Repairing Cassette Tapes

2024-Jul-18, Thursday 02:15 pm
You've repaired your cassette player. You spend time digging out your old cassettes, only to discover that the tape has snapped and is loose inside the cassette case. What do you do? Learn how to repair them of course!

Details )


View of the lower tape-opening side of a cassette tape, with clear leader tape in the channels.

Lower section of a cassette tape, with clear leader tape threaded
Photo by [personal profile] chebe

The Panasonic RQ-CW03 portable cassette player is a basic (stereo) tape player from the turn of the millennium. It plays tapes, even has an extra-bass switch, but that's it. No recording, no radio. I remember having to go out and buy this, because I had moved on to CDs, but unfortunately my Irish language exam prep hadn't. As a result, this has largely sat in a drawer unused, slowly yellowing, since that exam. And, predictably, when I last pulled it out to listen to some tapes it was no longer functioning.

Details )

A delicate arrangement but workable. Unfortunately, every screwdriver I had was either too big or too small for the trimpot, except, oddly, the one on my Leatherman (Free T2). It fits almost perfectly, like, suspiciously so. A bit like how the Bic biros are (still) exactly the right size and shape to wind the cassettes. But I'm lucky it did fit as it enabled me to adjust the speed, which was wildly out.

Then I partially reassembled the player, and tested with a music tape. The extra-bass still works, but the volume pot is scratchy. I hit it with some electrical contact cleaner spray, worked the wheel back and forth, and let it dry. Cleared that crackling right up.

And this friends is everything I remember tape being. The sound is amazing, and the extra bass mode really delivers. All while conveniently attached to my belt/waistband. I think it's incredibly sad that this quality of player is no longer readily available. Especially considering the low cost of it when brand new. But I'm delighted to have mine working again!


Photo of the player with the back casing off, and the circuit board flipped around, with me using my Leatherman phillips head screwdriver to adjust the speed trimpot.

Speed trimpot adjustment procedure
Photo by [personal profile] chebe

The Bush KCS-317 cassette recorder/player is a recent, budget, device for playing, and recording, audio cassette tapes. I picked it up during lockdown when I wanted to digitise old tapes I'd found, but discovered that my existing players were no longer functional. If I recall correctly I had exactly two options; a portable player, or this one, which I chose for the mains power plug. It has a bunch of other features, like playing from usb sticks, none of which I'd needed. But the sound quality was never good.

I recently fell down the Steve's Electronic Repair Shop rabbit-hole, and the 'Cassette Tape Player. How it works and how to repair.' video in particular emboldened me to sort out that player. So I found a speed calibration test tape which has 15mins of 3,000Hz sine wave (actually 3,010-3,020Hz), and instructions on how to use it. The tape showed the player to be running fast, and as if I needed more encouragement, the buttons, the big chunky physical plastic buttons got stuck in play. It had to be opened up.

(I couldn't find any photos, or manuals, online for this player, so I'm including more than is necessary here in case anyone ever needs them.)

Details )

With the top case removed I could plug in the player, play the speed test tape, and ever so gently adjust the motor speed with immediate feedback. It is a horrible sound, but a very effective test. After I got the frequency to between 3,010-3,020Hz I closed it back up properly, and tested it with a well known tape. The in-built speaker is not good. The in-built microphone is not good. Considering it has a mono tape head, and doesn't have Dolby Noise Reduction, there is a limit to what I can expect from this player. But with the correct speed setting it sounds okay, on headphones at least.


Photo of the player, with the top missing, test tape in situ and playing, with a small screwdriver sticking out of the motor

Adjusting the motor speed
Photo by [personal profile] chebe

I made up the SynthCube MFOS Noise Toaster kit! (You can blame LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER.) The project page should be this project link but it seems to be down a lot, so here's a WayBackMachine cache.

This is not a beginners project. There is a lot of assumed knowledge. There is a book, to help fill in some of the background, but electronics and enclosures familiarity is still assumed. As well as plenty of tools at hand. It's also not a quick win, there are a few days of slog involved for the uninitiated. But, with determination it is still very approachable!

The first thing you need to know is that the project page and the book provide different views, and some different information, so I found I needed to use both. But they don't always agree. I'll flag the bits I found under-explained and/or confusing.

Also, the website details some modifications, but the kit does not come with the parts for them. (Though they do look cool, I might try them in future.)

Build notes )


Angled photo of finished Noise Toaster, standing up, bit like a toaster. Top face of the aluminium case visible, with 9V battery plugged in to power jack. Front of aluminium faceplate visible, with black markings, silver switches, and black knobs. One red LED, and one red and silver push button.

Finished Music from Outer Space Noise Toaster, toaster style
Photo by [personal profile] chebe



But what kind of noise does it make? It's an analog synth. With mono output. (But the only way I have to transmit a recording to you is digital.) The only reliable sound I can manage is wind, gusty, on an open, desolate plain. But I tried flicking switches and twirling knobs as well to give you an idea of the possibilities. Here you go, feel free to jump around through it, it's not a tune or anything.





Recording of some of the sounds possible with the Noise Toaster
Video by [personal profile] chebe

I 3D printed a turntable

2022-Nov-02, Wednesday 01:20 pm
This project was absolutely an exercise in persistence.

I had previously restored my parents' old turntable, but the plastic hinges on the lid were broken, which made it awkward to use long term. Even the stereo system in that post got shuffled around and packed away in the shed as not-strictly-necessary.

Fast-forward a few years into a more dystopian future and an ongoing pandemic, and we find me, spending a lot of time at home, looking for projects to distract myself. I had recently gotten a 3D printer for the first time, and I came across a kickstarter for the SongBird turntable kit. They would supply the hardware, electronics, acrylic, and 3D models, which you then print yourself at home. This seemed ideal to me, because if anything ever broke I would (or at least should) be able to replace just that part easily. I backed it in May.

The kickstarter campaign fulfilment was a bit delayed (by the creators catching covid), but not for long as all the parts went up on MyMiniFactory in October, followed by a few updates (that resulted in a naming schema I could not follow). I read the instructions, and decided to not make things difficult for myself and to simply use PETG like they do. I'd never used PETG before, so I did a bit of research and ordered some filament (ROSA3D PETG Standard Light Green and ROSA3D PETG Standard Black) and a Spring Steel Sheet applied PEI Flex Plate for my printer. They arrive, and I print out all the parts before the end of the year.

Parts list )

But we all know a turntable cannot be used on its own, it needs speakers, and a preamp, so I have to dig out, and clean up, my old stereo system and preamp. I found my old Cambridge Audio 640P preamp, and couldn't find the power plug. So I order a replacement. All this takes a while. June rolls around and I, at least, finally get all the parts assembled into a turntable!




All parts assembled
Photo by [personal profile] chebe



I also needed furniture to fit the stereo into my office, which had to be found, ordered, stained, and assembled. Which required rearranging other things, changing power strip layouts, and then I get covid. This takes a while.

In the instructions they say we need a 'Rega Baerwald alignment protractor V2', and they provide a link to a forum, that is shutting down leaving the file inaccessible. I bought an alignment protractor, but I'm glad backers are sharing copies of the file in the comments now (not least because the place I got my alignment protractor no longer seems to be stocking them).

I finally get enough energy to do the rearranging and I realise I do not have two sets of phono-to-phono cables, and that I really need two sets of phono-to-phono cables. I also find out that I have to order them, because nowhere locally physically stocks them?!

Everything arrives, and I'm setting it all up, going through the fiddly calibration guide, and, it's not working. I get the multimeter out and take the turntable apart. But everything seems okay. I try the stereo system AUX with a portable CD player, and that's working. I even test the brand new cables. That leaves the preamp. The power light comes on, but there's no sound coming through. So I order a replacement, the Behringer PP400 Phono Preamp that they mention in the instructions. Which means I can also print the preamp mount part (pa1mk3-1), to tuck the preamp under the metal arm.

Printed in black;
- pa1mk3-1, at fast quality (3 hours), doesn't look great, but does the job. (Slicer also complained model had problems that it repaired.)

A month later the new preamp arrives, which I attach with two M3 x 5mm screws, and I wire everything up. Finally I can listen to some vinyl.

Pictures )




Close up of needle, just because
Photo by [personal profile] chebe







Clip of turntable in action
Video by [personal profile] chebe

Piano LED Visualizer

2021-Apr-21, Wednesday 06:30 pm
Every so often I take a fancy to the idea of taking up the piano again. I was going through one of these spells when I came across this project, the Piano LED Visualizer. How could I not give it a go?

I ordered the suggested Waveshare LCD TFT 1.44" 128x128px, WS2812B LED Strip (144 per metre), 5V 6A power supply, silica tube strip in T0515 for 12mm in 2m length, and iConnectivity mio midi-to-usb cable. (I had a cable already, but thought it wasn't working. Turns out the port labels on my piano are backwards. (If I keep writing it everywhere maybe I'll actually remember next time.)) I already had the Raspberry Pi Zero, and miscellaneous components. As well as a digital piano. Time to get soldering.

I know the instructions say there's no need to solder, but I did anyway. I used a Pico hat hacker board and soldered the connections on to it. The idea is to wire up the power between the LEDs and Pi as in this article. Checking the pinout that looks like Data out on pin 12, and I used pin 34 for common ground. Then soldered a few connectors/adapters, before seating the Waveshare on top, installing the software, etc.

At this point it all works, but it's a loose bundle of components, so let's make that case. The instructions really gloss over this part. The case is this model, but it's based off this original case for PinkyPi. Which is where I found the guide that finally told me I needed M2.5 screws, standoffs, and nuts to assemble everything together. (The direction pad button is wonderful, but the other ones did not work for me at all. At least I can still reach the buttons through the opening in the case.)

I also ordered the midi usb-to-usb adapter needed to try the Synthesia feature, but haven't had a chance to try it out (due to a major mix up in shipping, that the seller was great at getting sorted out, but it took a while).

Overall the LEDs lighting up next to the key you pressed is neat. And you can set the LEDs to play animations if you just want background lighting, say for a video chat. But the LEDs don't line up well. I don't know if it's just because I got a cheap set of LEDs, but they are off at each edge of the keyboard by a couple of keys. Overall this feels like an early version project, but all the important parts are there. Including the software which is fairly solid. And it's very fun to play with.

Photos )



Piano LED Visualizer in rainbow demo pattern
Photo by [personal profile] chebe

Fiio playlists

2017-Nov-20, Monday 11:42 am
For the past while I've just been tending to the many needs of my technology.

For instance, I picked up a Fiio X1 (2nd gen) a while back. And, well. When it works, it does work beautifully. The sound is great, and it even responds to the media controls on my bluetooth headset. However, it doesn't always work. Good news is they are actively developing the firmware and respond promptly to support questions.

Still, every so often you'll run into something very non-intuitive. Like, playlists.

There is a Category > Playlists menu option. But the only way to get playlists in there is seemingly from the Now Playing screen, which would mean adding song by song. And the playlists are named; Playlist1, Playlist2, etc, with no means of editing.

To get more useful playlists you must create them externally, on your computer. They are basically just a txt file with .m3u extension. Though you may prefer to use a music player program. You may, or may not, need to add #EXTM3U to the first line of each file. Then the songs are listed one per line, as relative paths, to the file-on-device. These playlists must be placed in the root directory of the player, and can only be accessed through the Browse Files menu option (not Category > Playlists).

But, in their limited function, they do work. So, um, okay?

Pimoroni Pirate Radio

2017-Mar-26, Sunday 10:44 pm
Hardware
Order the Raspberry Pi Zero W Pirate Radio (get it?) kit.
Assemble. Making sure you put the headers on the correct way around *cough*.

Software
Download the NOOBS installer. Extract archive. Copy contents to microSD card of 8GB+.
Put microSD card in Pi, supply power to boot. (You will need a monitor (micro HDMI), OTG micro-USB adapter to plug in keyboard and mouse.)
When boots into installer connect to wifi. (Have the details handy, you'll need them again later.)
From the network install list select Raspbian Jessie Lite.
Lite boots into console only (you can do away with the mouse now). Default login deatils are; pi/raspberry. You'll need to edit a config file to connect back to wifi;
sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
And add;
network={
ssid="YOURSSID"
psk="YOURPASSWORD"
}

Once online, install all your favourites (*cough* vim *cough*). Now is also a good time to set up the Pi as you want it. For instance, change the hostname;
sudo hostnamectl set-hostname new_host_name
You'll also need to update the hosts file;
sudo vim /etc/hosts
And update the line that says;
127.0.0.1 raspberrypi

You can test the speaker with;
aplay /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Center.wav

Spotipy
Okay, so far so good. But, it's supposed to be a radio yeah? Do you have Spotify Premium? Then you can hook it up, with a convenient one-line installer;
curl https://get.pimoroni.com/spotipy | bash
It will install a whole load of things (details here), asking for your input (including Spotify login details), and then reboot.

From another device you can access the web interface at http://192.168.0.2:6680/iris/ (run ifconfig on the Pi and take the ip address from the wlan0 interface). You'll need to go to the Settings tab and Authorize your Spotify account. Ta-da, that's it, rock out.

(But, it seems the installer doesn't actually remember your Spotify details properly, so open /etc/mopidy/mopidy.conf, down the bottom check that the [spotify] section contains your username and password. It had forgotten my username and mangled my password, so definitely check.)

(Also, your session will timeout regularly, just log back in, no worries.)

VLC
But, I was not content with just Spotify. I wanted actual internet radio. So I installed the vlc-radio as well.
Again, just one line installer;
curl https://get.pimoroni.com/vlcradio | bash
You can access the web interface at http://192.168.0.2:8080 (default login details; blank username/raspberry).
If you want to queue up your own internet radio stations save them as playlist.m3u, and scp over to /home/pi/.config/vlc/. Then reboot.

(SSH server is off by default, you can turn it on through sudo raspi-config, more details here.)

Other than warning you that the default volume is very high, that's it. Enjoy!
I do love Creative music players. What I do not love is the Windows-only nature of their software. Luckily there have always been programmers willing to spend time getting MTP devices to work under linux, however clunkily.

But I got a new player recently, and was surprised to find that it's not MTP. It's just a regular mass storage media device. Which means it can be used with regular music software like banshee and rythmbox, with one small tweak.

Props to the author of this snippet.

Plug in, mount device, touch .is_audio_player (or otherwise create empty file with this name) in the root of the devices file structure (e.g. /media/My Zen/), unmount and disconnect device. Start your music software and reconnect device. It should appear automagically. And this should work for any kind of mass storage media device.

Women that Rock!

2010-Oct-13, Wednesday 09:29 pm
This post sprung from a conversation I had with a friend. I realised that after growing up listening to male-dominated music I'd suddenly found myself listening to a lot of music that at least has one female band member. Not only that, but it's music that really rocks too. Guess it just took me a while to find them. So I'm here to help spread the word. In no particular order I humbly present to you some very, very good music. I love these bands/artists, I hope you at least find something you like.

(Also, seems all music ever is on MySpace, even bands that disbanded well before the invention of the internet.)

Marian Call MySpace
Astrid Wiliamson MySpace
Tori Amos MySpace
Imelda May MySpace

Daisy Chainsaw MySpace
MapleBee MySpace
QueenAdreena MySpace
Portishead MySpace
Garbage MySpace

The Runaways MySpace
Joan Jett MySpace
L7 MySpace
Jack Off Jill MySpace

Skunk Anansie MySpace
Skin MySpace
Die So Fluid MySpace
Kidney Thieves MySpace

The Dresden Dolls MySpace
Amanda Palmer MySpace
Bitter Ruin MySpace

No Doubt MySpace
Cowboy X MySpace
Gossip MySpace
Horror Pops MySpace

Edit: Oh, here's more for me to explore: http://www.afterellen.com/music/2010/10/the-50-most-important-queer-women-in-music

Profile

chebe: (Default)
chebe

Syndicate

RSS Atom

June 2025

M T W T F S S
      1
23 45678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30      

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Style Credit