techmoan

(Patrons Only) Feb 2019 Update Chat

An update on what's going on and what's not going on. No major developments, just a chat.

Update: Apparently the original upload of this came across as being negative. This was not my intention - I just wanted to report back on everything that had been going on with me since the last update, the pros and the cons.

However so as not to come across as a miserable curmudgeon - I’ve done a re-edit to make things lighter. The version you now find embedded above is the easy-going fluf...

HiFi Component TV - what and why

https://youtu.be/yEY-2cq6By0

In the late 1970s, just when you thought you'd finally added every possible component to your towering Hi-Fi stack - along came the Component TV.

Hope you enjoy the video. I feel it came together better than most. Although based on my recent form, it'll likely turn out to have more faults than a seismologist's map.  

I plan on doing a patreon exclusive video in a few days -...

A video about studio lights

https://youtu.be/jcXd2INgcek

Occasionally when I buy something  to help me make videos - I'll then make a video about that thing. This is one of those occasions. Over the last few weeks I've been trying to improve a couple of behind the scenes technical issues. One of these was sound, which should improve starting from the *next* video after this - I discovered an incorrect setting just after I'd completed editing...

Tape Recorders of Mission Impossible Ep. 2

 EDIT - Link added - (apologies for the double notification).

https://youtu.be/8VQfhyDP6vw  

If you liked the first episode of this series looking at the tape recorders used in the 1960s/'70s TV Series then you might also enjoy this one. 

Hope your January is going well. This is always a weird time of year for youtubers as advert revenue falls off a cliff at the start of each year. If yo...

The Bone Fone

https://youtu.be/0i3gRFekbt0

You may remember me mentioning a while back that I'd acquired one of these late '70s/early '80s oddities. As it connects thematically to the Aftershokz bone conducting headphone review, this seems like an opportune time to showcase it. 

I've also managed to find the time (and an idea) for a 'comedy' outro for anyone who is interested.  In editing I noticed a slight focus iss...

Bone Conducting Headphones

https://youtu.be/a27T7ldoLdE

This was intended to be the first video of the year, but I ended up putting out the mini arcade machine video (which in hindsight may have been unwise). 

Anyway here's a review that follows on from the neck phone speaker review. You may remember that video as being one of the flops from 2018 - so I think this one may be a niche too far. However I find these kind of things interes...

Extra Video (pulled from the bin) [UPDATED]

I have this video that I'm really not sure what to do with. 

I shot this in November and originally edited together a version of it in early December when I had that bad cold. As a result the voiceover sounded horrible and the structure and edit was compete nonsense. Even in my semi-feverish state I could tell that it was just garbage, so I put it to one side and worked on the four part HiFi video instead. 

After my new mic & compressor arrived I thought it might be ...

End Of Year Review (Patreon Exclusive)

In my former life as an company employee I used to dread this time of year. Chrimbetween, (the days between Christmas and the New Year) was the time for the end of year appraisals. 

Yet here I am voluntarily doing my own end-of-year review, although this time I found it interesting to look back on any successes or failures. I can also give myself an A+ whether or not I really deserve it. 

This is a Patreon exclusive and as it's one and three quarter hours long there...

A (nearly) Christmas special

A four part video.  I'll be releasing one episode per day on youtube starting from Thursday. However VIPs (you) can view all episodes now. The main video above will take you to part one, the links to the other videos are below. 

Part 2: https://youtu.be/Wqb-XUHTk3Q

Part 3: https://youtu.be/6c1i6Tk6f8I

Part 4: 2018-12-18 12:01:35 +0000 UTC View Post

Using a tablet/phone as a Digital TV.

At the moment I'm suffering from a really rotten cold that the Mrs kindly brought home from work. Luckily I just got this simple video finished a couple of days before it hit. 

This cold has scuppered my plans to release a four-parter video in the days running up to Christmas. That's now currently in limbo while I wait for it subside and my normal speaking voice to return.

My big plan was to do a couple of simpler videos (last week's CalcuPen and this one) followed by this more comp...

The Calcupen

No prizes for guessing both functions of the Calcupen. A highly desirable, if rather compromised piece of 1970s tech. 

Just a dashcam review

As any technology matures it inevitably becomes less fascinating. This also happened with the dashcam. When I started reviewing them the term 'dash-cam' didn't even exist - they were known as 'Car DVRs'. But nowadays it feels to me like anyone who wants one should already have bought one. 

After feeling like the moment had passed - I took a break from reviewing dashcams for a while. So it will be interesting when this video goes live to see if there is still an audience for this type of r...

Fixing Mr Dengon

This is a video that in hindsight is just a bit too simple. I've had it in my pending queue for a couple of weeks and I'm still not sure whether to release it. Of course everyone here gets an opportunity to see it.

UPDATE It seems like its better than I remembered. As a result of your positive feedback I’ll be making it public on Monday. 

November Nonsense (Pat-ex*)

'Painting myself into a corner with a cheese sandwich' and other mixed metaphors feature in this Patrons-only monologue regarding little of genuine consequence. It's like a one-man show with a low-rent Spalding Gray...so more like a Greying Bald monologue. 

*'Pat-ex' is my new lazy abbreviation for 'Patreon Exclusive' that I'm attempting to smuggle into the lexicon.

Tape Recorders of Mission Impossible Ep.1 (?)

I've had the idea for this rattling around inside my head for a couple of years now, during which time I've been assembling the various machines needed to cover the most common devices seen in the show. So if this video is well received there may be more episodes.

Initially I envisioned this as something much simpler - but after I started doing the research, I felt that I needed to incorporate short clips from the show as it added context.

I suspect using the TV clips like this is pushin...

Repurposing Linesman's Telephones

A simple video...

I spotted some linesman telephones on ebay and couldn't resist picking up a couple. An unusual object to display on a shelf - but also not entirely useless either. 

UPDATE: Please disregard this post. I wanted to put out a quick simple video about a basic topic - but I can see that it's not really worked. I'll have something better along soon. Sorry about this. 

Audities 3

A look at a few more unusual or interesting recordings that I've acquired over the last few months. This Patreon edition has different audio playing over the outro text scroll than the version youtube subscribers will get to see/hear. I thought it might be pushing my luck with copyright to make this public in this incarnation. 

Hopefully there will be another new video along in a few days. I'm also intending to do another Patreon only update soon. However this is dependant on a new video ...

The 'Cult Classic' Columbia GP3 Turntable

Wow these weeks are really flying by now. 

Anyone who's been here for a while will know that following one of the marathon efforts like the Dataplay demonstration last week, the subsequent videos usually end up being a bit simpler to give me a chance to get back on track. 

So with that in mind - here's a look at a portable record player.

I did find enough time to add on a silly outro though for those that are interested. 

Hope you're having a good day.  2018-11-11 11:47:51 +0000 UTC View Post

Dataplay: The futuristic optical disc format that time forgot

In this video I'm finally looking at a format that I've been eager to cover for years. Despite Dataplay being on sale as recently as 2004 it has proved to be frustratingly elusive. 

However after many years of searching, and with the assistance of others, I finally managed to track down everything needed to make a video. But not everything went entirely according to plan. 

UPDATE 7th November - As a result of feedback regarding some volume levels - I've gone back and adjusted t...

A wind up

Is it possible to make an entertaining video about tape winders? 

I don't know - but I tried my best.

UPDATE: I've played with the volume a bit and deleted the end section that wasn't about a tape winder. Thanks for letting me know the true purpose of the device shown. The previously uploaded version will be available for a day or so here https://youtu.be/QCTnY75_T4k before being deleted.

Drift Ghost X - A helmet camera review

While I started off on youtube reviewing action and dash cameras - I've hardly reviewed any this year. So belatedly here's one I shot a few weeks ago. It will be interesting to see how well this one works out. In the past these types of videos got lower viewing numbers, and therefore performed badly as far as advert revenue went - but made it up with affiliated sales. This equation of course only worked out when people liked and bought the camera being shown. 

I feel that revenue model mi...

MOVA Globes - now available in Cubes

In the October update video I mentioned that I rarely accept demonstration samples unless it’s something that I already know I’ll like. I also mentioned that something had just been delivered that fit this criteria, and well, here it is. It’s the new MOVA Globe Cube.

I anticipated that there was very little could go wrong with a sealed cube housing a solar powered spinning globe and fortunately on this occasion I was proven right. 

There are two predictable comments that will ...

Patrons Only - October Update Video

It's time for an update video. Youtube gave me a choice of three thumbnails for this video - all of which made me look like a character from Wallace & Gromit. The auto thumbnail algorithm seems to be looking for an image with a smile, but since they'd find more smiles in a Buster Keaton feature, this appears to be the closest it can get. 

Anyway it's another blather video - after reviewing it, this one seems to be slightly out of focus, so my advice is to treat it like an audio podcas...

The tape recorder no one wanted to see

A chance find on ebay resulted in me picking up an interview recorder - a machine commonly used to record police interviews with criminal suspects. This one has an especially interesting history, but before I could find out about its unique way of recording, I first needed to get it working.  

UPDATE - Thanks to the advice, corrections and observations received on what has now become the rough cut of the video - I’ve gone back and amended all the sections that weren’t up to snuff and ...

Anki Vector Robot Review.

This is a review of the Anki Vector - a small internet-connected robot. 

I had just started working on another video and then this was delivered. It turns out I received it a couple of days before it officially goes on sale. So as a result I decided to drop what I was doing and take the rare opportunity to get an early review out. 

So I have to apologise for the reduced window for patron-only early access on this one, (it's probably just a couple of hours while the 4K version p...

Neck Speakers - neck to neck

In this video I'm trying out neck speakers. For reasons that escape me know - I've ended up buying all the models on the market. As I'm probably the only person who owns the lot - it made sense to do a comparison video. 

If the thought of a long video about a niche product isn't the kind of thing you're looking to watch today, I understand, however you might want to spend four minutes watching the completely unrelated comedy outro - as it's one of my favourites. 

If you want to...

On the record (an extra vid)

I have a couple of proper videos almost ready to go, but something fun and unusual turned up in the post, so I've made a quick video about it.

There will be a new looooong video along at the weekend. 

NOS - Personal Stereo: Opening a bit of the '90s

As promised yesterday, here is the second of this week's two videos. 

In this one I'm opening up and testing a 'New Old Stock' Aiwa personal stereo from 1990. For me there is something magical about opening a long forgotten box. I can't help but think about the now middle-aged people who were teenagers back when this was on sale, who got one for Christmas and were over the moon with it. It's a little bit of time travel.

Apparently the story behind these (courtesy of the Tapeheads.ne...

Wow...and flutter

I've got two videos ready to go - however as Patreon doesn't support embedding two in one post - I'll hold back the other one for a day so that it doesn't get lost in the mix.

As you may know, I have some extra family commitments happening behind the scenes, and as a result I've needed to rearrange things and make a couple of simpler videos recently. This (and the next) video reside firmly in that category. 

Funnily enough though, it seems that the less time I spend on a project, th...

The Return of Quad Vinyl

One thing I get asked every now and then is  "When are you going to do a video about Quad". Unfortunately as far as a proper retrospective of the various quad record formats goes, that's still quite some way off. I'm hampered by a severe lack of space in my house to properly set everything up.  No doubt this issue was also a barrier to entry for any potential customers back in the early 1970s. 

However in this video, with the help of a small temporary set-up, I'm going to be pla...