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October 04, 2024, 05:07:16 PM

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#51

Tactile / Re: Victorian Boombox Mark IV

Last post by SeVeNeVeS - September 13, 2024, 08:25:54 AM

Yeah, I don't get the resurgence of CD and physical forms of music, vinyl record sales have increased in demand as well.

For me, a total technophobe, Spotify is an absolute god send, One account all my music in one place and available on multiple devices without having to require half a room and shelving to store all those CDs and records.

I am currently toying with the idea of replacing the radio in my old van from CD FM to something a little more up to date that allows Spotify and DAB, no more rummaging around for a CD in the glove box........

If I do, the radio would probably be worth more money than the vehicle itself

#52

Tactile / Re: One of the biggest steam l...

Last post by oldskoolpunk - September 13, 2024, 05:16:01 AM

UP 4014 has been upgraded to use modern Positive Train Control. Two more small steam powered turbogenerators were added to the loco to provide electrical power, and the electronics is in a compartment on the side of the tender. With this upgrade, UP 4014 can run on mainline track without an additional Diesel in the train to communicate with the trackside signaling system.

It's being run as a mainline locomotive now. Union Pacific has been sending it all over their system for promotional purposes. They went to a lot of work to restore it to the point that it could be used.

#53

Tactile / Re: Victorian Boombox Mark IV

Last post by J. Wilhelm - September 12, 2024, 03:18:55 PM

Quote from: SeVeNeVeS on September 08, 2024, 11:15:46 AMI think you are the only "maker" left here, you enjoy doing it and I for one enjoy seeing it.

I would contribute but the total lack of interest and replies from both members and some Mods nowadays makes it not worthwhile to take the time and effort.

Please do keep the updates coming.

You know what they say, the fun is in the process. For me this is a cathartic exercise. Also I'm getting the satisfaction of seeing how younger people who could easily be a child, or even a grand child's age relative to mine (!!!) are gravitating back to the type of music hardware I knew when I was young.

I just read this article today:
https://www.musicradar.com/music-industry/cds-up-downloads-down-latest-data-from-the-states-suggests-a-revival-for-every-physical-format

It's not even compact cassettes making a comeback. Reports from America show that compact discs are coming back en force! Most of the buyers are Generation Z or younger!

"That's the message from the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) mid-year report. CD sales in that time period totalled $236.7 million, nearly three times the income generated by downloads at $87.8 million.

In 2023 there were 36.83 million of the things sold, an increase of 2.7% from 2022. It seems that after years of falling sales, their decline has been reversed" -Will Simpson for MusicRadar.com

Part of the reason is that .wav format CDs easily have superior sound quality to most typical .mp3 streaming formats, and certainly are better than "Lo-Fi" compact cassettes.

This may be just the right time for a PC+CD boombox after all. It has the old school charm in a format and language young people understand...

#54

Tactile / Re: Great Central Railway No.5...

Last post by James Harrison - September 08, 2024, 07:26:59 PM

Loco newsletter time;

- The AGM is booked for 19/10/24 at Quorn Station on the Great Central Railway. Members of the general public welcome to the venue in the morning and afternoon to view parts of the loco, but the AGM itself is for supporters only. Hope to see one or two of you there?

- The pattern for the driving wheels has been completed and an order has been placed for casting them. Donations/ sponsorship is actively being sought for these components, if anybody wants to know how they can contribute I'll be happy to advise via private message.

- Work is progressing on constructing the bogie assembly and the intention is to have the part-finished item on display at the AGM. The bogie has been the main thrust of the construction work.

- The cylinder block is being prepared to be split - as of the end of August the splitting operation was close at hand. The nuts have been gas axed off the bolts and the studs have been persuaded to unlock. Once the cylinder block is separated into its two halves, it's going to be put on a borer so that the corrosion in the valve chest can be removed.

- The next step the Group want to take is the construction of the driving wheelsets. This comprises the trailing axle, which is a 'normal' straight axle, and the crank axle. To do this we need the axles themselves, the wheel castings and the steel tyres.

- Whilst fundraising has improved last year, we still need to be ramping it up three to five-fold to get the loco running in a reasonable time frame (three-fold would see it finished in 7 years, five-fold in 4).

#55

Tactile / Re: Victorian Boombox Mark IV

Last post by SeVeNeVeS - September 08, 2024, 11:15:46 AM

I think you are the only "maker" left here, you enjoy doing it and I for one enjoy seeing it.

I would contribute but the total lack of interest and replies from both members and some Mods nowadays makes it not worthwhile to take the time and effort.

Please do keep the updates coming.

#56

Tactile / Re: Victorian Boombox Mark IV

Last post by J. Wilhelm - September 08, 2024, 01:45:50 AM

Quote from: SeVeNeVeS on September 05, 2024, 12:29:49 PMAmazing stuff, far too technical and beyond the likes of me, I can wire a plug

Looking great me old mate!

Thanks mate. I'm having loads of fun building this, and wondering why this isn't "a thing" nowadays.

WARNING: Old Timer Rant ahead!

Off-Topic: Show

At this point it's basically just assembling an early 2000s style PC. I did a lot of running around just to find out I could only use a basic PC hardware setup with Windows or Linux, but that's Google's Android failure. I only wish that I didn't have to deal with the HDMI interface between the PC stick and the screen, because I derived exactly zero advantage from it. It's necessary because of how the PC stick is made.

Intel and Microsoft (+ Ubuntu Linux) should capitalize on this issue and start making smartphones again and more importantly they should market full-size touchscreen flat panel home theatre PCs with all the bells and whistles, and why not? -old style boomboxes. Sony Vaio Boombox? 60 inch MS Surface "Glass Desk"? Why not??

On the flat panel smart TV's, I can't fathom why MS never envisioned that.

Why not get together with Sony to make a high end wall HTPC? Apple came close to doing it that with some Mac computers, but they were never anything more than vertical all-in-one computers.

Android TV/Google TV is a really crappy OS for smart TVs, made much worse by the Google policy of not supporting large format touchscreen, or any kind of external drive, save flash disks (and they'll probably ban those too, soon enough).

You need a mouse to use some apps on a smart TV or an Android Stick like Roku

Mouse? Mouse?!? What year is this?

They want to force you to buy a tablet or smartphone to get the touchscreen. You'll need to buy a new one every couple of years, of course.

When it comes to hi-fi, smartphones can only get you so far because they're always too small, unless you connect them to something else via Bluetooth. Even then the battery life is an issue. The phone will overheat, and Bluetooth limits your sound quality. There's no Hi Def. Sony just pumped out a hand held Hi Def device, I believe. That tells you something.

Google doesn't want the high end market, I guess, but I bet Sony, Samsung and infinite number of Japanese and Korean companies could make money out of restarting the mass consumer hi fi market with PC formats, if they just rework whatever licensing issues they have with media conglomerates.

#57