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A project that I have worked on and off for several years is finally almost finished - My Delco AM Stereo / FM Stereo / Tape Deck / Aux input car stereo converted into a portable (well, kind of, its pretty heavy) radio.
It has a standard 12v barrel adapter input which takes either a standard 12v wall adapter or my 12v/12a LiFePo4 rechargeable battery, a detachable FM dipole antenna, 2x20w speakers, a carrying handle, and an aux. input modded into the front such that when you plug in any 1/8" audio source, it overrides the radio and plays your mp3 player (this mod I did not do, I purchased it this was from an ebay seller who specializes in adding this port to old Delco car radios).
FM reception is, as expected, excellent. Front-end overload is non-existent and the noise floor is very low. Only downside is selectivity - these old Delcos are notorious for extra-wide bandwidth on FM. I considered replacing the ceramic filter with something narrower but it looked like a lot of work.
AM is solid as well. It supports AM stereo reception, and I can actually pick up 2 stations in AM stereo - 890 WLS out of Chicago and 630 CFCO out of Toronto (which plays country music). AM stereo sounds pretty good. Nice thing about the AM Stereo button is that it doubles as a wide/narrow bandwidth selector for all AM station, and in wide mode supports a full 10khz of audio bandwidth.
The speakers sound great as they have full frequency response (the bass hits pretty low on these, at least down to 40 or 50 hz), and the 5-band EQ is very sensitive allowing you to tweak the sound a bunch. The 12v 12ah Lithium Battery I purchased (it was kind of expensive) puts out plenty of juice to power the entire unit.
I plan on eventually building a back panel for this and tidying up the wires (including doing away with the yellow wire caps) but for now everything is hooked up. Only thing I have to figure out how to do is to connect my Terk AM antenna. I had tried it over a 75-300 ohm converter (plugged into the coaxial to Motorla adapter - a piece that was NOT easy to find), but it doesn't work well - I think the converter is the culprit.
Overall I'm very happy with how this came out.
4NRadio addresses my post about the oxidization on my Panny RF-877:
DeoxIT is not the best product for potentiometers; you need Caig's FaderLube product for all carbon pots. If the wiper contact is metal the best product is DeoxIT D100S-2, but if you don't know the pot's construction then FaderLube is a safe choice. Save the regular DeoxIT for known metal-to-metal situations (connectors, jacks, etc.)
I've never seen any radio that gives access to the volume pot's internals after simply removing the knob. Unfortunately you have to open the case and sometimes remove a good amount of boards, hardware, and circuitry just to reach the pot's body. Even then, you may be faced with a type of control that has no access hole or openings in which to spray FaderLube.
If you're lucky, the thin plastic tube that comes with FaderLube in the spray can formulation will be able to reach a crack, opening, or hole in the sheet metal casing of the pot. Then you can spray a minimal amount through the opening and work the volume knob back and forth, hopefully cleaning & lubricating the control. In rare instances I have made a small hole with an awl or punch in the sheet metal body of the pot to make an access hole towards the "front" of the control (better chance of the spray reaching the carbon surfaces). I don't like drilling holes because a single metal chip can cause major damage on the pot's carbon traces.
In an ideal world you would replace the worn pot with a brand new one of equal value and appropriate size.
The volume is coming and going on my Panasonic RF-877. Can I pull the knob off? I tried just now and nothing. I'm afraid I'll break it.
Gary has apprised us of this article that explains the difficulty of having One Favorite Watch.
I sold a couple of watches to buy my Holy Grail, an Orient Saturation Diver, which was on sale, a few weeks ago. The ratcheted stock Super Oyster bracelet was okay, but I prefer the heavier Super Engineer II, so I made the switch, and I'm very happy.
The ratchet extension on the original tends to come loose and I always have to click it back to normal position. The stock bracelet also tapers to a very narrow width and I didn't like a narrow bracelet on such a beast.
I had the Boschett Harpoon on my wish list but I'm getting a similar look with my newly customized OSD, which makes me re-think getting the Harpoon, which might be superluous.
In my opinion, this Seiko Black Monster Second Generation is the best watch for the money. I do however don't like the way the pins can fall out of the bracelet (as many complain) and recommend a $75 Strapcode 20mm Super Engineer II brushed bracelet upgrade. For under $300 total, you've got a watch that looks at least twice the price. Curiously, today on Amazon the price says $192 and then you click on the image and it goes up to $198.
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