Reverse Shopping

During lock-down it became impossible to perform my regular routine of ‘Reverse Shopping’, bringing unused items to the local thrift shops or bring old tools to the Gered Gereedschap https://www.geredgereedschap.nl/ collection bin. (Tools for Self Reliance https://www.tfsr.org/). Only online sales via our local Ebay variant Marktplaats.nl were possible to some extent.

The Thrift shop around the corner actually closed down and did not reopen after lock down. They seem to have consolidated to having only one shop in the city center. Also the bins for Gered Gereedschap probably could not handle the clean-up and DIY craze of the last months. So they closed them temporarily, but luckily recently they opened again!

For unsold books, I found another nice way to ‘Reverse Shop’. A system of small libraries called MiniBieb https://minibieb.nl/
Just leave your book in one of those! (but please don’t dump totally useless books like readers digest there...)

the MiniBieb where I left JPod and some Suske & Wiske comics

This MiniBieb along the cycle path I could not find on the map on minibieb.nl. The owner contacted me via Marktplaats for some comics I had up for grabs. And it just happened to be located on only a small detour to my cycle route to work! Nice!

Creating space like this probably gives me an excuse to buy some more bicycle tools...

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ADR modules part 1

This is a restoration project I’ve been procrastinating around since about 2015. This will be quite some work, but then if one doesn’t start at least it will not happen at all. This will be a step by step project, and see how far we get with this Kaizen like approach. So first a short intro of the four audio modules made by Audio & Design (Recording) Ltd, in the mid 70s based in Shinfield Green, Reading, Berkshire UK. The company still exists to this date and is still active in pro-audio and is now in a different location but still in Reading. These modules can be dated to the mid 1970s, more precisely found the E900 Equaliser unit quality checklists to be dated 12 November 1976. There are two E900 equaliser modules, and two F760N Compressor/Limiters. A picture of the now dismantled mixing desk with the four modules. The mixing desk was in a quite dusty and sorry state. The desk was too space consuming and heavy to keep and many other parts were sold as separate items. ...

More cheap trick tool alternatives (Remove Stuck/Seized/Frozen Bottom Bracket Fixed Cup)

Many bicycle tools can be quite expensive for an average tinkerer. On the other end some parts can be so hard to remove, that they do require some investment in tools to get the job done. E.g. to remove the fixed cup of an old road bike. Found this neat trick on Youtube for that exact problem, by "RJ The Bike Guy". Note he starts with an expensive electric impact wrench which works wonders if you own such a thing, but watch the video to the end where he shows a bit cheaper way where he uses some long breaker bar.

Humax 5000C HDMI repair.

This repair was a bit longer ago. I’m just posting this because of the lack of current projects. It might be worth sharing for anyone having the same problem. This DVB-C tuner had some picture output problems on the HDMI cable, especially when the connector was touched or wiggled a bit. (no or interrupting signal on the TV set) I suspected the HDMI receptacle to be a surface mount variant, and maybe problems with lead free solder . Such solder was a bit problematic when it first entered the market (and sometimes still gives issues). So I opened the case, and the connector seemed still an old through-hole style. (On the pciture right hand, just below the network jacks.) Humax 5000C with cover removed Solder time! Mainboard under inspection This was in my lunchbreak at work, so I can use the microscope to inspect the solder joints more close by. Unfortunately don’t own such equipment myself (yet). And a random fact, the microscope is probably a dutch invention. An e...

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