freddy333

Anyone know anything about this le Coultre Reference 46 folding alarm clock? Specifically, I'm trying to figure out how to operate the alarm or locate an owner's manual for same. I just finished overhauling this clock and the alarm works (it goes off when I run the hands through a complete, 12-hour cycle), but I do not know how to enable/disable the alarm? The alarm stop (top button) works, as does the built-in alarm shut-off timer (it automatically stops the alarm after about 20 seconds), but I cannot figure out how to manually enable/disable the alarm? The clock does not have an alarm switch or control of any kind, so I am thinking that the alarm may get enabled when you run the alarm setting disc (center of dial with painted black arrow) through a complete, 12-hour cycle. But this is just a guess & I would like to know for sure.

Does anyone with experience working on clocks know how to wind small alarm clock mainsprings? Is there a winder or trick to getting springs like these installed back into a clock movement? They are much too large when unwound. The wheels they are attached to are about 3/4" & 7/8" in diameter, which is about the size the springs are when installed in the movement. They are normally wound with keys that screw onto the arbors and fit through the back cover of the alarm clock.

Admin - 2022 continues to be a year of unpleasantries all around. Sorry to hear of your unfortunate experiences, but you are certainly not alone in those. I wish you much success with your future endeavors. RWG has certainly been a bright spot for many of our lives. Thank you (& Bob) for that.

I cannot tell you which movement will fit your particular case. If you know the source (seller) of the case, check with them. Many, but not all, ETAs will fit many of the better rep cases. But the only other way to find out (other than asking the seller) is to try installing a movement. It has been a few too many years since I built the last ETA-powered Sub, but I seem to recall that the ETA 2846 was the most appropriate overall. I believe that was the movement I used for my Phase 1 6542. Hopefully, someone with more current experience can chime in with more relevant input. Good luck.

Another Update -- 5 hours later (been running for about 35 hours so far) & the 5G still indicates 25% battery left. So this thing is likely to run Rockbox, which is a power hog compared to the Apple OS, for 50+ hours on a single charge! I was getting 6-7 hours with the 5G running Rockbox with the OEM battery/60G hdd. These results are way beyond my wildest expectations! And because the 5G version of Rockbox now provides for 3,000mAh batteries, I think the modded 5G is my little radio station's new daily driver. Just fyi -- the sound quality of either of these ipods, whether OEM or modded, is better than the best you will hear out of any smartphone. So if you are an audiophile & want to take your music with you, I would highly recommend these mods. So far -- assuming you do not break something in the process -- other than the cost of the hardware (Rockbox is free) & an hour or 2 of your time, there are 0 downsides.

All of these cap jewel springs are nightmares, whether captive or not. I would rather sort out a box of badly mangled hairsprings than r&r a single cap jewel, because they so frequently pop-off (& fly who-knows-where) when you least expect it. But if you do enough of them, they become more pitfall than nightmare. Good luck & remember -- practice, practice, practice. Both Ziggy & I (& possibly others) posted tutorials on these back in the day, but alot of those old threads have been relocated, so they may be difficult to locate these days. Pity, there was a wealth of really useful watchmaking guides that used to be a quick search away.

An Unexpected Update -- The 5G's been running for nearly 30 hours & the battery indicator still reads --

Final Update -- 5G has been fitted with its 3,000mAh LG battery & 128Gb microSDXC card and all is working well. The blue square bits near the fold at the bottom are rubber spacers that fell out while I was taking the picture. They sit on either side of the docking connector at the bottom of the ipod & were replaced prior to reassembly. Unfortunately, the CF drive/card would not fit in the case comfortably. At least I was not comfortable with having to apply some modest force to get the caseback to clamp closed. It probably would have been alright, but I was worried about damaging something if/when I had to open the case. Strangely, although the 5G functions much faster than it did with the OEM hdd (it is now similar to the 3Gs with their CF cards), its transfer speed when uploading 4,000 songs from my PC to the 5G slower than its OEM hdd. On the positive side, Rockbox for the 5G offers battery capacity display options to go up to 3,000mAh, so I am hoping its battery capacity display will be a bit more accurate than the 3Gs, which read 0 charge after about 14 hours even though they have some number of hours of additional run time left. I finished installing everything Friday afternoon & have been running it & testing features since then. It has not missed a beat or displayed any malfunctions. The 5G has been running on its new 3,000mAh LG battery for about 18 hours & the battery still reads 62%! So, once again, this project looks like a complete success! I still cannot decide whether the 3G or 5G sounds better. They do sound a bit different, but the difference is not significant enough for me to make the call 1 way or the other solely based on that difference. However, I suspect the 5G is going to run circles around the 3Gs in run-time (pun intended), so that, along with the 5G's improved display, may be the deciding factor. Time will tell.

Mass shootings are just crazy.

Where do you get your news from? Most of the US media mirrors what New York Times & Washington Post print (FYI -- I am a 40+-year Washpost subscriber). Died 'of', 'with' or were assumed to have?

Step away from the propaganda machine.

Minor Update -- After running the 1st (of 2) modded 3rd gen ipod through a few battery cycles, the battery indicator may be becoming accustomed to its larger, 1,700mAh battery, because, instead of reading 0 after 14 hours, it was now reading 39% after 17 hours! I am not sure what caused the change in the display reading, but it is definitely a step in the right direction. Even better, I continued to run this 3G for another 2 hours (total 19 continuous hours) & the battery indicator still displayed 5% left. At that point, although I suspect it still has 2 or 3 hours left, I decided to play it safe & recharge it. Again, that is 19 hours with some amount remaining! In contrast, prior to the drive/battery upgrades, the same ipod ran (Rockbox) for 1.5-2 hours before shutting down completely. I have also installed the 3,000mAh battery & the MicroSDXC drive in the 5G ipod, which is charging/running well but slow. In fact, when I imaged my music files onto the MicroSD-powered 5G, the transfer speed was about half that of the OEM HDD (ie a very leisurely 7-8megs/sec). So, it goes without saying that the CF format is the way to go. I am still awaiting the 5G's CF drive to complete the upgrade, after which I will conduct new run-time tests. However, I am expecting even better run times with this ipod since it was running (Rockbox) for 6-7 hours in its OEM form.

Frankens were never a sane financial investment for the reasons stated. But for those who either have very deep pockets (to pay a watchsmith to assemble the watch for you) or the skills to do the work themselves, they remain the most cost effective way to the look & feel of the real thing. Of course, alot depends on the percentage of gen parts used & the quality of the work involved in the assembly. Placing a gen movement into a rep/aftermarket case with a rep/aftermarket dial/handset does not make alot of sense because it will have little effect on the look & feel of the franken. On the other hand, powering a gen dial/handset in a rep/aftermarket case with a gen movement takes the enterprise to a much higher level since what you see & feel is gen. Of course, when dealing with vintage Rolex components, maintenance is & will be an ongoing dilemma since costs are constantly escalating & supplies -- those that remain available -- are tightly controlled by the mothership. I think if you have the passion, knowledge, will & cash, frankens are the only affordable way to experience vintage Daytonas, SDs, Subs & GMTs.

David, I am shocked and saddened by this devastating news. Although distance limited our 2 decade long friendship to the virtual world, Bob was an inspiration in the truest sense of the word. His passion for watches was the fire that made RWG burn so brightly & 1 of the things that kept so many of us coming back for so many years. To say that Bob will be missed is an understatement. And that statement itself is an understatement. I have no idea what, if any, Bob's final wishes were, but I think it goes without saying that his 1st choice would have been to remain with his family & friends. However, a distant second option might have been to be buried behind the wheel of his beloved Land Rover with his Double-Red strapped to his wrist. It is with great sorrow that I say -- Requiescat In Pace, Bob.

Minor Update on CF 3G -- After (more than) successful completion of my testing, I reassembled the CF/1,700mAh-powered 3G & checked to be sure the case closed & closed without crushing or adversely affecting anything. All good! HOWEVER -- I do not think the thicker 3,000mAh battery will fit inside the 3G's (thick) case. The 1,700mAh battery is 2/3 the thickness of the 3,000mAh battery & the 3G's caseback literally just snaps closed with the battery inside. Unfortunately, because the 3G is designed for its battery to fit into a cut-out in the mainboard (below the HDD), the only place to fit the larger battery (which takes up about 4/5 of the iPod's interior dimensions) was above the drive (between the drive & caseback). My initial reassembly was intended to be temporary as I had expected the battery to be sufficiently loose that it would end up flopping around in there, which would not be good. But, to my surprise, once the final case latch locked, the unit feels like a single, solid component. Of course, that is a good thing for mechanical stability (none of the internal connections should become disconnected), but there is just no room for anything more. So, case closed, literally.

Update -- Just past the 15-hour mark. For the past hour, the battery indicator on the screen has read 0, but the 3G is still going strong. Since it has run a good deal longer than I expected (or required) it to, I have decided not to risk the lovely battery by running it dead. Were it not for the 2 Rockbox-related crashes, the CF/1,700mAh 3G performed flawlessly. With top quality source material, these things really sound wonderful & I am looking forward to being able to listen all day, literally, without having to stop to recharge every couple of hours. Next on my list is to replace the headphone jack in the other 3G & retry the MicroSDXC drive. I think the CF drive profile is too tall to fit the 3,000mAh battery. But it has a better chance with the MicroSD setup, so I think it worth taking another shot at it. Finally, once the other 3,000mAh battery arrives (this battery has a ribbon connector to fit the 5G rather than the 3-wire plug the 3Gs require), I will begin work on the 5G. More to come --

Update -- Just made it past the 12-hour mark & there is still 22% left on the meter.

Based on my results so far, I think you could make it there & back.

Success! My original goal was to produce a 3G that will run Rockbox for at least six hours without completely draining the battery to the point of damage or decreased lifespan (six hours running on the Apple OS should translate to 10-12 hours). It's official -- the CF/1,700mAh-powered 3g just blew past the sixth hour & the battery meter still reads 61%! &, remember, that 61% is based on Rockbox's estimates based on a 1,200mAh battery. So, if the new 3G continues running as it has done over the past six hours, the battery indicator should 0 at around the 12 hour mark...............theoretically, with a comfortable (& unreported) 500mAh left in its tank. Based on my experience, the unmodified 3G generally ran at least twice as long under the OEM Apple OS versus Rockbox, which, due to its far wider features & functions, is a battery drainer. So I would expect people running the modded 3G & the Apple OS may reach the 1 day mark before requiring a battery tap. At this point, I will probably continue to monitor the 3g's performance until the battery display indicates 0 & see if/how much longer it runs. I think it is worth the risk of possible battery damage to find out how long this thing will actually run. p.s. Now that I think about it, lithium batteries benefit from a few cycles of full charge/full discharge/full charge. So I think the battery may be capable of reaching even greater heights after being optimized that way. Stay tuned. p.p.s. Just did a bit of research & it seems that current thinking is that my original assumption was correct -- full discharges are bad for lithium batteries. That said, because the Rockbox indicator is likely going to give up the ghost shy of a few hundred mAh, I think I will let the 3G run until it goes dark just to verify if/how far the Rockbox indicator is off (or not).

Update -- Battery 75% @ 4 hours on Shuffle.

Megabytes. The HDD's PIO transfer specs pretty much reflect what I was seeing during my song transfers to the HDD-equipped 3G, though it occasionally varied a bit above that for brief periods. So the CF's average transfer speed, about 30meg/sec, virtually doubles the HDD's, essentially halving the time it takes to transfer data to/from the CF card. Not only that, but data transfers burn-up the most battery capacity. Now, there is bad news & good news. The bad news is not related to the mods, but the good news is. The bad -- At some point, with my fiddling around, I must have broken the connection to the headphone jack's left channel. A replacement headphone jack has been ordered. The good -- The photo of the 3G below was taken after about 1 HOUR of run time. Even better, the 1,700mAh battery had just eaten through two of my 24-bit/92kHz hi-res ALAC files without losing a single % of capacity. Then, Rockbox crashed, which it does on a small number of ALAC files. This has been an ongoing problem with Rockbox that I have referred to their developers (to date, without response). It is unrelated to the mods. After rebooting the 3G, the battery indicated 88%. HOWEVER, over the next few minutes, it slowly climbed back up to 99% & it has held steady since then. But back to those 24-bit ALACs -- On the other hand, the 850mAh battery would have dropped at least 2-3% by the end of 1 of these 24-bit files. In fact, in 15 minutes, the 3G will have been playing for 2 hours & the battery is holding at 98%! Also, if you use Apple's OS rather than Rockbox & listen only to mp3 & AAC (rather than ALACs or FLACs), your run-time is naturally much longer than Rockbox anyway. So, even without these mods, with a good 850mAh battery, you should be seeing at least 6-8 hour run-times (Apple specs "up to 8 hours"). To be determined -- Some of these batteries discharge logarithmically. That is, they may sit at 100% for 10 minutes & then drop 12% over the next 10. So I will keep an eye on the discharging as the 3G plays & report how long it takes to reach 15%, which is generally considered the lowest discharge level that will not damage or reduce the battery's recharge capacity. Oh & remember that Rockbox's battery capacity setting options only go up to 1,200mAh & the 3G now has a 1,700mAh battery, so Rockbox may indicate 0 battery when in fact the battery is still at 20%. Anyway, let us see how it progresses. I have to say that I am both surprised & extremely happy with the result of these mods.

Update -- The 3G's running swell with the CF drive & 1,700mAh battery. I had to transplant the wiring/jack from the 850mAh battery onto the larger battery because the latter's jack was too large for the socket in the iPod. But after a bit of silver solder, shrink wrap & 1.5 hours to top off the half-charged battery, the 3G's been playing solidly for 30 minutes without any issues & the battery state indicator on the iPod still reads "100%" charge. Unfortunately, the Rockbox OS's settings for "Battery Capacity" max out as 1,200mAh, so the iPod's battery status, which is based on this "Battery Capacity" setting, may poop-out 500mAh before the battery actually runs out of juice. I have not yet tackled the 3,000mAh battery, in part because it is 30% thicker than the 1,700mAh battery, which appears to just fit. I will also need to "donate" the wiring/jack from an OEM style battery to get it to fit in the iPod because these LG batteries are made for a device that connects to the battery through contacts built into its side. But I think those contacts are removable & there will be simple + & - connections I can solder the transplanted wiring/jack to. Then, I will just have to figure out how to provide another mm or so of space between the big battery & inside caseback of the 3G.

Took my Aryan 'Master out of her case today to exercise her legs --

Nice piece, but I think most members would find it easier to view your post if you left out the black highlighting. It makes reading a chore.