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Phil Allison <pallison49@gmail.com>: Oct 13 12:04AM -0700 olds...@tubes.com wrote:   ----------------------------   > radio stations worth listening to. You may have it completely different > in Australia, but where I live, AM is just talk radio (mostly > politics), or religious stuff. For that, who needs quality sound?   ** Australian AM radio is also dominated by talk / talk back programs. There is some music still and the government broadcaster (the ABC) keeps the signal pretty clean and wide band - up to 12kHz at most.   > Since wer are talking AM radio. I recall back in the 90s or was it the > early 2000s, they were working on AM Stereo. What ever happened to that? > I have not heard anything about it in years.   ** No longer in use, but AM stereo receivers give top sound quality in mono long as you have a strong local signal.     > Ok, now i have to ask..... What kind of music do the kangaroos prefer to > listen to in Australia? :)     ** Has to be " hip-hop " of course .....       .... Phil

Phil Allison <pallison49@gmail.com>: Oct 13 12:05AM -0700 olds...@tubes.com wrote:   ----------------------------   > radio stations worth listening to. You may have it completely different > in Australia, but where I live, AM is just talk radio (mostly > politics), or religious stuff. For that, who needs quality sound?   ** Australian AM radio is also dominated by talk / talk back programs. There is some music still and the government broadcaster (the ABC) keeps the signal pretty clean and wide band - up to 12kHz at most.   > Since wer are talking AM radio. I recall back in the 90s or was it the > early 2000s, they were working on AM Stereo. What ever happened to that? > I have not heard anything about it in years.   ** No longer in use, but AM stereo receivers give top sound quality in mono long as you have a strong local signal.     > Ok, now i have to ask..... What kind of music do the kangaroos prefer to > listen to in Australia? :)     ** Has to be " hip-hop " of course .....       .... Phil

John-Del <ohger1s@gmail.com>: Oct 13 04:23AM -0700 On Thursday, October 12, 2017 at 5:18:34 PM UTC-4, Trevor Wilson wrote:     > -- > Trevor Wilson > www.rageaudio.com.au       LOL! They must have hated getting phone calls like that. Is there a schematic anywhere on line for that circuit?   Re: GE Super Radios, they're really good, but the one I have is not quite as sensitive as some of the vintage 8 transistor AM battery radios that I have squirreled away. The Emerson 911 I cited is basically an 8 transistor with a push pull output section. For a small radio it has decent tone. It has an RF amplifier and a separate oscillator and mixer. Since most people don't DX AM for music, it's clear and toney enough. They were also made in large enough numbers that they can be had fairly cheaply, but most vintage domestic radios of the time that were an honest 8 transistor design are very sensitive. Pretty much any leather cased Zenith, Motorola, Admiral and RCA radios of the early 60s are excellent performers, and the larger of them have really nice tone.   BTW, I remember repairing a 60s Japanese transistor radio that had the transistor count proudly printed on the front of the radio (either 6 or 8 - can't remember), but two of the transistors had a leg cut off and used as diodes. Technically they were transistors but sheesh.

"pfjw@aol.com" <pfjw@aol.com>: Oct 13 07:16AM -0700 Just a few things in general from questions asked:   a) GE Super Radios are very good general consumer radios with excellent AM and FM capacities. b) I am a bit of a collector of radios, with one foot pretty deep into Audio as well. So, I have a large number of comparison points from the 1920s through the 1990s. Of all of those, the best AM reception I get (without an external antenna) is on my Zenith RD7000Y TransOceanic. With an external antenna, it would be the Hallicrafters SX16. The Halli is a beast in weight, takes an external speaker, lots-O-real estate and will heat a small room in the winter. It is also my only communications receiver - chosen because I tripped over it (no kidding) at a flea-market, the seller was an old friend, and the price was right.   Tied for second place: Grundig Satellit 700 and my B600L TransOceanic.   Tied for third place: The GE, YB500 and H500 TransOceanic.   All of the above are very good radios, all but the GE designed specifically with DXing in mind, and really with very little to choose between them. The GE is a happy accident of good design and good execution resulting in a pretty hot radio.   On the audio side, I own two component tuners with AM sections. The Soundcraftsmen T100 AM section is an unhappy joke. I can get the local torches reasonably well (KYW being one). But no real distance. On the other hand, the Dynaco AF6 is not half-bad for AM. I have never tried it with other than the ferrite antenna on board, but I suspect it may have hidden depths with a very good antenna. It also helped that I aligned it for AM when I got it. Being able to do AM and SW alignments is a side benefit of the hobby, but does give me a good base for judgment.   But, if an inexpensive, reasonably well sounding stand-alone portable radio is desired - the GE Super Radio is a fine option with not a half-bad FM section as well.   Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Ralph Mowery <rmowery28146@earthlink.net>: Oct 13 11:06AM -0400 In article <a651be8f-5d43-4bfc-adc3-b7d60150a165@googlegroups.com>, ohger1s@gmail.com says...   > BTW, I remember repairing a 60s Japanese transistor radio that had the transistor count proudly printed on the front of the radio (either 6 or 8 - can't remember), but two of the transistors had a leg cut off and used as diodes. Technically they were transistors but sheesh.     Back then many of the transistor radios had a transistor or more used as a diode. Guess that was a big selling point for them as to how many transistors a radio had. Just like the watches of the time had so many jewels in them.

micky <NONONOmisc07@bigfoot.com>: Oct 13 11:22AM -0400 In sci.electronics.repair, on Fri, 13 Oct 2017 01:28:32 -0500, >radio stations worth listening to. You may have it completely different >in Australia, but where I live, AM is just talk radio (mostly >politics), or religious stuff. For that, who needs quality sound?   So true. And the politics are, fwiw, mostly conservative. >music). That station recently started an AM station that plays oldies >rock, pop, and some country too. All from the 50s thru the 90s. Thats >the first time I listened to AM in many years.   If someone has a shortage of radio but plenty of bytes, I recommend RadioMaximus**. It has a free version that does everything the paid version does except you can't schedule a recording in advance. You can still record, but I wanted to record The Big Broadcast on WAMU on Sunday nights when I wasn't here, so I bought it, maybe $40.   He has a list of hundreds of online stations from all over the world, categorized by location, type of radio, talk, oldies, classical, and I'm pretty sure you can find religious too.   It doesn't depend on a webbrowser, so when you open too many tabs in FF and it freezes or crashes, it doesn't interfere with listening.   Then you can get wireless speakers for the rest of the house and even outside. 20 years ago I got 2 1/2 pairs of RCA wireless for very cheap, but now they are harder to get and they are pushing bluetooth, which is more expensive and afaik, the range is less. I listen mostly to talk and even when it's music, it doesn't have to be stereo, so I put one speaker in my bedroom, one in the bathroom, one in the basement, the kitchen, and there's a spare for outside though I never use that. But I can have the same station no matter where I go. Both RCA and bluetooth run on batteries too.   **He has a second product too, RadaralTuner or something like that. They seem very similar, and the biggest problem with radiomax is that some stations are not available all the time -- one oldies station .977 the Oldies Channel** will play for 30 minutes or 2 hours and then stop, but 181FM Good Time Oldies will play for days in a row with no problem -- and I figure he provides the same list of stations to both programs (you can add them yourself also) so changing programs won't affect that.   **They give some of them numbers although I think the numbers don't mean anything.   These station urls are not widely available. I think volunteers have collected the list for him, although last I looked, WYPR was not on his list and when I went to its website and clicked Listen Live and got that url and copied it to RadioMaximus, it didn't work. I wonder why. So when I want that I listen on the radio. It's competitor 40 miles away, WAMU, I can only get on car radios and my expensive table radio and sometimes on a very cheap radio but that one seemed to break (not even on some fancy tuner), but I listen to it on Radiomax for hours on end. Listening to it now.

oldschool@tubes.com: Oct 13 01:38AM -0500 >> to cope with that noise.   >The transistors are likely insulated from the case. Check for insulator >failure.   That's a good idea. I did not think to check that....   >Painting the board to insulate it from the slots in the case is unlikely >to last for long. Use something more robust like Kapton tape.   I sort of think that paint would not last long, unless I applied it real thick. What is "Kapton" tape? I never heard of that.   Although I do my best to keep stuff like this inverter from getting abused, anything that sits around between the car seats tends to get tossed around and fall off the seat, and so on. The case is a heavy aluminum, and it's not dented or anything, but it could have been pressed tighter to that board, and thus shorted over time. \ Although inverters are fairly cheap, I hate to toss this one that works fine outside the case and was always dependable in the past. Not ot mention it lacks them damn noisy buzzers. Instead a red LED lights if the battery power gets low. (A much better design).

oldschool@tubes.com: Oct 13 01:40AM -0500 On Thu, 12 Oct 2017 21:17:31 +0100 (BST), mjb@signal11.invalid (Mike) wrote:     >Simple Answer: 1) Desolder buzzer leg. >Deluxe answer: 2) Put a switch inline with buzzer   >Either that or chewing gum strategically inserted to reduce volume ...   Yes, that was my first thought, desolder that damn buzzer.... But I kind of hate doing that on a new inverter, in case it needs warranty repair or replacement.

oldschool@tubes.com: Oct 13 01:45AM -0500 >different inverters. >This can make a huge difference in low-load run time. >Or if you don't turn it off between uses.   I never knew inverters differred in standby current draw, but I did know they use current with no load on their output. I alwauys turn the inverter off when it's not in use.

Mike Coon <gravity@mjcoon.plus.com>: Oct 13 08:59AM +0100 In article <oropjo$u45$1@dont-email.me>, ham789@netzero.net says... > Painting the board to insulate it from the slots in the case is unlikely > to last for long. Use something more robust like Kapton tape.   Or, if the points at which the short might occur can be identified, countersink the slot at those points.   Mike.

mike <ham789@netzero.net>: Oct 13 01:14AM -0700 >> to last for long. Use something more robust like Kapton tape.   > I sort of think that paint would not last long, unless I applied it real > thick. What is "Kapton" tape? I never heard of that.   I'd start by googling it.

Ralph Mowery <rmowery28146@earthlink.net>: Oct 13 11:00AM -0400 In article <4cn0uc10aqdl9qc5onl3m6m7udf9dl71oo@4ax.com>, oldschool@tubes.com says... > >to last for long. Use something more robust like Kapton tape.   > I sort of think that paint would not last long, unless I applied it real > thick. What is "Kapton" tape? I never heard of that.   Kapton tape is an amber colored tape that is heat resistant. It has been used for insulation of some of the two plate type capacitors that use a screw to move the plates close together.   It is now often used in the SMD soldering to protect the parts not to be disturbed. I have placed a piece over components and cut a hole over the part where I want to use the hot air gun.   While not clear, you can still see through it.

neptali.albo@gmail.com: Oct 13 04:30AM -0700 > Click the Choose File button and choose any random file on your computer. I picked a small txt file. Now click the Upload button. Dont' worry about what file you choose. The operation will fail, but you will have jolted the receiver out of update mode.   > You're done. BCO Update message should disappear, and life is good again!   > I hope this helps!   Two thumbs up to you Videoman... You're the man!!! Try it folks, it really works...Thanks a lot!!!

"petrus bitbyter" <petrus.bitbyter@hotmail.com>: Oct 13 01:12PM +0200 |schreef in bericht news:9b35882f-69d0-4d6d-accf-444fd425fd5c@googlegroups.com... | |I have this old fluorescent desk lamp from the 60s at the latest that I'm fixing. It weighs a ton, has been passed down from my father-in-law, and it just retro-|cool. According to him it's always worked, except the F15-T8 bulbs are possibly original and very worn out, and only one bulb ever lights. I've been told this |has always been a problem, and holding the start button for a long time will sometimes get both to start. I've never been successful but I don't like this and |want to fix it. | |Upon reverse engineering it I come up with this schematic (it's rough, drawn in Paint!): | | |https://imgur.com/a/0YYKV | |I'm no fluorescent light expert, but how the start button is connected to both lamps seems odd to me, a little like directly paralleling LEDs or neon bulbs after |the limit resistor. If I disconnect one bulb, the remaining always starts. I doubt this design would ever work very well....would it? | |If I manually start each light by disconnecting the start button wires and momentarily shorting the two pins at opposite ends of each lamp, they each start |right up. My plan is to modify it with a DPDT relay with 120VAC coil so the start button drives the coil, and each lamp has it's own set of relay contacts. I'm |sure this will work, but.....WTF with the original design? Is this normal? I doubt it's even been modified, and see no good way to fix it without adding a relay |or a multipole start switch. | |I'm a little surprised to see some that seems this hokey (to me) in something this old.   In a similar case, replacing the startbutton worked for me. Still don't know how or why. (A little frustrating.)   Otherwise, seperate both lamps + ballasts and use two startbuttons.   petrus bitbyter

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