Never Stop Learning!

The Sharp IM-DR80 (late 2003) classy-looking NetMD-capable recorder that requires a dock for full-functionality. Recently, the great "asivery" updated the test build of Web MiniDisc Pro (https://testing.webminidisc.wiki/webminidisc-testing ) to support the NetMD functionality on these beautiful units. That includes the Kenwood DMC-S9NET as well!  Previously, it would just crash/disconnect from Web MiniDisc Pro. These don't have a display on the body, but they have a great remote that includes a record button and a higher-resolution screen that can display kanji characters. This one came unconfirmed and wouldn't run on a gumstick. For $35 USD, I couldn't pass it up and I was glad to get another working IM-DR80 for my collection! In this video, I also included some screenshots of working in Web MiniDisc Pro as I was testing recording. This was a pretty straightforward cleanup so take a look if you have one, want one, or just want to see inside! Remember, to use thi...

The Kenwood DMC-S77 (late 2003) is a fun, MDLP player with a unique light grid that flashes patterns when docked or playing. You can even control the lighting modes with the remote! It's the older sibling to my DMC-T77 which I love. I found this one "unconfirmed" on Buyee for about $25 USD and it came with the remote and AA sidecar. Unfortunately, it didn't come with the dock, but it works with the other docks I had (without the clock). I like working on these later-model Kenwood players since they're pretty easy to get in and out of. This one is still a bit bent, and it was really dirty inside, but it's back to working condition! Check out the video for details!

For this "episode" I received two Sony MZ-E70s (1999) from a friend in the MiniDisc community that no longer worked. He was hoping that I could end up with one working one out of two sets of parts. One of them was in great condition, but wouldn't power on while the other one was in OK condition, but internally was pretty bad (corrosion, corrosion crystals, rusty screws and parts). Check out the video for more details, but this was a very interesting takedown with just one screw on the bottom casing (inside the battery compartment). TL;DW There was no copper left on the internal negative terminal where the gumstick would have touched, so I tested a fix by bending a copper multi-stranded wire and fixed it there with copper tape. It worked fine after that. Interestingly, there's a small PCB inside that says MZ-E55 which was a previous model.  This was an interesting disassembly overall!