Hobie 16 - Day 1 Repairs

Quick list of thing I accomplished on the first day of the rebuild;

was bolted too;

Removed the mast from the trailer so I could remove the upper mast holder.  The holder itself was a wooden cradle with carpeting for cushioning.  It has seen many seasons it appears and was in dire need of replacement.  Researching best way to either build, or buy something.

Next up was the mast head - for some reason my 1984 does have the comp tip head on it even though that wasn't standard equipment until 1986 as I understand it.  Looking at the head here you can see a serious ding that would start slicing into the line.  A quick pinch or three with a pliers and I was able to put that right.  

Friggin amazing what some car wash soap, cold water and a stiff nylon brush can do to clean up a very dingy hull!  It's nowhere near perfect, but again it's a brand new 1984 model...  I was extremely pleased with how well the upper hulls cleaned up.

Quick shot of the "after" cleanup.  I also hit the following items;

• Removed busted triple light on the center rear of the trailer
• Ground off rusty grounding screw, redrilled and added new ground screw for lights
• Taped up all trailer electrical connections to prevent water corrosion
• Removed two front trap lines as they are not coated and have been causing damage to mast and trampoline side bars (prob tech term for that but I don't know it yet)
• Examine all parts and put together a parts list of needed replacement parts, such as rudder cams, parts with bad pulleys, etc.

Hobie 16 - the saga begins!

I pulled the trigger.  Found a Hobie 16 catamaran on Craigslist and bought it!  It's a 1984 Nationals Yellow model that I picked up from a very nice guy in Storm Lake IA.  

This is the photo from the ad.  Also this shows the older sails and it came with newer ones.  The sails themselves are in nice shape.

These are the current (newer) sails for it.  

I'm beside myself excited to start fixing it up and get it out on the water.  I'll detail some of my repairs here and upload more photos as I go.  One of the first things to fix is we busted out the mast step area where the pin goes so I need to replace that (fixed).  Also it needs trampoline repair (Have a new one on hand, just needs to be installed). 

And I picked up a submersible VHF radio, a couple floating flashlights and a couple whistles for safety! Can't be too careful right?!  Peace of mind anyway.

Toshiba SA-400 Receiver - refurb

So we were cleaning out my dad's attic in his old house and I ran across this receiver;

Turns out it's an old Toshiba AS-400, basically the bottom of the line receiver for it's day, but still pretty classic 1970s-1980s looking machine!  I thought I'd try and restore it a bit and get it working.  I plan to use it in the basement by my electronics workbench.  Here are a few more "before" shots;

Next shot here shows 2 bulbs out on the dial as well - hopefully easy to replace!

So next step, disassemble and scrub like mad!!

Surprise surprise, wiggle the little bulbs around a bit and they all fired up!  Nice!

I wasn't too sure about the knobs, they seemed to be almost rusty, but they cleaned up just as well as the front bezel!

Learned that from AudioKarma website - use dawn detergent, warm water, and wife's toothbrush!  Well wife's OLD toothbrush that she doesn't use anymore...  really!

Here is the end result, not bad, still need to find a knob for the missing tuner area but otherwise I think it's the best the old girl has looked in decades!

So now, after I "de-oxed" all the volume/balance/switches etc. she's playing pretty nicely!  All the scratchiness is gone from the volume control and I only have a couple switches to still take apart and clean.  I am a little disappointed in the FM tuning capability here, but I have more playing around with that to do.  AUX input is working well, ipod was able to jam quite well (or as well as a 30 Watt receiver will push some small speakers).  Overall I'm quite happy with the outcome and will post a couple more shots when it's all buttoned up and in place.  

And complete!  Works pretty well, line in sounds great!  The switches were sealed up but I was able to put them midway through their throw and shoot some deoxit in the small gap from the front.  Did the trick and now they are all working as well.

Ed - Raspberry Pi "Entertainment Director"

So, I've been wanting to build a Raspberry Pi "box" for a while.  This one, in particular, is built for portability and travel.  The idea is to put the Raspberry Pi into a box that has all the necessary components and can run off of 12V or 110V, with ports for both the van's RCA Aux inputs as well as HDMI for when we get to our destination, be it a hotel or whatever.

Originally I had planned to enclose it i one of those carpeted speaker boxes you can get from an audio supply store or Best Buy etc., however with the minimum price being $50+ for it, I decided to go another way.  Hobby Lobby shleps all good cheap and cool items and digging around there I found this for $12;

So added in the following components;

• Raspberry Pi 2 (with 32gig card).
• 10 port, 12V, Powered USB hub.
• USB extension cables to round external ports on the side of the case.
• HDMI extension cable to side of the case.
• Power extension to side of the case (home-built with cable and port scavenged from old router).
• Super Nintendo knockoff USB joysticks, USB wifi card, etc.
• 1TB USB drive

Now the system is setup to dual boot, going from RetroPie (old game machine emulator with roms) to OpenElec to watch movies etc. that have been loaded to the 1TB hard drive.  The system also creates a wifi hotspot in the van - allowing kids to connect up their tablets and game together in minecraft etc.  Big first test is coming up for this system, but so far so good - driveway testing passed!  Here are a few more shots of Ed.

Radio Cabinet Restore

So this is a 1930's Coronado radio cabinet.  I got this from a guy who was liquidating his uncle's radio collection after he passed.  He had literally hundreds and hundreds of radios in barns, sheds, house, etc.  This particular one, I have a special "modern technology" update I'm doing to it.  Before any purists call me out on this - it has NO chassis, and the cabinet itself was very close to "firewood" as far as shape and dryness.  By the way, Coronado radios were a store "house" brand for Gimbels department stores.  Anyone remember them?

Ok some "before" shots;

And here is after wipe down with mineral spirits and stripping with lacquer thinner (I have since gone back and got more out of the nooks and crannies with a small brush as well);

And that's where it sits now.  I have some toned lacquer on order so I hope to spray it very soon.  I'm leaning towards opaque toner for the top, edges and bottom, and the more translucent kind (slight lighter in color) for the front and sides.  We shall see how it turns out - by far not a "showroom quality" piece to be sure, but hopefully it will be at least presentable at the conclusion of this.

Ok, got a little more time, sanded more of the top and then shot it with shellac clear sanding sealer and then 6 coats of Mohawk medium dark toner lacquer - here is what we got;

Here is after I did the main body with Mohawk Ultra Medium Walnut and before clear coats. Got a shiney spot on top where I had to do some touchup - not sure how that is going to work out yet.

And just to cause longer page loads, here is a couple shots after clear was put on;