Older ONKYO finds replace modern SONY receiver in here.

Gentle reader,

Again, thanks for taking the time to read my humble blog! I thank you also for your kind words. It truly makes me smile to hear (see?) from you!

Today, I'm going to show my latest change, not to the "listening room" system(s), but to the stereo I have here on the desk, inches from me. 

BTW, Gretchen, out miniature Dauschund, is on my lap, she can sense storms coming. Hates thunder and also the big guns at the local USMC base when they are practicing. So, it's a bit awkward typing......

Anyway, last week, I made my usual (25% off!) Wednesday stop at Salvation Army and for the 1st time in a LONG time they had a decent piece of audio equipment: An Onkyo A-RV401 integrated amplifier. In nice shape and since I still had my various cables in my bag in the car, and they had a pair of speakers that day too, I was able to test it. 

In here, since finding IT also at Salvation Army, a very nice SONY AV receiver, model STR-DE597. The slightly smaller brother of the STR-DE997 I use as the SACD multi-channel unit in the listening room, it was under utilized as a stereo only amp. 

The SONY is rated at 90 watts-per-channel, while the Onkyo is rated at 100. Not a big difference, you may be thinking. No, tisn't . However, the Onkyo while two channel only, outweighs the multi-channel SONY which also has receiver capabilities. Plus, since I only play stereo music in here, it is better suited.

But wait! It gets better! THIS Wednesday, on the way to Salvation Army, I was thinking it would be nice if they had the matching tuner. To my delight, they did! T-401 is it's model number. Alas, nothing to hook it to this week. So I took a chance.....

I like having clear FM reception in here, far from the stations. Thanks to the half-wave-length antenna I put on top of the house, I get it. The SONY excelled in pulling in the stations. So, I held my breath as I turned the Onkyo on, TADA! Works great. In fact being JUST a tuner, they packed it with features. 

I haven't looked for PDF files of the Onkyos so I don't know what all the various switches do, but the sound is AWESOME! I again thank my fabulous wife for buying me these BOSE 301 speakers years ago. They are still BOSE's top-of-the-line and have no business sounding as good as they do.

Oh, you want to SEE what I'm writing about? OK!

Below, is the two Onkyo components, from the front.

Below, is their naked rear views. Naked in they are unplugged and have no cables hooked up.

Below is the front of the just-replaced SONY.

Below is the naked rear of the just de-cabled, SONY. Note that the SONY, being far newer has the standard "F" connection for FM reception. The Onkyo has thumb screws for 300 ohm, 75 ohm and AM. So, I had to use the old (well, it's new, but old-fashioned) 75 to 300 ohm converter as you will see in the last photo.

As you can see, (above) the SONY has SO many connections related to video. It predates HDMI, so only has the analog component video HD inputs which are limited to 720p. Also, it supports eight speakers.

Below is the new "stack" with the SONY cassette player and CD players atop the Onkyo tuner, then the Onkyo integrated amplifier.

Below, the rear view fully cabled. If you are wondering, the antenna cable is way too long. I will come up with something more suitable.  Those RCA cables are the really nice ones that I bought from Parts Express: the #1 source for audio, video & speaker building components

 

Now, something completely off subject. My car, the Capri XR2 turned 111,111 miles, but I JUST missed it! However, I was driving out pickup, a 1997 Ford Ranger we bought in 2001 with 157,000+ miles on it and I had the camera ready when it turned: 222,222 miles! Fortunately, I was approaching a stoplight and was able to snap the following:

Pretty cool, huh? That old Ranger has been the most reliable vehicle. It's my first truck. I don't have the typical male truck/suv gene. 

Thanks for looking!

Scott

A GREAT way to mount your BOSE 301 speakers for excellent sound!

Gentle reader,

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I really enjoy your comments. It's nice to know my humble activities hold some interest for someone other than myself. My wife, who is the light of my life, just shakes her head at most of it, especially the audio stuff. She too has her quirks.....

I've thought about using flat-screen-TV brackets to mount these BOSE 301 speakers for a while now. They were on CRT-TV wall-mount brackets in the den. I found at Micro Center - Computers, Electronics, Computer Parts, Networking, Gaming, Software, and more! That they had Inland Inland 14"-37" Swivel TV Wall Mount 710S 501460 - Micro Center brackets on sale at half price that are PERFECT for mounting BOSE 301 speakers. BOSE provides four screws on the back of the speakers and sells their own brackets. However, their brackets place the speakers directly on the wall. Never a good place for them. 

Below is the newly installed BOSE 301 right speaker mounted on the Inland 710S bracket.

Below is the newly installed BOSE 301 left speaker mounted on the Inland 710S bracket.

 Below is the left speaker from the right side.

 Below is the right speaker from the left side.

Below is a view of the bracket mounted to the back of the BOSE 301 speaker. I did NOT use the factory locations of the mounting screws. Above and below the screws that are located in the black section of the back of the speaker is a pair of posts that seemed designed for screw holes. They line up with two of the factory holes in the Inland brackets. I mounted them then drilled two other holes in the wooden portion as you can see.

Below is the front of the box. Note the curved notches on the mounting surface of the bracket. They coincide exactly with the protrusion on the back on the BOSE 301's rear tweeter. Cool, huh?

Below is the right speaker. Stand swiveled and speaker offset. 

So, there you have it. The latest iteration of my obsession with making the best of my listening experience on a budget. 

Thanks for looking!

Scott 

Revised November 20, 2017

 

 

New camo pants and experimenting with Monster Interconnects

Gentle reader,

Again, thanks for taking the time to look at my blog. It does my heart good to see how many of you are doing so!

If you look to the right, you'll see the "top ten" blog pages by interest. Third one down, about camoflauge, see it? Well, after seeing the movie BATTLESHIP, I realized that I did not have any U.S. Navy pants. I saw some at the local gun show, but they were too short.

My favorite thrift store (The Village, in Dale City, VA) to the rescue! I stopped in there and to my delight, they had a pristine pair in my size: $6.90 later and they are MINE!

 Like the USMC's camo, the U.S. Navy also has their logo imbedded in the digital pattern. As seen above.

Also, like the USMC's, they have elastic waist and cargo pockets. Unlike all the other branches, they have a ZIPPERED fly! While I am used to button flies, one can't beat a good old zipper.

Enough about that! If you saw: The Robb Collections: Audio Nirvana....at LAST! You have perhaps noted how MANY times that I have sworn that I was truly done tweaking the stereo. Well, I came across, at The Village, that same day in fact, a set of Monster Cables that are around sixteen feet long. See below:

They are the pair on the top. Turns out that they are for automobile applications. I substituted them for the THX Certified versions that are the bottom ones in the photo. They sounded fine, yet got me to thinking. (Something my wife says I do too much of.) The upper ones are twisted within the blue braided covering for RF rejection purposes. One can see, that the untwisted portions inside the "pants" (that's what they call them!) are quite thin. 

I decided to twist the bottom ones myself. Whether it does any good or not, I do not know. THEN, I started researching Monster's various cables. They make some very expensive ones. Some forums pooh-poohed these cables as being good, but not excellent. On to ebay I went where I found some 1000 series (the current ones are 400s) eight feet long for $10. a pair, used. I bought two pairs and some Monster THX Certified connectors. Both arrived and I found the cables are in fact, FOUR feet long! I am in contact with the seller....See them below:

 Above are the connectors. Nice looking, aren't they? Note the THX on the labels of the ends.

The cables are marked as to the direction the signal should travel. Above. Below is a comparison of the THX 1000 ones verses the automotive ones. Quite a bit thicker. These 1000 series are universally highly praised.

So, once I have enough wires to make up about sixteen feet to travel between the pre-amp and power amp, hopefully, the music will sound EVEN BETTER.

Lastly, on to another, this time a Salvation Army, find: A pair of Polk Audio Monitor Series bookshelf speakers. They are EXACTLY the same models as the one I found for a center channel in the six-channel SACD playback system. The experts recommend that all five ear-level speakers in any surround-sound set-up should be identical, including the center channel. Now, how many center channel speakers have you seen that are identical to the rest? None? Right, the vast majority are designed to be placed horizontal. Again, the experts have been saying for DECADES, "Don't lay speakers on their sides!" Or words to that effect. I don't remember the reason, but I suspect the answer is only a few clicks away. See below the three MATCHING Polk Audio speakers:

Now, the situation is, I love the sound of the BOSE 301s that my wife bought me. However, they are quite different from the Polk center channel, which yes, I HAD laid down on it's side. Heck, the 301s are designed that way! Now, as you can see, all three are standing upright. I took the grille off the center one so you can see the quality drivers. RUBBER surround on the woofers, no foam, no sir! I will properly "couple" the speakers to the TV stands they sit on with Blu Tack. I roughly aimed the stereo units aimed at my listening seat with the laser. The sound? AWESOME! Amazing amount of bass for their size. 

Thanks for looking!

Scott

Got the ol' ten speed ready for Spring. 1987 Italian Road Bike Univega Metroprix.

Gentle reader,

Yes, this is the third blog today! I'm playing catch-up. Like many people, some time ago, we bought "mountain" bikes. Ours were aluminum framed with full suspension and disc brakes. All the latest stuff. Bought new at................Toys-R-Us! 

Nancy came across an old ten speed bike, what are now called "road bikes" at Salvation Army and bought it. So, she gave her mountain bike to our former son-in-law.

Some time later, I too found a road bike at the same store. This one is a circa-1980's Univega, Metroprix model. Designed in Italy and made in Japan. Fully 20 POUNDS lighter than the mountain bike! So, I gave mine to my daughter along with the kid trailer.

Since then, to my delight, I found the "head badge", correct 1980's vintage for it for $8.00! I glued it on with RTV silicone glue. I also removed the gold handlebar tape which had been applied over the stock black tape. I applied, Italian-made cork/rubber alloy grey (or is it gray?) tape which is cushioned.  See the picks below. BTW, it is a 12-speed. I knew that, but "ten speed" puts the image in one's mind of the curved handlebar/ thin tired bikes of our youth.

Note that it came with fenders. They weigh only a few ounces and no worries of riding through puddles!

Working for the Washington, D.C. Metro, I was destined to own a:

Note, no front sprocket guard. Thus, I have to clip my pants leg to avoid getting it caught in the chain.

Yep, that's six sprockets. Now, to get off my butt and go ride it!

Thanks for looking!

Scott

China to the rescue! Fisheye lens viewer.

Gentle reader,

As you may know, I am a photographer and have been a camera collector. I still have film in the freezer, B&W and color and some fine film cameras.

My ebay user ID is "rfcollectin". Which means I collect rangefinder focusing cameras. My goal once was to own a Leica, the ultimate  RF camera. Here's mine, which I covered in red sea-snake skin:

Pretty, isn't it? That is a Russian Jupiter 8 lens which is a copy of a German Zeiss Sonnar lens. It is f2.0, I also have an f1.5 version. Leitz lenses are SO expensive. 

The one camera I really use, Nancy bought me. It is a modern version of a Leica made by Cosina in Japan and bearing the Voigtlander name. Which Cosina acquired and produced numerous versions of in various lens mounts. See:

Voigtlander Bessa R 

Here's mine with with all the lenses I have for it, save one.

Below, it has the 12mm fisheye lens which was made by Sigma and sold by many other brand names. It is a "T mount" lens which can be adapted to many cameras with the right adapter. I made a number of shots with it mounted on my Nikon DSLR. With the APS-C sized sensor, the field of view is similar to a 35mm film 18mm lens. See:

The Robb Collections: A 12mm Experiment

I found, on ebay, a fisheye viewfinder for Holga fisheye cameras. It came direct from China and fits the Bessa R fine and gives a good view of what the lens "sees". A RF or rangefinder camera does not view through the lens as all non-SLR cameras. So, one needs an appropriate viewfinder to compose the scene correctly. 

While it is all-plastic, it works well. Below, mounted atop the camera in the flash shoe.

Below, from the top. Note the knurled metal piece between the lens and camera body. This is the T-mount adapter for non-SLR cameras. RF cameras are shallower than SLRs because the have no mirror that must flip up to make the picture. An SLR T-mount adapter is 1/4" thick.

I plan to make a series of photos with this camera mounted vertically on a tripod going in a full circle. Then get the film developed and put on CD. Then, using Photoshop Elements, create a 360 degree photo. 

That's it for now! Thanks for looking!

Scott 

ISSC MK22 rifle fully "tacticool"

Gentle reader,

Again, I want to thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Your comments are warmly received and I respond if I can.

You may recall in January, I'd written about my first rifle (I'm 56, by the way) a 22 caliber long rifle version of the FN SCAR military rifle. See here:

The Robb Collections: 22 caliber guns

ISSC is headquartered in Austria, but the guns are made for them in Germany. 

I'm new to real guns, thanks to my wife who protects a US Government facility and is of course, armed. She has several pistols and a revolver. I was happy shooting airsoft ones. See:

The Robb Collections: More on the Airsoft pistols

Most recently, we bought a rare, 1968 to 1971 vintage Ithica 49R which is a 22 LR rifle that looks and works like the classic cowboy rifle. In other words, lever action. I'll blog about it soon.

I like 22 caliber rounds because they are the least expensive (used to be cheap, but those days may be gone forever) bullets. An FBI report stated that probably more people have died as a result of someone shooting them with a 22 bullet than any other round. I only shoot paper targets at the range. By the way, the gun didn't kill them. The bullet fired by the other person, did.

But, being a man, which means overgrown boy, I just had to make my 22 rifle look "awesome" and like it's ready to go to war. Thus the term: Tacticool. Verses: Tactical.

In the post in January, I stated that I didn't know New York state has similar laws to California's. Meaning, 10-round magazine limit, no "flash hider" no folding or extendable stocks, etc. Which explained why I got the rifle for the bottom bid price of $525.

Thanks to a source in Europe, I was able to acquire the part to make the stock fold, but not yet have I figured a way to make it collapse and extend. But I will. I have some ideas. 

I found the company that does warranty repair for the official imported of ISSC guns and through them ordered the 48-state flash suppressor or "hider". Despite the name, it does not hide the flash from anyone. I simply directs it in such a way as to prevent the person shooting from being temporarily blinded by the flash. Frankly, 22 rounds don't have much of one anyway. Unfortunately, with the hider on the barrel, it's now too long to fit in the case! So, I removed the stock (pull out one pin) and it fits fine.

First photo below is the rifle fully tacticoolized. Note, that none of the photos show the completed rifle with the new hider on it. I shot these a few weeks ago.  Those discs are the lens caps for the scope. I have since bought flip-up types for it.

Above it has the BSA "Sweet 22" scope which is made for 22 LR bullet trajectories. 

Above is the first scope that we bought at the gun show. Both scopes "zoom" like a camera telephoto lens. This scope incorporates a very big and bright green laser.  Green lasers being more easily seen than red.

Above and below is a bipod which folds and extends. I found that even using it, and kneeling, at the range that it is very hard to the rifle steady. Makes me appreciate how difficult the military sniper's job must be. Plus, I see the importance of shooting laying down.

Below are comparisons of the two scopes. Completely different approaches of the designers.

Below, the Sweet 22 mounted. Another difficulty of using a scope is getting one's eye the exact distance from the input objective lens to see clearly.  This is called "eye relief".

Below, the bipod folded. It's spring loaded to fold up and keep the legs together, the spread then when folded down for use.

Below, is the now folded stock.  Note, it is fixed to the #2 position. If I could collapse it, it would fit in the case!

 Below, is the "whole shebang" folded. The reason I chose the type of front vertical grip that I did is because it too folds. Not just 90 degrees, but at an angle too. See Matt's tactical SCAR in the January post for the type of front grip he likes. This grip mimics that angle.

Below, see the new "hider" installed, the "legal" rifle end for the two wimp states; installed, and at bottom an M4 hider I hoped to adapt to the rifle. It would have taken some serious machine work to adapt it. Being it is internally, or "female" threaded and the ISSC ones are male threaded with the outer barrel being female threaded.

Finally, below, see the folded stock from above. I have stopped using the attached "single point sling", because I don't find it necessary.

Well, that's it for today. Later this weekend, it's gun cleaning. I have five 22-round magazines for this now (YEAH!) and so have fired well more than 100 rounds through it. Also, we want to clean and lubricate the Ithica 49R before we shoot it for the first time. 

Thanks for looking!

Scott