Time to replace OS in the travel laptop because version support has ended a week ago.. Brain farted once more and couldn't remember how to do disk partition under the linux-mint format -.- backup took 3 x 64Gb pendrives and almost half of a 32gb..

It lives. Not perfect, but considering all the damage done to it by other tech-wanna be that put their hands inside it before, it's performing quite good. Recording tho.. is another story -.- couldn't get it to balance the levels or flat the response . Hope it's not the rec. head

Same Akai deck from previous post. this time the playback and record circuit boards after cleaning, full re-cap and all transistors replaced with current production types. Lots of re-wiring also done all over.

one slightly messed up after-before pictures, taken during repair work done on the mecha assy of an Akai GX-630 open reel deck. that control board had to be re-cap'ed and fully resoldered after washing/cleaning thanks to badwork done to it in previous repairs.. too many wires.. ><

20 days ago or so I bought a Revox A77,I believe its an MK4, RtR deck,doesnt work, has missing parts, got wet, is all ugh. Now I got another A77, this time a MK1. The MK4 is 1977/78, the MK1 is 1968/69 (!). Quality is there, alive. the MK1 came to life with little work and played, as is, clear sound

I wonder why 90% of meguro test equipment has no service manual/information available..how it's suposed to be calibrated or serviced when needed, without knowing what to do and where. No wonder most of them were sold as junk here, when factories ceased production or upgraded their equipment.

This afternoon I took apart my RF generator. it stopped working right about 2 years ago then went dead . opened all the enclosed modules,damaged a conenctor in one of them ( -.-) but foud damaged and overheated resistors in one module, wich I think it's the RF output. meh..there's no SM for it :/

Front panels of equipment in previous post, after cleaning. All equipment is being taken apart and their covers/cabinet , front and back panel and all knobs are being washed with car cleaning products , meter covers are cleaned with moistened rag, then polished with car wax ( very little wax!!)

After years of neglect, I'm giving some much deserved attention to my workbench equipment. Everything is coated in cigarette/nicotine glaze , dirt , generic house gecko poo ( UGH!) and so on.. these are two of the many test equipment from the former repair shop. (I quit smoking 2-1/2 years ago)

Oookay..I need a little help ; I bought a Revox model A77 ( in as-is condition) for repair/restore and at some point, someone took out the brake solenoid from it. I'm having trouble finding a replacement for it , mainly because Ebay blocked my account for no reason and now I can't buy there ---->

Since the repair shop closure, the remains of my test gear has been neglected for a long time. now it's getting a much deserved cleaning and inspection, nearly all the equipment has yellowed panels due to cigarrette and solder fumes and also bad contacts on switchs and controlsdue to moisture

I wonder what sh*t some people have in their head that makes them think spraying oil all over inside any electronic equipment that got wet , makes things beter. No it DOESN'T >< , it damages ceramic capacitors and resistors, makes repair even harder, pcbs absorbs it then leech when soldering merrrff

Oookay.. someone hides my credit card.. I bought yet another RtR tape deck.. I wanted 1 , now I have 4 ; only 1 works. This last is a Revox A77. it's in very bad shape, there's one important part missing that I might need help in getting. and lots of damage in the circuit boards -.-

While the Akai deck refuses to work, the Pioneer has made it's first recording session. Still has factory settings and tune up ( I believe it was never serviced before) and recorded on a old, used tape. The result kinda surprised me for a deck that is 52 years old and tape at least 40,

And more tape reels arrived today :P The Akai GX630 is giving me a good beating on the bench. Couldn't figure out the whole crap that was done to it before I got it. Had to take out all the circuits boards and inspect one by one ( from washing to resoldering) . yet it refuses to work right -.-

Other material that those tapes may have : Paul Mauriat , Frank Pourcell ,Burt Bacharach ,Henry Mancini. On tapes that came togehter with one of the decks, one play list has lots of Beatles music (tbc) xmas music ( UGH! ><) and orchestras ( sounds like elevator musik :P )

after hoarding the reel decks and other equipment I got over a dozen used tape reels. aside the huge messup that was made between the recording list on the box and the tape contents, I'm listening to music material from Percy Faith, Paolo Manovani and Ray Conniff ( those already confirmed )

I'm repairing my tape decks and failing in taking pictures of the process, to have content for a before-after comparison and for posting also. merf :p I focus on what I'm doing and doing it right and forget about the rest , even time. heh

Back on mid-late 90's when I got my first RtR decks,one I replaced heads and alignment was made by ear, no test tape, no service manual. To my surprise, the tapes recorded on that deck nearly 30 years ago, plays ok on the deck I repaired last week and still has factory set heads and alignment

one out of 3 RTR tape recorders I got in the past 2 months is back to work, needed little repair work, one open wirewound resistor and dirt controls/switchs. some re-lube. most of work was cleaning inside it and washing the front panels, knobs and such.( yep, water, degreaser and sponge)

Spent a LOT of money since january on used/old/vtg audio equipment. Was looking for a reel-to-reel tape deck, ended buying 3 of them, then, receivers, pre-amps, power amp, turntable and over a dozen 10" tape reels. Got Akai, Sansui and Pioneer , from mid 70's to mid 80's. Now.. to fix it all.. oooff

last month I got a reel to reel tape deck after looking for one during the past years. but it came with an open playback head ,it's something almost impossible to find ,but I managed to find one and its in the mail now. this is what the original head looks like after years of use and abuse ..

And I also got a very nice set of vacuum tube test sockets as a gift from @hazmatdude.bsky.social . many thanks for that. Once my personal repair shop is back, they will be put to service for sure

Some new equipment arrived for the repair shop comeback. another dual soldering station ( already have a hot air + std soldering iron station) an de-soldering station ( my thumbs will htank me for that) and a magnifying camera with lcd screen for pcb inspection ( broken tracks and cracked solder)

I have plans to go back to electronics this year, after leaving aside for almost 3 years. I got rid of most of my old cars and jeeps and now i'm "wasting" money on used, defective audio equipment ( for home use) an some upgrades to my personal repair shop (new tools and equipment)

Last night was watching a video recording a friend made and something got my attention: the amout of flicker from some LED lights, either outside flood lights and indor bulb type. I'm somewhat sure now that those may have to do with my vertigo crisis , eye strain and deteorating sight..

why VFD's ( vacuum displays) are so complicated to make work ?? been years since I found a few bargraph ones and since then, i've been trying to make use but so far, only crap results came out ..nyeh not really making the driving part for them the right way

coookie... KT88 is out, for now.. But I'll add another in it's place. 6V6 or EL34 ? :p kek

Why do I use obscure, unknown tubes instead of know hi-fi ones? I like tube sound, my hearing is damaged and I see no point in spending thousands in a hi-end tube equipment since I can't hear the fine details. I give chance to stuff left aside to show what it can do. and it surprise me at times

So far, the score is: EL34 - 2 KT88 - 0

And then.... EL34's or KT88's.. that's the question.. ( but the main idea behind it remains the same)

This month's hoard: Akai : 2 reel-to-reel decks, 1 power amp, 1 pre-amp, 1 integrated amp, 1 record player. Sansui : 2 receivers , 1 tape deck, 1 equalizer Also got an Aiwa micro-system + speakers a friend was going to throw away then gave me for free. Now I need more storage space..gaaahhhhh

Signs that things are going downhill : I sent my CJ5 jeep to the mechanic yesterday -.-

after years looking, I got a reel to reel recorder again. not cheap as always, and it needs service. lots of service. the downside is that it may need a replacement head and even used I can't find one. awrrfo

yeen solution to get back on air during these last days of year. Because of spine damage and vertigo, I can't get to the roof and put my antennas back in place, I came out with this weirdness: A pro camera tripod with the head taken out and a painter's mast. up goes the 1/4 wave vhf antena again :P

this week went tru what's left of my cassete tape archive and while listening to several ( 30+) tapes, I start remembering all the tape recorders I had at the time. Stuff I shouldn not have sold, but needs talked louder -.- I do miss my Akai's GX-F71 and GX-F44R. and most of all, the R2R recorders

2 x 10" bass speaker box for car use. 15mm thick MDF board, hundreds of screws and lots of P.U. sealant,graphite colored carpet .

finished work after 2nd color stain coating. Wood used in this project : pinus planks recovered from construction work ( moulds for concrete columns), cleaned with wire wheel brush, then cut to re-useable pieces, thicknessed and cut to measurements. (this wood is about the same as pallet wood)

before and after color stain

Finally some pictures from woodwork project I talked about in the past posts. (beginning, in september)

And exactly 2 months later after the basement workshop torndown, woodwork project being thrown on the wall, shop rebuild and all, the same project is now finished , Sep.26-Nov.26 . What I learned? I know nothing about woodwork :p What others has to learn : don't annoy me with BS or things will fly

Basement workshop was re-done and is already full of dust from the sanders and saws. the project I threw on the wall is repaired and entered finishing stage, along another project that began 3 days ago. Everything was torn down in a rage attack after an argeing full of BS due to thicknesser noise

I'm not being able to do most of things I used to or wanted to.. but still spend money on stuff I'm not sure if I'll ever get to use, heh first was dozens of hand tap sets, imperial and metric sizes, std and fine threads. yesterday was 2 dozens of drill bits,in imperial sizes *makes holes everywhere

testing out a new electrolyte

Back home after a 4 hour trip. i'm slowly realising I don't want to live here anymore everything is upside-down lately is all this crap, that hting they call depression? Oo I lost interest on everything and burst in anger for anything..ewrrf maybe an hospice is the way..

Aaaand with all the crap from this last week, I forgot something important: it is now 2 years since I quit smoking. And during the last months I had plenty of reasons to get back to it.. For now I'm saying no.

I want to go back home...

Woodwork shop is no more. period. No further will be said about it. -.-

I have to stick a note to my face to remember to transfer pictures from my phone to computer so I can have content to post and not only blah blah :p Being at mom's house means woodwork.. and there's stuff done and in the works..

mom's fridge started spilling and dripping water everywhere inside it . As experience tells, drain got clogged, as mine did the same thing 3 times by now. Removed the back panel in the freezer part and voila: big ice chunk along the entire drain collector. frost free my hairy a**