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"Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com>: Jan 07 05:25AM +1100 Adrian Tuddenham <adrian@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid> wrote > a storage element; usually this is found on the HV side of the > inverter. This brings back the reliability problem: it is asking > a lot of a big capacitor to survive for many years   PC power supplys done like that last fine.   > when it is potentially exposed to occasional > mains glitches from one side   It isnt hard to stop those getting to the cap.   > and continuously exposed to the > switching current waveform on the other.   That doesn't happen either with the big cap.   > For a given energy storage capacity, capacitors are smaller, > lighter and cheaper than metal-cored chokes, but it is a lot > more difficult to make them as reliable in the long term.   Yes, but in practice its long term enough with PC power supplys.

"Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com>: Jan 07 05:44AM +1100 Leif Neland <leif@neland.dk> wrote   > Here is the product page: > http://www.thansen.dk/product.asp?pn=-831477966 > Price is USD 160, I got an used one for 24USD.   I have considered the Yaris but don't thing I'll ever get one given that approach. I've got a Hyundai Getz myself but likely won't be replacing it unless it breaks dramatically. The previous VW Golf lasted me 35+ years and I only needed to replace that when I was stupid enough to no do anything about a known windscreen leak after a windscreen replacement and that eventually rusted out the floor and I could be arsed fixing that. > Alas, now it needs a new back door, because wife didn't > see I parked the Landcruiser outside the garage :-(   Should be able to get one of those cheap too given that most of the writeoffs would be at the other end of the car.

adrian@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid (Adrian Tuddenham): Jan 06 07:24PM > Adrian Tuddenham <adrian@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid> wrote [...] > > lighter and cheaper than metal-cored chokes, but it is a lot > > more difficult to make them as reliable in the long term.   > Yes, but in practice its long term enough with PC power supplys.   ...but not when the PSUs also have to fit into the cap of a light bulb and under-cut the price of the nearest rival.     -- ~ Adrian Tuddenham ~ (Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply) www.poppyrecords.co.uk

Leif Neland <leif@neland.dk>: Jan 06 08:44PM +0100 Rod Speed forklarede den 06-01-2015:   >> Price is USD 160, I got an used one for 24USD.   > I have considered the Yaris but don't thing I'll ever get one given that > approach.   I find it a good approach, omitting a distributor and 5 cables which can be attacked by moisture. Here everything high voltage is sitting nice and dry almost inside the engine, below a plastic cover.   >> Landcruiser outside the garage :-(   > Should be able to get one of those cheap too given that > most of the writeoffs would be at the other end of the car.   I've sent off enquries to two dealers, including a whole car with front damage for for 1000USD.   Leif   -- Husk kørelys bagpå, hvis din bilfabrikant har taget den idiotiske beslutning at undlade det.

Jim Newman <jn@gmaill.com>: Jan 06 08:02PM On 02/01/2015 14:56, Arfa Daily wrote: > EE Times article that came to me by email today   > http://www.electronics-eetimes.com/en/the-big-lie-about-led-lighting.html?cmp_id=7&news_id=222923405   > Arfa   Some very interesting maths there certainly. Particularly how he comes up with "a 25% failure rate" for LEDs.   I consider that a valid reason for disregarding anything he has to say about the matter.

Leif Neland <leif@neland.dk>: Jan 06 09:12PM +0100 Tim Watts forklarede:   > As it happens, I will be using LEDs in a number of relatively open fittings > (GU10s ion the end of stalks, plenty of air), 3 very low power GU10s in > downlighters (2-3W range) as night lighting in the hall.   Consider using red leds for guide lights at night, it makes it easier to go to sleep again if you have to get up at night.   Leif   -- Husk kørelys bagpå, hvis din bilfabrikant har taget den idiotiske beslutning at undlade det.

Tim Watts <tw_usenet@dionic.net>: Jan 06 08:33PM On 06/01/15 20:12, Leif Neland wrote:   > Consider using red leds for guide lights at night, it makes it easier to > go to sleep again if you have to get up at night.   > Leif   Very good idea! You can get coloured GU10s IIRC.   This will show through the front door glass (bedrooms are downstairs) so we might get mistaken for a knocking shop, which would add some interest to our daily humdrum lives :)

Vir Campestris <vir.campestris@invalid.invalid>: Jan 06 08:54PM On 05/01/2015 20:57, Leif Neland wrote: > The car only had run 460000km, not sure when, if ever, the spark plugs > had been changed.   That's pretty good - nearly half a million on one set of plugs.   Andy

"Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com>: Jan 07 09:54AM +1100 "Adrian Tuddenham" <adrian@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid> wrote in message news:1lxudl8.6daboy1ethtdcN%adrian@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid... >> > more difficult to make them as reliable in the long term.   >> Yes, but in practice its long term enough with PC power supplys.   > ...but not when the PSUs also have to fit into the cap of a light bulb   Sure, but that doesn't happen with the ones with an external power supply.   > and under-cut the price of the nearest rival.   Happens in spades with PC power supplys.

"Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com>: Jan 07 10:17AM +1100 Leif Neland <leif@neland.dk> wrote   >> I have considered the Yaris but don't thing >> I'll ever get one given that approach. > I find it a good approach,   I don't.   > omitting a distributor   No distributor in my Getz.   > and 5 cables which can be attacked by moisture.   But much more expensive to fix than replacing a cable.   I've never had to replace a distributor, the most I have ever had to do is replace the rotor for peanuts.

"Arfa Daily" <arfa.daily@ntlworld.com>: Jan 07 01:19AM "Phil Allison" <pallison49@gmail.com> wrote in message news:b8c25e4d-fd78-4f05-b6e0-ef7f500cbe24@googlegroups.com... >> > a fucking dinner, as it always is by everyone.   >> Everybody who matters knows exactly who I am.   > ** Yeah - the grumpy old guy with a cigar hanging out his mouth...   I'm actually not Phil, but that grumpy old guy with a cigar hanging out of his mouth is actually a good (online) friend of mine who I talk to pretty much every day ... :-)   Arfa>

"Arfa Daily" <arfa.daily@ntlworld.com>: Jan 07 01:31AM "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote in message news:ch13jbFeo1uU1@mid.individual.net... > Arfa Daily <arfa.daily@ntlworld.com> wrote just the > puerile shit that always pours from the back of it when its got done like > a fucking dinner, as it always is by everyone.   You see ? There you go again. Nothing new to say, so hey, just say exactly the same thing over again. Clever ? Not as such. And let's just analyze the content, shall we ? "A gutless fuckwit desperately cowering behind ..."   So, gutless ? Why would I need 'guts' to talk to a twat-headed moron like you ? Desperately cowering ? Why in your wildest dreams would you believe that anything you could do or say on here would make me desperate or want to hide from you ? Using a nic ? So what ? Loads of people do. I've used it for 15 years or more. It's a bit of a laugh - too subtle for you of course, but again, anyone who matters - that's not you - knows the story behind why I use it. I don't 'hide' behind anything. As I said to you before, the email address is valid, and I don't hide or change anything in the headers of anything I post. If you are that desperate to know who I am, work it out. But I suppose you are too thick to do that.   You are a total waste of space and bandwidth. Nobody is actually interested in anything you have to say ...   Arfa

"Arfa Daily" <arfa.daily@ntlworld.com>: Jan 07 01:32AM "tony sayer" <tony@bancom.co.uk> wrote in message news:4T5NatC1s9qUFwt4@bancom.co.uk... > what I did ages ago!... > -- > Tony Sayer   Playing with him amuses me, Tony ... :-)   Arfa

"Arfa Daily" <arfa.daily@ntlworld.com>: Jan 07 01:37AM "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote in message news:ch13pfFep7eU1@mid.individual.net... >>> does.   > <reams of your puerile shit any 2 year old could > leave for dead flushed where it belongs>   Wahey ! And again. Nothing new to say, so just snip anything of relevance to try and justify yourself, and then say the same thing over again. You really are a fuckin robot, aren't you ? Just do everybody a favour, and get back to your kangaroo shagging ...   Arfa

captainvideo462009@gmail.com: Jan 06 03:18PM -0800 > So I next got out the Strobeotac and put it on the motor capstan. The motor is rated for 1850 RPM at 115V, and it's running rock solid at 1795. I tried loading it while watching the speed and it remains steady, so it doesn't appear to be a load problem. Could such a slight motor speed reduction cause a 25 percent reduction in the frequency of my 1KHZ test tone off the tape? It doesn't seem possible, but I don't know.   > The motor has a label that reads that it uses a 3.0UF 330V capacitor. I haven't investigated this yet, but with four wires going into it I figure that the cap must be on the chassis somewhere. I wouldn't think that a cap problem though would cause my RPM's to drop 55RPM would it? Oh and I have no service manual, however I don't think that service manual would do me much good with this problem anyway.   > If anyone has any thoughts on this I'd sure appreciate hearing them. Thanks, Lenny   Well I thought I'd jump back in here with an update on my progress. I ordered and installed a replacement capstan flat belt from Adams Manufacturing. After installing this belt there was no more bumping from the old misshapen belt. then, I had three pinch rollers. One is from this machine and the other two were from junkers I had in the shop. The rubber on all of them was slick but seemed pliable and I worked on two of them with sandpaper and then lacquer thinner. I finished off with rubber restorer and then cleaned them off with 99% anhydrous isopropyl. After this treatment The rollers felt a bit more "grippier" if that's the correct description but still were not what I would have liked to see. However taking a fresh look at the 1KHZ tone on the test tape with the scope immediately after installing one of the "restored" rollers showed that the machine was now running on speed. So I feel foolish to admit that it seems that I had overlooked the most basic thing, the capstan roller, as being the primary governor of speed.   So I tried a few of my old tapes to see how they sounded. Some of these tapes were 1800 ft and I noticed that they would play for a coupe of songs and then start slowing down. I had a sealed brand new roll of Scotch 206, which is a 1200 ft low noise mastering tape as it's so called. I made a fine sounding recording on this tape. Then I tried playing the 3 3/4 pre recorded Bob Dylan tape. Let me tell you when Bob Dylan is off speed there is no mistaking it. So while this was running I gently increased the take up torque with my finger and the tape seemed to sound fine as long as I kept the tension up. As soon as I relaxed it a bit the speed would waver.   So now I know that for certain I need to resolve the pinch roller issue and also I need to check the take up torque for which there is a specification in the manual. Problem is I don't have a scale for that. So I as wondering if anyone knows of a source for these type of scales, and also as I found for the capstan belt is there a generic source for replacement pinch rollers? Or as a substitute can a pinch roller be "rebuilt"?   My wife just can't understand why I've been screwing around with a 50 year old machine when she has so much other shit for me to do. But I know that you guys know and can appreciate the sense of satisfaction associated with bringing a dead body back to life. And I feel like now I'm so close. Thanks for any further advice. Lenny

jurb6006@gmail.com: Jan 06 03:53PM -0800 >"** You just MIGHT be describing Charlie Watkins' famous little horror - >the "WEM Copycat" first released in 1958.   http://manningsmusicals.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/wems-007-800.jpg "   That is it but I think it has a differnt name on it. It IS Watkins but I think a different word than "copicat". I'll look. they don't care they just want it to work if possible. that's why I went to hourly pay a long time ago, if it ain't worth it I still get money.   >"A truly horrible machine that just barely worked, it's output was riddled >with AC hum, tape noise (from the permanent magnet erase) and serious wow & >flutter plus amplitude modualtions. "   Well the motor is directly under the capstan. I would've take a bit different approach to say the least. Looks like a four pole or better though at least which has less flux leakage. Sometimes I wonder how these reel to reel manufacturers dealt with it. And then some with relay control of AC solenoids ! They must've been crazy back then - but then again we know they were.   >"Charlie was too cheap to admit it needed a pinch roller. "   It seems to have some type of special tape. It looks different, it is RED. I mean RED. not reddish looking normal ¼" tape, I mean RED. My fucking camera just took a shit otherwise I would put up a picture in the next few days. Hah, and guess what is in the compartment on the left. A roll of splicing tape. I do not have a splicing block but I am sure I can manage just to get it working. the tape I got laying around is too old anyway. I got even older tape with oxide falling off, htis stuff seems to wear down quickly to where it has alot of drag. Record and play, and I mean on a good deck like two Teac A-3340 and a Tandberg 9400 and shit, after a few passes it got so sticky it didn't even want to rewind. these are all three motor decks without tape pads so it is not the deck. In fact the tape with the oxide falling off rewound just fine but spewed the oxide all over the place.   >"Modern 1/4 inch tape normally refuses to run on a WEM Copycat as the surface >friction is just too low. You could try fitting a shrink plastic sleeve over >the capstan if you like. "   Well, even though it really doesn't go 1430 or whatever degrees around the capstan it might concievably work if the drag is very low. It will surely still fuck up but at least I will have a chance to test it. Getting absolutely nothing, well first of all there are more than one playbeck and NONE of them work. Logically that indicates the tape is probably FUBAR oxide wise.   You know the tape might have been coated with something. I would not approach it like that but maybe they did. Which means can't get the tape of course and nice modern tape is not likely to work well. but I can't even justify that cost. Friggin I saw sometning like $240 for a 1200' roll ? that is a bit steep but really is in line with the economy. I onder if they want to sell it by the foot. That's like buying individual cigarettes instead of a pack I guess. But still, with no pinch roller it might not have the tracktion.   Being a vintage unit I doubt I want to modify it with a pinch roller. For one I would have to establish a machine surfacr to get it straight, on a unit that is alread buiolt. Fuck all that.   Other thing, the idea about the sleeve on the capstan might not be a piece of cake unless I can find it precision, no taper etc. I do have some plastic tips for the hold down on Premier cigarette machines that really would work IF they were straight. Perpendicular and allt that, constant thickness. But they aren't. And they are not machinable.   So this thing might sit for a while. It is not a rush job to say the least.   >"A fairly large BLDC motor branded "Pioneer" provided direct capstan drive and >continuously variable speed range of about 5:1 with varying compensation >applied to EQ circuits as tape speed changed to keep the response flat. There >was also an NE570N compander IC to reduce tape noise to quite low levels. "   Yeah, try doing that with tubes. Really, I could see it happening but nowhere near the performance. Variable gain tubes, modulate the G2 voltae of pentodes and all that, it can be done.   This compander, like DBX eh ? That brings up a question.   Was there ever a tube Dolby unit ? Now that would be some engineering I think.   Enough, time to eat. I will be back at the antagonization station later.

jurb6006@gmail.com: Jan 06 04:04PM -0800 >"So I tried a few of my old tapes to see how they sounded. Some of these tapes >were 1800 ft and I noticed that they would play for a coupe of songs and then >start slowing down."   That is not a symptom of a bad pinch roller. I believe you might find heating up motor bearings, or capstan bearings, or maybe even a leaky motor cap. When pinch rollers go bad they usually do not wear or harden exactly uniformly and they screw up the tape path. It will hit the guides and actually even get damaged. This was VCRs, and the tape path in those is every bit as critical as audiophile or pro R2Rs if not moreso.   I would run it as far apart as possible and see if the RPMs go down playing, then see if they jump back up not. And then if they do, try to slow it down with your hand, maybe with a rag. I would do the same to the capstan.   I doubt you are mistaking muffled sound for slowing down. A pinch roller CAN cause that by affecting the tape path.   Ho about recording a test tape with like a 1 kHz signal on it. In fact make it a square wave. You can read the timing of it, and it will reveal the response curve. I say that because this whole thing doesn't sound right. There is an argument about pinch rollers now but that matters not. The load on the motor from ANY pinch roller (you kno you CAN use metal if you cna machine it well enough) should never pul down the motor RPMs. In fact even running Scotchtape (I mean the kind you stick to things) in it, it should break the tape, not stall or slow down. It should not happen. It should take a pair of Visegrips (tm) to stop that thing.

Phil Allison <pallison49@gmail.com>: Jan 06 04:30PM -0800 captainvi     > Well I thought I'd jump back in here with an update on my progress. I ordered and installed a replacement capstan flat belt from Adams Manufacturing. After installing this belt there was no more bumping from the old misshapen belt. then, I had three pinch rollers. One is from this machine and the other two were from junkers I had in the shop. The rubber on all of them was slick but seemed pliable and I worked on two of them with sandpaper and then lacquer thinner. I finished off with rubber restorer and then cleaned them off with 99% anhydrous isopropyl. After this treatment The rollers felt a bit more "grippier" if that's the correct description but still were not what I would have liked to see. However taking a fresh look at the 1KHZ tone on the test tape with the scope immediately after installing one of the "restored" rollers showed that the machine was now running on speed. So I feel foolish to admit that it seems that I had overlooked the most basic thing, the capstan roller, as being the primary governor of speed.     ** Hallelujah !!       > So I tried a few of my old tapes to see how they sounded. Some of these tapes were 1800 ft and I noticed that they would play for a coupe of songs and then start slowing down.   ** Old tape get sticky and requires many passes through a machine to clean up, you may need to clean the heads with ISO over and over too.     I had a sealed brand new roll of Scotch 206, which is a 1200 ft low noise mastering tape as it's so called. I made a fine sounding recording on this tape. Then I tried playing the 3 3/4 pre recorded Bob Dylan tape. Let me tell you when Bob Dylan is off speed there is no mistaking it. So while this was running I gently increased the take up torque with my finger and the tape seemed to sound fine as long as I kept the tension up. As soon as I relaxed it a bit the speed would waver.   ** The reel of 206 is probably sticky too - creating extra back tension that the capstan has trouble pulling through.       > So now I know that for certain I need to resolve the pinch roller issue     ** Sanding the surface smooth while spinning the roller in a bench drill has always worked for me.   For a R-R machine to work properly, so many things have to be just right.   Not the least of which is the tape itself.     ... Phil

Phil Allison <pallison49@gmail.com>: Jan 06 04:47PM -0800 jurb...@   > >"** You just MIGHT be describing Charlie Watkins' famous little horror - >the "WEM Copycat" first released in 1958.   > http://manningsmusicals.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/wems-007-800.jpg "   > That is it but I think it has a differnt name on it.   ** Betcha it has "Copicat" on it.       > >"A truly horrible machine that just barely worked, it's output was riddled >with AC hum, tape noise (from the permanent magnet erase) and serious wow & >flutter plus amplitude modulations. "   > Well the motor is directly under the capstan.   ** It's a regular turntable motor - with an added flywheel IIRC.   > It seems to have some type of special tape.     ** Nope - the machine was meat for regular 1/4 inch tape - not too thin either.     > Other thing, the idea about the sleeve on the capstan might not be a piece of cake unless I can find it precision, no taper etc.   ** Use a piece of shrink tubing - like I said.     > >"A fairly large BLDC motor branded "Pioneer" provided direct capstan drive and >continuously variable speed range of about 5:1 with varying compensation >applied to EQ circuits as tape speed changed to keep the response flat. There >was also an NE570N compander IC to reduce tape noise to quite low levels. "   > Yeah, try doing that with tubes.     ** Would never be needed if you have proper, high frequency, AC erase and full width 1/4inch recording at 15ips.     .... Phil

captainvideo462009@gmail.com: Jan 06 12:54PM -0800 I was just wondering about this and perhaps someone knows the answer. We're about 60 miles North of Boston, which is where most of our OTA TV comes from. I use an old Channel Master 5 foot parabolic, (unfortunately NLA) along with a Winegard low noise mast mounted Preamplifier. The parabolic beats the pants off the yagi that I was previously using. There is also a rotor. Our elevation is rather low, however regardless of the season we can usually get the networks, PBS and a few old movie channels, however every once in awhile we might get a day where the signal will break up, and then after that it's good again for weeks. We're not big TV watchers so it's nothing we can't live with.   There is a strange phenomenon though that seems to occur at times, generally when its very cold and clear. During some of those periods, but not all the time it seems like the band just opens up and I get all these additional stations, both low and high frequency ones, and some with 75 to 85% relative signal strength indicated as well. Sometimes these additional stations will be gone the next day, and other times they might hang around for a week or so and then, just as quickly as they appeared they're gone again until the next time they mysteriously reappear.   Sometimes I have thought that snow might be a factor, that is not when it's snowing but after it's on the ground and the temperature is cold. I used to DX VHF TV with just a Vbeam when I was a kid in New York City but It's been my experience that UHF doesn't usually skip. Could this be ground wave, but on UHF?   If anyone has any thoughts on this and how and why it seems to relate to weather I would be very interested in hearing them. Lenny

Fred McKenzie <fmmck@aol.com>: Jan 06 05:47PM -0500 In article <0571e2b0-15aa-4c50-b551-09c78340cdd7@googlegroups.com>, > on UHF?   > If anyone has any thoughts on this and how and why it seems to relate to > weather I would be very interested in hearing them. Lenny   Its called "ducting". Signals are reflected between layers of the ionosphere, traveling long distances. It is sort of a "waveguide in the sky".   I understand it is a kind of weather phenomenon, sometimes called a temperature inversion. I found one article about it at: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropospheric_propagation#Tropospheric_ducti ng>.   Fred

dplatt@coop.radagast.org (Dave Platt): Jan 06 03:42PM -0800 >used to DX VHF TV with just a Vbeam when I was a kid in New York City >but It's been my experience that UHF doesn't usually skip. Could this be >ground wave, but on UHF?   It sounds as if you may be experiencing "tropospheric ducting".   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropospheric_propagation#Tropospheric_ducting   http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html   I've heard of people being able to go up a thousand feet or so in the Santa Cruz mountains, aim an antenna southwest, and work a VHF radio repeater system (2-meter, 145 MHz) located at a similar altitude on one of the islands in Hawaii, when the ducting conditions are right.   Tropospheric ducting is similar in some respects to the "skip" which affects lower-frequency transmissions... both are due to the RF signal being refracted, and thus "bent" out of its usual line-of-sight path. HF "skip" is commonly an ionospheric phenomenon, while tropospheric propagation/ducting occurs much lower in the atmosphere and does not (I believe) require that the air layers in question be ionized.   You could think of tropospheric ducting as sort of a high-altitude version of the refractive effect that causes the illusion of water on the ground, when you look out over a hot patch of desert or asphalt.   Clear, cold air probably helps in another way... by reducing the amount of moisture in the atmosphere it can decrease signal losses.

N_Cook <diverse@tcp.co.uk>: Jan 06 05:53PM > in it, and imports it to the US as a passenger car. In the US, the > windows get replaced by steel panels, the seats get shredded, and it > becomes a panel van.   There is a pic on that Cougar piece showing a number of the cars with active tamper alarms so at least enough battery power for sidelights. But it also referes to inert-gas fire suppression , a danger in its own right for salvors etc

John Robertson <spam@flippers.com>: Jan 06 12:48PM -0800 > new owner is picking it up there. I suspect that cars destined for a > boat ride may get even less fuel than ones that are going to go by truck > or rail.   One of my employees is also a dock worker and drives cars off ships often here in Vancouver, BC. He just told me that they simply hop in the car and drive them off the ship, no prep, no connecting batteries. About 1 in 200 cars needs a battery boost...of course they remove shipping tie downs first.   John :-#)#   -- (Please post followups or tech inquiries to the newsgroup) John's Jukes Ltd. 2343 Main St., Vancouver, BC, Canada V5T 3C9 (604)872-5757 or Fax 872-2010 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games) www.flippers.com "Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."

N_Cook <diverse@tcp.co.uk>: Jan 06 05:55PM On 06/01/2015 16:22, Madness wrote:   > Another thing, the radio receives part of the FM band on the TV VHF-Low > band. Doesn't seem right, but that band is useless anyhow. The high-band > setting is still needed since WX shares its beginning.   usually due to insulating layer of copper sulphide on the fixed contacts of the multiway switch

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