Tag: dictaphone

What the listing stated:

Evistr L53 voice recorder – not working, parts only

EBay

I just wish the listings would be more specific, it’s not working because, (Fill blank spaces) you get my drift eh?

The unit looks good physically and cosmetically, and seems to have been well looked after, we just don’t know exactly what’s wrong with it. I’ll do some digging around and see if there are any generic problems, and I’ll also dig out some instructions just in case. It’s another one of those purchases where the cost of the item £2:24GBP has been out weighed by the postage, £2:45GBP however a total outlay of £4:69GBP isn’t all that bad in reality.

Current prices are in the £30-40GBP bracket. why you’d pay more for a used item confuses me, but then I’m usually easily confused.

I’ve downloaded some instructions, so we can hit the road running with some basic idea of how it works.

Let’s wait for it to arrive and then we can do an assessment.

Assessment:

Well, the box you see in the picture above, was just wrapped in some white A4 paper and put in the post. By the time it’s reached me the wrapping was split and the box hanging out. We are off to a flying start. It’s not the original box as that is for a 16GB version and this is an 8GB version, again no problem but probably used by the seller to beef up the offer.

The unit itself is quite smart looking, clean and generally free from any heavy marks with only light scuffs that you would expect after a few years of use.

It came with an audio connector, and some other bits that allow you to connect it to a phone system to record conversations.

The unit is dead and didn’t come with a micro usb charging cable, however again not a problem as I have plenty of these laying around. I’ve checked the charging port and I’m pleased to say it is in a good state and has no damage. So the first thing to do is to get some charge into the unit as the battery has probably been sitting dormant for quite a while. It was totally dead on arrival.

After a while I have turned it on to see if the charge is being taken and was greeted by this message, not one that I was expecting or one that I really wanted to see to be honest.

Disk Error. My immediate thought is that this is no longer recoverable, however, looking at known faults on their own site I might be able to recover the disk by using a Windows computer to access the disk. I’ll look at that option in the repair section of this post.

One thing I’m happy with is that the security tag on the back that covers the screw that allows access within, is still intact. I’m confident no one has yet accessed this unit internally. One less thing to worry about.

So realistically it’s a nice neat package in a very good cosmetic condition. It’s only problem that I can see at this very moment is the “Disk Error” issue.

Repair:

So let’s get this unit plugged in and see what we can do. It is really the only issue we have with this unit.

On my computer we have issues though. It’s a windows 11 machine and when plugged in, all the right sounds are made however nothing is recognised. Apparently the drivers for this unit are not supported on this windows system. It can’t see the drive. Damn that’s a problem.

Ok. I’ve had my thinking head on and just had a brainstorm. My brother in law over the road is notorious for not updating stuff. I called him and asked if he’d brought his new computer yet that he keeps threatening to buy and he says, “No, I haven’t Dave“. “Excellent” i tell him, get it warmed up as I’m coming over to use it.

I arrive at his house and he is curious as to what I want to do, I’m always going on at him to update and make his old computer safer, I keep telling him to upgrade it, and here I am asking to use it!

It’s a Windows 10 machine, slow is an understatement but he only uses it for casual browsing to be honest. I plug the cable in and then the recorder, I get a battery charging symbol and that is it. Hmmm.

Another brainstorm, I realise I’m using a charger only USB to micro usb cable instead of a data capable one. Another quick run back to my property and I take back a selection of cables. One of them worked, the drive was recognised and I was able to format the drive but I did it as Fat32. It worked to wipe the drive but I could not get the drive to boot up again without still showing a Disk Error message.

Disappointed I came home, I wasn’t giving up though. I dug out some other data cables from one of my old radio boxes and put it to my computer again, the drive didn’t show on the windows 11 system but it did something to allow me to be able to access the settings via the menu on the unit. I was able to go into settings and format the unit just as it should be via the units firmware.

After the format it indicated there were no voice records available, this was something I hadn’t seen before, we were finally getting somewhere.

It works, just have a look at the video below

There are a lot of settings to play with in the unit. However the recording quality is superb if I say so myself, it’s so clear and balanced. The unit is now fully restored and working just perfectly. Add to that the fact that is cosmetically beautiful we now have a perfectly usable unit.

Result:

Working as well as the day it was purchased, this is probably the best £4:69GBP I have ever spent. A lovely unit, looks good, fits in the pocket nicely and has years of use ahead of it.

I’ve really enjoyed this little project, it’s been a right challenge and I was determined not to give up on it. I was glad that I persisted and got it working again.

I wonder how many of these units, or those very similar to it have just been thrown to waste, when they were in fact very repairable. Well this one has been saved, and will be usable for many more years to come yet. (And I now know how to fix it, if it ever does break again😂)

Thanks for passing by. Always very much appreciated.