OK, so let's move on to the display problem now. Wil order the DIP version of the chip, some decent prototyping board, and do a quick and dirty proof of concept, before spending more money and time for a polished final product. While I am waiting a month or two for that stuff to arrive from china, let's look at the stuff that my new grand pa electronic friend brought to me last saturday, as he promised he would.
Well I alraedy told you what he would bring, but now we can have a closer look. Shakal was curious about the monitor, and I want to hear your opinion if any, on the speakers he gave me. Wrote down the info I could find tagged on them.
First we have some junk, which I have already taken apart and dumped the cabinets. A huge 5x100W 5.1 amp made by Hyundai, which apparently don't make just cars. Their amp is made as cheaply as their cars, as ugly as well, so I had absolutely no remorse whatsoever taking it apart even though gran pa told me it works. I did not even bother turning it on as I have no use for a 5.1 home cinema amp, and even if I did, I would get something decent... Luckily, despite the ultra cheap design (almost shocking really, was surprised it could be THAT crap, really), it was full of cool things to salvage, not least was a huge toroïdal transformer, a million and half tactile switches for the front panel, some big ceramic packed resistors, a pair of big Nichicon caps, relays... this thins is tremendously more valuable and interesting for its parts than it is as a complete product !
Then a couple DVD players. A Samsung and a Hitachi. Actually inside it was not that crap at all, you had your money's worth. The pickup had a cool die cast metal body. I did try both of them quickly, with an audio CD. Perforamance was terrible.
Turned out once I was inside, that they used the exact same chassis. So I have two of every board !
That's for the junk.
Now for the speakers. He gave me 4 of them. Wrote all the details and took pictures. I don't doubt that any of them would be 10 tiems better than my crappy small Toshiba speakers that came with a super low end stereo system.
Yesterday after work, paid a visit to the local electronics shop down town, as I am fortunate to have one. I guess one of 5 remaining in France...
Bought 5meters of audio cable so I can hook these speakers to my amp. The Toshiba speakers didn't need cables as they came with thier own cable hardwired, coming out of the cabinet.
Section-wise, talked a bit with the guy. We settled on a cable section of 0.75mm2. Should be plenty enough for the mere 20% volume setting I am using on the amp.
Also bought a 2.5m long RCA to RCA male cable, so I can at last plug a CD player (or anything) under test on the bench, to my amp on the shelves. This way I can have the cable readily accessible on the bench when I need it, and I can just select the TAPE input on my amp to switch to the device under test. Quite convenient, like it.
So here is for the speakers.
1) A pair of large ones. MAde by " Boston Acoustic", made in USA, model HD9. Guy tried to educate ignorant me quickly. Said it was a 2 way system even though it looks like a 3 way one. The biggest "speaker" at the bottom (missing on one, and broken on the other...), is actually not connected to the sound source, no electrical connection. Said it was called a "passive" speaker. If I understood him well, the ideai is to reuse some of the internal acoustic pressure inside the cabinet, to the front/outside. This was you get a little bit more acoustic pressure outside, so a better efficiency for a given input power. Something like that ?!
They are broken and are crap anyway he said, so will salvage what can be, the filter(s), and dump the rest. Might keep the individual speakers though, as they are bound to sound much better than the myriad of crappy small speakers I salvaged from old TV sets and such...
2) A single speaker/baffle. Said it's not meant to be used as pair. There is still the sticker from the thrift shop he got it from, which says it's a "central" speaker. Also, the orientation of the logo at the front, and of the sticker at the back, suggest that it's meant to sit flat, horizontally, not vertically like your usual pair of speakers. So I guess it's meant to be used in a 5.1 system ? Not sure what I can do as a lone speaker ? Still have full bandwidth ? It has a Tweeter along with too medium sized speakers, so might do it. Has a port at the back too, as can been seeon on the pictures. Could use it as test speaker for example ? It's decent looking, decent build quality and compact, so easy to store and put on the bench if I wanted to connect it to some piece of gear quick and dirty ? I don't know... kinda cute so trying to find a use for it, a justification for keeping it...
Anyway, here is the info : Made by "Studo Lab" 6 ohms not 8, model " Cine 02.2 Cent " . Its name kinda suggest it's indeed for a cinema amp, and does it also implies it's worth only 2 cents ?!
Power rating : 150W , yeah right..... Chinese Watts I guess...
3) A pair of Marantz speakers : Model HD 493. 70Watts. Designed and Manufactured in the UK, it says. They are very compact. Two way system with a port at the front. Guy said it was called a " Reflex "design ? Said it was meant to tune a resonance at some frequency, so that you would get more bangs for your buck, better efficiency. Same goal as the passive speaker then, but different technique ?
Sadly one of the speakers is missing the piece of cloth/ fabric that covers the cabinet. However it still has the frame that snaps onto the cabinet, it's only the fabric itself that's missing. So I guess one can buy standard replacement fabric, and I could reline both speakers with new fabric ?
4) Last one. A pair of Technics, model SB-C7, rated at 80Watts. Made in Spain. 3 way system this time, and no passive speaker or reflex port. Just a plain simple 3 ways system.
So to sum it up, the sound lad is not suitable as it's central / lone speaker. Boston ones are crap and broken anyway, and too large for my bench anyway. And I don't need big power. So I am left with either the 3 way Technics or the 2 ways reflex Marantz. Any preference ? Will try both. The Marantz is quite more compact than the Technics, so it's got that going for it, as I bench space is at a premium. And it's designed and made in England. Technics are made in Spain !
Will try both of them of course, to see, uh, hear them and decide which one I prefer. Maybe one of the is damaged / degraded after years of sitting in his shed, so I won't even have a choice....
Now let's end with the monitor, Shakal was curious... turned out to be a good surprise. It's not as crap as I thought it was, from the crappy picture he showed to me on his smartphone the other day. It's indeed a Sony, and indeed a monitor, not a TV. No connection at the back for an antenna, no built-in antenna... just a monitor.
Among the stuff he gave me, there is a video camera, looks like a security camera ? Camera is a Bosch model LTC 0455/11 with an LTC 3364/60 lens mounted on it.
Monitor is model PVM-9000ME, colour, and with a cool Trinitron tube!!!
It's small enough to be portable (has a beefy non fold-able/removable carry handle on top of it), yet large enough to be comfortable, you don't need a microscope to look at it, nor do you need to stick your nose to the CRT.
So looks like this monitor is designed to display CCTV camera images
Monitor has all sorts of weird proprietary connectors at the back, be it for the mains power plug that's non standard, or the plug for the battery pack. Has a DC barrel jack for an external power adapter as well. Input is BNC only, with a switchable 75ohms impedance. Guess that means it can be used as a high-impedance input too ? Anyway, Video stuff uses 75ohms not 50, I know at least this much
It's so tempting to do a quick test, and power the monitor and hook it to the camera !!!
I do have a 75ohm BNC cable, because when I asked my local shop for a coax cable to work on a frequency counter I was repairing, he gave me that cable... once back home I eventually realized it was 75ohms video cable, not 50ohms !!!!
The camera has quick connect power terminal : just shove a bare wire in it, press a tab, and it locks the wire into place, convenient. Needs 24V AC or 12V DC. Could easily power it with my lab power supply, then.
As for the monitor, easiest I think is to power it with mains voltage, with a couple crocodile clips in the power socket... I like to live dangerously.
Will try to do that this evening, stay tuned !