On Thu, 6 Jun 2024 19:12:25 -0000 (UTC), <bp@www.zefox.net> wrote:

>Went looking for some spiral cable wrap to build a few simple
>wiring harnesses. ISTR it was pennies per foot some years ago,
>so I expected dimes per foot now.
>
>Turns out it's dollars per foot for the spiral stuff, but slit
>corrugated hose is much cheaper, roughly what I expected for spiral.

Some clue as to what diameter and material you're looking for would be
helpful. Looking at what a Google image search dredged up, I don't
see anything that costs "dollars per foot".
<https://www.google.com/search?q=spiral+cable+wrap&tbm=isch>
For example:
<https://www.cabletiesandmore.com/spiral-wrap-standard>
$15.13 / 100 ft in 3/4 inch diameter LDPE.

>Anybody have a clue why? The convoluted material looks a lot
>slower to make. I tend to think it's inferior mechanically,
>and certainly is bulkier.

Convoluted material? Maybe a more specific material description will
yield a less vague answer.

>Thanks for reading, and any ideas...
>
>bob prohaska
>
>
--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
PO Box 272 http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 6 Jun 2024 19:12:25 -0000 (UTC), <bp@www.zefox.net> wrote:
>
>>Went looking for some spiral cable wrap to build a few simple
>>wiring harnesses. ISTR it was pennies per foot some years ago,
>>so I expected dimes per foot now.
>>
>>Turns out it's dollars per foot for the spiral stuff, but slit
>>corrugated hose is much cheaper, roughly what I expected for spiral.
>
> Some clue as to what diameter and material you're looking for would be
> helpful. Looking at what a Google image search dredged up, I don't
> see anything that costs "dollars per foot".
> <https://www.google.com/search?q=spiral+cable+wrap&tbm=isch>
> For example:
> <https://www.cabletiesandmore.com/spiral-wrap-standard>
> $15.13 / 100 ft in 3/4 inch diameter LDPE.

That actually looks like a good deal but 100 feet is waaay too much.
The disclaimer about residential shipping surcharges makes me wary.

Here's a fairly representative example:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/D-Line-Cable-Wrap-Black-8-ft-2-5m-0-5-1-5-in-10-40mm-Expandable-Diameter/1002887174
$2/foot, not locally in stock but it appears pickup is free if I'm
willing to set up an online account.

>>Anybody have a clue why? The convoluted material looks a lot
>>slower to make. I tend to think it's inferior mechanically,
>>and certainly is bulkier.
>
> Convoluted material? Maybe a more specific material description will
> yield a less vague answer.
>
https://www.mcmaster.com/products/split-loom-tubing/
The product I ended up buying (from a local auto parts store) looks
similar and was about $5 for 7 feet, half inch ID.

I should admit the last time I bought spiral wrap it was from
the local Radio Shack store..... the real puzzle is the availability
disparity. The corrugated stuff looks a lot harder to make, bulkier
and gives the wires less support. Why is it easier to find?

Thanks for writing,

bob prohaska

In article <fg9e6jlapiskj9c280ue9gek4lpijckdqh@4ax.com>, NONONOmisc07
@fmguy.com says...
>
> Does anyone sell an add-on AVC or AGC, automatic volume control that can
> be used with an existing one-piece radio?
>
> I bought an internet radio and in some of the stations, the commercials
> are so loud they wake me up if I've fallen asleep, or near sleep, and if
> I turn down the volume, I can't hear the program. I listen to talk
> radio and in another channel, the host is loud enough but everyone else
> is much quieter, and sometimes the host gets closer to the microphone
> and it's too loud again.
>
> I'd like to cut the wire to the speakers, which are built into the
> radio's cabinet, and insert a device or circuit that will act as an AVC.
> Any suggestions?
>
> I presume that if I bought a different internet radio I'd have the same
> problem, or is it possible the AVC in this one is broken?
>
> P.S. googling found this, Add-on: AGC and Speech Enhancement
> https://www.totalrecorder.com/AddOnAGC.htm , which sounds perfect, but
> it's software, and I need hardware.
>
>

All the change in volume is done at the station in audio. All radios
will do the same thing. TV sets used to be really loud during
comercials but the FCC made them put a limit on how much louder they
could be than the programs.

Whatever radio you get you will have to find a device to go between the
radio and the speaker.

On 2024-06-04, vjp2.at@at.BioStrategist.dot.dot.com <vjp2.at@at.BioStrategist.dot.dot.com> wrote:
> I'd like an mp3 player that runs off AC and doesn't need charging
>
> ANd most of the charger ones won't work while charging
>
> I know they come in home-stereo-system models,
> but I amlooking for more of a desktop clock-radio style.

A lot of DAB/DAB+ radios have USB ports and MP3 playback, your
choice of form factor. Clock and kitchen radios are both quite
common.

Do they use DAB in the USA, or is it all Hybrid Digital? If so it
may be worth looking at those, I would imagine the feature set will
be similar.

--
Andrew Smallshaw
andrews@sdf.org

micky wrote on 6/10/2024 12:44 PM:
> Does anyone sell an add-on AVC or AGC, automatic volume control that can
> be used with an existing one-piece radio?
>
> I bought an internet radio and in some of the stations, the commercials
> are so loud they wake me up if I've fallen asleep, or near sleep, and if
> I turn down the volume, I can't hear the program. I listen to talk
> radio and in another channel, the host is loud enough but everyone else
> is much quieter, and sometimes the host gets closer to the microphone
> and it's too loud again.
>
> I'd like to cut the wire to the speakers, which are built into the
> radio's cabinet, and insert a device or circuit that will act as an AVC.
> Any suggestions?
>
> I presume that if I bought a different internet radio I'd have the same
> problem, or is it possible the AVC in this one is broken?
>
> P.S. googling found this, Add-on: AGC and Speech Enhancement
> https://www.totalrecorder.com/AddOnAGC.htm , which sounds perfect, but
> it's software, and I need hardware.

The only thing I can think of is to feed your TV audio output into the
microphone jack of a Windows computer, and then use a software equalizer
with "telephone" equalizer setting to enhance the human voice and
suppress the music (and all other non-human voice frequencies). When
your TV is playing, the computer speaker output will be mainly clear
human voice. When the TV commercial comes on, most of the music will
still be suppressed, and the human voice amplitude will be "clipped"
(slightly distorted).

I think I have posted the Windows software equalizer before. It is quite
a lengthy step to install that free software. I will only re-post if
someone is really interested. You'll also need to fiddle with the
hardware to feed the TV audio output into the computer's microphone jack.

micky wrote:
> Does anyone sell an add-on AVC or AGC, automatic volume control that can
> be used with an existing one-piece radio?
>
> I bought an internet radio and in some of the stations, the commercials
> are so loud they wake me up if I've fallen asleep, or near sleep, and if
> I turn down the volume, I can't hear the program. I listen to talk
> radio and in another channel, the host is loud enough but everyone else
> is much quieter, and sometimes the host gets closer to the microphone
> and it's too loud again.
>
> I'd like to cut the wire to the speakers, which are built into the
> radio's cabinet, and insert a device or circuit that will act as an AVC.
> Any suggestions?
>
> I presume that if I bought a different internet radio I'd have the same
> problem, or is it possible the AVC in this one is broken?
>
> P.S. googling found this, Add-on: AGC and Speech Enhancement
> https://www.totalrecorder.com/AddOnAGC.htm , which sounds perfect, but
> it's software, and I need hardware.
>

Raspberry PI 4 -
Auto Volume Control & EQ setup for CABLE TV -
Keep the volume same on all channels

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3X01edbZk8

In sci.electronics.repair, on Mon, 10 Jun 24 22:26:34 UTC, Judge Arthur
Enron <judge@get.trump> wrote:

>micky wrote:
>> Does anyone sell an add-on AVC or AGC, automatic volume control that can
>> be used with an existing one-piece radio?
>>
>> I bought an internet radio and in some of the stations, the commercials
>> are so loud they wake me up if I've fallen asleep, or near sleep, and if
>> I turn down the volume, I can't hear the program. I listen to talk
>> radio and in another channel, the host is loud enough but everyone else
>> is much quieter, and sometimes the host gets closer to the microphone
>> and it's too loud again.
>>
>> I'd like to cut the wire to the speakers, which are built into the
>> radio's cabinet, and insert a device or circuit that will act as an AVC.
>> Any suggestions?
>>
>> I presume that if I bought a different internet radio I'd have the same
>> problem, or is it possible the AVC in this one is broken?
>>
>> P.S. googling found this, Add-on: AGC and Speech Enhancement
>> https://www.totalrecorder.com/AddOnAGC.htm , which sounds perfect, but
>> it's software, and I need hardware.
>>
>
>Raspberry PI 4 -
>Auto Volume Control & EQ setup for CABLE TV -
>Keep the volume same on all channels
>
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3X01edbZk8

it's something related to what I want, but it's software.
Ralph's and Mighty's suggestions are also appreciated, but not close
enough.

Changed search words and found this
https://www.amazon.com/LEMONKTV-Control-Device-Karaoke-Machine/dp/B07H49JB8S/ref=sr_1_1
Not just for Karaoke. Small but still too big for the speaker space,
but I can mount it outside the radio, cut the wires to the speaker(s)
and connect to each part half of a cable with RCA jacks on the end.

The ratings are few and from 1 to 5. $50.

The sound engineer who gave it 1 star says the only other model is
disconintued but another reviewer started at 5 stars, went down to 1,
then said that Rolls SL33B was better. It's 3.9 starts on 131 reviews
for $89. Still not that high, but sounds better than nothin'. If I can
go to bed listening to the radio, it will be worth it. It has some sort
of gain control and a threshold adjustment, and a "red LED for general
indication of the amount of gain reduction in the circuit". The first
one didn't have any of this.

https://www.amazon.com/rolls-SL33B-Stereo-Program-Limiter/dp/B004GK7PAI/ref=sr_1_1
Called a program limiter for some reason. It's a Utah company. Maybe
they speak differently out there. I guess I'll google that to see if
there are others. yes, there are, at goknight.com using the term
compressor/limiter -- must be a technical name -- but it's $208 or 289.

When I got to the product website itsself it says "helps control the
level over loud, obnoxious commercials, for example." That's half of
what I had in mind, and the other half is similar.

Roger & all,

In article <0631684948.b3e50d1b@uninhabited.net>, Roger Hayter
<roger@hayter.org> wrote:
> One reason for labelling them and keeping them separate is that the
> oxygen one has to be kept free of inflammable lubricants etc.

Thanks Roger. Helpful point.

I have a Hall neuro drill with the factory supplied hose visible here.
http://easthope.ca/HallDrillHose.jpg

It's a hose within a hose; inner has pressure to drive the drill;
outer is exhaust. The upper connector in the photo connects to the
drill. The lower is the male Schrader which connects to the nitrogen
supply. The louvers next to the Schrader disperse the exhaust.

The manual instructs to drive with nitrogen. A nitrogen bottle fitted
with a regulator and female Schrader connector.

An employee at Bay Corporation commented that an air connector is
sometimes used in this application. Implying that a Schrader male
nitrogen can connect to a female air. Would be interesting to know
whether the air and nitrogen connectors differ in geometry or only in
color and marking. I couldn't elicit any additional details from Bay.

I can buy one of these female air connectors.
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/261334401753
It can thread onto a nitrogen regulator.

Bay offers a female nitrogen connector which I haven't found on eBay.
https://www.baycorporation.com/products/schrader-style-quick-connects/nitrogen/scf-12-4

If someone knows of a vendor offering the nitrogen connector at a
reasonable price, please let me know. Otherwise
I'll have to be satisfied with the air connector listed on ebay.

Thanks, ... P.

On 11 Jun 2024 at 16:34:10 BST, "peter@easthope.ca" <peter@easthope.ca> wrote:

> Roger & all,
>
> In article <0631684948.b3e50d1b@uninhabited.net>, Roger Hayter
> <roger@hayter.org> wrote:
>> One reason for labelling them and keeping them separate is that the
>> oxygen one has to be kept free of inflammable lubricants etc.
>
> Thanks Roger. Helpful point.
>
> I have a Hall neuro drill with the factory supplied hose visible here.
> http://easthope.ca/HallDrillHose.jpg
>
> It's a hose within a hose; inner has pressure to drive the drill;
> outer is exhaust. The upper connector in the photo connects to the
> drill. The lower is the male Schrader which connects to the nitrogen
> supply. The louvers next to the Schrader disperse the exhaust.
>
> The manual instructs to drive with nitrogen. A nitrogen bottle fitted
> with a regulator and female Schrader connector.
>
> An employee at Bay Corporation commented that an air connector is
> sometimes used in this application. Implying that a Schrader male
> nitrogen can connect to a female air. Would be interesting to know
> whether the air and nitrogen connectors differ in geometry or only in
> color and marking. I couldn't elicit any additional details from Bay.
>
> I can buy one of these female air connectors.
> https://www.ebay.ca/itm/261334401753
> It can thread onto a nitrogen regulator.
>
> Bay offers a female nitrogen connector which I haven't found on eBay.
> https://www.baycorporation.com/products/schrader-style-quick-connects/nitrogen/scf-12-4
>
> If someone knows of a vendor offering the nitrogen connector at a
> reasonable price, please let me know. Otherwise
> I'll have to be satisfied with the air connector listed on ebay.
>
> Thanks, ... P.
>

It may or may not be helpful but idle googling led me to the following in a
2012 Mercury Medical connector catalogue:

"Important Industry Update:
For years Schrader adapters and check units were not manufactured with
nitrogen-specific indexing. In 2004, Schrader released such fittings which are
now
recommended for all nitrogen-driven products in place of the medical air
version
adopted by the industry for decades. Please use care when ordering."

It seems to mean you might have either, depending on age.

--
Roger Hayter

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 11 Jun 2024 10:32:10 -0400, Retirednoguilt
<HapilyRetired@fakeaddress.com> wrote:

>On 6/11/2024 12:15 AM, micky wrote:
>> In sci.electronics.repair, on Mon, 10 Jun 24 22:26:34 UTC, Judge Arthur
>> Enron <judge@get.trump> wrote:
>>
>>> micky wrote:
>>>> Does anyone sell an add-on AVC or AGC, automatic volume control that can
>>>> be used with an existing one-piece radio?
>>>>
>>>> I bought an internet radio and in some of the stations, the commercials
>>>> are so loud they wake me up if I've fallen asleep, or near sleep, and if
>>>> I turn down the volume, I can't hear the program. I listen to talk
>>>> radio and in another channel, the host is loud enough but everyone else
>>>> is much quieter, and sometimes the host gets closer to the microphone
>>>> and it's too loud again.
>>>>
>>>> I'd like to cut the wire to the speakers, which are built into the
>>>> radio's cabinet, and insert a device or circuit that will act as an AVC.
>>>> Any suggestions?
>>>>
>>>> I presume that if I bought a different internet radio I'd have the same
>>>> problem, or is it possible the AVC in this one is broken?
>>>>
>>>> P.S. googling found this, Add-on: AGC and Speech Enhancement
>>>> https://www.totalrecorder.com/AddOnAGC.htm , which sounds perfect, but
>>>> it's software, and I need hardware.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Raspberry PI 4 -
>>> Auto Volume Control & EQ setup for CABLE TV -
>>> Keep the volume same on all channels
>>>
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3X01edbZk8
>>
>> it's something related to what I want, but it's software.
>> Ralph's and Mighty's suggestions are also appreciated, but not close
>> enough.
>>
>> Changed search words and found this
>> https://www.amazon.com/LEMONKTV-Control-Device-Karaoke-Machine/dp/B07H49JB8S/ref=sr_1_1
>> Not just for Karaoke. Small but still too big for the speaker space,
>> but I can mount it outside the radio, cut the wires to the speaker(s)
>> and connect to each part half of a cable with RCA jacks on the end.
>>
>> The ratings are few and from 1 to 5. $50.
>>
>> The sound engineer who gave it 1 star says the only other model is
>> disconintued but another reviewer started at 5 stars, went down to 1,
>> then said that Rolls SL33B was better. It's 3.9 starts on 131 reviews
>> for $89. Still not that high, but sounds better than nothin'. If I can
>> go to bed listening to the radio, it will be worth it. It has some sort
>> of gain control and a threshold adjustment, and a "red LED for general
>> indication of the amount of gain reduction in the circuit". The first
>> one didn't have any of this.
>>
>> https://www.amazon.com/rolls-SL33B-Stereo-Program-Limiter/dp/B004GK7PAI/ref=sr_1_1
>> Called a program limiter for some reason. It's a Utah company. Maybe
>> they speak differently out there. I guess I'll google that to see if
>> there are others. yes, there are, at goknight.com using the term
>> compressor/limiter -- must be a technical name -- but it's $208 or 289.
>>
>> When I got to the product website itsself it says "helps control the
>> level over loud, obnoxious commercials, for example." That's half of
>> what I had in mind, and the other half is similar.
>
>Your desired solution may fit into the "too hard" category. The
>pragmatic solution is to find something else to lull you to sleep.
>Consider a white noise machine for example. I haven't checked, but

Thanks for the suggestion.

>there may even be a smartphone app for what you want with a built-in
>timer so you don't drain the battery all night. There are also apps

Tune-in on Android (but not in Windows) has a timer like that, and when
I was traveling abroad and using the phone** in bed to listen to USA
radio, I would use that.

(Since then, I've tried to find a timer app that would turn the whole
phone off, and for Android there are no simple ones, only one that
requires accessibilty to be implemented and a script written that
simulates what one does with his hands to turn the phone off. So I've
given up on turning the phone off with a timer.)

**Along with a VPN, since some sites won't work in some or all other
countries***. I started with my laptop using Firefox's VPN, and I
couldn't get it to work. Same problem with NordVPN, and maybe one
other, and I was starting to wonder if I knew what I was doing. But the
next one, ExpressVPN worked quickly and easily. I don't know why the
first ones didn't work. They are all free for the first month and then
13 or 15 dollars a month, and ExpressVPN comes with a free version for
phones. So then I was able to listen to the same stations in the rental
car.

(All the VPNs tell you reasons to use them all the time, and if you pay
by the year they are cheaper, but the reasons don't convince me and I
cancel the VPN when I'm not in a foreign country.)

And sometimes I took it with me to bed, using the timer. That included
a problem because the phone wasn't really loud enough, and earbuds while
asleep didn't seem to be a good idea, and also I was afraid I'd roll
over onto the phone or knock it on the floor. But since then I've
bought a bluetooth speaker, about the size of a very large egg, and I
haven't used that while sleeping yet, but I use it as a better
spearkerphone sometimes and it's great. It has a mike, and plays
different notes when you turn it on or off.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C9TH3H64/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title
There's a bigger one too but for me, this is loud enough, and you can
buy two if you want stereo.

***For that matter, for the same reason in reverse, to access some local
sites while abroad, I would have to turn the VPN off.

>that provide restful sound tracks to aid in meditation. Combined with
>using the "do not disturb" setting on the smartphone to avoid undesired
>audio notifications, it just may do the trick. There may even be
>internet "stations" that provide wall to wall soothing music that
>wouldn't require any additional equipment. Think outside the box when
>plan A doesn't seem feasible.

Thanks.

In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 10 Jun 2024 12:44:41 -0400, micky
<NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

>Does anyone sell an add-on AVC or AGC, automatic volume control that can
>be used with an existing one-piece radio?

It appears what I want is now called sound compresion. why, Idon't
know, but that's it. And maybe sound limiting.

But when I search for that, I find more hits than for avc or agc. (Gain
control was for tv and included the whole signal, including the
picture.)

And I may even want to use it for the computer. I have a fancy audio
program I never adjust. Maybe it has this too. but if if not, I found:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UADdbx160--universal-audio-uad-dbx-160-compressor-limiter-plug-in
for example, Universal Audio UAD dbx 160 Compressor/Limiter Plug-in, for
$49, through june 30th. Will it really go back up to 200 at that time.
Only the Shadow knows.

OTOH, here is more about the Rolls 3333b, which is hardware and costs
$90 at several places: https://rolls.com/product/SL33 Almost all the
reviews are positive or very positive. Do you think I can just cut
the wires to the radio's speaker and connect it in between the
electronics and the speaker? Easy enough to do but will it work?

I guess I can't use white noise, because I want to listen to the news. I
would stay up hours later to listen but I need to sleep, so I at least
want to listen until I fall asleep.

I could try to get CNN to turn down the volume of the commercials but
it's really iHeart I'm listening to that suppplies the ads now, and they
don't seem to have any way to be written to, and I doubt they would do
it.

>I bought an internet radio and in some of the stations, the commercials
>are so loud they wake me up if I've fallen asleep, or near sleep, and if
>I turn down the volume, I can't hear the program. I listen to talk
>radio and in another channel, the host is loud enough but everyone else
>is much quieter, and sometimes the host gets closer to the microphone
>and it's too loud again.
>
>I'd like to cut the wire to the speakers, which are built into the
>radio's cabinet, and insert a device or circuit that will act as an AVC.
>Any suggestions?
>
>I presume that if I bought a different internet radio I'd have the same
>problem, or is it possible the AVC in this one is broken?
>
>P.S. googling found this, Add-on: AGC and Speech Enhancement
>https://www.totalrecorder.com/AddOnAGC.htm , which sounds perfect, but
>it's software, and I need hardware.