Flat3D

Interesting modulation

So this week I borrowed a set of Torx™ drivers to take the fascia off my pug 206… My mission was to install an FM Modulator to allow me to connect my MP3 player to the stereo.

First I’ll explain what an FM Modulator is (for those who don’t know already). FM means “Frequency Modulation” and this means that an radio signal is generated at a specific frequency (like 99.7 MHz for radio 1 in NI) and then audio information is added to it by modulating this signals frequency above and below that frequency.
So what an FM Modulator does is take an audio signal and do this to it. The difference between this and a transmitter is that it doesn’t broadcast the signal, simply passes it down a wire plugged into an aerial socket. These kind of things are used in VCRs to allow the user to tune the telly into it (pre-SCART). In this case it’s plugged into my car stereo to fool the stereo into thinking theres another radio station to tune into and play back the audio signal I put in.

Simple eh?

My first issue was that there was a problem with the aerial pass through connectors (this thing sits between the car antenna and the radio unit) so while it was connected there was no signal coming from the antenna, so all the radio stations were just fuzz. I resoldered it and it was fine.

The second problem arose when I found that, despite all the promises of the box, when this thing is on the other stations do get affected by the strong signal it produces. So I had to uncover the switch I had left to be switched on under the car trim. (It is wired to the cig-lighter socket which is switched with the ignition, so it is always off when the car is off).

The next problem I came upon is that this wiring somehow fools the car into thinking that they keys are still in the socket even when taken out. This in turn stops you from locking the doors via central locking. Not when it is turned on, but when it is turned off! I don’t quite understand this yet, except that it must be interfering with the incar computer somehow… any clues folk? Or anywhere else I could wire it to to avoid this problem? Initially I had thought that I could hook it to the radio power lines, but I have heard problems relating to that in Peugeots, but if I can find a regular power lead then I will fix it up to that maybe…

the nex issue I have come across is that my iPAQ which I had hoped to use to play MP3’s with has a slight hiss coming out that you just don’t notice on headphones or through regular equipment. But the FM Modulator seems to amplify the hiss more than the tunes being played. I am going to fiddle with it a little tomorrow and see if I can adjust the levels on the modulator to fix it.
If not I will just have to stick with the Zen I salvaged from my brother last week as my MP3 player, I was just coming around to the idea of selling it too and having just one gadget to carry about…

Also, not related, but if I end up able to use my iPAQ I’d like to be able to sync it with media player (11) via bluetooth as the USB 1.1 connection is unbelievably slow (it should be upto 11Mbps but isn’t…)…

So these are the problems of geekhood and too much time on my hands!

hmmmm

If I ever redesign this site, and I want to, I think I’ll put in a sub-blog for items like the last 3… Maybe in a sidebar or something

But, informed by audience of one (link’s in the sidebar), there are now only 8 planets!
see?

White Finch Down

This footage was shot last October (as you can tell from the calendar on the wall), it’s of Captain Luke Elliot with his ‘bird’.

I’ve posted the Low res version, about 3MB download.

Lost in Translation

If you have seen the movie Lost in Translation you might find notice something familiar in this clip of Sean Connery from a few years back… or this one…

A look back…

… to my last month in Japan.

The last thing I posted with photos relating to my time in Japan was at the beginning of July with some pictures of Osaka and a coffee machine… A lot has happened since those relaxing days sitting drinking the machine made coffee and pondering what tourist jaunt to go on next and now, with the aid of the digital photograph, I will attempt to reconstruct these days highlights and points of interest…

The first one of these isn’t so much as after Kyoto, but how I got back to Tokyo from Kyoto. By the second fastest train in the world, the Shinkansen Nozomi.

The left most picture is a 700 series Shinkansen which run the Nozomi service, the fastest train service in Japan. The actual train itself, the 700 series is actually the third fastest in the world getting upto 285km/h. The rightmost train is an older 500 series shinkansen which is the second fastest, getting upto 320km/h (200mph) generated from the 25,000 horsepower it kicks out! The 700 series was built to be more cost effective and almost as fast.

Once back in Tokyo I had one night at the guest home before the Kids Gospel Team arrived. I am not going to put up too much regarding it as there is already loads of info etc posted up at:
OMF KGT Journal pages
But here is a photo from fun with my Yotsukaido homestay family in a local park.

The front girl is Mai-chan the daughter of my homestay family who was in the Kids Gospel Programme at Yotsukaido. The girl behind her is Nanae-chan, her friend and also in the programme. the mini-railway was pretty cool, but I’m just realising I will need to start into the non-train photos or I’m gonna get labelled a trainspotter or something…

Some of the stuff that wasn’t overly documented in the KGT journals is the fun we had on our day’s off and during debriefing…
On several of the Monday days off, JP headed over to the Tokyo Dome City amusement park to ride the big mad roller coaster. Each time it was raining though, and it wasn’t running. The third time he went, Lawrence and I joined him and sure enough it was a sunny day with plenty of roller coaster potential.

The first pic is actually a different ride in the park, but the right hand two are of the rollercoaster as it goes through the ferris wheel and then the main building of Tokyo Dome City. Great ride!

I have already talked a little about the fish market, so here are some pictures of the Irish tuna and some little octopusses (octopi??)… And one of Lawrence enjoying a nice bit of fresh sushi and a guy ramming a wire into a fish’s spine to stop it wiggling after it’s been killed…Lovely…
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While on the subject of fish, I didn’t try this:

The famous puffer fish (fugu - ふぐ)
But I did try this:

The controversial kujira, or whale meat. I don’t think the flavour is worth the hassle though! Not nasty, just nothing special…

On a debriefing relaxing trip to Odaiba I got to go to the Emerging Science Museum and see Ashimo (I know it says Asimo behind him, but they say Ashimo) the Honda Robot.

He can stand, walk, climb 2 steps with special markers AND dance slowly! Quite impressive that he actually doesn’t fall over, but still a long way to go before anyone will want it in their house!

At the Emerging Science museum we also got to try a robot riding simulator kind of thingy. The idea is you go into a room and sit on seats mounted on some hydralics and see through the eyes of a robot on a table outside the room. People outside then watch as you make the robot walk about and so on chasing giant toys and the odd baby. We also managed to clone JP. But luckily the clone disappeared when he walked away from the mirror…

The next sequence of shots are related to a new way to enjoy the game Jenga. With chopsticks… and toothpicks…

Some other things of note:

A girl playing the trumpet by the river…

50 flavours of toothpaste at Tokyu Hands dept store in Shibuya… Including Tsugaru apple flavour…

A trip to a sumo museum…

Found Nemo… he was in a tank at the top of the Landmark Tower in Yokohama…

An elevator that needs to keep it’s doors to itself…

A pre-typhoon sunset from the top of the mission home…

And trouble at the Suzuki showroom that required the Power Rangers to go sort out…