Friday, October 30, 2009

PC/Laptop To MP3


I rustled up this simple electronic circuit tonight, “of necessity”. It takes audio straight off the Internet, and puts it on a digital recorder. There are various advantages to this, not least that you can pull the audio off any computer without having to have this or that software in place. Note that this is a digital-to-analog-to-digital conversion, so the sound will only be as good as your computer's/recorder's analog circuits. OBSERVATION: After wiring up the circuit, set your digital recorder's sensitivity to Lo or Dictation mode. Turn potentiometers VR1 and VR2 back about three-quarters, to avoid overload of the recorder (you might prefer a dual potentiometer here). Turn your computer volume up to about three-quarters, both to minimise hiss and avoid amplifier distortion. Stereo Jack Plug A goes into your computer's headphone output, and stereo Jack Plug B goes into your digital recorder's microphone input. You will probably require 3 mm jack plugs at both ends. Further adjust VR1/VR2 as required for optimal recording. You may click on the circuit diagram to enlarge. To follow the electronics trail on this blog, click on the "Electronics" category top left.
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NOTE: You may re-publish this design, on condition that you acknowledge the designer (Thomas Scarborough) and this blog (http://thomasscarborough.blogspot.com).

Friday, October 23, 2009

Invitation For A Joint


A new Youth pastor at a German Church in town (pictured) wrote to me, inviting our Youth over for what he would probably have called "ein Gemeinsames" in German. This, however, got a little lost in translation. He invited our Youth over for "a joint". We continue to tease him about it. OBSERVATION: He's done a great job with the Youth -- an extraordinary Youth pastor (his Youth is really smokin').

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Young Church

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I attended the Verenigende Gereformeerde Kerk (Uniting Reformed Church) in Laaiplek on Sunday (pictured). The service was more formal than what I am used to in this Church. In fact, it was very formal -- not least because the minister fairly dominated the service. Nevertheless, a deep and living faith was evident. Astonishingly, about half the congregation were children or teenagers. You may click on the photo to enlarge (it's about 300k). The photo shows about half -- perhaps only a third -- of the whole congregation.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Electronics Friends


One of the joys of my life has been my electronics friends (I am well known for electronic design). Here are two of them on BBC2 Player -- toy designers Tony and Judy Ellis (Tony is pictured on the right). OBSERVATION: One of Tony's projects which intrigued me most was this: he built a talking clock for an old woman. The clock stopped talking, and she was distressed, because she had lost “a friend”. This came as a revelation to Tony, so he greatly expanded the concept to provide some “company” for the elderly.