techmoan posts
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A simple Edison repair
You might have seen me mention that my Edison cylinder player failed while making the video featuring it. Today I had a go at fixing the problem.At the very last moment I decided to turn on the camera and narrate the proceedings. Here’s the (very) simple video I shot.https://youtu.be/P-yPwo6Hy6sI ...
M90s Assemble - NOW UPDATED…slightly
Today I’m looking at the M90 Mini & Micro retro replica bluetooth boomboxes.A bit of backstory - I bought my classic (forty year old) Victor RC-M90 boombox a couple of years ago as a result of the launch of the miniature replicas Kickstarter.I’d toyed with the idea of buying this classic boombox...
Getting steamed up with a new kitchen gadget
You may remember that Bob died. (Bob was a mini dishwasher). Whilst ultra-compact, he still took up valuable countertop space in a tiny kitchen. Since the task he performed wasn’t an absolute necessity, upon his rather premature demise we returned to washing up by hand.However the lure of an even ...
Three more music Spectrum Analysers. All that glitters...
Full disclosure up front - this is a bit of a throw-away video. I’ve had this trio of Spectrum Analysers on my outstanding list for a while and I needed to get them out of the way to clear some space and move on. I’d taken a day or so off work and thought they’d be an easy thing to shoot in th...
A video 118 years in the making
New music on dead formats taken to its brilliantly illogical conclusionToday I will mostly be messing about with cylinder records.I went off on quite a few tangents in this video - because I felt like it. A video about antique cylinder record players is never going to appeal to the tiktok generation...
Tonies - Audiobooks for the modern age
In many ways it's a charming little thing...so what has me so concerned?https://youtu.be/P9RbMMJRxzwIf there's enough interest in this subject there are other similar competing devices that I can take a look at in the future.Once I de-register this one from my account I'll pass it on to ...
March 2022 Patreon Exclusive VIDEO Oddcast
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve had time to make a Patreon exclusive video.On reflection, you could easily skip this one and still not miss out on anything. But hey I didn't want you to think I was taking you for granted...so here's a video just for Patrons about what has ...or hasn'...
OK so now it’s VideoNow then (now updated)
This has been on my to-do list for years but thanks to the recent loan of an early model of player and discs from a Patreon (thanks Andrew) I’ve been able to finally nail this one down. There are a lot of elements that needed to come together for this video, perhaps more than might be immediately ...
A two in one video
This one starts off with a special update just for Patrons.After that I look at a radio designed for a specific use case. This falls within the area of assistive tech, something I’ve featured on a few occasions.https://youtu.be/pfH07Om9z7UThe intro explains the disruption to my update/uploads - so...
New replacement MD cases
After a gap of something like twenty years (probably) - a company has started manufacturing new replacement cases for pre-recorded Minidiscs. More proof, if any were needed, that this 1990s format is currently enjoying a minor renaissance.https://youtu.be/bMZIG-iMS9kGiven my previous MD content, I t...
Buying from Japan can be a gamble, this definitely is
From past experience I know that YouTube audiences aren’t drawn to my videos featuring gambling tech quite as enthusiastically as I am to the tech itself. So today while I’m featuring a device that sat on the fence between gambling and gaming, I’ve chosen to focus the thumb/title on the gaming...
A faulty SACD repair attempt
I tried fixing something. It didn’t go well. Here’s the videohttps://youtu.be/YRySrXk9uRAIn other news I’m working around family commitments at the moment. As a result Patreon/Youtube/Email/Comment uploads/updates/replies may be sporadic.I hope to make a couple of short videos in an attempt to...
Sony LinkBuds Review
A few weeks ago Sony got in touch to say that they could send me something over if I signed a non-disclosure agreement. I went along with it in the hope that they’d then tell me what the product was. However a couple of days later a parcel arrived containing their new LinkBuds in-ear bluetooth hea...
An odd Walkman
I started off making a different video this week, but unfortunately an expensive component failed (I broke it) and now I’m waiting on a suitable replacement from China.So here’s something completely different.This is a quick, simple, basic video that shows something you likely haven’t encounte...
The Magic Message AV Repeater
This was a nice little project. An unusual piece of retro-tech, BNIB, working perfectly, simple to demonstrate and yet still interesting enough to be worth showing.Here’s the video https://youtu.be/74C9h3KO7KQI'd be interested to know if anyone has any recollection of ever encountering one of ...
January 2022 Patreon Exclusive AUDIO Oddcast
A few behind the scenes tidbits just for Patrons.A random selection of topics is covered this time.The video version is available in a separate post.LINKS to things mentioned in this one.Roman numeral clock article https://monochrome-watches.com/why-do-clocks-and-watches-use-roman-numeral-iiii-inste...
January 2022 Patreon Exclusive VIDEO Oddcast (Re-uploaded)
A few behind the scenes tidbits just for Patrons.A random selection of topics is covered this time.https://youtu.be/hdNkkr7n31IAn audio only version is available in a separate post.LINKS to things mentioned in the video.Roman numeral clock article https://monochrome-watches.com/why-do-clocks-and-wat...
New Grundig Micro HiFi Review - this was a mistake
Almost everything that would have made this video worthwhile, evaporated as soon as I started making it.The main raison d'être *'did one' at four minutes and thirty eight seconds in. Yet for some bizarre reason the video continues on for another twenty odd minutes.Here’s the video htt...
How CD players got boring…
and why the Technics SL-P1200 is one of the exceptions.This one took me a long time to make inspite of its modest length. I’ve put this down to the fact that it’s really two different videos in one.In the first half I take a look at the rapid early evolution of CD player design - up to the point...
Miss/LED - two more LED music visualisers
This week I’ve been testing out more music visualiser devices.Definitely not my finest work but I think I’ve managed to mostly salvage it in editing.Still, as far as sequels go, this is less ‘The Godfather Part II’ and more ‘Superman IV The Quest for Peace’.Anyway, here’s the video. It...
The CHORDMACHINE
Starting the year with an oddity. I’m taking a look at (and a listen to) the CHORDMACHINE from Sony - a strange hybrid device that defies conventional categorisation. Unless that category is ‘What the heck were they thinking?’https://youtu.be/22-HsrdqR_oIn a recent update I mentioned how I’d...
RIP to the Personal CD
I’m putting this out now so I can take the rest of Christmas Day off. Feel free to ignore it for a couple of days, it’ll still be here. Christmas probably shouldn’t be spent on YouTube. I wanted to find out if personal CDs were still alive. My results were mixed.https://youtu.be/eiMdpE1Nz5wTha...
Merry Christmas
In acknowledgment of a calendar based confluence here’s a little Christmas themed extra video just for Patrons.https://youtu.be/UQk7Ibz6RqIMerry ChristmasP.S. If you look in the video description on YouTube you’ll also find a link to another even less impressive exclusive new video. It’s like ...
The Scope Clock
I am very happy to be able to bring this video to you today featuring the Scope Clock from Cathode Corner.There’s likely only a handful of these being offered for sale in an assembled state, so I’d suggest if you’re interested you’d be best putting in an order sooner rather than later. Certa...
December 2021 Patreon Exclusive AUDIO Oddcast
I’ve recorded a Patreon update. Unfortunately I didn’t have any extra clips to add in this month to break it up a bit so I’d recommend either watching it in small instalments or putting in on in the background while you do something else. That’s of course if you want to watch/hear it at all....
December 2021 Patreon Exclusive VIDEO Oddcast
I’ve recorded a Patreon update. Unfortunately I didn’t have any extra clips to add in this month to break it up a bit so I’d recommend either watching it in small instalments or putting in on in the background while you do something else. That’s of course if you want to watch/hear it at all....
Open-ended interview buffoonery
You may have seen the one-sided ‘Co-Star acting game’ record I used the other week to demonstrate the ultrasonic record cleaner.The ‘open-end interview’ record featured in today’s video seems to be a very close relative, albeit one that wasn’t available to the public. In fact unless you ...
Two compact Compact Cassette decks
A video where I examine a couple of old cassette decks as I try and find a suitable one to send on to someone as a favour.https://youtu.be/TmsDgO5By1kIf you’ve been here a while you’ll know that I like to play around with things, experiment a bit, just to see what happens. It what keeps me inter...
Ultrasonic vinyl record cleaning
I’ve often wondered about the effectiveness of ultrasonic record cleaning. Since it’s possible to buy systems for thousands of units of currency there must be something in it. Finally I got to find out for myself by testing the HumminGuru ultrasonic vinyl record cleaner. This one is best listene...
Really a real reel to reel?
A look at the ‘RCA’ Reel Media Center. This was an early 2000s retro inspired music system which blurred the line between nostalgic novelty and fully functional device.I enjoyed exploring this one - it’s really quite ingenious how they made it work.https://youtu.be/1bmcJ-_BbxQMy aim is to fast...
