techmoan

VinylVideo Q & A

A quickly made follow up to the VinylVideo video, answering a few questions with demonstrations as well as going off on a tangent or two. This is just an extra Patrons only video. There'll be a proper new full length video along at the weekend.

By the way - the picture above is youtube's autogenerated thumbnail (it was the best of the three).

VinylVideo

May I introduce you to VinylVideo - probably the least commercially viable new product I've seen in quite some time, and yet I was compelled to buy one. It's half art project, half tech demo and 100% bizarre. 

In a world of smartphones and more smartphones with the occasional smartphone, the not-at-all-smart VinylVideo has the power to stand out from the crowd and capture my attention. Thank goodness for oddballs and tech tinkerers - they're the ones that keep things interesting.  2018-09-15 09:21:06 +0000 UTC View Post

Video 2000 - The European video format

The story of Video 2000 - the format that came third in the videotape format war.   

PAL TV territory residents my age or older will likely remember V2000 - but for everyone else this could be the first time you've even heard of it, which really does show just how quick and how hard it failed.

It was technically the most sophisticated of the three formats - but ultimately that proved irrelevant as the format wars were as good as over before V2000 had put its boots on.

Ass...

Patreon Exclusive Video

I wanted to give a little something extra back to everyone who supports me here on Patreon. So here's an exclusive video that comes with a 'gift' just for you. 

Download link: http://pc.cd/keMrtalK

Special Thanks to : Anders Enger Jensen on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/eoxstudios

The WikiReader

Imagine being able to carry Wikipedia in your pocket and access it without requiring a connection to the internet - the WikiReader made this possible. 

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If you've noticed that I've put out a couple of less elaborate videos like this one recently it's because I needed to create a bit space in my schedule to tackle one of my deep dives on a defunct format. Those projects usually take a long time to put togethe...

A fun foray into film photography

This turned out to be a very enjoyable and rewarding video to make. 

It started with a desire to take some photos with 35mm film for a change. 

To add to the interest level I decided to hunt out an unusual point and shoot camera (or two) with which to take these photos.

 I then thought it would be fun for me to shoot in black and white, which was something I'd never done before. 

Finally I discovered that I'd been using a formulation of film which had rece...

Blu-ray Region Lock Nonsense

This was intended to be a sub five minute quickie video...but I kept adding to it and it's ended up as a full length one. However just like some movies that try to stretch out a short story to feature length, it's a bit disjointed...perhaps I should call it an anthology video.

It's just a bit of nonsense for your Sunday viewing. 

Hope your week has been good. Onward and upward. 

UPDATE 21 Aug : I had to re-upload the video and add a new PIP section  in the outro star...

The Sennheiser Surrounder

You may have seen it mentioned in my update video the other week, and I was tired of tripping over it, so I've finally made my video about the Sennheiser Surrounder

In this video I talk (and then talk some more) about it.  Yes it's a bit overly verbose this one, all talk and no action. However with an object that just sits there looking like a backward toilet seat or perhaps something you'd wear in a Gurning Competition (look it up)... I was left doing all the work.

Anyway for bette...

Sony FH-7 Mkii

For a few people of a certain age, the Sony FH-7 was an unobtainable object of desire. It seemed designed to appeal to someone in their late teens or early twenties, but could only be afforded by a person with a well-paying job, who most likely wouldn't have appreciated it as much. 

It might have taken me thirty three years to finally get hold of one, but all good things come to those with an ebay account.

 *Some assembly required.

While I'm reminiscing...

I've...

Fuji SQ6 - Are we having fun yet?

The very first camera I can remember taking a photo with was a Polaroid Super Colour Swinger. It was a big camera and I was barely capable of lifting it up to take a picture - but I remember finding it in box in the top of a wardrobe and deciding to adopt it. Someone must have been kind enough to buy me one pack of the expensive pull-apart film it used and I recall that it took all my strength to pull the photo sheet out of the side of the camera. Perhaps it's that experience that fostered my in...

VHS Style Blu-ray Packaging

These arrived in the post yesterday, I'd forgotten that I'd ordered them. I thought you might appreciate a quick look. Just a bit of whimsy. 

I'm working on something more substantial to have out later in the week.  As this one is a short video there's no outro scroll - I trust this is OK.

EDIT: Here's a link to the range on the HMV UK website: https://store.hmv.com/film-tv/vhs-range

EDIT2: Re...

Two Short Videos: 2) RPM

This is the second of today's two short (too short?) videos.

Here's an affiliated link to the App if you're interested: https://apple.co/2Od1qWl

Update - Re-edited to change the term "phone accelerometer" to "phone sensors" and replace a repeated phrase about the registered app with a mention of the additional speed measurement options available in the registered app. 

Two Short Videos: 1) Wall Radio

A few of the things I started work on this week didn't pan out - however all is not lost, I've got two short snack-size videos to show you. It'll be interesting for me to see how these shorter videos are received. 

UPDATE: I've fixed a misspoken section and taken off the outro as the video was just too brief to warrant it. Now it really is a short video. 

The Behind The Scenes Video

Consider this a down-payment on my promise to deliver a behind the scenes video. After this one I aim to do post-mortem videos in the future for some of the more elaborate projects. So you can expect more incessant rambling to appear at sporadic intervals. 

In the meantime here's this...

UPDATE: Video added (whoops).

Apologies for the missing video earlier.  Last night I scheduled this post to go out this morning and everything looked good. Somehow though while the saved ...

Less is more - More music on Less discs.

The Hi-Vision videos last week took a lot of time to get together. While I know this sounds overly dramatic, after I finished editing them it felt like I had jet-lag for a few days. I seem to get this feeling whenever editing stretches on longer than normal. It’s like a weird fog combined with extreme tiredness. I used to get a similar side effect when I looked at massive excel spreadsheets for days on end in my previous job. It’s probably just some kind of migraine but without the pain.&nbs...

HD-LD Part 2

As promised, here is the conclusion of the MUSE LD video in which you finally get to see what those wealthy Japanese home cinema enthusiasts saw in the early to mid-90s.  I hope you like it. 

There was quite a bit more that I planned to include in this video, but unfortunately the player stopped working before I got the chance. 

For example, I own one of the rare 'Squeeze' anamorphic LDs of Cliffhanger, so it would have been especially interesting to compare that disc agai...

HD in '93 - Hi-Vision LD (Part 1)

This video was only made possible by you. Without the generous support of everyone here I just couldn't have taken on such an expensive project. 

I think it might be interesting if I go into more detail about this in a future behind the scenes ramble video here on Patreon. But in the meantime. here's my video about the first HD video disc format, Hi-Vision LD.

This is a two parter and the second part will be along in a couple of days. I just need to finish off a few things, but you'...

Sony's TV Sound De-mumbler

This is a great little wireless speaker that enhances audio sent to it from a TV. It's primarily designed for people who struggle to hear the television clearly, but can prove useful to others as well.

Unfortunately many of the people who could benefit from a device like this will be unaware it exists, so perhaps it's something to consider gifting to someone who would appreciate it. 

Patreon Extra: 35 year old Pioneer HiFi Dealer Demo Laserdisc

I was capturing video from various laserdiscs for an upcoming video this morning. While I had everything set up, I took the opportunity to capture a laserdisc I bought last week. It's a 1983 Pioneer HiFi Dealer Demo. I bought this thinking that there might be something interesting on here, but bar a few animations that I could possibly 'borrow', it's so dull that it's almost unwatchable. I don't know how they made a topic that I'm interested in so utterly boring, but somehow they found a way.&nb...

e-book readers - 1990 edition

I'd expect that quite a few people here will remember these Sony e-readers, but I've noticed that they rarely get a mention online. As a result it's likely there's a generation out there who won't be aware that seventeen years before the Kindle, there was an earlier attempt to sell e-book readers to the general public. The Kindle might have got it right - but Sony got their first, and showed them how not to do it.  

I assembled everything for this video a couple of years back. A few of th...

Hi-Res CDs

When a parcel from Japan arrived a few days ago I dropped everything to prioritise it, as I feel that time is very much of the essence with this one.

On the 20th June, Universal music in Japan released one hundred album titles on a new physical hi-res music format, MQA-CD. These discs contain hi-res audio but are also backwardly compatible so they can be played at normal CD quality on any CD player. 

However, while the discs themselves are quite reasonably priced, it seems that they...

APS & the Analog Photo Slideshow

This is a video that would just not have been possible without Patreon. As a result of the response to my request for a processed APS film on here the other week, I've finally got this finished after a year of false starts. 

There's a section towards the end of the video where I use an app called Photo Lemur. https://photolemur.com  I only became aware of this app as a result of Andy Ihnatko recommending it on Macbreak We...

Nice boombox - where's the rest of it?

This is just a simple, easy to watch and relatively satisfying video about an unusual little cassette player. This is one of those rare occasions where everything just came together and nothing went wrong. 

I really needed a video like this to come along after a run of bad luck with a few troublesome projects. However I'll be getting straight back to those now this one is done.

I hope you enjoy it, have a great week. 

UPDATE: Had to make a quick edit and re-upload the vid...

No one reviews printers any more (well nearly no one)

A couple of the videos I was hoping to work on this week have been held up while I wait for parts, and with no guarantee that the parts are going to resolve the problems. So in the meantime - here's a review of a printer. 

There's a really good deal on this printer at the moment, but unfortunately the offer is for the UK only. I try to make videos where the content is relevant to most viewers and won't go out of date quickly, however this time the offer was worth sharing so I made an exce...

Just a Dashcam

It's been a heck of a weird week. 

I've been doing some tinkering with a few devices that I bought ages ago and I managed to get one of them working that I've been really looking forward to making a video about. It just needed a kick.  It's really (really) unusual, I just hope it keeps working long enough to shoot the video.

In other news, at one point during the week I was violently ill. That's one of the dangers of having no sense of smell or taste - you don't know if somethi...

TripleCorder - The Directors Cut

Today you‘ve got to witness the evolution of a video - (and the gradual breakdown of a man who thought this video was finished last night). 

Version 1 - https://youtu.be/LMssgzVu4VU

The most interesting section of this first edition relied upon on something that unfortunately turned out just to be a misunderstanding.

Version 2 - https://youtu....

May Blather

Just wanted to keep you updated on the things that no-one needed to know. A Patron exclusive...my one-man video 'podcast'. 

Stirling Engine Kit Assembly

This was a very satisfying kit to assemble and I do hope you enjoy the video. 

The idea for this was suggested by a Patron. If you spot something that you think would be an interesting subject for a video, please let me know.

Quick vid - Casio Invader Game & Calc

Extra video, short video, extra short notice. I've put this together this afternoon - I'll be setting it loose in the morning. It's just a bit of fun. The proper video I was working on all week will be along in a few days. 

Have a nice weekend.

A vintage HiFi rarity

This week I'm featuring a rare old HiFi component from the early 70s. Back then no one ever truly needed to have one of these in their HiFi and they weren't cheap, so that makes finding a functioning survivor today extremely difficult. This particular one isn't without a few small issues, but given its age it's definitely fairing much better than I am at a similar vintage.

The real reason I've bought this, is really just because I like the way it looks. I suppose it's the same reason that some...