List your top 5 favorite fruits.
Gonna be a bit of a rebel here and drag something up from my childhood – Opal fruits 🍇 now known as Starburst for marketing purposes that only the manufacturer would know the reasons for.
They have 5 flavours :
Introduced in the United Kingdom in 1960, these are my go to 5 a day 😂
Crafty answer….
Have a good day all.
What’s one small improvement you can make in your life?
Again, after discussion with the wife she has pointed out to me that this is an improvement I have self imposed over the years. I have to agree with her that I still use this to this day and I call it Take 5.
My default answer to most questions in the past would be a stern “No” and then I’d go away think about it and then come back to the questioner and discuss it further. I always liked to be creating work for myself going back over things that could have easily been sorted at the point of initial discussion.
However I changed that, and with this Take 5 attitude I can use it almost everywhere. Ask me a question I’ll think about it and get back to you. At work, going out into the unknown onto rail tracks and other dangerous environments I’ll Take 5, am I in the right place? Do I have my safety pack in place? Things such as that. Even out and about with the family I’m also using the Take 5 mantra. There is no need to rush into the unknown or oblivion.
I know most people probably do this anyway, however I didn’t and have made that small change and made significant changes in both my work and home life.
I always remember an old boss years ago telling me, “Put your head into gear before putting your mouth into motion.”
He was right
Have a good day all.
Share a story about someone who had a positive impact on your life.
I won’t delve too deep into this question as I’m sure I’ve answered something similar in the past. But here goes.
My mum was lovely, a beautiful person however she spent her life in the shadow of an overwhelming bullying individual – my father. He was a nasty piece of stuff, people loved him and thought he was the life of the party, but behind closed doors he was probably one of the most disliked and evil individuals you could ever have the displeasure of meeting. He only ever influenced me to make sure I never grew up like him.
Mum though, I love and miss so much. She was such a gentle and caring individual, she certainly did not deserve a life with him, however as always happens in coercive relationships she loved him and wouldn’t have anything said against him.
She taught me to look after myself, she taught me good from bad, she taught me the meaning of manners and respect and pretty much single handedly was my queen and protector.
There’s very few individuals who I think of daily, and mum is one of them.
What she sacrificed for me, I hope I gave back to her, as even in her later years when she was in her 70s and ill with bowel cancer that evil bastard of a father still bullied her. But I was now able to protect her from him and she is the one who taught me that, it’s as if i was being prepared for that role.
I learned not to envy but to admire. Do not hate, as that is a harsh and horrible attitude, and as you can see that word is not used in this post at all, even though we probably had more of a right than most people to use it. Be respectful to others and listen. I still use these teachings to this day.
She spoke beautiful words to my wife and I on her deathbed, and I will treasure those last moments forever. They are private and will forever remain so.
I was fortunate to have such a loving and caring mother. I know not every child in this big old world shares such good fortune, I just hope they can find a light in life to follow.
Peace to all.
I purchased a pack of 5 of these cheap old garden lights from a local garden centre. I know if you buy cheap you pay twice but these did look quite reasonable. I know that most people only expect a season out of these lights however I try to look after mine, bringing them in during winter months when the garden isn’t being used and sunlight is non cooperative.
These were so full of promise, worked lovely for a few days and then two of them just didn’t work at all.
I took them apart and decided to test the batteries, both were showing 0.6v so i suspected the charge circuit was not working. When I put in a fully charged AA battery the lights came on but when exposed to light they remained on, so in a way I am right but it might be slightly more complicated. The battery isn’t charging, also the switch off is not occurring when exposed to light.
I’ve done a few tests using the multimeter, the solar panel is ok and giving a reasonable voltage under sunlight of 2.4v.
The circuit board only consists of three components and two out of the three test ok. The issue seems to be with the YX8018 controller, the small four legged component in the pictures below.
YX8018 is a high-performance solar lawn
lamp boost control chip, which is suitable for a solar lawn lamp powered by a 1.2V rechargeable
battery in series.The main functions include charging control, boost drive, optical control, etc.
The solar lawn lamp mainly uses the energy of
the solar cell to work. When the sunlight shines on the solar cell during the day, the light energy is transformed into electric energy and stored in the battery, and then the battery provides power for the LED (light emitting diode) of the lawn lamp at night.It has the advantages of safety, energy saving,
convenience and environmental protection.It is
applicable to solar products powered by one 1.2V
rechargeable battery.Conrad electronic SE
This appears to be the culprit after some basic tests have been carried out, there is about a 16% failure rate in these components so I don’t hold out a great deal of hope for the two that I’ve ordered. I shall eventually order a stack of them from China but for now I wanted some a bit quicker so I have ordered locally.
Well, the two components I ordered have arrived today. But now I need three, as in the week another one has suffered the same issue. On top of that I have dropped one of the units and the solar panel has parted company. I’m now sourcing some liquid solder that may assist with getting this problem sorted. As is normal with me this little project has escalated due to my utter clumsiness. I must do better in the future. (Sounds just like one of my old school reports.)
I dismantled the two units I previously mentioned and followed pretty much the same process with each. Desolder, remove component, wick solder, put new component in place and then put a semi charged battery back in.
I left the lights in the sun for a couple of hours and the charge has lifted from 0.8 to just over 1.1 volts so I’m happy that the charge circuit is now working.
The final test was to turn on and see what happens. Good news, nothing seen until I covered the solar panel and then the lights came on. Excellent, job done and more items saved from landfill. I must say I was really happy with my soldering on this job, it appears to be getting better.
I just need another component for that other one I broke in the week. However I won’t bother you with that one 😂
What does freedom mean to you?
Purism that’s what it means to me. Now I’m not talking traditional freedoms that one expects as being a resident of this planet as I know there are many places on earth where that is not feasible because someone is telling you that you can’t have that freedom.
Purism allows you to do it your way. I like painting but many would say I do it wrong, I say it’s how I want to do it, my own way not influenced by others totally pure. My electronics, I’m told I go about it the wrong way but I achieve the same results and learn stuff along the way, my way and that’s pure. Freedom of expression, I have no dress sense at all but that’s me and I like the way I dress, I don’t dress to impress others. That’s me and that’s pure. This is freedom to me.
Want to find true freedom? Do what you want and don’t worry about what others want you to do. Never envy, just admire. Be pure at heart and be a good human. Don’t let others dictate your path in life. Find your own way.
Be peaceful all…
What is your career plan?
Career plan. Now there’s a question. My career has gone as far as I want it to go, and I’m now planning for retirement. Another two years from my next birthday and I hope to have taken the jump.
I’ve given commitment and service to large corporations and companies so far for over 45 years now with little apart from a wage in return. I think it’s time to slow down and do what I want to do…whilst I have that time. I deserve it, my family deserves it.
Career plan more like Retirement plan. That sounds better.
I recently purchased this item, you can read the original post here: AIWA Personal Radio Cassette Player HS-TX406
I love this little unit, it has a great radio reception probably better than a number of Sony Walkmans I have worked on to be honest. It has arrived in good cosmetic condition with only a few dinks and scratches commensurate with its 30 year plus age.
On opening up the unit it’s patently obvious that this is another drive belt issue, it’s saggy and breaks on removal. Luckily I have a replacement belt that I purchased earlier.
And that is basically it. No major dramas it’s as simple as replacing the belt.
A bit of light grease on the gears, a tweak of the speed adjustment and all sounds as it should.
I’ve used a calibration tape with a 3Khz sine wave, it’s tuned in pretty close to the tone and I’ve used a downloaded oscillator software package to check the matching. It’s not a professional setup but it’s fine for my requirements.
Sorry there is nothing else much to write but I have a good working unit that plays tapes well and all I can say is I’ve saved yet another easily repairable unit from landfill. I already have someone who wants to take this one off my hands so I hope it will have many more years of trouble free operation.
Jobs a good ‘un 👍
I recently purchased this unit and you can find the purchase report in this blog post: Sony Digital Radio Cassette Walkman WM FX-20
The initial report of the purchase stated the issue was solely with the tape playback and that every else works fine. Cosmetically it looks fine apart from a bit of cleaning that is needed in the battery compartment, touch wood there isn’t any battery corrosion.
I’ve kind of jumped the gun a bit here in ordering a set of new drive belts for the unit, the fact it is 33 years old now probably means it would be money well spent. ( I may order a stock of belts for any future projects that I partake in) The belts alone were £6.95GBP so that now takes the total for this project to around £26.00GBP in total, but I’m going to use this personally so I’m not too concerned. In good condition and in full working order I could still make a small profit on this so at this stage I’m not too concerned.
The unit arrived on the 29th April. It is in a very good cosmetic state and all the lettering on the buttons is intact, a few small scratches and battle scars as expected but overall very good.
Radio and all button functions work fine, when you push any of the cassette buttons you can hear the motor run so no issues there. Let’s get this package dismantled.
Once inside the most obvious issue is that the belts have turned to mush.
I remove what’s left of the old belts, give a good clean to the cams and reinstall new belts that I have purchased earlier. A little bit of grease to the moving parts and cogs and all moving smoothly. As I’m doing this I notice a problem that I was not expecting, there seems to be a damaged cog, see the video below:
Well, that’s a bummer as I’m going to have to obtain a donor for a new cog on the fast forwarding capstan, I’m hoping they are all pretty much standard so I will keep an eye out for a cheap option to repair. Whilst checking the system out it becomes apparent that this cog is specific to the fast forward operation so as long as I don’t use this then it should all be ok…shouldn’t it?
In theory yes, however every now and then when in play mode there is a slight dip in quality so I’m not going to chance damage to a tape.
Conclusion: it’s fixed, sort of. I’m looking for a donor cog that will fully fix the issue, the radio is fine, tapes can be played it’s just that I don’t really want to damage any until this issue is sorted. It’s a shame as it really was just those rotten belts that needed replacing. I’m pleased with what has been accomplished, yet again another 30+ year old electronic item has been saved from landfill. That’s a result.
What was the last live performance you saw?
The last live performance I saw was the Ukrainian national ballet and opera version of Puccinis “La Boheme” at the Demontfort hall in Leicester city centre.
Now you are probably thinking I’m a high brow poncey stuck up operatic lovey, you couldn’t be further from the truth. My music choice ranges from operatic, to big band sound, through disco and hip hop all the way through to seriously heavy metal and anything in between. If I like the sound I’ll go see the group that made it.
It’s good to have a variety of music to admire. My love of operatic and chamber music goes down to my total admiration of musicians who can play these beautiful instruments and make such wonderful sounds with them. And that’s why I appreciate live music and will attend a concert whenever I get the chance.
My favourite group is another question though, and that group is REM. As they are no longer around I’m off to see a tribute band to them called “Stipe” that will be in my area next month. I’m looking forward to that.
Happy days all…
I originally posted regarding the purchase of this item in this blog post Sony ICF-480L 3 band radio
The radio was received earlier today. Cosmetically it is a bit tatty, batteries were placed into it and apart from a quick flash from the power light when it was switched on there was no sign of life. So the original description was false as it stated that it powered up with a very low volume. Oh well, not to worry, it now gives us something else to look at.
Looking in the battery compartment there looks to be corrosion, this seems to be a common problem with items I’m buying at the moment. The screws have all been tampered with so I suspect others have been inside this radio prior to my purchase, this could be interesting to see what’s already been tampered with or attempted.
I’ve had the unit open and the first thing that comes to light is the utter filth inside. The speaker is thick with god knows what and the board and switches are also covered in the same filth. Before I do anything I’m going to get this cleaned up.
I’ve used IPA on the board and cover and on the (thankfully small) corrosion on the positive battery pole and this has cleaned up nice. I’ve used contact cleaner on all the switches and dials and these have also come up ok.
The speaker grill, I have tidied up and used permanent marker to get rid of the marks on this item. This has tidied it up really nicely.
On the speaker I just used a dry cotton bud to wipe it over but I have my suspicions with this speaker, it looks quite worn and earlier reports on the lack and consistency of sound points to this being a potential issue with this unit. There are no clicks and pops when turning the unit on, there is a power and tuning light. Just no sound.
The speaker is a 4 ohm 1w speaker, I’ve used a multimeter to check its operation and it’s showing as dead, not registering at all, it should be looking at indicating something within its 4 ohm range. I’ve double checked it by putting a battery across the terminals and there are no pops or clicks so this confirms things. I now need to source a new speaker.
Trying to source this speaker in the uk is a tad problematic. There are items available but I’m not paying out two to three times the value of the whole unit. I’m going to try some thrift shops to see if there are any suitable donor units available if not I’ll have to purchase a few of them from China, and that will still be cheaper than purchasing here in the UK, crazy isn’t it? But it’s a long wait….
I did manage to get one from the Uk. Paid about £5.18GBP and it should be here in a couple of days. The annoying thing is that the postage is almost the same cost as the actual speaker and that only cost £2.69GBP. Annoying though that is, it has to be done if we want to get this fixed.
I couldn’t get a 1w 4 ohm speaker only a 1w 8 ohm speaker, this will be fine as at this level of use it will not affect output at all.
A small bit of desoldering, removal of the speaker clamp and the speaker comes away after a little persuasion. I take the opportunity to clean the board and all the battery contacts with some cleaner, and all corrosion marks and debris are now a thing of the past.
I put some contact adhesive on the speaker grill and put the new speaker in place, clamp is attached and I now solder the speaker wires back in place.
All screws back in place, new batteries in the rear and battery hat hatch closed, the unit looks good.
But does it work?
You betcha! Have a listen to the short video above to hear it as it should be.
I’m very pleased with this little project. Simple repair in the end but in my eyes it’s another item that isn’t going to landfill. And that’s a win for me, as it’s a nice little radio and I’m going to get some good use out of this.
Jobs a good ‘un 👍
Foxes Den 
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