....Blues Bros.....

here comes a long (or too long) story --
but if it can help to illuminate
just ONE tiny member --
it will all be wortwhile ::

not sure how good fm stereo comes in at all your homes --but here ---i live in a hick town --60 long miles north of miami --in an all metal structure with a metal roof !!

and can hardly get any clear FM -- much less FM stereo'

however --late at night --and in the DARK -- and way outside --far from trailers ( )

the FM stereo from miami (the cool stations)is spectacular clear.
--------------------------------------

now unless you have a digital tuner with pre-sets -- or carry a flashlight (DORKS !!)

you cant see you tuning dial to diddle with it.

----------so i made a few posts here- recently -- and even put dependable Jens -- on a special search --- for ANY brand mini box --
that was made with a factory dial light --

the results were always = ZERO --
so i guess no other box people ever cared about having this feature--

ie - i had figured this type mini box did not ever exist --- right ???

-----------------------------
almost WRONG !!

last week -- i notice this high-end looking jvc mini on ebay --
the BIN was so high --that i knew there was plenty of time to ask the seller --on the 1/1000 chance that it had a dial light --

his reply was an total YES !!-- and with his 100% feedback -- i believed him : BINGO !!

i was about to get the worlds only mini with a dial light --
so i paid a $$ fortune to get it --total was $115 --for a JVC # 575 --

which i knew -- this model--is not way 'up there' in the ranking of mini grails
-------------------------------
but still --it was about to become this ultra rare 'personal fav' --
so why not grab this one-time deal ---

(need a break --continued shortly)

quote:

(need a break --continued shortly)

yeah we need a break

I just checked my jvc 575 and there might be a place foir a light in the middle bottem of the tuning window but there is no switch to turn one off or on and mine does not light up if there was or is a light there...

ok -- just had the quickie
-------

so yesterday -- i get the box -- its semi-mint (which to ME = tripple mint)

i see NO dial light or dial light switch
the litte sucker takes 8 D cells !!-- and i was too pissed to even put them in !!

so i tried to just use the ac cord --
and BANG WANG YIPEEE -- 2 pretty little STRONG white leds pop on

so happy - that i did not even realize the power switch was OFF !!

both leds were well placed and sure do/did look like OEM 'factory' stuff --

so - at that point -- i did it -- got me a mini with a real dial light -YES
----------------------

then i turned it on -- tested everything -- works/ records etc, etc 100% perfect --

it even sounds real good for a mini --and even much better with the Biphonic Wide.

--------------------
break time

Sweet!! Definitely sounds like it's a "meet" box.

thats true , fatdg --the sound is outstanding --

----------------------------
ok - back to the little story

well -- matters start to trickle downnhill --

first i turned the power off -- to get the batteries --
BUT -- the dial lights STAYED ON !!!!!!!!!

WTF -- factory ??? would JVC do THAT ?

so - then i unplugged it -- and the light went off ! sort of suspicious.

then -- put the big 8 Ds in --and guess what --
RIGHT -- NO dial lights ?

factory ?? well maybe --(to save battery power)
but --doubtful
--------------------------
at that point -- my $115 --was looking more like $15 to me
because - even though it was real nice , etc --

thats NOT what i paid for or ever wanted
--------------------

however -- seeing that there were lights installed --and they do look 'professional'--
all not lost --

and as much as any of us would never want to take a good old classic jvc --and drill a HOLE!! in it --for a light switch --
that was the plan ---:::

go to radio shack --get a little , compatible looking switch --and have old pro Ramon jump the ac line -- so thats it would work on DC --

-------------------
continued

arent your fingers tired

so somebody did this mod for the lights to only work with the ac plugged in ?

where did they install the light's at?

picture please?

yup sin -- but YOU might just be that tiny member that gets illuminated !!!!!!!!
so --pay attention to what follows ::

anyhow -- lucky for me -- old ramon lives on the way to radio shack -- and he is 'that kinda guy' that would often save a good s2g member the 3 bucks -- from his personal stash (of switches)--

so - before we decide where to DRILL (yuk)--
he opens it up --

and sure enough -- it was NOT factory -- but the previous owner had done a superb job on his custom dial light installation ---

apparently --he cared nothing about the battery power -- but since it sounds so nice -- we assume that he wired the ac dial lights - just to use it as is 'night-side' radio --

( and- btw - NO argument with the ebay seller -- it sure did have a dial light set-up)
-----------------------

ok -- now ready for the happy ending --
its the bomb!!!

good old ramon --who is well known as the smartest guy in his (dumb) neighborhood --

did not drill ANY WHERE !! -and he did not even have to gimme the freeby switch --

instead -- we wired the dial lights into the handy Music Scan Switch !!!
it works perfectly --HAPPY HAPPY - so HA!

here are some pix -- ya gotta love them JVC blue speakers --

the final picture is for you members who dont know any genius people -- and dont even have a clue of what a genius may look like

the rc575 is the box on top of the m90 they are great little boxes.

so thats what a genius looks like..............huh im sorry

That was an awesome story Ira! Fantastic job and a great looking radio.

Thanks for that, very entertaining read with my morning coffee.



Rock On.

great story Ira and thanks to RAMON, it has a happy ending. thanks Ramon

You know, I wish more boxes had dial lights AND the option to keep them on or shut them off. I have been tempted to install some, but have never done it. JVC m90 for example, it should have them. The sharp 777 has them but they are on a momentary switch... what a pain, The conion c100 has them but only on AC. I guess the engineers with all these were concerned about battery drain and decided against. That's probably the main reason Ira you don't see dial lights on older boxes, but now days with LED's....the battery drain would not even be noticable. Nice job Ramon on the dial light/music scan integration. That's the way to go. No holes to drill still looks original.

thanks guys --
that was a real crappy nite shot of the dial lights --but they actually do look 'factory ' perfect in real life --

and sorry that little story about a few leds --took soooooooooooo long --

lately -- EVERY box i get -- seems to 'have to' turn into an adventure !!

quote:

Originally posted by redbenjoe:

lately -- EVERY box i get -- seems to 'have to' turn into an adventure !!

its all good in the hood Ira.

Great story, Ira! Ramon rocks the house once again!!

Great eam work fellas and a very nice JVC too.

it was something pretty cool they did a nice job the led was tucked in a good place very professional. but i belive that were they hooked it up was thinking that if it was hooked on the main line 12v if you used batteries it would stay on which it did with ac power. i thought about for awhile and looking at it i looked at the front switch and thought hey maybe i can use this well guess what the switch has 2 sides one side uses the music search and the other side it was empty so it worked did not have to drill or use an external switch nor lose the music search feature so with that in mind i think we could probably do that to some other boxes

more good news --
this is my first biphonic box --

and there seems to be alot more cool stuff going on in there --than just a wide mode deal --

REALLY do like that sound effect-

perhaps next week -- i will bring my line of grails back over to ramons --

to have him convert them all into biphonics !!

no problem -- right??

i told you ira just like my jvc 828 the biphonic turn it into a different animal

Congrats Ira! No more "fumbling" around in the dark!

ramon --

your 828 is thrilling to listen to --

but atrocious to look at

quote:

Originally posted by oldskool69:
Congrats Ira! No more "fumbling" around in the dark!

wrong -- old timers fumble anytime

quote:

Originally posted by redbenjoe:
ramon --

your 828 is thrilling to listen to --

but atrocious to look at

like my 880 then.

quote:

Originally posted by oldskool69:
Congrats Ira! No more "fumbling" around in the dark!

Maybe Ira can use it as "headlights" on the woodie as he's sneaking back home late at night.

tim - this is such a matter of taste --like many members might like the old/rugged look of the jvc 828 ---but i think it looks like a CARTOON !!

hey eric --

agree that the M90 could sure use a nice dial light set-up

but here is the bad news part --about a year before you joined here -- member kittmaster made a gorgeous light kit for the c100f --lots of us (me) bought them --

BUT --he would not even take my $$ deposit on the M90 kit --because he needed an extra 1/32 inch for space -- which wasnt there --

so - as far as we know --nobody has an M90 with a dial light.

Thats cool that you were able to figure out. This is my I dig my ~1967 Telefunken Bajazzo TS 201. On the top to the right of the frequency scale theres a button you can depress to illuminate the dial.

GTS --lots of the big grail 'party size' boxes have cool dial lights

but the mini boomboxes (or big-minis like the 575)
that you might want to enjoy all alone at night--

never have lights --so thats why this long scenario ended up well

Really? Oh well,the party sizers in my collection don't have dial lights. I guess thats reserved for the fancy JVC's and the like. Be sure to sit outside sometime and give shortwave a try. You have no idea what you might hear!

i do sometimes diddle with SW --and can often hear it well at night --
its just that i never hear anything on SW that i want to hear !!