Archive for November, 2010

What is the PS-F5 & PS-F9 Cartridge? (It’s not P-Mount)

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

Well, having wondered for a while about the type of cartridge used, I had read somewhere that it was a P-Mount (also known as T4P), which was a standard mount used by Technics and other Japanese manufacturers on some of their turntables in the 80s. I’m now certain it’s something else.

I saw this UK eBay listing for a P-Mount with a decent photo:

This is what a VL-44G cartridge from a PS-F5 turntable looks like (with stylus installed):

The difference is plain to see

So the question remains, is there another Audio Technica model number that these cartridges go by? That would surely help in tracking down replacement/ upgrade cartridges. The quest continues…

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Posted in ebay, Sony PS-F5, Sony PS-F9 | No Comments »


Turntable Animation

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

Some clever animations made using the strobe effect gained by filming with the correct shutter speed under household lights which are strobing undetectably at 50 or 60hz (depending on where you live). This is the same principle as the red dots that are used as a speed guage on the outside of the platter of some turntables.

The illusion of movement with a record player.

Watch as hidden animations come alive by using a specific frame rate and shutter speeds of a camera and RPM of a record player.

To me this is one of the ultimate illusions.

Definition of Illusion: something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality.

I used a Numark turntable set to 45 RPM and the camera was set to 24 FPS. The shutter speed was set to around 840. With that combination of settings a 30 frame animation would appear to stand still. I used the slider to increase / descrease rpms which caused the images to move foward or backward.

The sequence of the guy jumping on the blocks was the most difficult but turned out the best, in my opinion.

The images of the guy jumping is me. I recorded myself jumping in the living room then took 30 frames from that footage and traced the images in photoshop and filled with black. Then printed out the 30 images and cut each one out. I used 30 wooden blocks and glued them to a piece of construction paper then taped the images of the jumping guy to the clear sheet and aligned them with the blocks.

I also love the pac-man animation. It’s so simple but just has such a cool feel to see the mouth opening and closing.

brasspup on YouTube

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Posted in video, Weird & Wonderful | No Comments »


Columbia’s Portable Mixing Rig

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

Recently spotted a Columbia GMX-3 mixer on eBay. A portable mixer from Japan which is designed to be used with a pair of GP-3 portable turntables. Interesting piece of kit, but from what I can find online the turntables are only mono although they do have pitch control and built in speaker. Each device runs on either 100/110VAC (with built in tranformer) or batteries.

Going on recent eBay prices it would cost over £350 (US$560) to buy a pair of turntables and a mixer.

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Posted in All things vinyl, analogue, Related Devices, Retro, video, Weird & Wonderful | No Comments »