techmoan

Apparently Sony is exiting the car audio market. https://autos.yahoo.com/ownership/articles/sony-pulling-plug-car-audio-183038604.html

I know that aftermarket car audio has shrunk significantly because factory stereos are so specialized nowadays, but I am still sad to see them go.

The last aftermarket head unit I bought was a Sony, about 4 years ago to replace the factory unit in my daughter’s Jetta because the touch screen glitched out. It was actually really nice. It looked just like the one pictured in the article now that I think about it.

E ink photo frame, with a slide show.

https://www.picpak.tech/pages/picpak-e-ink-photo-frame

Saw this TINY DAB+ and FM Radio. Maybe as another upgrade option?

Vitaphone is the last major analog sound-on-disc system.
https://www.ebay.pl/itm/377565848852
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitaphone
https://youtu.be/caizVTwqjjo?si=K61n9g551ZqY9xFK

https://play.cassettecd.com/

Great video on quirky 2003 HiFi from Lowe, from Posy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fl2xSBhkkM

https://youtu.be/NmAgldya9k0 hey if you guys see those cassette players with the exposed brass flywheel online don’t bother they suck.

https://electronics.sony.com/audio/walkman-digital-recorders/walkman-mp3-players/p/nwwm1zm3

And it’s still just a crappy android phone underneath.

Does anyone know anything about Star-Lite? I found this Star-Lite Harvard KFA-W88 over the weekend and find it very appealing. But, I can’t seem to find additional info apart from Star-Lite being an importer in the mid 20th century of various Japanese brands.

Hi Mat. Just purchased a fosi cd player of the back of your excellent review. You got me thinking when you spoke and illustrated the ammount of new CDs being sold. I think the same as you, i think that 2nd hand CDs are driving the market. I mmyself buy very few new CDs simply because there are so few genuinely good new bands making an impact. I think this says as much about the lack of new artists comming through as anything could. I listen to Metal and there is a huge ammount of back catalogue to choose from but hardly any one new that i would want. I would expect that its the same across all spectrums of any music. I find new .usic is so o er produced and A.I. assisted that i just dont bother.
Keep up the good work Mat.

I saw this and thought of Techmoan 😁

https://youtube.com/shorts/m-Sowq9iJVk?is=3EnmV980w9Kmsa7P

Hi all. I have bought a naff old cassette recorder, mainly for nostalgia purposes. It’s definitely NOT a high-fidelity device, but it’s in lovely aesthetic condition and I’d still like to have it in working order. It’s currently running very slow and the auto-stop isn’t working, so I guess the belt has had it. Does anybody have good experience with any particular UK-based suppliers of replacement belts, or should I just go for whatever’s cheapest on eBay? Price doesn’t bother me within reason, I just don’t want the hassle of getting posted completely the wrong belt. It’s a Sharp RD-630E for anyone interested.

Deck tech are my go to for belts. You will have to measure the width and length of the belt, but ive never had a problem with getting what i need. Mat uses a different maker,i think its an eastern european maker but im not 100% sure. He reallyrates them though. Or you couldjust purchase a pack of random size belts from ebay,ive done that in the past and they have often come to my rescue.
Good luck.

OK, it would seem the DeckTech belt kit for the spectacular piece of equipment above is out of stock. The current belt doesn’t seem too knackered, maybe a little too stretchy and it is only 1mm thick. Info online suggests most of these types of ‘shoebox’ devices use 1.2mm belts, so I might try one of those to see if it grips any better.

I have measured the path of the belt with string and got 258mm, so allowing for a bit of stretch and reducing that by 6%, I get a belt size of 242mm. On the other hand, trying to ‘fold’ the belt in half and doubling the length to get a measurement of the circumference that way suggests a 230mm belt. Am I right in thinking the string method will be more accurate? And is a 6% reduction about right to account for stretch? I know I could buy a grab-bag of belts, but I’d rather not have 50 spare belts lying around for my zero other cassette players, and also I hear the quality can be grim. Thank you all for any advice!

Ive been refurbishing walkmans for a few years now and i have found that most older units will tolerate a certain degree of give and play. Yourunit probably has a brass flywheel wich is good as they tend to oron out any potential running problems. As for belt measurements, im only repeating what ive watchedon you tube videos and also Mat has measured possible belt sizes for units he has fixed so maybe ask him who he uses. As regardsmixed packets of belts, yes they arent as well made as precision fit belts but PERSONALLY ive never had one thats so bad that its made the unit unlistenable. Apack of mixed belts can sell for thesame price as a model specific belt, so if you find a belt that worjs well enough juzt use that one and then throw the rezt away. Remember that youre playing tapes so it is by nature never going to be an exact science. I personally would rather use a belt that is slightly larger than one that is tighter because i dont want undue pressure putting on the drive motor. They can be very forgiving though. Please remember that this is only my own opinion through trial and error and it could be completely wrong!! Whatever you do though, make sure you put a drop of oil i to the drive motor and clean and re grease any moving parts that have friction. Whatever you decide though- good luck.😊

Hello Mat, great job on the latest Rediffusion video! I apologize if you’ve addressed this question in the past, but do you digitize and archive any of the old audio? It seems a shame that much of it would get lost to time.