A Crummy Commercial

I dug out the Morsemaster II, last mentioned here: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2023/11/morsemaster-switches-part-ii.html I tried it out but it didn't seem to be working.  After fiddling with it a little I could hear a really faint stream of Morse code.  After opening it up I decided that the earphone jack might be bad so I took it out - WRONG. The sidetone uses a 555 timer circuit, some variation of which has been used by many hams for a CPO.  I finally realized it was the 220 uF output cap.  So I replaced it with a 100 uF cap (all I had at hand) and bingo, it worked, very loud and thumpy !  I had to turn down the volume. it wasn't born bad - it became bad  :) I decided to check the cap value, the AADE LC Meter manual cautions against polarized caps so I dug out the B&K 810C cap meter.  Here is the reading: So sometime along the line that cap lost almost all of the original value.  And since capacitive reactance is inversely related to capacit...

It's getting to be tax season again so I pulled out my Canon printing calculator: Canon P1-DH III It calculates OK but there is something wrong with the printer: All the numbers and symbols on a line are printed in the rightmost column !  I suppose it's a mechanical fault of some kind - I dread ripping into the calculator to try and fix it though. If this is due to  entropy all I can say is: bad timing universe, bad timing. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

Literal cold feet - it snowed yesterday, it's windy and the power was off for about an hour at noon, brrr.   So I got out the McGill foot warmer, mentioned before: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2024/10/a-kit-i-use-every-day.html Plugged it in and nothing.  I unplugged it and hooked it to the ohmmeter - intermittent depending on the cord position.  I flipped it over and saw this: Both conductors of the cord were broken !  I'm glad it didn't short out - the strain relief wasn't much good. Six screws hold the foot warmer together but I was unable to budge them with a screwdriver, so I had to get out the cordless drill which had no problem getting them out.  When I took the two halves apart the somewhat fine Nichrome wire sprang out of position:   It was wound around plastic posts but very loosely.  Then I cut the AC power cord off, then stripped and soldered the wires back together after tying a somewhat lame strain relief knot.  Finally put a cou...

I found another item while looking for the Tiny Tora prototype, mentioned here: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/11/where-is-it.html This is a WWVB clock I was fooling with in 2002: the wires going to the top over the ferrite bar were connected to the LCD, the 6 switches were used to control the PIC It is basically 4 parts: the microcontroller,  the WWVB receiver, the WWVB antenna and the LCD display.  I noticed that the LCD display is a "one chip" LCD display which means that it is a single 16 character line.  Oh yes, I need one of those for the AADE LC Meter: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-heck-with-it.html Here is the 1 chip, non-working LCD from the AADE: the single chip LCD, notice the chip was packaged not "blobbed" And here is the 2 chip working LCD put into the AADE: this LCD is blobbed (the IC dies are underneath the black plastic) So I quickly unhooked the LCD from the WWVB clock and unsoldered the pin sockets.  I then used up quite a bit of the ...

After the recent loss of the 4 LED bulbs to lightning: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/08/lightning-strikes.html  I replaced them with 4 bulbs stolen from other fixtures inside the house.  So I went on Ebay looking for replacement LED bulbs and found these: The idea is that instead of the snow-cone style (where the LEDs sit on an aluminum circuit board) of LED bulbs like the ones that were damaged, I thought that these newer style bulbs with the two long "filament" style of LEDs would be perfect for the bath: The problem with snow-cone bulbs is that they are more like a spotlight, the light shines in a smaller than 180 degree arc.  With the filament style bulbs the light has a much wider arc.  This is perfect for bath vanity style fixtures: where a set of bare bulbs is able to shine down (and up) as well as straight ahead.  This makes them more useful since there is a higher light level when leaning into the mirror to see something up close. These particular bu...

Learned another lesson today: take a picture. I've been a photographer since grade school but possibly that hasn't always served me well in the 21st century.   Nowadays once the camera has been purchased each picture taken is essentially free.  In the olden days it cost money to buy film, develop and print it - and I did my own B&W developing.  In addition, it was a certain time sink to process the film.  So maybe I'm unconsciously avoiding picture taking ? Today I was working on this: It's the clock module from the old Westclox clock that has been on/off the shame shelf seemingly since the battery leak. https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2023/05/boss.html    I had ripped out the battery contacts (all corroded) and soldered wires to an external battery holder.  But something just wasn't right.  Sometimes it works, sometimes not - bad for a clock.  It's a shame because the module kept excellent time. Today I was going to touch up the solderi...

I was going to record a movie with the PVR - I've mentioned the PVR before: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2024/06/class-10-works.html  So I try turning it on and nothing, no red LED, nothing.  Was it another victim of the recent lightning strike that got some LED bulbs ? https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/08/lightning-strikes.html  So I tried opening it up but first encountered this somewhat cryptic label over one of the screws: I actually had to use my electric drill to get the Philips screws out - usually the electric drill only gets used during maple sap season ! Anyway, I immediately saw a rather unsightly color around the electrolytic cap and the bridge rectifiers: Yuck !  Of course it's a switching supply with the AC line voltage being rectified and then pumped down to lower voltages used by the digital parts.  I've got plenty of 1n4007 rectifiers but 22 uF electrolytic caps at 400 volts ?  I might have to buy one of those. BTW I don't think this would ha...

Recently I had gotten on the Nordic Track for under a minute when whoops !  My feet came out from under me - the strap had broken. The Nordic Track was a pretty ruggedly designed machine - meant to mimic cross country skiing motion.  There are two one way rollers under the skis which drive a flywheel.  The strap is a length of nylon webbing about 1 inch wide that rides in a groove on the flywheel.  The strap is wound most of the way around the wheel and is tensioned by a spring.  As the machine is used the strap rubs on the wheel generating warmth to the touch.  But this friction and heat must eventually break down the strap until snap ! Note that this is a much better system than the old stationary bike I had from AMF.  It just had an adjustable pressure roller on a wheel - eventually the wheel bearings heated up and froze. Here is a picture of the removed strap: Ebay still has listings for the strap: https://www.ebay.com/itm/255879679323  But $2...

I mentioned the roof at American Family Field leaking during the Brewer game in Milwaukee on 2025-08-09: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/08/two-highlight-videos.html  There were storms here on the island on that Saturday, too.  The power was out for about 1/2 hour in the late afternoon.  But before that there was a very close lightning strike near my house, flash and thunder at the same time and LOUD !  Luckily I had turned off the modem, computer, disconnected antennas and the phone line. But after the power came on I didn't check the outside and garage lights.  There is a long buried wire from the garage to a lamp near the mailbox.  It's on a ground fault circuit which usually trips during a storm.  But trying the lights a few evenings later (after resetting the GFI breaker) the lights were found to be dead.   The next day I checked and found these 4 dead LED bulbs: The three LED lamps on the left had been outside and they all rattle just ...

I've got a couple of SHARP WWVB clocks - actually three but one is dead.  The one I have in the basement started acting up, some segments of the LCD are missing: The bad one is on the right.  The problem is with the DAY (should be WED) and the tens of minutes (should be a 4).   Here are closer but fuzzier views: Good clock bad clock I checked the AA cells, they are both Energizer Lithium which read over 1.7 volts as do the cells in the good clock.  I got out the dead clock mainly because taking it apart wouldn't hurt anything and to see how the LCD was connected to the clock chip.   I was expecting some kind of pressure-elastomeric interconnect but these appear to be bonded together with some kind of stick-em like double sided tape or conductive glue or ??  Anyway it doesn't look like there is a way to just swap the LCD easily.  The back of the clock has the WWVB receiver: see the green-red wire near the hole ?  that was intended to bring the piez...

Apparently the problem with the Muter was the IR decoder module.  Monitoring the output of the module there would be periods of noise pulses: Then the noise might shrink and the output would invert ! Sony TV mute code 29, output inverted from active low to active high, weird !   I'm guessing that this is some problem inside with the AGC ?   Here is a picture of the defective module: Anyway, found a Sharp decoder module in the parts box, unfortunately it isn't made anymore but it is a 40 kHz module which works with the Sony remotes. I hooked it up to the Muter in place of the defective module and now the Muter works ! However I will still abandon adding a timer to the Muter.  A mini-one button IR remote will be made for the Sony CMT-EP313 stereo with built in delay timing.  I found an example of a one button remote in the junkbox: from the now defunct All Electronics :( But with the 9V battery holder it would require some voltage regulation for use with a PI...

I was listening to a Brewers broadcast on an old Sony CFS-1030 boombox (AC powered) when suddenly I heard a pop - and then it was dead.  No smoke was seen or odor noticed so not sure what happened.  I got the box apart and there is no evidence of any problem, so now it's time to start buzzing things out to see what may have opened up or shorted.   I found the service manual here: https://elektrotanya.com/sony_cfs-1030.pdf/download.html  Here is the power portion of the schematic: The Australian version seems to have fuses, this one just has jumpers. I believe the problem was that I was using a small switchbox to turn the radio on and off (since it can't be turned "off off" because the power transformer is connected directly to the AC line).  Unfortunately this switch box has 3 positions: center off, full power and 1/2 power (half wave rectifier).  I was using the switch box with a foot heater which didn't care about AC versus pulsating DC.  Howeve...

I use hearing protection when using power tools but recently that also includes vacuum cleaners.  I use an old pair of Acoustic Research over the ear stereo headphones which are comfortable and do the job but I should use the old Peltor hearing protector instead.  The problem is the Peltor ear pads started cracking which exposes the foam making them less effective and less comfortable at the same time: too much time spent mowing the grass ?   I bought these replacement pads on Ebay a while back but today decided to find them and use them: It was hard to figure out the best way to get the old pads off, ended up just cutting them off with a scissors.  Then a quick peel and press and voila: They seem to work, sound is different - not sure if it is better or worse but at least it makes vacuuming more bearable. Update 2025-07-13:  unfortunately the stickem came loose on one of the new pads :(   I'll have to get some kind of glue or tape - maybe I will just ...