RustyBolt.Info/wordpress

I will post this to Facebook Arduino group.

I’ve been thinking about how the cheap clock kit I built uses a single button to step through and set the hours, minutes and seconds.  It’s a bit tedious and it took me a bit of practice to get the hang of it.  But it makes possible stepping through a menu of things and selecting an item.  What I thought would be a good Arduino project would be to use this method to remotely set or control IoT’s from a menu of selections.

I realize that a lot of IoT fans would say, just use your smartphone to do it.  Put the menu on screen and push the buttons next to them.  You’re right.  It’s probably the best way to do it.  But what if we don’t have a smartphone, or it’s broken, or it’s not secure enough?  Or let’s say I just want this to be an alternative project.

Which brings up another problem.  How do I display the menu?  I thought that a 27″(680mm) TV monitor would be a good way to display the menu so it could be read from a distance of 3 to 5 yards/meters.  One display is not that expensive, and I could use an old 4:3 flat panel display.  The problem is how to get the menu out of the Arduino and onto the display.  Some way to convert the text to a VGA video signal.

But then I thought that I could save $$$ by using an existing TV to display the menu.  What I could do is generate a low resolution screen, say 32 characters wide by 8 lines high.  This could be read from across the room on a large screen TV.  But how do I get it into the TV?

I could generate a composite video signal and plug it into the plugs in the back of the TV.  But I have to switch the video source to see the menu.

I think it would be easier to generate an RF signal and the TV could be switched to Channel 3 or 4, like the old video games like Atari did.  But can a modern digital TV even display an old fashioned analog signal?  I think some TVs just say this format can’t be displayed or similar error messages.

I also thought about using an old B/W low resolution display of a few inches/cm across.  Then project the screen onto the wall with a lens, so it can be read from across the room.

I’m looking for other similar ideas, and more brainstorming.  The basic plan I want to stick to includes a single button for control, and a selection menu, with submenues if needed, to display.  And the display should be viewable from a distance.

From post in FB group Vintage transistor radios

I need some advice.  I bought a Sony combo cassette player and AM/FM radio ‘boombox’ back years ago when it was new.  A few years later I put a cassette in it and played a recording of my now deceased parents.  I was listening when it started slurring, and I saw the two reels going in opposite directions.  I hit the stop button but too late.  The tape had stuck to the capstan and wound up on it, pulling the tape off the reels.

The cassette holder is the ‘slot’ that’s hinged at the bottom and pops open at the top to accept the cassette.  It completely surrounds the cassette.  After the foulup, I tried to open it up. But because the tape is wound around the capstan, it’s too big to pull out of the cassette.  So the cassette is preventing the holder from opening, it just barely opens.

I haven’t attempted to force the holder open because I consider the recording precious and would rather sacrifice anything else to save the cassette tape.  It has remained that way for at least a decade.

I was thinking that I could take a dremel tool and cut open the door, and save the cassette.  I thought I should ask here to see if anyone else has had this happen and if they have found a solution.  Thanks.

From Jim Gabriel

I would see if you could get to the bottom of the mechanism, turn the capstan fly wheel and see if you can somehow turn the supply wheel and wind it that way. To get the tape back in the cassette.
from Phillip Grace

I would open up the deck and try to manually spin the capstan flywheel backwards in order to loosen the tape. I’ve done this sort of thing in the past to retrieve tapes jammed in players.
Sony is famous for bad belts and idler wheels!  If you can get to the flywheel/capstan assy, rotate it to release the tape then carefully wind tape back up.

From Richard S W

Sony is famous for bad belts and idler wheels!  If you can get to the flywheel/capstan assy, rotate it to release the tape then carefully wind tape back up.
I understand the concern, but it may loosen up what’s in the capstan shaft enough to get the tape out.  You might loose 3 secs of tape but you will salvage the rest.

I bought some surface mount 1N4148 diodes.  They are so small I couldn’t find one when I dropped it on the bench!

Here’s a photo of one setting on top of a regular transistor.  It’s itty-bitty, teensy weensy!  It’s not much larger than a fly speck!  That’s it!  That tiny black rectangle sitting on top of what looks like a giant transistor but is only 5 mm wide.  That transistor is about as wide as a regular 1N4148, which is about 4 mm long.  The diode is only 2 mm long including the metal tabs.  Wow!

I think I have enough 13 volt Zener diodes for the rest of my life.  😱

After paying my water bill today, I left the Orange Civic Center and I glanced over to a front yard and thought I saw a funny looking black dog.  On second glance, it was a pig!  I was wondering if I was seeing things…   😱  😛  😸