How many of you are old enough to know what these are for?

[lxskllr]

Would not be the same without that awesome controller though.

KT

...and the awesome 70s wood grain styling on the console :^D

 

[KeithTalent]

...and the awesome 70s wood grain styling on the console :^D

Lol, indeed.

KT

 

[Patt]

some reissued versions I picked up a few years ago...

I had that basketball game when younger and LOVED it. Favorite handheld game ever. Obviously I haven't engaged in new_gen handheld gaming. At all.

 

[dmcowen674]

Hehhehe, used them all the time. I liked the the on spindle 45 changer adapter better. If you stacked these on a changer they would often pop out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGb6lP4FVeg&feature=related

Listening to the Felix the cat theme song on a 45, ah those were the days.

I had a similar turntable but not a Disney one.

It is what basically started me getting into Electronics.

When my turntable broke I took it apart to try and fix it.

The motor had stopped working.

The carbon brushes on a spring against the armature wore down.

Being a little kid I didn't know I could get replacement brushes so I improvised.

I put a couple of staples in place of the brushes and the motor worked again.

Everyone was pretty amazed.

Everyone started bringing anything and everything electrical or electronic to fix.

I guess I was the original MacGuyver

I still am.

These days I've installed 3G and 4G for the world. (obviously not for AT&T though)

Wonder what is next.

 

[IronWing]

I wanted this:

but my parents got me this instead.

For some reason it was called "Digital Derby". As near as I could tell it is completely analog. The cars are printed on plastic loops that move at different speeds while a speaker makes stupid engine noises. The thing ate batteries like no other toy I've ever seen.

 

[Rubycon]

I wanted this:


For some reason it was called "Digital Derby". As near as I could tell it is completely analog. The cars are printed on plastic loops that move at different speeds while a speaker makes stupid engine noises. The thing ate batteries like no other toy I've ever seen.

Yep, there was one called BLIP that IIRC was made by the same people.

Digital Derby was noisy - not sound effects but the motor that ran the mylar strip! It also interfered horribly with TV and AM broadcasts.

p.s. Redline was more fun.

 

[overst33r]

buncha old geezers

 

[lxskllr]

but my parents got me this instead.

For some reason it was called "Digital Derby". As near as I could tell it is completely analog. The cars are printed on plastic loops that move at different speeds while a speaker makes stupid engine noises. The thing ate batteries like no other toy I've ever seen.

I had that! I seem to remember having fun with it, but that was a hell of a long time ago :^)

 

[JulesMaximus]

<--Raises hand

 

[Rubycon]

I had that! I seem to remember having fun with it, but that was a hell of a long time ago :^)

Don't you wish you had it now?

All that noise when the cars "crash" together going weahaheahaha like a mechanical baby devoid of precious oil! Wait until you're in a dining room peacefully waiting for you food to arrive and some numbskull nincompoop fires up a cell phone. Fight back with digital derby! Yeah that background noise is going to sound great! :biggrin:

 

[sdifox]

lol, I remember those things.

 

[Rubycon]

Anyone hold down the play button on a cassette player just before it clicked down? It would make the tape go at about half fast forward speed. The playback head would be listening and picking up the tape. It made speech sound like chipmunks.

The scene in Sneakers where Marty plays back the recording to get by the voice id system reminded me of this. When the computer replied with speak slower I spat my tea! Loved that movie!

 

[sdifox]

Anyone hold down the play button on a cassette player just before it clicked down? It would make the tape go at about half fast forward speed. The playback head would be listening and picking up the tape. It made speech sound like chipmunks.

The scene in Sneakers where Marty plays back the recording to get by the voice id system reminded me of this. When the computer replied with speak slower I spat my tea! Loved that movie!

Lol, many tapes were ruined that way.

 

[joesmoke]

Anyone hold down the play button on a cassette player just before it clicked down? It would make the tape go at about half fast forward speed. The playback head would be listening and picking up the tape. It made speech sound like chipmunks.

an older friend showed me how to do this by lodging a penny in between the buttons i believe. also, putting tape over the indentions on "offical recordings" so that you could dubb them to a blank

 

[Rubycon]

Lol, many tapes were ruined that way.

Never ruined one doing this.

I did ruin LOTS however with a little motor I used to rewind them FAST! Record (as in best) time as 13 seconds for a C90 cassette. VERY hard on the internals and if you were late backing off and ran full speed to the leader the tape snapped. On decent tapes it was easy to fix. Pre recorded ones were sonically welded together and had to be destroyed in order to be repaired (by transferring the tape to another shell.)

Before cassettes there were 8 tracks and the decks used to eat tapes frequently. All was not not lost if you caught it early enough. Even stranger was the trick I was taught to get the tape back into the cartridge! You'd hold the tape and tug it quickly and the turning inertia of the spool would put it back in like a poorly mannered child at the table slurps spaghetti!

an older friend showed me how to do this by lodging a penny in between the buttons i believe. also, putting tape over the indentions on "offical recordings" so that you could dubb them to a blank

I had a Superscope that would stay fast if wedged with a penny. It also had a variator for pitch but was only +/- 20&#37;. I used lots of things to cover up the holes so they could be recorded over.

 

[lxskllr]

Adjustment kit for 8track tapes...

 

[sdifox]

Never ruined one doing this.

I did ruin LOTS however with a little motor I used to rewind them FAST! Record (as in best) time as 13 seconds for a C90 cassette. VERY hard on the internals and if you were late backing off and ran full speed to the leader the tape snapped. On decent tapes it was easy to fix. Pre recorded ones were sonically welded together and had to be destroyed in order to be repaired (by transferring the tape to another shell.)

Before cassettes were 8 tracks and the decks used to eat tapes frequently. All was not not lost if you caught it early enough. Even stranger was the trick I was taught to get the tape back into the cartridge! You'd hold the tape and tug it quickly and the turning inertia of the spool would put it back in like a poorly mannered child at the table slurps spaghetti!



I had a Superscope that would stay fast if wedged with a penny. It also had a variator for pitch but was only +/- 20%. I used lots of things to cover up the holes so they could be recorded over.

I grew up in an electronics parts mid level distributor. I remember Braun Tubes packed in straw bale and wooden crate.

8 track was interesting. Quadrophonic sound system with 8-track, more so :awe:

 

[Rubycon]

Adjustment kit for 8track tapes...

LMAO! P&O - nice ferry. Hey where are the boots?

Yeah that matchbook is also good for setting your points!

I grew up in an electronics parts mid level distributor. I remember Braun Tubes packed in straw bale and wooden crate.

Alpha Zulu Eimac Three One Thousand Zulu do you hear my five kilowatts heading your way? Over!

 

[joesmoke]

I used lots of things to cover up the holes so they could be recorded over.

hopefully im not biting off more than i can chew, but, like what? given the era... silly putty?

 

[sdifox]

hopefully im not biting off more than i can chew, but, like what? given the era... silly putty?

Scotch Tape with a rolled up piece of paper in the hole as backing.

 

[sdifox]

LMAO! P&O - nice ferry. Hey where are the boots?

Yeah that matchbook is also good for setting your points!



Alpha Zulu Eimac Three One Thousand Zulu do you hear my five kilowatts heading your way? Over!

lol, no ham radio. This was back in Taiwan and it was under martial law at the time. I am not sure HAM radio existed for the general population. Damn commies.

 

[Rubycon]

hopefully im not biting off more than i can chew, but, like what? given the era... silly putty?

Electrical tape (tar tape), a tissue wadded up, a match folded up, popcorn kernel, etc. The idea was just to keep the little lever against the switch preventing REC lockout. You could take the deck apart and bypass the micro switch so there would be no write protection (oh that sounds too modern - wait in the '70's it was the "Don't f*ck up my Led Zeppelin tape because I'm too drunk to tell the difference between PLAY and REC on the button mode")

lol, no ham radio. This was back in Taiwan and it was under martial law at the time. I am not sure HAM radio existed for the general population. Damn commies.

HAM's been around since the '50s I'm pretty sure.

 

[dennilfloss]

what was the popular model # of the shure cartridge that was ~$50-75 and started with m? I used to occasionally take it to an audio store that would have a free clinic to align the cartridge on your turntable. Amazing that i could recite all these models and specs effortlessly back then...

M-91ED? That was my first cartridge.

 

[skyking]

Electrical tape (tar tape), a tissue wadded up, a match folded up, popcorn kernel, etc. The idea was just to keep the little lever against the switch preventing REC lockout. You could take the deck apart and bypass the micro switch so there would be no write protection (oh that sounds too modern - wait in the '70's it was the "Don't f*ck up my Led Zeppelin tape because I'm too drunk to tell the difference between PLAY and REC on the button mode")



HAM's been around since the '50s I'm pretty sure.

the folded paper match was what I remember using:thumbsup:

 

[sdifox]

Electrical tape (tar tape), a tissue wadded up, a match folded up, popcorn kernel, etc. The idea was just to keep the little lever against the switch preventing REC lockout. You could take the deck apart and bypass the micro switch so there would be no write protection (oh that sounds too modern - wait in the '70's it was the "Don't f*ck up my Led Zeppelin tape because I'm too drunk to tell the difference between PLAY and REC on the button mode")



HAM's been around since the '50s I'm pretty sure.

I still have a few boxes of Maxell 90 min Metal tape in my basement.
And a few sealed boxes of Fuji 5.25" floppy disks.