A New Building Project.....A Homemade Cassette Deck.

Well, as I still have a large collection of audio cassettes featuring home recordings as

well as many vintage Radio shows, I thought I'd order a new cassette player and create a

cassette deck so as to be able to enjoy all my old tapes, some of which I haven't heard in a while.

And they certainly sound a lot better having upgraded to a 10 watt speaker which gives a much better

sound.

And it was all put together very recently during a 2 week window while pondering what

to do with my other blog.

Below are two Youtube videos I made this week.

Above: The initial frame for the deck showing the sunken area for the cassette player.

And on the right, sizing the box up with various speakers.

Above: The Cassette player fits in the box, leaving the work to fit in a 10 watt speaker

as well as a panel board from an old Radio.

But before all that is fitted in, the box frame was sanded down and then covered in a dark

woody sticky fablon material.

Above: The main video of the finished Cassette Deck featuring a classic recording from

Danny Rampling's Lovegroove Dance Party.

Below: A brief and more calmed down video featuring a recording from a New York

Radio Station from one of my last visits to the City.

From CD 101.9 Smooth Jazz - New York City.

WE'RE BACK IN 2018....PLUS VINTAGE RADIO DAYS!

So here we are. Back again after a Winter break, and what a Winter, having had two big snowfalls
including 'The Beast from the East.'
I don't know what it is about January but I'm always glad to see the back of it. I'm literally
counting the days then I know Spring is around the corner. Maybe I should try and get to like Januarys
even though it's often the month I get a cold or a dose of flu as I did this year.
Maybe it might be an idea to stay online next Winter. It would keep me occupied in my spare time.

I dread to think how many visitors I lose with these blog breaks. I dare look.
Still we're here now so hopefully things will pick up again.

I recently had my hospital tests. Just waiting for the results of my CT Scan. Although my
Blood Test didn't go too well, something about poor kidney function. So they want me to increase my water intake and then come in for another blood test. Apparently we don't drink as much water in the Winter.
What was odd was that I learnt that the Hospital want's to add on another year of their Care plan as I only had chemo in 2014. Care plans last around 5 years.


ANYWAY TODAY IS OFFICIALLY THE FIRST DAY OF BRITISH SUMMERTIME.
SURELY THAT'S JUST WHAT WE NEED TO KICK AWAY THOSE WINTER BLUES.
 

Above left: In late February The Metro front page published a picture of the approaching 'Beast from the East.'
And very soon after, the entire U.K was covered in snow.
Below are just a few pictures I took while out on Hampstead Heath once the snow had settled.

The start of 2018 gave us three Super Moons with two of them showing up in the
month of January. The image above is one I managed to capture from my
window looking towards the Eastern night sky in early January.
Called The Wolf Moon, it appeared slightly shrouded in cloud towards the bottom
half which actually made it look more interesting, like some undiscovered
alien planet.

It does look like there's going to be two full Moons again in this very month,
with the next one being a full 'Blue Moon' due on Easter Saturday, March 31st.

Here's a little video I put together that puts my reproduction vintage
radio to good use.
I've simply put together a few vintage radio clips onto a cassette, and the tape
plays in the side of the radio.
And with my sideboard decorated with a lot of old nick nacks from a local
charity shop, it gives the look and feel of a home during the outbreak of  War in 1939.
I wasn't too thrilled with the quick sharp edits in the video but I was fairly pleased
with the opening and closing shots as I used a home made trolley with wheels
so that I could slowly zoom in and out, a technical option that my phone doesn't have.

There has been a bit of a delay in my filming of my Console Cabinet as I'm taking
the tv out and replacing it with a better model. So hopefully that'll be up here as well as on my
 Youtube page soon, once I've fitted in the new tv.