A nice little magic trick, acted out in what I think is a funny way... Anyhow: there's no video trick in there that would manipulate the lamps. I only enhanced them because the spotlights of the stage made them almost invisible.
Note that I will not approve comments that "reveal" the trick in order to maintain the fun for others... ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWKW-vjZX_w
Tractor Repair/Restoration - Part 1 of yet unknown...
I inherited the tractor from my late grandfather a few years ago and use it to haul around stuff around the house: garden clippings to the communal dump site for example. Much easier to have two or three trips every year than weekly runs with a car.
That being said, I do take care of it reasonably well: regular checkups and keeping it clean-ish. At least as clean as a pressure washer would get it. The caked up gunk of 40 years worth of grease inside the engine is something that not even industrial pressure washers can tackle though... Which is why I always wanted to take apart at least a few pieces to gain better access to the hard to reach places and give it a nice clean. The paint was also chipping off in some areas, with minor but still annoying rust showing here and there. A paint job would also be in order some time... not to mention that in the early 70s, the electrical system is also not quite up to standard: there are quite a few power lines running criss cross the entire tractor that are not running through any fuse whatsoever. Many of these old tractors have been lost to cable fires. That means that the cable tree was another thing on my "eventually to do" list.
My annual check on things started with an oil check: Hm. Where IS the oil? Since it seemed to need quite a bit to top it off, I decided to do an oil change. And found a chunk of metal in the pan. Not good. This is basically where one thing led to another and now I have half the tractor disassembled and partially painted. The other parts of this series will deal with painting, parts restoration, rebuilding and hopefully test driving it.
Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:37 Oil change / project overview
2:03 Battery / Hood / Exhaust
2:48 Coolant / Hoses / Air filter
3:30 Headlights / Rocker cover
4:15 Rocker overview / Jacking up
4:55 Axle block screws / Starter
5:33 Tires and Fenders / Radiator
6:23 Steering linkage
6:54 Radiator and Axle Block
7:58 Oil pan / Dip Stick
8:42 Rockers / Air Filter / Water Pump / Head
9:37 Fuel System / Battery Box / Tank / Hydraulic Pump
10:08 Separating Engine and Clutch
10:45 Starter / Clutch / Flywheel / Engine Stand
11:43 Engine Bottom / Oil Lines / Crank Lock / Crank Seal
12:31 Upper and Lower Shell Separation / Pistons
13:12 Counterweights / Crank Shaft / Cam Shaft / Timing Cover
13:50 Concluson / Dashboard / Frame
14:26 Parts overview / Coming up next / Credits and Outtakes
Donate a few bucks for some coffee (or some equipment upgrades): https://ko-fi.com/atkelar
Music:
My Train's A Comin'
Unicorn Heads
(YouTube Audio Library)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5_QwbMr2Kc
Repair #3: Desk Clock
There's a lot of little things that my grandfather left my mother and me. Most of which were aged to a point where they are beyond repair, as was the case with the desk clock he had sitting in the back room. It was wood worm infested and - whenever it would work for a bit - crumbled when the chimes hit. So my mom decided it should get thrown away. I saved the clockwork back then and built a new case; because I kind of like the memory of these chimes... childhood memories and such, you know...
Anyhow, the clock worked for quite a bit until it stopped... this is my attempt at repairing and finishing up the project from early 2015.
Here's the original project's LiveJournal post: https://atkelar.livejournal.com/72313.html
0:00 Intro, Presentation & Disassembly
2:00 Sanding/Varnish
3:00 Clockwork Problem / Disassembly of Clockwork / Spring Cleaning
4:58 Wallowed Bearing / Milling
5:41 Lathe Process: Face / Center Drill / Drill
6:57 Lathe Process: Turning To Size / Part / Deburring
7:49 Anvil + Hammer / Reassembly
9:25 Test / Escapement
10:44 Mounting Clockwork in Case / Hammer Adjustment
12:10 Problem! / Geraing Explanation
13:55 Summary / Credits / Outtake
Music:
My Train's A Comin'
Unicorn Heads
(YouTube Audio Library)
If you enjoy my work here, you can support me via ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/atkelar
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYpYo7BrEeI
Something "quick" in between other projects...
Over the last years, I gathered some plastic model kits that cought my eye as either interesting or challenging. I want to build them eventually, so I asked around in my Telegram channel - https://t.me/TinkeringWithAtkelar - about whether it would fit my content to have an occasional "Model Kit Build" video. These would be short videos with basically some nice "step-by-step" timelapse footage and the typical comment about especially difficult parts.
The last time I built something like this was about two years ago, when I finally got around to the "Hindenburg" model I got some 10 years ago. And before that, I think, was in the early 1990s. Naturally, my paint can collection needed some tune up. Surprisingly enough, most of them still were good. But to properly store them (upside down) and still find the correct paint can by number and color shade, I decided that I just couldn't live without a proper paint rack that would defy gravity!
I used OpenSCAD to parameterize the rack in order to try out different sizes.
Please feel free to provide feedback in the comment section!
I also have a KoFe account: https://ko-fi.com/atkelar - support recording of my tinkering if you enjoy watching!
Music:
My Train's A Comin'
Unicorn Heads
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv7AF_Uf95U
Workshop #19 - BBC GOERZ UNIGOR A43
In the early 1990s I attempted some higher education... keyword "attempted". I did have some problems with math; somehow the jump between our local school and the technical college was a bit too steep. I did catch up with most of the stuff a few years later, but math was a pivotal subject and I failed almost in all other subjects because of that. But it was my first serious contact with electronics, and the electronics lab there had a bunch of these meters for student use. This is why I do feel kinda nostalgic about it.
I didn't write down the model number back then and for the longest time, I tried to find out what they were, so I might get one... and then I binged a few older videos over at @EEVblog and jackpot! This one here had it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S00c_qQB-hA
I jumped on ebay and got myself a decent one. Dave's had a "Bauzustand B" sticker on it (i.e. "Revision B") and mine has a "C" revision sticker. Also, his was branded "Metrawatt", mine says "BBC GOERZ" on it. BBC seems to be a rebranding of the origial Metrawatt / Gossen company but I couldn't find info on the "GOERZ" name...
When it arrived, I gave it a good wipe down and put it on my desk, since it seemed to work just fine. But when I tried to measure something recently, it was acting up and the needle was jumping all over the place, so I decided to put a bit of effort into it and see if I could fix it!
The protection switch wasn't connected; I assume that the students had them disconnected; they probably had something similar to our school going: you trip a breaker, you pay the next soda pop. Either that, or the magnet was too weak even back then and it tripped during normal operation.
0:00 Intro / Presentation / Stuck Case
2:50 Finally Open! / Overview
4:06 Selection Switch and Sockets Disassembly
5:05 Cracked Mirror Replacement
7:07 Contact Cleaning
7:40 Battery Terminals
8:19 Circuit Breaker - Explanation
9:25 C.B. - Disassembly
10:30 C.B. - Rebuild
12:45 Broken Notch Repair / Replacement Battery Switch
13:30 Meter & Switches Assembly
15:00 Sockets Assembly / Reconnecting
16:25 First Measurements / Trimmers
17:10 Final Steps / Closing up Shop / Feature Overview
19:15 Done! / Summary / Outtake
Music:
My Train's A Comin'
Unicorn Heads
(YouTube Audio Library)
You can support me on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/atkelar
German wikipedia https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMC-Instruments
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23s4yL_0rVQ
Restoration Project #30 - HP 5036A µLab
This one is a restoration I'm doing for a friend, Karpour. He's also into collecting old school nerdy stuff and occasionally asks me to fix some of it. I was quite honored when he asked to prepare one of his more obscure devices: a late 1970s microprocessor training kit from HP. The board was complete, with the exception of the speaker, but commpletely missing the original suitcase and power supply. There is very little documentation out and about, the "service manual" lists all the components, but has no circuit diagram. This leads me to believe that the original training manuals had that already in them. HP also made use of a weird "diagnostic tool" (which they call "signature analyzer") that seems to count pulses of logic signals and could be used to detect anomalies on chip inputs or outputs. But the numbers that are listed in the service manual are totally useless unless you have the matching tool.
At any rate, I had to do some reverse engineering of the circuitry in order to find out what was wrong with the device. And, oh boy, was there somethong wrong... Two logic chips and both SRAM chips were broken. It took quite a bit of tracing to find all the faults. Not to mention, that the board was designed to educate... and that includes "fault simulation" on the board via some unlabelled jumpers. It was much easier, once I found out that these jumpers were supposed to introduce faults; my reverse engineering was hampered quite a bit because I could NOT make sense of some of the options they selected...
But overall, I managed to get the board running again and could finish the request to make it into a functional display piece that can be hung to a wall as well as used - even on the wall if you so choose.
NOTE: soldering and desoldering was a nightmare: the PCB is 2.5mm thick (1/10") and to get the solder up to tempereature for a nice connection or desolder job is almost baking the chips, especially with the VCC/GND rails, which are extra beefy and thus extra thermal sinks...
Another note: @Adrian's Digital Basement ][ recently had a video about a "free run" CPU tester for 68000 CPUs; while I only ever saw it on this board here myself, his video makes me think this might have been a common diagnostic tool back in the day... would be interesting if any other devices had something like that to do a "quick check" of the processor?
0:00 Intro / First Diagnostics
2:20 Address Bus Problem / Recapping
3:40 Customs Delay / Buffer Replacement
5:07 Second Diagnostics / ROM Dump / 74LS138
6:05 Third Diagnostics / Data Bus / IO Chip
6:45 RAM Maybe? / SRAM Test Botch
8:19 DIP and Jumper Description /
9:05 SRAM Update / Keyboard Matrix Problem
10:05 Board Cleaning / Speaker
10:58 Case Construction / Backer Board
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fCSlPqSJKk
Workshop Project #31 - HP1607A Logic Analyzer
This time on the bench: a very early logic analyzer. The HP 1600A model that I restored about a year ago (link below!) has a companion model: the 1607A. During the 1600's restoration, I learned that these can be combined to form a 32bit wide unit, so I just got to have one. Normally, I'd be happy with the 1600, since it doesn't need any external device for dispaly, but the idea to combine two 16bit units for special jobs was too interesting to me.
I managed to get myself one - and also the pods for it! - on e-bay. It arrived shortly before the 1600 was done, but now I finally got around to pick up the project!
0:00 Intro / Overview
1:54 Inside! / Display- and Logic Board
3:45 Power Supply / Trimmers / Trigger Switches / BNC
5:20 Front Panel / Delay Dial / Case Frame
6:10 Back Panel / Heat Sink
6:57 Recapping Overview and Example
8:16 Mains Switch / Teardown + Assembly
11:05 Transformer Cleanup / Push Button Cleanup / Probe Pod Sockets
12:43 Delay Dial Cleanup / Potentiometer Knob Problem
14:22 Assembly Time! / Back Panel + Transformer
16:12 PSU Mounting
17:19 PSU Power Up and Voltage Check / PSU Circuit Explanation
18:40 Back Panel Finishing Touches / Case Frame
19:52 Handle / Front Panel Preparation
21:11 Front Panel Mounting
22:09 Power Indicator LED / PCB Cleanup / Front Panel Finishing Touches
23:08 Display Board
24:38 Logic Board
25:25 Power On! / Pods!
26:40 5V Adjustment / Output Signal? / Hunting down The Issue
28:13 Found it! / Fixed it!
29:24 Got Signal! / Got Scope! / Case Lids
30:36 Connecting 1600A? / Trigger Bus / IO Bus
32:05 Final View / Summary / Credits / Outtake
HP 1600A restoration video (part 1 of 2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-43Ic0IyNNA
Music (in order)
My Train's A Comin' - Unicorn Heads
(YouTube Audio Library)
You can support me on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/atkelar
and also on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Atkelar
and now also here by using the "Super Thanks" feature!
Thanks to everybody who signed up already!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1T1eLl0yjc
Tractor Repair/Restoration - Part 3 of 4
The third part was supposed to finish off the series, at least for this year, but... there was just too much going on during the assembly - it was enough for two episodes!
This one deals with the electrical work and about half of the engine rebuild. Includes a not-so-subtle wink-nudge towards @ThisOldTony during the cable ties part :)
Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:57 Roller Blind Rebuild
1:58 Dashboard / Fuse Box / Wire Loom
3:19 Electrical tests
4:15 Cable Ties / Wiper / Oil Pump
5:17 Engine Block / Cam Shaft / Main Bearings
6:00 Crank Shaft / Torque Wrenches
7:22 Piston Rings / Connecting Rods / Piston Insertion
8:48 Frame To Block / Oil Lines + Pan
10:15 Crank Shaft Seals
11:11 Engine Stand / Lowering Engine
12:17 Clutch Housing / Flywheel / Clutch / Starter
13:30 Engine To Gearbox / Front Frame
14:22 Front Axle / Fuel Tank
15:15 Lock Washer / Crank Pulley
16:00 Closing / Credits / Outtake
Donate a few bucks for some coffee (or some equipment upgrades): https://ko-fi.com/atkelar
Music: My Train's A Comin'
Unicorn Heads (YouTube Audio Library)
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b4K07Wp2iQ
A short addendum to the last videos this week, since I have been way too busy with a convention obligation to finish the next one on time...
I thought I'd shed a bit of light on the subject... in more way than one. People sometimes ask me, why I occasionally bring out the large format gear, especially when I get to do a stroll in the park, with a little wagon of equipment trailing behind me. In this video I explain the "how does the camera work to begin with", i.e. how do you load film and take a picture and why these cameras are so... "flexible".
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct9xoen26Zs