Entries by Alan W (130)

Monday
Mar182024

Zenith Flashmatic - the first TV remote control

The Zenith Flashmatic was a flashlight-powered opto TV remote controlThe Flashmatic was the first TV set to offer a remote control, and it was operated using a raygun-like device that was basically a torch (flashlight).

Aiming it at one of the four corners of the TV would turn the set on or off, mute the sound (TV commercials were annoying even back then!), or it could change the channel - a photocell circuit operated a motor that turned the channel selector turret tuner clockwise or anti-clockwise, no doubt with a satisfying clunking and clattering sound.

It was a nuts valve (vacuum tube) design that was destined to fail, because it proved all too easy to trigger using false beams of light (eg sunlight or reflections). Next came sonic-operated TVs, that had a mini-chime bar type of remote control. Different frequencies triggered different functions on the TV. A 'clicker' type of remote device was also marketed.

The original Zenith Flashmatic circuit diagrams and manual (PDF 9MB) can be downloaded here.

Sunday
Feb182024

EMT757 Programmable Digital Timer User Guide

EMT757 programmable TimerAt last, here’s the instruction manual they left out of the box! I've written an easy-to-read and comprehensive guide that explains how to use the popular EMT757 time switch.

The EMT757 timer has been sold for many years, previously in the UK by B&Q under the Everflourish brand, and currently under the ExtraStar brand found on Amazon. Clas Ohlson also sells it under their Cotech label.

It’s a versatile 7-day time switch with 20 individual on-off programmes, a countdown timer that switches on/off after an elapsed period, and a random burglar-deterrent function.

I’ve used them for many years and have got to know them very well. The problem for many users is that the digital display and buttons are pretty small, and the supplied generic instructions take a bit of digesting, hence I’ve written this comprehensive guide to make life easy for those who might be struggling with this popular timer.

  • Free download - EMT757 Time Switch User Guide (PDF) here
  • You can buy the EMT757 from Amazon [Affiliate link] here

The above Amazon Affiliate link(s) help towards the cost of running this web site.

Tuesday
Oct312023

Add a ‘Charging’ indicator to the Ryobi One+ 18V USB Adaptor

One handy accessory is the Ryobi 18V USB charger (R18USB-0), which clips onto a One+ battery to provide two 5V USB ports rated at 2.1A and 1A. It’s intended to charge eg smartphones on the go but could also power other USB gadgets, LED camping lights or chargers etc, acting like a souped-up powerbank. It could also prove handy during power cuts. The only control it has is a simple ‘start’ button on top. Once you press it, the charger powers up and automatically shuts off again 8 hours later. For some reason there’s no at-a-glance indication of whether the charger is actually working or whether it's finished. I've now figured out how to add an LED Charging indicator to the USB charger to show that it's operating, an upgrade that turned out to be easier than I expected. Anyone with hobby and basic soldering skills should be able to do the same, following my outline guidance below.

Click to read more ...

Saturday
May132023

PURE 'Flow' Internet Radio platform shut down by PURE

PURE Flow radios no longer work with Internet radio stations

Currently a £30/ €30 voucher off a new one is available, see the link below (exp 31.10.2023)

The Lounge no longer works. PURE has quietly shut down the Flow Internet radio platform completely, throwing its band of loyal users onto the scrapheap.

As from May 9th, 2023 you can no longer access Internet radio channels through your PURE Flow radio.

"Only selective older radio models" [their words not mine] are affected, including:

  • Avanti Flow
  • Contour
  • Evoke F4
  • Evoke Flow
  • Oasis Flow
  • One Flow
  • Sensia
  • Sensia 200D
  • Siesta Flow
  • Sirocco 550
  • Jongo speakers (when using Pure Connect app)

"This change in technology does not affect the majority of Pure customers, nor users of the Pure Select app, which is still available and fully functional", they say. Well, I've seen plenty of interest in keeping these older radios working by replacing the faded OLED displays. Even this week a grateful Avanti Flow owner celebrated replacing his display.

This is what happens today with network-based tech: it's great until they pull the plug and leave you with a load of perfectly-good hardware that is rendered fit only for landfill. 

PURE offers a £30/ €30 discount off certain new products or 30% discount off their next purchase.

What a sad day for us PURE Flow fans.

 

Thursday
Oct272022

Early days at Watford Electronics

Popular UK hobby magazines like Practical Electronics, Everyday Electronics and Practical Wireless featured a wealth of constructional projects for electronics hobbyists to tackle. For most of us, getting components meant sending away for them by mail order. One supplier was Watford Electronics Ltd. of Cardiff Road, Watford, a supplier that I myself used in the 1970’s and 1980’s, as I’ve described elsewhere*. So I was delighted to hear from a former staff member at Watford Electronics, Ian Nicholls, who wrote to me with his interesting story describing life behind the scenes in the earliest days of Watford Electronics. I’ve précised it in this feature, for electronics enthusiasts who, like me, used to mail in to Watford Electronics in an era when home computing was also gaining popularity.

Click to read more ...

Wednesday
Sep142022

UK National Grid energy production and demand

These useful widgets from gridwatch.co.uk shows current energy demands of the UK. The website has near-live data of demand, production and interconnect flows. Below is a selection of real-time data. Visit gridwatch.co.uk for more data!

 

 

Link to UK National Electricity Grid Status

Wednesday
Mar092022

Electric air dusters - an alternative to aerosols

If you use aerosol air dusters regularly then you'll know some of the problems they cause, including freezing and condensation, never mind the high cost. An electric air duster offers many advantages over pricey aerosols and can pay for itself over time, as I explain in this article.

Click to read more ...

Friday
Feb252022

Samsung TV PIP (Picture in Picture) grayed out?

How to enable Samsung TV PIP

If you have a Samsung TV - even if it’s a few years old - the chances are that it offers Picture in Picture (PIP) so you can view two channels at once. I’ve never managed to get it working, not that I’ve tried much until now...

PIP Not available (click to see)

Recently I upgraded one of my favourite bits of AV kit, a Humax HDR-FOX T2 PVR. This excellent but legacy hard disk recorder connects to my Samsung TV and its searchable EPG makes it dead easy to find and schedule programs or recordings. The Humax needed repairing after its HDMI port failed (green screen), and a likely-looking used one on eBay turned out to have a clapped out hard disk, and was only 500GB and not 1TB as advertised. Oh well. I demanded a 50% refund from the seller and after I dropped in a 1TB disk, the recorder was soon up and running properly again.

Hence while raving around with the Samsung TV and HDMI leads, the same old problem cropped up: the PIP option was greyed out altogether, with a ‘Not available’ popup message showing on the Samsung TV.  Yet weirdly, I did somehow suddenly get PIP working for the first time ever, but only temporarily. What was going on?

Tools Menu when PIP isn't availableIt was while fiddling around with the Humax PVR and HDMI leads that the answer to fixing the Samsung PIP feature suddenly dawned. Needless to say the solution isn’t explained anywhere in Samsung’s manual. You can access PIP setup options via the remote control: go Menu/ System/ PIP. If PIP is indeed available (read on), then on the Samsung remote control you can go Tools/ PIP, where a basic PIP on/ off is provided; a different menu will show when PIP isn’t enabled (see pic, above left).

In ordinary TV viewing mode, the reason PIP is grayed out is because two TV tuners are needed, one per picture, but in most cases the TV only has one tuner (doh!). A second TV tuner can be added in the form of eg an HDMI recorder like (in my case) the Humax HD recorder.

Tools menu when PIP is available: note PIP on/offYou can therefore use PIP on a Samsung TV by connecting an external HD tuner to an HDMI port, and select that as the signal source for the TV screen.

Then enable PIP (go Tools/ PIP / On) and your choice of PIP channel will appear on-screen. This smaller picture comes via the Samsung TV’s own tuner, meaning you can change PIP channel using the Samsung TV remote control. The PIP size and position are configured in the TV’s System menu, where you can also choose which picture will provide the audio: Main [= TV] or Sub [= PIP].

If the smaller PIP suddenly grabs your attention, simply tune to that channel number using the external (Humax) remote. It will then fill the screen.

PIP image appears bottom rightUnfortunately the PIP feature gets turned off when you power off the TV, but it’s easy enough to enable it again via the Tools menu.

If you’ve struggled to get to grips with Samsung’s PIP, adding an external HD tuner this way will solve the problem!

Wednesday
Feb092022

Has your Google Home Hub locked up?

It seems that scores if not hundreds of users of Google's First Generation Home Hub LCDs are now staring at blank screens through no fault of their own. No-one's got any answers and there's no sign of any support either.

A Google system or firmware update late last year is being blamed for bricking these Home Hubs (now called Nest Hubs) leaving owners in the lurch and needing to buy a new one - or ditch the thing altogether. Read more...

 

 

Monday
Jan312022

Windows 10 Right-click not working

If you’ve a laptop or notepad Windows PC, you might sometimes find that the right-click of your touchpad feature isn’t working properly (if at all). This can be very frustrating when working in Windows Explorer or using any Windows shortcuts: the context-sensitive menu doesn’t appear when you right-click.

There’s a lot of the usual garbage around when you Google for a solution to “right click not working in Windows 10”.  Some sites that offer the ‘solution’ shamelessly try to flog you some software (‘free download’) instead. Many such utilities can do as much harm as good, sometimes frightening you into thinking that you've got an unrelated problem with your PC that their paid-for software will cure.

One web site comically suggested using Task Manager (ctrl +  alt + del > Task Manager) and right-click the Windows Explorer app to stop or restart it: but how can you, if right-click isn’t working in the first place?

The answer could be very simple – before splashing out on software that might be useless anyway, try this: on your desktop go Start > Settings > Devices and choose Touchpad.

Scroll down till you find the option Press the bottom right corner of the touchpad to right-click

This option may be hidden at first, no thanks to the scrollbar being hidden by default over on the right edge. In my case, this option was ticked but I’d forgotten! This feature overrides the traditional Windows right-click option, and so that was the answer: just tap the touchpad on the bottom-right to make a right-click. You can of course disable this option altogether to restore the traditional way of working.

Windows 10 thin scroll bar annoyance

The scrollbar width mentioned above is another annoyance, and a feature too clever by far. Only by hitting the wafer-thin ‘scrollbar’ does a full width one pop into view, one that you can actually operate with a touchpad. It is borderline inaccessible and very frustrating for many users.

To override this feature and make scrollbars ‘normal’ again, just go to Settings > Ease of Access > Display, and scroll down (somehow!) to find Disable the option ‘Automatically hide scrollbars in Windows’. There you can restore scrollbars to the normally accepted behaviour and the problem will be gone for ever.