the need for old tech

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That explains the directory name!

The build quality on a lot of old electronics is generally much higher than that of current electronics. --In the mid 80's a lot of consumer electronics was essentially disposable when broken.

I play electric guitar, which essentially means that my amplification is all tube based. The oldest amps that I have were made in the late 60's early 70's. The build quality is much better than the two amps that I have from the 1980's. Of the two old amps that I have, one of them utilises a thick, solid PC board, and the other utilises PTP wiring.

Most modern tube guitar amps utilise cheap PCB construction with board mounted I/O jacks, potentiometers, and tubes, which is horrible for durability. The pots and I/O jacks can fracture the PCB if subjected to stress, and the thermal dissipation of power tubes will cause the PCB to warp.

With modern consumer grade electronics (which sadly, guitar amps are now considered) it's all about volume production and the lowest possible cost of production. --It is possible to get decent electronics that are properly engineered with quality components, however the market for quality gear is small, and commands a high price tag.

I currently have a guitar amp that is less that two years old that was made by a small company that builds guitar amps the way they used to be built. --Sadly, the list price for it is about 3 times higher than that of a lot of gear that is considered 'industry standard'.

That's when you tell them to find you a copy of Beastmaster 2 on BluRay Personally, I'm in love with DVDs (I'm quite anal about picture/sound quality, aspect ratios, and special features), but there's still a lot of stuff you can only get on VHS (not to mention old home movies, stuff taped off TV, commercials and stuff).

Upgrading to BluRay's a very distant priority for me...besides having to wait for the library to fill up, there's only a few select favorites I'd want to have in high def...even if I had a high def TV to watch them on, I'm kind of nearsighted, and unless I wear my glasses while I watch movies (not very comfortable), I'm not likely to notice a difference.

But I guess some people always have to have the new big toy.



I used to have that exact same VCR =) I thought it was cool that it was retro and all, but I didn't have the remote for it (which apparently isn't even wireless), and I didn't really have room for it (you can't exactly set a TV on top of it).

I think it broke, though =/



Tubes! =D I've got a digital amp that's got tube simulation (because it was a cheap practice amp), but I can never quite get the right sound from it...I'd like to try to find a nice vintage one (with more watts) when I have the money (and a place to put it).

I know what you mean about stuff being so cheaply built these days...I've been listening to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio drama lately, and the other night I got to the episode about how they kept building more and more shoe factories, and built the shoes cheaply so that they'd hurt your feet and fall apart, so people would buy more shoes, until the whole planet was saturated with shoes and was destroyed O_O

I've always had the same opinion, that they intend for their products to break so you'll buy more. *shakes his head*

Some Aspies can be geek or a retro lover. Everybody have different things.

I love old technology too. I like tube amps, vinyl records, film cameras, tapes, analog recording equipment like reel-to-reel, etc. I've been collecting records for most of my life, but I've recently started to take interest in 78's and other records that cannot be played on most modern record players. I want to get a really old record player so that I can listen to them. I'm fascinated by the history of recorded sound.

There's two models of this same VCR. One has a wired remote, and one has a wireless AND wired.

Mine has the wireless and wired. I use only the wired remote cause I think it's cooler, with that black long thin cable going across the floor.

Btw, I know that VCR like the back of my hand.. I've been inside it SO many times.. It's common failure point is the idler, and capstan belt. Otherwise the motor NEVER fails, it's like a tank.

Merchandise is one of my interests. I recently bought a ball shaped 8-Track at a garage sale for $5. I discovered the going rate for it on Ebay is about $200. It seems more and more old tech items are fetching a good price.

The old tech item I have owned that I liked the best was a "tombstone" style radio with an NRA (National Recovery Administration) manufacture sticker on the chassis. It was DC powered with an early AC power converter. The NRA sticker dates it to 1933-5. It worked with nice rich sound and was obviously a tube set. Those tubes sure give off lots of heat when in use.

Ah. I don't remember mine having an infrared receiver on it, but I definitely remember the plug. Was the first time I'd ever heard of a wired remote.

Also, I don't remember if I ever figured out how to change the clock on that thing ;D I'm usually pretty good with stuff like that, but I remember it would always just be blinking 12:00. Or maybe it was just so overly complicated that I was too lazy to fix it (either scenario is equally likely).

The clock is so easy, once you get the hang of it, otherwise it's intimidating.

I could post a youtube video :p

I LOVE old tube stuff! I used to collect old tube radios, then I collected the tubes themselves. I have a really rare "M-R" tube that was made DURING World War 2 for civilian use. (M-R means Maintenance-Replacement.) I still have a couple of my radios, including a 1939 Zenith that is gorgeous. I also have an old style ice bag (the ones that you see cartoon characters wearing) in the box with a note from the manufacturer describing how it was meant for M-R use during the war.

I'm fascinated by the limited civilian production that occurred during WW2, since the US was totally on a war footing, something that will likely never happen again. (The war on terror eats up only a couple percent of GDP, while military spending during WW2 ate up 50% or so.) I'd love to have a Telechron Waralarm, it was a special clock made during the war that had a softer alarm. It has the price stamped on the back, in the plastic. They go for mucho dinero on Ebay.

I have several transistor radios from foreign countries, including a UK set that has the "licence" (as they spell it) sticker visible-radio sets were licenced into the 1970s. Today, only TVs require a licence. I also have a Soviet set from the 70s. It's built like a tank and has AM and "longwave" (150-280 khz, used in Europe) and the price-29 rubles-embossed on the back. I want an old West German transistor set, but can't speak German. The Telefunken sets were really cool looking. I love old West German radios, but shipping from Europe tends to be prohibitive, especially for the tube sets.

I did however get a cool European style clock radio from a guy in Spain (I speak Spanish). It is vertical, instead of horizontal. It doesn't work on American voltage however-the cycles are different, so the clock doesn't run right. I also have a battery operated Lloytron clock from the UK that's shaped like a UFO. Europe has some cool designs. All the US ever gets is black and silver plastic boxes-BORING!

I dig vinyl.

But maybe that's just me trying to be hep.

Nah, wouldn't help much now...no idea where that VCR went =(

I did actually make a youtube video set a while ago about how VCR's work, and I used this old panny... ironically i never set the clock for the video :p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTZsBVFDdxQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzHIyoboNfY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dObIy0sguQ

Yea, it was a 3 parter..