The Selection Accumulator; a Jukebox's Brain

you should try long-tapping the link and click "open in youtube". Then any link for youtube you tap in future will open by default in the app. You can "open in background" again to disable this.

Amazing job on this one! I can't imagine how much work it must have been to figure out how this thing works, repair it, disassemble it, and get precisely all the right bits of footage to work into a script that showcases it one feature at a time. You deserve some kind of award for this. I've watched both videos several times at this point and my only lament is that there is no longer anything new to discover from them!

toasterking

I've also been wondering about this. It flashes precisely when the take-out arm removes the record from the basket. As far as I can tell, there are no components inside that are optically activated, and the bulb is in a position that doesn't appear to be viewable from the outside of the cabinet. Maybe it's there for debugging? Maybe if it stays lit, that indicates a common fault with the take-out arm?

toasterking

I see what ya did there about the card. Thanks for humoring me :)

Hey Alec! I subscribe to Weird Universe, and today's entry looked surprisingly familiar after seeing this video. What do you think> http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/comments/automatic_tarot_machine

Mike Bird

I love this! And I love that you find this as fascinating as I do. We need to get you a pinball machine so you can explain that to us too.

housevil

Sunday morning jukebox nerding. Perfect.

John Lavallée

Why does the shaft and magnet assembly have two arms and only rotate 180º, while the readout arm only has one arm and does a full 360? Also, I was wondering what the little white spinny disks by each record slot on the carousel are for? Thanks for such a great video!

Mister Author

Yeah, I'd definitely be in over my head if I had one of these. Pity they can't make reasonably affordable modern-day computer-driven equivalents but playing older records.

Arthur Robillard

How the heck much did these things cost when they were new?? There were probably leasing arrangements and such, I suppose.

Michaela Pereckas

I would definitely like to see a video explaining how people actually use it. For one thing, it seems like if you select V5 and then bunch of people select A2, B7, etc. your V5 will never get played. I would love to know the social protocols around using it.

So I don’t want this to be a “Technology Connections support” post, but I used to be able to get the YouTube app to open from the patreon page rather than the website. I’m using an iPad. This is useful because I’d rather cast videos than hold my device for a half hour, fascinating though the subject may be. I don’t know what broke (and it may not be your fault at all), but it’s a bit annoying.

I normally watch your videos with my TV speakers. Today I was watching with my professional headphones because I was preparing to edit my podcast and I noticed that the audio was more noisy than it needs to be. It's not a situation where it's hard to listen to. I'm not sure if I would have noticed without the MDR-7506 on, but now I can't unhear it. As a test I dropped your video into premiere and put the default DeNoise effect on it. There was a big improvement. This might be something to consider. I don't know what you edit with, but it's a real easy fix in any software. The only thing I would caution on is that this will cause problems if used over music or when you really want to hear the world's background noises, so it's best to use only over your dialogue tracks (there are more tips, but they don't matter). ( suspect you normally do this and for some reason something went wrong on this video . You're the kind of person who knows a few tech things, I think. I also didn't check the whole video, just the opening minute or so.

Kyle Olson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ophPq0dSNLg

hfidek

Agree this is more of a state machine than a computer since in a true computer the program can alter the stored program (data or instructions) based on calculations (like comparing to see if a flag is set), while this machine can only follow pre-programmed branches. Very many similar pre-programmed branches, but still sort of fixed. Very fascinating memory mechanism. It's surprising the wipers still work after all these years and haven't rubbed away the printed circuit board traces. Great insights without getting lost in the minutia, you're an excellent explainer.

John Comtois

On and I forgot, awesome labels for the little windows 😍

Kilrah

I still think that the C3 was pushed instad of C5 in ~2:50, but other than that, it's very nice video.

Very great vidéo, loved It! 😃

joseph

Excellent as always Alec! I have created relay logic control systems for automatic machinery (25 plus years ago) so appreciate the amount of effort required to design this beast! This one is relatively simple as far as the relay logic is concerned, but highly complex on the custom electromechanical side. The most difficult part of complex relay logic systems is insuring that "Sneak Circuits" (unintended circuits feeding power backwards through relay contacts to upset logic paths) do not exist. I once spent nearly a month verifying the logic of a system of a couple dozen relays! Suggested reason for "Side 1 / Side 2 VS. Side A / Side B": Side 1 refers to the leading side of the record as it sits in the carousel, whereas Side A refers to the CONTENT on the record. Perhaps they named it that way to eliminate confusion? (Yeah, I agree that it doesn't accomplish that purpose!)

HarveyB

The tickling tickled all the pins the right way... And yes I agree about the "not a computer", for me the very point of a computer is to be able to be general purpose enough to be able to be reprogrammed to do just about anything - this can only do one thing, sequence playback of discs.

Kilrah

Do kids these days realize that a jukebox can make multiple selections and remember them? You've referred to "memory" a few times, but I don't remember you ever stating this basic fact in the previous video (or this one), and maybe it's worth explicitly stating that this is what it's accomplishing?

nothings

Relay logic is confusing as hell...and I say that as someone who used to program PLCs in ladder logic (which is basically just a software implementation of relay logic).

Chris Crowther

NGL, I had to rewatch the button portion of this because I got distracted by watching what Ghost Alec was doing in the reflection. 😂 ETA: I think you can call it a computer for sure, but it's not a 'computer' in the sense that a modern 'computer' is a 'microcomputer'. You can really see in the logic processing on this machine that electromechanical computing is a forebear of modern computing.

Kevin Kostka

Great video. I hope in a future video we'll find out the purpose of the light bulb that flashes from time to time...

Robert

Thanks, it keeps on being fascinating to see all the mechanics behind :-)

MrHammond

This jukebox thing could turn into the next CED series. I'll be waiting for Jukebox Part 5.

Don Eitner

You covered a lot of material today, so what do we need to know for the final test? I think of the jukebox as more of a Jacquard loom or a player piano than a computer. Also, how many silly love songs must it play before it understands the true meaning of Love?

Mark Hesse

This is what I've been waiting for. Brilliance.

Dude, it's called a FSM - Finite State Machine.

Ognyan Manchev

Thanks for the video. I hope you and your family are doing well. If they are, and once you can adjust to the IL lockdown, I'd argue that your role as a creator of entertainment _and_ education is even more important. All your videos have a core educational component, and they are delivered with an up note of humour. That's something we need right now, and I'd encourage you to keep producing with the same level of quality. Regards.

Raphaël

Great video. I still think it is a computer of sorts. Sure it ain’t what we see today but you program in what you want it to do and it then performs that action (granted it is the same action but slightly different discs). I can also see your argument for it not being a computer. I sense another video explaining it and maybe an example of a full electromechanical computer

Stay safe over there man and thanks so much!

Dylan Packard

Thank you for this and the rest of your channel, Alec. You are producing gold. I only regret I can’t watch some of these for the first time twice.

Porkchop