techmoan

About that Hi-Res cassette deck, well...

It's been a busy couple of weeks and here's the next video. It's a review of a new 'Hi-Res tape recorder' from Toshiba that created a bit of a buzz online a few weeks ago. 

This one was intended just to be a simple review after the previous marathon effort that was the Mindhunter video. Incidentally in case you missed it - the main youtube version of that video went out yesterday and it has a couple of additions to the earlier Patreon version, a new intro and a (very) short outro as well ...

Recreating the Mindhunter reel-to-reel intro (minus the corpses).

I'm really happy to be able to finally show you the results of something that I started work on last year. 

You may remember when I first talked about this on Patreon in December 2017 - https://www.patreon.com/posts/patreon-japanese-16112412

Since then, in-between working on other things, I've been gradually assembling all the components I needed to make this video and it has turned out t...

LIXIE Clock Kit - Well not really.

Just as I was typing this paragraph another email came in asking if I'd be making a video about LIXIES, however I've already made it, and here it is. 

But first, you know how some people refer to all vacuum cleaners as 'Hoovers' even the ones made by Dyson - well the same thing has happened with these Edge Lit Displays - people are now referring to them as LIXIES, when that's just the name one manufacturer has coined for them.  

So this is a video about what many people would n...

Pocket Rockers (by popular request)

I'm finally back from my holiday and whilst the majority of this video was made before I went away, I've spent an extra day on it to make some improvements. 

I've also brought the outro name roll of honour bang up to date, so if you think your name is missing please let me know. 

Whilst Patrons get to see this new video this week, the youtube subscribers will be getting an updated version of the laser projector video that you got to see over a month ago. Thanks to your feedback...

3M Sound Page

I've been on the lookout for one of these machines for a while, and while they do occasionally turn up for sale on ebay, I'm so glad I managed to acquire this particular one as the unique accompanying material weaves quite a tale. Hearing non-commercial recordings from the past is always a bit eerie and the subject matter of these is something that is going to stay with me for quite a while.

This is also the last of my automatically scheduled posts, I‘ll be back from my holiday (v...

Show 'N Tell

The Show 'N Tell is a vintage multimedia educational children's toy I imported from the US. I thought I'd hit the jackpot when it came with so many additional programmes, however it turned out that age hadn't been kind to them.  I however still had a lot of fun making this video and I think you'll enjoy it too.

Random Number Machine

This is one of the shorter videos I mentioned I was working on a few weeks ago. It's a look at a random number generator that uses Nixie tubes. 

The ebay advert for this suggested that the buyer could gut it for the tubes. When I read that, I decided that I had to rescue this unusual little piece of history. 

Record Runner

Here's a quick video about the Record Runner, that little VW van that drives around a record, both playing and destroying it at the same time.  However I know some people will be more interested to see that video features an increasingly rare appearance from the comedy outro puppets. If you just want to see the outro on it's own - here's a link to the video https://youtu.be/NvNPMlATA9g

 I also updated the merchandis...

Sound Burger

This week I'm taking a look at the Sound Burger - a record player that looks like a cheap child's toy, but looks can be deceiving. 

Lasergames (Canned Video)

A little something for the weekend? - Why certainly, how about a look at an abandoned video....

Not every video works out as planned, this is one of those. There are just too many technical issues with it - it's the video equivalent of a rokblok.

If I were to put this out in the subscriber feed it would just generate complaints. People would be queuing up to lecture me about frame-rates, aperture controls, exposure compensation etc. However perhaps the biggest problem is that youtube's r...

LED Watches & the Pulsar P3

It's been a while since I made a video about wristwatches, this one focuses on the early LED digital models. There are few things in this world less fashionable than a LED watch, which is exactly why they might have finally become fashionable again - everyone loves an underdog. 

In this video I take a look at the Pulsar P3, a timepiece that went from riches to rags and then back to being relatively affordable again. 

In other news - by working myself half to death I've fin...

Patreon Exclusive - A quick extra: Clean Outro

A number of people, the most recent being Tom Orr here on Patreon, have asked of they could see a version of the outro sequence without the Patreon name scroll - so here it is. 

The outro uses the track ‘Over Time’ from the Youtube Audio Library - https://youtu.be/VSSswVZSgJw  

If you look through the comments under that link you'll see a few people suggesting that I’ve edited the speed of the audio to g...

The DIY record player

In this video I'm assembling a Spinbox - another of my unwise late-night Kickstarter purchases.  On paper it seemed right up my alley, a self-assembly kit and a record player, both things I usually enjoy, however...

The Backwards Record

Here's the short video about an interesting record that was mentioned in Monday’s surprisingly well received forty five minute blatherthon.  

The topic of this video was suggested by a Patron (Roland Respondek) and if you have an idea for something you’d like to see in a video, please let me know. You can always message me on here or via the Patron-only email address input@techmoan.com

UPDATE: The video above has been replaced with an extended one that now includes a quick demo ...

February 2018 Mega-Blather (Patreon Exclusive)

Here’s a video to keep everyone here on Patreon that supports me updated with my current goings-on while simultaneously answering a few FAQs…and talking nonsense. 

Two things you should know before pressing play: 

1) There’s an annoying wire dangling into shot at the top left. If I’d noticed it before uploading I would have cropped it out. However since its taken hours for this video to get processed by youtube, we’ll just have to live with it. Perhaps you could scrol...

A good Dual DASHCAM - Front & Rear 1080p

If you've been looking for a reasonably priced Front & Rear 1080p Dashcam you’re not alone. It’s been a mission of mine over the last few years to find a decently priced model I could add to my recommended dashcams list.  During that time I’ve tried probably half a dozen different cameras, but I’ve finally found the one for me and it might be the one for you too.

Amazon links are over on youtube in the video description text box. 

If you want to download the sample ...

Superscope PSD300 - Musicians CD Recorder

You may have spotted this unusual looking CD player in the last video. 

I appreciate a twenty-odd minute video about a fifteen year old CD machine isn't something that will have mass appeal, but in my defence this one does have some unusual features that I felt were worth showing. Still, the video does feel a bit too long, although I can't think which bits to trim out.

Patrons get early access to this video, so if there is something here that does appeal, you have a bit of a he...

Patron Exclusive Techmoan Videos

I've just realised that new Patrons won't not be aware that I've made a few Patreon exclusive videos over the years. From now on I'll be adding links to these in the welcome email - however for existing Patrons I've collected them below in reverse chronological order. 

https://www.patreon.com/posts/patreon-japanese-16112412 

2018-02-03 13:58:13 +0000 UTC View Post

CD Video (Not Video CD)

CD Video is a confusing format, not just because of the similarities of its name to Video CD, but also because it's really two formats pretending to be one, and one of those already existed under another name. In this video I attempt to navigate through this confusion to explain what CD Video was and why it’s all but forgotten nowadays.

Back in the kitchen with a Pasta Maker

I'm always on the lookout for kitchen gadgets to feature in a video.  This is touted as the number one fresh pasta maker in Italy, although most people there, just like elsewhere, prefer to buy dried pasta.  You can buy a heck of a lot of bags of dried pasta for the price of this machine, so it’s definitely not a way to save money. It probably makes a better gift than it does an investment. 

Unlike most kitchen gadgets I’ve tested, this is one I will be using again. It’s s...

My New (old) Turntable - the Denon DP-47F

A surprising number of people enquired whether I would be making a video about my new turntable.  They'd spotted it in a couple of recent videos and were interested to know why I'd replaced my Sansui. The simple answer is nothing more exciting than I wanted a record player with a hinged lid, but also I'll take any excuse to buy something as smart as this. 

Initially I thought there wouldn't be enough to say about it, beyond the fact it's a record player and it plays records. However ...

Dashcam Review - Front & Rear Dual 1080p

Continuing my hunt for the perfect dashcam, I take a look at the Z-Edge S3  - a reasonably priced dual 1080p model. 

I'm still working with a blocked head so apologies again if any of the audio levels are off, also I've put any outros on hold until I’m feeling it a bit more.

Rokblok - follow up & tear down

I don't normally do this - but with so many people asking the same question "Are you sure you were playing it at the right speed" I just had to make a quick follow up to yesterday's video to avoid going insane. 

I also wanted to give the product a second chance - perhaps there really was some way to make it work better...something I hadn't been doing correctly, plus now you also get to see what is inside the Rokblok. 

This one will be going live on youtube very shortly after Pa...

RokBlok Review

My 2018 hasn’t got off to the best start due to illness. It’s just a cold-like viral infection, but the sinus congestion means I can hardly hear anything. I’m not telling you this because I’m looking for sympathy, or get well soon messages…no it’s just to warn you that the audio levels in this video might be inconsistent as I couldn’t really hear anything I was saying. 

I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to make a video until my hearing improved, but fortunately the R...

Patreon Exclusive - Japanese Junk Box

A behind the scenes ramble about importing vintage technology from Japan. The sometimes high-stakes tech gamble where you may find gems amongst the junk.

If you are interested in seeing the auction description for the item I purchased after you’ve watched the video take a look at this link https://www.jauce.com/auction/t543468225

8ban - Mini Playable Vinyl Records (UPDATED)

I've just managed to squeeze one last video in before the end of the year. In this one I'm taking a look at 8ban AKA eightban AKA Triple Inchophone.

UPDATE - Good news everyone (deliberate Futurama quote) - I've added a section to the video where the record is played on a normal (ish) record player. 

After I saw that the majority of the comments were relating to potential ways to play these records on better equipment I decided to revisit this section. I also fixed a coup...

360º Cameras - Last video before Christmas

This is a long review of something that will likely only appeal to a very niche audience. When reviewing something I find it very difficult to cut corners, and ignore features, but I can see that if this was a Hollywood film they'd have sacked the director, re-edited it down to half it's length and released it straight to video. 

This video could have done with coming out a day earlier as this morning the Yi 360 camera shown in the video was the subject of an Amazon Flash Deal in the UK w...

The most expensive music format (in the world).

This video explores reel to reel audio and I get to try out the current high end home version of this resilient format. 

Wow - how time flies, I had the idea of making this video in 2015, bought the machine I needed to turn this into a reality back in October 2016, and now here we are in December 2017 and it's finally finished. 

However now I've tried the best, I'm going to carry on searching out the rest.

P.S. As far as the Patreon fees issue goes, ...

Alternatives?

I've had a significant number of people ask me if there is an alternative way to donate given the recent changes to the fee structure here on Patreon. 

UPDATE: I've removed the Paypal donate button I briefly added to my website while the international Tax implications of this are determined. 

I do hope this Patreon fee issue gets resolved though as I really value the community here on Patreon. It's the best system I've seen to filter out the noise of the youtube commen...

Star Wars 40th Anniversary Soundtrack (with hologram)

UPDATE - The video is available to view again and it's better than it was - it now includes a new (and appropriate) outro. 

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This is an extra video that I wanted to put out quickly. It will be going public in the morning. It's the kind of topic that likely won't appeal to most subscribers, however the previous hologram vinyl video was surprisingly popular and introduced a new audience to the channel,  so it made sense for me to cover this one as well. 2017-12-04 16:30:13 +0000 UTC View Post