anything to clear up the fog on the face, no rubbing or cleaning would get it off...that'll be a huge problem as well if it works but you can't see the face!<br />
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<a href="http://projectrepair.blogspot.com/2011/01/project-westclox-big-ben-alarm-clock_17.html">(link to page 2/3)</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-15943899469887030562011-01-12T21:48:00.000-08:002013-08-18T08:41:51.682-07:00Project "His Master's Voice Gramophone Model 102" (3/3)restoring this gramophone took a good 3 months, although most of the time spent during that period is waiting for spare parts to arrive from overseas. i think it took around a full week of man-hours to scrub out most of the rust and fine tune the motor. <br />
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here's a picture (not well taken) of when i first got it:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxo1o2nlhCCGqySISkzy8MG6KdeCU2EcjOLj8ZCrCY7_Rh6DofHp-pLKposV0NJs4INjTYfct_V48-ktLBxL-t_hHN8PZI2pCLQ15Co0wIS_tkYpZMjEf8dBswQw7nk_izkQJz4N03H54/s1600/IMG_0699.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxo1o2nlhCCGqySISkzy8MG6KdeCU2EcjOLj8ZCrCY7_Rh6DofHp-pLKposV0NJs4INjTYfct_V48-ktLBxL-t_hHN8PZI2pCLQ15Co0wIS_tkYpZMjEf8dBswQw7nk_izkQJz4N03H54/s640/IMG_0699.JPG" width="406" /></a></div>
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the leatherette was falling apart at the corners, there was a huge mound of dust underneath the motorboard, and the motor didn't even work to begin with. i started off by spraying every metal part with WD-40 (my new best friend) to loosen the rust and scrubbed with a metal brush. the tonearm is originally chrome with a mirror finish, unfortunately corrosion has eaten away most of the chrome right down to the brass(?) piping. i did the best i could but it is far from how it is originally supposed to look like.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeArZ2qFyUeuE1QudOGnUKdZYd7CwIC-H5s8Jp7-XNr1KWa7_fiVReiVjOJAom4Ei8f33ahqL6l33zAYMlOrgMPJXxqgT2emIfS3LenVNw9l8tqKb17H7rnrrpXa7cCaTDZMLN829oUsE/s1600/beforeafter1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeArZ2qFyUeuE1QudOGnUKdZYd7CwIC-H5s8Jp7-XNr1KWa7_fiVReiVjOJAom4Ei8f33ahqL6l33zAYMlOrgMPJXxqgT2emIfS3LenVNw9l8tqKb17H7rnrrpXa7cCaTDZMLN829oUsE/s640/beforeafter1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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the motor was badly clogged with dust and congealed oil. i removed everything (gears, spring, etc) and again...cleaned with WD-40. <br />
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before:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqLILcpuDmhIAYtpQuvGb7vPC9YJXI9LRRR4odftbrnWjn2uy_xyAp0okPAL74KSiVxC5pcRNTBwJD69WwQKgrmSow3SvsrcIi8JMB_V2cOQJyr-JQc3PDxCBtCFdIwlqF1TE1HSJTnQ/s1600/DSCN7428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqLILcpuDmhIAYtpQuvGb7vPC9YJXI9LRRR4odftbrnWjn2uy_xyAp0okPAL74KSiVxC5pcRNTBwJD69WwQKgrmSow3SvsrcIi8JMB_V2cOQJyr-JQc3PDxCBtCFdIwlqF1TE1HSJTnQ/s640/DSCN7428.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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this gramophone was designed to play 78rpm records which are pretty rare nowadays. when i mean rare, i mean records with songs that i know and would like, there are hundreds and hundreds of obscure artists and songs on 78's records that i have found but dare not buy because i might not like them. i go around looking for records that are more 'popular'...but sadly those are set at a 'non-popular' price.<br />
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the old spring had issues maintaining a proper speed. it kept fluctuating between 76-79 rpm which is close enough if you think about it, but the variations in speed meant that the pitch of the song changes as well. it is kind of irritating to listen to a song that way, but thankfully the new spring solves that problem and maintains a steady 78rpm give or take a puny decimal place.<br />
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while searching online, i found an ingenious way of checking the turntable's speed with the use of a strobe disc. it is basically a circle of lines that are equally spaced apart and when the turntable is moving at 78rpm the lines would seem to be standing still. i fine tuned the motor speed selector until it registered 78rpm and left it at that.<br />
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the original soundbox that came with the gramophone turned out to be a cheap replica made in india. apparently it was extremely common with gramophones that were bought in south-east asia and were a standard issue. i looked online for an authentic soundbox and found a HMV 5b that was in need of repair and i had it shipped over. when it arrived, it was missing a rubber connector and had a hole in the diaphragm that affected the sound output.<br />
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i bought a rubber connector and a new diaphragm, but the 'new' diaphragm came with a hole as well and i got a refund for it. unfortunately that still left me with a leaky diaphragm and i couldn't find any new ones online (at least for now).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQhCgV3uelivdLLwiacSVRoK0DHB6eSTZDg9zyxngLi3FQMjJKy57eRHirvX4YkAREwzouU1DWTljaODTT2UwxzwSwPVtjSC_PMmCrtvqG1NmSEHAk_BxvogzsPAAKsZZFjzWswiJI2vo/s1600/DSCN7480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQhCgV3uelivdLLwiacSVRoK0DHB6eSTZDg9zyxngLi3FQMjJKy57eRHirvX4YkAREwzouU1DWTljaODTT2UwxzwSwPVtjSC_PMmCrtvqG1NmSEHAk_BxvogzsPAAKsZZFjzWswiJI2vo/s640/DSCN7480.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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i ended up gluing some aluminium foil over the hole which seems to be a good fix. it won't sound 100% as good but it was much better than leaving the hole there for all the sound to leak out of.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhugZu-7NC63Dhu2HbSxWAHlUnQFMKa2-Lp_ZrjBVqG_q3VDW2CsHr-4iWY1tL8PlOb0l13-akFqbXnvQW_8Ab-ge9gEF5iI7j23aUMEHCRTPhjbcQTGlB_k3efGXdgBasjlhzrpIeTV4c/s1600/DSCN7639.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhugZu-7NC63Dhu2HbSxWAHlUnQFMKa2-Lp_ZrjBVqG_q3VDW2CsHr-4iWY1tL8PlOb0l13-akFqbXnvQW_8Ab-ge9gEF5iI7j23aUMEHCRTPhjbcQTGlB_k3efGXdgBasjlhzrpIeTV4c/s640/DSCN7639.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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i use modern needles bought from a guy in the US to play my records. although i do have some old needles left over from the original owner of the gramophone, i try not to use these as i trust the modern needles would do less wear and tear on the records, but i did manage to buy an original needle tin just for the sake of completing the collection! <br />
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needle tins are a collector's item as they come in thousands of designs and varieties. some claim that their needles are able to play hundreds of records before needing to be replaced, but modern science discovered that each needle is only good for one, at the most two, plays before a new needle is needed otherwise the worn out tip would gouge out the grooves of a record. this tin that i have states that each needle is good for 20 plays which is a lie! sure it'll play for 20 plays, but the record would sound like crap after awhile when the grooves are all gone. rare needle tins have sold for more than 100++ USD, this one that i have is a pretty common one but could still be worth something in the future so i'll be holding on to it for some time.<br />
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well the awesome thing now is that the gramophone works...it might not sound as good as it is supposed to sound but it is good enough for me. maybe one day i'd come across someone who is selling the diaphragm and i'll be able to hear the songs like how they're supposed to be, until then i'll be happy with what i have!<br />
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and in case you didn't know, this is a portable gramophone that folds up nicely into a suitcase to carry around.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheiDN8LBetMJu8ad7v4H1iHVx0jZKAHhelieG2fMFeY-wee2umRSYEEQXAdoBOFPF5vZ333QCtTPUTvhVFk86NtCRN22O-Bz0kVcL5CSc-odMIanYIy2qeQ7vZQVoNlfWHk9XJhGkXeiE/s1600/DSCN7649.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheiDN8LBetMJu8ad7v4H1iHVx0jZKAHhelieG2fMFeY-wee2umRSYEEQXAdoBOFPF5vZ333QCtTPUTvhVFk86NtCRN22O-Bz0kVcL5CSc-odMIanYIy2qeQ7vZQVoNlfWHk9XJhGkXeiE/s640/DSCN7649.JPG" width="624" /></a></div>
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and finally here's a video of it in operation, playing sundown boogie by bill haley and his comets.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-34859240718452283892011-01-12T02:58:00.000-08:002013-08-18T08:42:13.257-07:00Project "His Master's Voice Gramophone Model 102" (2/3)the gramophone mainspring FINALLY arrived in the mail from the netherlands. i ordered it before christmas and it took nearly 3 weeks to arrive. must have took so long because of all the backlog of gifts and crapola the mail people must clear...<br />
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anyway so it arrived and i unpacked it, and it looked harmless enough...just a coil of metal, waiting to be crammed into a small container like so:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIdEJPyUMGGZHjRdFtJPbyKN0ifgJ-rrGxlKTkKlZTdvDdwvt8CU906T6LhUiRjZqjGobvC5pc_a75OUfoG4ZMhyGvHYZEXGxgmIWTeoRdDIEDoKNCAwdPQc7fxgaH-4IeUAicQMtOI2E/s1600/DSCN7629.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIdEJPyUMGGZHjRdFtJPbyKN0ifgJ-rrGxlKTkKlZTdvDdwvt8CU906T6LhUiRjZqjGobvC5pc_a75OUfoG4ZMhyGvHYZEXGxgmIWTeoRdDIEDoKNCAwdPQc7fxgaH-4IeUAicQMtOI2E/s640/DSCN7629.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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i removed the cableties and slowly removed the metal wire holding the spring together, and when i remembered: "hey, don't coiled springs have a lot of stored power?", the spring exploded outwards in 360 degrees. i got a nice mark on my arm as a reminder not to be stupid next time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKhW4ZenBXoNf-ZGwUy1GWCxEjR2a1E4DWZlkXCi2ROfnAf-8F2zbBx1bqoZja6pbXgfEAe1LQ6hFgBzP0xHveuAlHPTCrdjBOdQ5DdYTVhM4ihcwB4-4CChiEQq51COJGZSBvHc6XtEE/s1600/DSCN7631.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKhW4ZenBXoNf-ZGwUy1GWCxEjR2a1E4DWZlkXCi2ROfnAf-8F2zbBx1bqoZja6pbXgfEAe1LQ6hFgBzP0xHveuAlHPTCrdjBOdQ5DdYTVhM4ihcwB4-4CChiEQq51COJGZSBvHc6XtEE/s640/DSCN7631.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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took me nearly 30 minutes to cram the new spring into the container, whereas the old spring took me only 5...all i can say is that this new spring is definitely able to store more force than the old one.<br />
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so there, it's done...i finally managed to fix this antique, i will take a video of it in action and post it up soon.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910442227111579556.post-32597690065312142422011-01-06T04:21:00.000-08:002013-08-18T08:42:23.845-07:00Project "His Master's Voice Gramophone Model 102" (1/3)i obtained this gramophone from my girlfriend's family a few months ago. i do not own it, they just lent it to me on a long term loan due to my fascination with old stuff. i decided to clean it up and restore it as well as i can. i did take a few pictures before starting and it was in a really bad state.<br />
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i removed the soundbox from the tonearm as it was rusted beyond repair.<br />
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this has definitely seen better days.<br />
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the motorboard housing, with every metal part rusted and every corner/hole clogged with dust<br />
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the spring motor, badly rusted and congealed grease<br />
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the round object at the end of the arm that is covered in rust is the soundbox, which is the means and ways of how the gramophone produces sound in the first place...and it...is...an absolute write off...<br />
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work is still in progress on this machine, which i have been told by an online forum that it was produced in 1954, which makes this gramophone nearly 60 years old. so far it refuses to stay fixed, with some other part failing once one other part has been fixed, but i will be very satisfied once it is restored to a respectable working order.<br />
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<a href="http://projectrepair.blogspot.com/2011/01/project-his-masters-voice-gramophone_12.html">(link to page 2/3)</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0