I just got my driver's license, and with that, comes a car. And a car radio.
From 1990.
With a broken cassette player.
And a digital tuner that hasn't had a working backlight for the last decade.
So, I added an (actually bulb-coloured) LED to replace the broken bulb.
But then I thought I'd make something out of the broken cassette player, so I made a cassette.
And put it in.
After which, I proceeded to solder the wire onto the volume control (lower left corner.) It took several hours to figure out how Philips had rigged the damn thing. It uses 100% Philips ICs that have
very poorly written documentation, and they weren't even used in any manner even close to what is shown in the datasheets. Bloody Philips.
And thus, we have a radio with working frequency display and line in capability. You activate and de-activate the line-in function by sliding the cassette in and out. I'm quite happy with that solution, it's got a nice, retro feel to it.
Testing reveals that it actually even works! Who would have guessed.
Oh, and don't mind the missing knob. I just dropped it in the car when I took the radio out. I had to use "some" force.
Choosing to fix this old thing up wasn't just a decision based on budget restrictions, either. You see, I
hate all these new-fangled, blue-LED-blinking, hundred-button-pressing, USB-plugging, MP3-AAC-AVI-playing pieces of flashy nonsense. They're ugly as hell, hard to use (I can't even find the power button on most of'em,) and about as reliable as a drunk dog on acid.
This thing has a grand total of ten buttons, plus three for the cassette player, two of which aren't even used any more. It has no flashy display animations, or other colours than orange. No more than four stations of storage (which, mind you, don't disappear if you disconnect the power, and you turn it on by turning the volume knob. I love it. Why can't they make radios like this any more?
Trotskygrad wrote:
Freezer can you see the gauges fluctuate/move a lot when your PS is in operation? or do they stay steady
Oh. I didn't see this before.
Well, it depends on the load, of course. With the fans, they moved slightly before I added the capacitors over each fan (they're connected in series,) as they moved in and out of phase with each other. If I turn the radio I posted above up to 11, I can see the current meter jump in tune with the music.
Last edited by Freezer7Pro (2010-12-18 16:53:49)
