I think creativity is alive and well. Just look through these threads for example.
We know more today. No longer do we make discoveries in garages, and it sometime takes teams to come up with real improvements. But as humans we are curious and creative. So ideas will always come forward. But it is hard to find paths are are not already travelled today. Learning is following the path ... then extending it once we reach the end or reaching an interesting side path.
We know more today. No longer do we make discoveries in garages, and it sometime takes teams to come up with real improvements. But as humans we are curious and creative. So ideas will always come forward. But it is hard to find paths are are not already travelled today. Learning is following the path ... then extending it once we reach the end or reaching an interesting side path.
Despite all the logic it hard to get a person to admit they spent thousands of dollars on a piece of older equipment that can be trumped by a modern piece that cost a tenth or less. The human brain is so easy to fool without proper test equipment it is almost impossible make fair comparisons. The bottom line is if you like it that is all that really matters.
Bill
Bill
Hi Bill,
That just doesn't happen. Not unless the person bought old junk.
If you look at manufacturing, new equipment would cost a lot more money to make. That and new stuff is often unrepairable and has design defects. WHat I hear most often is that someone bought new stuff after selling their old "obsolete" equipment. They are sorry they did. COsts have increased, not gone down. Have a good look and listen.
What is difficult is getting honest, good service from most "technicians".
That just doesn't happen. Not unless the person bought old junk.
If you look at manufacturing, new equipment would cost a lot more money to make. That and new stuff is often unrepairable and has design defects. WHat I hear most often is that someone bought new stuff after selling their old "obsolete" equipment. They are sorry they did. COsts have increased, not gone down. Have a good look and listen.
What is difficult is getting honest, good service from most "technicians".
This appears to be especially true about cars !!
I read some quite complex changes to the dolby board to 'bypass' it - but none of them actually seemed to simply bypass it 😀
The manual also has a huge clue, the F-2654 switch board is drawn surrounding the dolby board. I.e. the dolby board is really a daughter board, and therefore the switch board didn't really need to involve it at all...
I suspect the ribbons have many internal breaks, the black ribbons are the worst for this I read - and the board has soldered vias too, that sometimes dry...
I think most people are fighting ribbon cables that look Ok but are dead or intermittent - certainly by throwing away the ribbon to bypass the dolby daughter board solves that too 😀
The following tone stage has a buffer amplifier that probably provides gain, but the Sansui factory 'dolby off' setting is a simple straight pass-through mechanical path - no electronics.
My mod merely emulates that mode with 4 wires - so the receiver will behave like a new one in 'dolby off' mode (i.e. tape monitors and rec out still function), and the 'meters/cal switch will simply enable or disable the power meters.
While EVs have become huge, expensive risks on wheels, I do have a soft spot for the 'Cyclekart' scene, which is sort of the opposite. There's a size format, and then pure imagination takes over - often interpreting classic designs of the past.
They would also make good EVs, a 100aH car battery (1.2kWh) lead acid battery at the front would I thing, at 100W power trundling along say at 25mph would run for 12 hours, or 300 miles.
Most EVs today do about 3 miles per kWh... or 100x less efficient. My numbers may be slightly off, but the orders of magnitude are all wrong for todays cars, as well as the right to repair and reuse.
One day I'll build on, and it'll have a small but decent stereo in it too 😀
I think this is where the future lies - small groups of people doing neat things - corporations are essentially very dull.
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Hi Globulator,
You're probably right about the Dolby circuit. It's been a few years since I have looked at one. It would be fantastic if it could be simply bypassed.
I found intermittent connections in almost everything on that PCB. I do recall replacing ribbon connectors with modern wire types.
Old equipment is often well engineered for the knowledge at the time. Today's equipment is generally designed off-shore and never has a modification program, so no repairing of engineering errors. They shifted the cost of their mistakes onto the end user. I am not going to buy into that program.
You're probably right about the Dolby circuit. It's been a few years since I have looked at one. It would be fantastic if it could be simply bypassed.
I found intermittent connections in almost everything on that PCB. I do recall replacing ribbon connectors with modern wire types.
Old equipment is often well engineered for the knowledge at the time. Today's equipment is generally designed off-shore and never has a modification program, so no repairing of engineering errors. They shifted the cost of their mistakes onto the end user. I am not going to buy into that program.
@Globulator : my EV is a Nissan SLPlus, a model only made for 2 years. It does 235 miles on a charge and costs very little to run. Has the best stereo system I have ever heard in a car. Interestingly it will accelerate faster than your average Porsche.
Once you become accustomed to a EV you hate getting in an ICE. Then there's that smell of the gas station. That and oil changes you don't miss.
Your carts are great - is that you in the second one?
Once you become accustomed to a EV you hate getting in an ICE. Then there's that smell of the gas station. That and oil changes you don't miss.
Your carts are great - is that you in the second one?
Hi! No, these are not my carts, this is the style of cart to which i aspire to building!
One day I'll build one 🙂
The wonder of Cyclekarts is that the only 'fixed' format is the layout (and the motor if you are in a club), but the size lends itself well to DIY, because to build the mechanics (the wheels are often BMX or Honda Cub front wheels) is not too difficult - so the freedom to create, copy or replicate is all there in an easy to manage size 🙂
On a trip in France I saw a recliner bicycle with a big plastic box for the battery and motor - going up a road in the pyrenees (see pic). It looked uncomfortable but useful - the Cyclekart is the next step, the cool and creative move into a small personal transport that's just fun, and to keep it away from the dull oppression of authority 😀
A perfect size for EV tech too, maybe even electric bike hub motors.
There are a few Cyclekart clubs in the US, it's a growing hobby, I may have to start a club here 🙂
It's also old 😀
Imagine a modern item of that complexity lasting 50 years... no, me neither !
The old Sansui 661 I had, didn't even have noisy pots - it was just a bit too battered and ordinary looking (and the crazy output capacitor) for me to keep - but it still worked fine, even under a huge layer of dust. I think it may have been used in a workshop for a while - but it taught me how long well made stuff could last 🙂. The hoover and paintbrush was busy that day!
Now we have modern cars with plastic sump pans, plastic rocker covers, plastic timing chain guides, and some of it isn't very good plastic either !
The other day I was fixing a couple of LED 'transformers' that had started flickering and whistling - after 2 years of occasionaly use - the 25V 47uF caps in one was bulging so I changed both out for 50V parts - problem solved.
Yet the capacitors in my Sony F6B preamp board - only the ones run at the full voltage rating had started to leak, and that's 50 years old... !
I'm a big fan of things built to last - perhaps that's part of the appeal of these classics.
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Have you seen the Renault Twizy? I saw a few in Paris some years back being charged on the side of the road (at public charging points). Almost like a cyclekart if you squint; they class it as a quadricycle.
https://www.renaultgroup.com/en/news-on-air/news/twizy-2/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Twizy
https://www.renaultgroup.com/en/news-on-air/news/twizy-2/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Twizy
EVs only work well for temperate climates and urban areas. Here in the Toronto area (but outside), in Canada they are not a good plan. We have very cold weather, meaning you have to run the heater, plus long traffic jams on highways. One trip can take well over an hour in stop and go traffic in the snow running your heater. A recharge takes too long, and rapid recharging is very hard on battery packs, contrasted to pouring gas in your tank and off you go - no damage. The local power grid cannot sustain very many EV chargers either.
Now, get rid of those battery packs and see the cost. Right now road taxes are not charged to EV owners. Unfair and that will change. Charging costs and upgrades for same need to be passed on to EV owners so they see the real costs. Why should owners of ICE pay for EVs? We paid for our transportation 100% and continue to do so, EV owners need to pay their fair share.
Now pollution. EVs shift pollution from the car to the generating plant (not in my backyard thinking, not seen so it doesn't exist). Battery production isn't clean either, or disposal as I mentioned. Finally, transferring electrical energy has high loses, so does battery charging and discharging and power conversion inside the EV. At the moment, an EV is not a good plan unless you live in a city core, don't drive any distance or similar. You shift pollution from the city core, but someone, somewhere has to deal with it.
Show me and EV transport aircraft, ship, transport truck in North America or emergency vehicle. Hmm, maybe there is a reason for that. Could be energy density for one. Additionally, when one catches fire, it cannot be put out. A couple EV fires in city core parking garages would focus people on that issue I think.
W see them because there is money to be made from industry, and the carrot of free transportation that will be yanked out from the public. Standing on its own, not many people would buy one.
Now, get rid of those battery packs and see the cost. Right now road taxes are not charged to EV owners. Unfair and that will change. Charging costs and upgrades for same need to be passed on to EV owners so they see the real costs. Why should owners of ICE pay for EVs? We paid for our transportation 100% and continue to do so, EV owners need to pay their fair share.
Now pollution. EVs shift pollution from the car to the generating plant (not in my backyard thinking, not seen so it doesn't exist). Battery production isn't clean either, or disposal as I mentioned. Finally, transferring electrical energy has high loses, so does battery charging and discharging and power conversion inside the EV. At the moment, an EV is not a good plan unless you live in a city core, don't drive any distance or similar. You shift pollution from the city core, but someone, somewhere has to deal with it.
Show me and EV transport aircraft, ship, transport truck in North America or emergency vehicle. Hmm, maybe there is a reason for that. Could be energy density for one. Additionally, when one catches fire, it cannot be put out. A couple EV fires in city core parking garages would focus people on that issue I think.
W see them because there is money to be made from industry, and the carrot of free transportation that will be yanked out from the public. Standing on its own, not many people would buy one.
We are speaking about antique gear, are we ?
Camille Jenatzy and his Jamais Contente electric-powered car :
The first car to ever reach and overtake the 100 kilomètres dans l'heure car land speed record. It was in France, at Achères, near Paris, in 1899... Many years before that any thermal engine would be able to do it.
The performance of electric motors reduces the conventional engines to barely "Survivors of a Paleozoic Era" : power, torque, and - most of all - efficiency are all surpassed, beaten by far. Nothing new here, by the way...
But when drawing and storing electrical energy in an electric car will be as easy as filling the tanks of a classic-powered car, the fate of the internal combustion engine will be definitively sealed. This will be revolutionnary...
But this revolution is not for tomorrow, très loin s'en faut... For the best and the worse !
T
Camille Jenatzy and his Jamais Contente electric-powered car :
The first car to ever reach and overtake the 100 kilomètres dans l'heure car land speed record. It was in France, at Achères, near Paris, in 1899... Many years before that any thermal engine would be able to do it.
The performance of electric motors reduces the conventional engines to barely "Survivors of a Paleozoic Era" : power, torque, and - most of all - efficiency are all surpassed, beaten by far. Nothing new here, by the way...
But when drawing and storing electrical energy in an electric car will be as easy as filling the tanks of a classic-powered car, the fate of the internal combustion engine will be definitively sealed. This will be revolutionnary...
But this revolution is not for tomorrow, très loin s'en faut... For the best and the worse !
T
Oh, C'mon. I suppose driving the tanker truck to the filling station costs nothing. ICE doesnt exactly boast power conversion efficiency. You cant even store the loss, it just heats the atmosphere via most every ICEs radiator. Would be nice if you could bring it home and add to whatever energy heats your house.
I agree EVs are more of a P statement, by those who agree with the idea of the "lost century", where fossil fuels unequivocally dominate and functional alternatives are somehow blocked until all the money that can be made is squeezed from the last rock formation. I agree they're simply impractical in cold, snowy climates.
My father had two cars; a beetle that simply burned the least gas possible for his daily commute and a 383 behemouth for pulling the boat and camper, or to "tour" with. The beetle could have easily been an electric - as the burner - if technology when he was alive and working with a simple 15 minute commute to the plant allowed it. In upstate NY, there would have been a few days every winter where he would have had to take the "big" car in, until everything got good and packed down.
Well, they aren't. My neighbors in chilly Flagstaff have Teslas and love the way they perform in the cold. The cold keeps the battery cool -- the main problem with stress performance on an EV is high battery temperature. The weight and direct drive helps performance in snow. And the heating is effortless in an EV with plenty of power and no significant adjustment to range -- they are setup to heat by remote and be ready when you open the door.
Anti-EV sentiment has become rampant fueled by manipulative lies created by businesses dependent upon ICEs.
If you own and drive an EV you know:
1. They are better driving machines than ICEs. My SLPlus is faster than the average ICE, has better handling (turns like a BMW) and accelerates from 30 to 60 in a wink of the eye. This immediate acceleration is one of the best eyepopping experiences in the auto world.
2. They are completely quiet and the stereo sound is much, much better.
3. They cost little to own. Charging in your garage will increase your monthly bill by $10-15. Assumes you drive every day.
4. They cost little to own: received 5 years of PP tax for $0 from the state upon purchase. Am now at the 5 year period, needed to pay the PP, and got another five years of registration for $39. What have you paid the last ten years in auto PP tax?
5. You receive preferential driving treatment. In Phoenix there are preferred middle driving lanes on which autos with multiple riders are allowed AND EVs with any number of riders are also allowed. This is a large improvement.
There is only one real problem with EVs: the number of charging stations BETWEEN towns. Almost all towns now have charging stations. The remaining problem is finding one between towns, every 25 miles or so. Biden's plan was supposed to solve this, the plans are there, but actual construction has lagged.
Could it be that certain ICE interests are making this difficult?
Oh, and relevance to the Antique Gear topic? I find that when you take your gear to a technician in an EV they are so interested in the auto that they spend extra time and effort solving your problem.
Yep!
The Monteverdi 375L, but in Electric Version = Monteverdi e375L
No. Too bad, too good... It would have been Modern Antique Gear !
My Wife owns a KIA e-Niro, my son owns a Tesla III. A Tesla S in Station Wagon coachwork would replace my (nonetheless fine) Peugeot 508 SW :
Again : no. Too bad... 😒
T
No. Too bad, too good... It would have been Modern Antique Gear !
My Wife owns a KIA e-Niro, my son owns a Tesla III. A Tesla S in Station Wagon coachwork would replace my (nonetheless fine) Peugeot 508 SW :
Again : no. Too bad... 😒
T
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In Australia, with our geography we not only have many long distances driven but also a very high degree of "Range Anxiety".
It is for these reasons that I am a strong proponent of Hybrid vehicles. I think the best of them are a very clever 'fusion'.
It is for these reasons that I am a strong proponent of Hybrid vehicles. I think the best of them are a very clever 'fusion'.
I am impressed with the stuff Schiit audio makes. While not high end they hit a nice price point in the market, and still made in America. I am a little spoiled most of my I own are diyaudio designs and while they may not considered “high end” they are close enough in the performance curve I am satisfied.
Bill
Bill
The Beetle could indeed have been electric - Dr Porsche had very early involvement in hybrid electric cars:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohner–Porsche
I drive a Peugeot too; a 206 GTi:
I like small fun cars but we don't get the range of models you do in France. The closest electric to the 206 was the e2008 where they had a temporary run out deal giving a discount of $25,000, so that shows you how much we are gouged over here. I'd love an e208 (yes one less zero).
Wow ! Peugeot is known in Australia ? Amazing... 😀 😉
Yes, the 206 is an agile, lightweight and swift little car, which is "stuck to the road" with a deadly precision... Peugeot cars are The Aces of the running gear and road handling... Way over those ugly-heavy-costy German cars !
When I wanted to buy a new car I considered Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Volvo in SW coaches of equal offerings. After road several tests, the 508SW 2.0 HDi won both hands over alls : price, weight (think 1500kg against 2000kg), handling, speed, agility, comfort and design.. Plus Made in France in Mulhouse, by a family-owned business founded in 1810.
T