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Monday 23 December 2013

Dave The Funky Monkey Building A Christmas Tree 8x Version

Dave The Funky Monkey Building a Christmas Tree 8x Version. This is a fast version for those with no time to spare, please share it.  He's a great present for the older person who just hasn't grown up. ;-) 

Malcolm (aka fixed1t)



The Monkey is available on:

Amazon UK:



Amazon USA:




Saturday 21 December 2013

Dave The Funky Monkey Building A Christmas Tree Real Time'ish



A great present for the older child as he/she hits the mid life crisis, it breaks wind and burps, so you can blame it all on the monkey.

The Monkey is available on:

Amazon UK:



Amazon USA:



Saturday 7 December 2013

Delia Derbyshire - Sculptress of Sound documentary 1/7



I really liked the Dr Who drama An Experiment With Space and Time a few nights ago, they had a lot of good lookalikes in it and there was a great scene of a 'Delia Derbyshire' lookalike tape spooling and running tape all over the studio wrapped around various objects.  The theme tune was so fundamental to the show it was a real shame that they didn't take a few moments to introduce Delia to the cast in the screenplay and therefore to the public at large.

Thursday 14 November 2013

Converting My Bose Noise Canceling Headphones into Bose Bluetooth Headphones

Hi,

Following a very long a noisy flight last year I was given a early birthday present of a pair of very comfortable Bose Noise Cancelling headphones.

The Bose Quiet headphones are a joy to wear and the sound quality is really very good.  But like all corded headphones they can be a bit of a pain when your stuck at the end of an aisle on a plane, train or bus and other people want to move around.  I don't know about you, but it also appears that the more time I put into sorting out the cable the more tangled it is makes itself when I try to move.

So I decide that I'd had enough if it and decided to use the 'Bluetooth Charm' against the cable snake and for only few pounds it works, on planes, trains, automobiles and even in bed.  At last no more strangling cable snake and the Bluetooth reception is fantastic loud over 10+ metres away.

The solution to convert my Bose Headphones to Bluetooth turned out to be remarkably cheap and simple and it really works great with hours and hours giving high quality sound from many bluetooth sources.  It works particularly well with my Bluetooth mobile sound players i.e. iPhone or iPad or any other Bluetooth Android Device or phone.

I've put together a really simple video of instructions, showing the bluetooth adapter and the specialist Bose replacement cable I used in this fixed1t fix.

Here is the Amazon UK link to the Bluetooth Adapter:



and for the Bose cable I used.



Please check make sure you purchase the cable for your particular Bose Headphones and that your Bose headphone cable is detachable.

He are the links to Amazon USA link for the Bluetooth Adapter:




and the link to Amazon USA link for the Bose replacement cable:



Again, please check make sure you purchase the cable for your particular Bose Headphones and that your Bose headphone cable is detachable.

With the video and the links above you should have your own Bose 'Bluetooth' Headphones within minutes of the bits arriving.

Here is the link to my youtube video:



If you don't fancy doing it yourself then you could always sell you current Bose headphones on Amazon and purchase the latest Official Bose Bluetooth headphones.






As you can imagine creating these useful videos takes time, so if you find this useful please consider making a small donation using the Donate button at the top of the right hand column. Even a few dollars really helps to justify to those indoors the time I spend on these 'it's a great excuse' :-).  But if you don't wish to donate thats fine but it would useful if you could give the fix a thumbs up and pop back to leave a message.

Please check out my other videos and blogs.

Many Thanks

fixed1t

Wednesday 13 November 2013

Opening A NAVMAN S90i GPS And Replacing The Battery

Some time ago I did a popular youtube video showing people how to get into the NAVMAN S90i GPS Unit to replace the battery,

The Navman was a couple of years old but still worked well, and having the camera built into it with auto GPS marking was great for those trips when you wished you could remember exactly where you were when you took the photo.

A couple of users have had difficulties finding a battery so I've added a couple of links here for Amazon UK

Replacement Battery Navman S30. S50, S70, S80, S90, S90i

and for Amazon USA

Battery for Navman S30. S50 S70 S80 S90 S90i

Below is a link to the youtube video, if you haven't come here from youtube to get the battery links.

youtube video opening NAVMAN s90i and replacing the battery

As always, the risk for all repairs is your own, ensure you have the time, the patience and tools to do this effectively and safely.

As you can imagine creating these useful videos takes time, so if you find this useful please consider making a small donation using the Donate button at the top of the right hand column. Even a few dollars really helps to justify to those indoors the time I spend on these 'it's a great excuse' :-).  But if you don't wish to donate thats fine but it would useful if you could give the fix a thumbs up and pop back to leave a message.

Please check out my other videos and blogs.

Many Thanks

fixed1t


Music by FIXED1T the track is called:

" Flight of Fancy "

Replacing Roland MV-8000 CD-Drive With DVD Re-Writer

If you have an Roland MV-8000 thats still using an internal CD drive then you could be missing out on accessing thousands of DVD samples.  The whole job is really easy to do and took me around 15 - 20 mins with just a simple cross headed screw driver and a little care and patience.

The DVD Writer I use is the only one I've found to work fully without write or read errors, here is a link for 2nd user drivers:


My UJDA 770 dvd - Its Works Others May Not


MV8000 CD to DVD replacement video on youtube

This is a really simple upgrade, but as with all repairs there is a Danger Of Death to you and the machine if you open it up and start messing around inside. I'm fine doing this myself as my mother told me 'grow up stupid' so I did.

Doing this is your own decision and I take no responsibility for showing you how it can be done.

As it is, I'm really pleased with the result, cheap simple cheerful and satisfying for me.

The Ambient Music " Darwin " accompanying the piece is by me fixed1t.  If you want to listen to the whole piece there is a great little video here on youtube of the Galapagos to accompany the music.  The video and the volcanic scenes it shows is very primordial.  Please listen on a good system with bass, especially if your feeling a bit constipated, as the subsonic's can move a tank out of mud.

fixed1t Darwin composition video on youtube

As you can imagine creating these useful videos takes time, so if you find this useful please consider making a small donation using the Donate button at the top of the right hand column. Even a few dollars really helps to justify to those indoors the time I spend on these 'it's a great excuse' :-).  But if you don't wish to donate thats fine but it would useful if you could give the fix a thumbs up and pop back to leave a message.

Please check out my other videos and blogs.

Many Thanks

fixed1t

Monday 17 June 2013

Koss Phase 2+2 Quadraphonic Repair Part 3

Hi

I've finished the 3rd video on my repair of the Koss Phase 2+2 Quadraphonic headphones.


The link is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnkALj4GQt0

As I hope you can see the sock based cups look great and work a treat.

I hope you like the video, if you do please rate it and leave a comment.

WARNING:  DO NOT 'ACCIDENTALLY' PURLOIN YOUR WIFES EXPENSIVE ANTI-BLISTER WALKING SOCKS AND CUT THEM UP IN ORDER TO MAKE YOUR HEADPHONE EAR-CUPS.

I wondered why they were so comfortable ;-)


I HONESTLY HAD NO IDEA.......  please be more careful :-)

fixed1t

Wednesday 27 February 2013

Koss Phase 2+2 Quadraphonic Ear Pad Sock Fix Part 2

This is the second part of my Koss Phase 2+2 Quadraphonic Headphones fix.  

Youtube Video



In this fix I figured out how the get the true shape of the original ear pads using diagrams from the Koss original Patent Application.  I then decided to make a plastic template of the pad shape to work with and select an old white plastic CD box.



I glued the paper to the plastic panel I'd cut out then cut out the shape with a fret saw.


I then checked the shape against the Koss Phase 2+2 right headphone.



Once I knew it fitted I cut the bottom off and old military sock and began folding


The result was something that resembled the original pad and worked thanks the the rigid plastic maintaining the large exit hole.


And here is the partner sock still untouched.

And this is the left side view of the headphones.


More work to be done, but the patent picture provided the only true picture of the shape of the phones.

Cheers fixed1t



Saturday 2 February 2013

Koss Phase 2+2 Quadraphonic Controller Headphones Repair Part 1


Hi,

In the 70's the dream system for the music heads 'geeks of the time' was Quadraphonic.  Unfortunately it didn't catch on that well, well not for 20 years, partially because the system diagrams at the time showed huge rooms with 4 speakers strategically placed in each corner and most UK houses had no such thing.

The was a HiFi shop in Aldershot not far from my Dental Corps barracks that was heavily into Quad so I bought a Ferguson Quadraphonic Amp, 4 huge JVC speakers, a JVC CD-4 decoder and I was hooked.

Of course in the billet there was little room to set the system up without the agreement of the guy in the opposite bed.  I loved the system and the sound was amazing.

But on a trip to Guildford I came across a shop selling the

Koss Phase 2+2 Quadraphonic Headphones 

with Ambience Expanders, Binauralators, Quad Field and Quad Comparator



For weeks I used to go there and try them on and try different combinations of the programmer settings.  But I couldn't afford them and them and then I moved away.


Ever since I first discovered eBay I've been looking for a pair with absolutely no luck and then suddenly I came across 2 pairs in quick succession, alas both in an awful state of repair.  But being fixed1t I couldn't resist giving it a go.

So I set about repairing one to see if it was possible.

The link below is to my youtube video of the repair of the controller box.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKgqzJYzEWI&list=UUa7OD3xhZ0Xbb2aUSuIQujw

I will be doing another video to show on how I solved the issue of replacing the bizarre and huge headphone pads.

The Music is an Ambient composition called "Raindrops" by fixed1t

If you like the video, check out my other blogs and videos on fixed1t youtube.

Cheers fixed1t

Monday 21 January 2013

DOEPFER MAQ16/3 Analogue Switch Modification by fixed1t

Hi I've been doing a number of useful modification and repairs to gear for years and have pasted a number of youtube videos, but I'm only now moving into blogging.  I plan to add the youtube items to my blog then move on from there with some new fixes and mods via this blog.


As many will be aware switching a lot of electrical items at once creates a huge spike in the electrics that can end up crackling your amp and frying some of the more sensitive items.  I therefore try to avoid switching lots of things on at once and turn them on sequentially.  Of course this works for mains powered equipment as they usually have an on/off switch at the front.  But not so for many Wall-wart DC input gear where they are switched on at the transformer brick.

Unless you have individually switched plug boards on the top of your units (very doubtful) then they are at the back of things on the floor and are therefore left one and switched off a the mains plugged.  So switch on gives the system a surge it could do without.  This is a mod I did a few years back.

DOEPFER MAQ16/3 Analogue Switch Modification



I purchased a Black Doepfer MAQ 16/3 analogue sequencer with CV voltage, gate and midi in and out some years back and became really irritated that it didn't have an on off switch on the front, but it had the usual cheap and difficult to plug and unplug 9v DC wallwart socket on the back.





When I could take the hassle no longer and decided to put a power switch on the front and selected one which looks (from the picture below) like it should always have been there.  The Mod took an hour or so to do (safely) but works a treat.  I decided to video it from my Windows pc phone, (thats all iI had back then) so sorry for the poor quality video.

 

I placed the video on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n81SN6kBkZg

The Soundtrack is my own:
Angels vs Robots 

I wrote it with the MAQ after making the mod in celebration.

I hope people find it useful, please rate the mod and most of all let me know if you do it.

Cheers fixed

Wednesday 16 January 2013

Just added my

Garageband Mac to iPad Oneshot File Converter 

Applescript Application to my music fixed1t software blog at:

fixed1t music software 

http://fixed1t-music-software.blogspot.co.uk/

I hope Garageband users will find it useful, I certainly do.

Cheers fixed1t