Who is that old guy standing next to Chubby Checker?
Hey, that’s me!
And never will you meet a nicer gentleman than Chubby Checker.
Common’ Baby
Tag: off topic
The Sportable 3306LED02 Baseball Scoreboard
This post has nothing to do with radio engineering but is full of geeky goodness, nonetheless. My son is playing Little League again this year. This is his first year in the majors division, and I have to say, I have been thoroughly enjoying watching his games. There is, of course, one minor glitch in the matrix; the scoreboard, which occasionally looks like this:
Now, that is more of an annoyance than anything else. I know what inning it is and what the score is. Truth be told, most of the time the scoreboard is being run by one of the parents (read: a mom) and they can become distracted at times. Very often, the ball/strike/out count is not correct, which in turn causes the home plate umpire to angrily stare up and the scorekeeper’s window.
Anyway…
As I was saying, more of an annoyance…
Regardless, I thought to myself; jeez, I fix things, perhaps I should have a go at that sign. So I spoke to one of the Little League board members who were more than grateful for any assistance I could render.
Thus, one afternoon, after work, I got the ladder out and started poking around to see what I could learn. These signs are relatively simple. Each digit on the sign has one circuit board. Each circuit board has seven segments. Each segment has fourteen LEDs in series. There is a Toshiba ULN2803APG, which is a 16-pin darlington driver, and an LM 317 voltage regulator which is fixed with a 62-ohm resistor.
After poking around with the DVM for a while, I determined that the bad segments were due to open LEDs. I measured the working LEDs and determined that each LED was dropping about 1.7 volts. I took a board home with me and rummaged around in the parts bin until I found some orange 5MM LEDs that matched the voltage drop of the ones on the board. I confirmed my ladder-top troubleshooting findings on the workbench using the DVM in diode mode. I also noticed that the Fluke DVM had enough current to light the LED, thus making troubleshooting much easier. There were three bad circuit boards with various segments out.
A few minutes with the soldering iron and presto:
Sign repaired. I little further research and I found that an Everlight MV8104 LED (Mouser part number 638-MV8104) is a near-perfect replacement. Literally, a 23.3 cent (US) part.
In all fairness to the company that makes the scoreboard, this unit was new in 2003 or 2004. It has spent at least 11 years outside in upstate NY, which is not a tender climate. They will replace the digit circuit boards for 175.00 each, plus $25.00 shipping. My repair work used 9 LEDs ($2.10) plus about two hours of troubleshooting and repairing vs. $600.00 plus perhaps an hour to replace the boards.
Modern Art
After replacing a burned-out FM antenna for one of our clients, the question became; what do we do with the old antenna? There were several options:
- Throw it behind the transmitter building and let weeds and poison ivy grow over it
- Take it to the scrap yard to get whatever money we could for it
- Give it away to somebody
- Turn it into a fountain
I have scrapped these old antennas before, they are made mostly of hard yellow brass, which does not net too much at the scrap yard. In fact, by the time I finished removing the Radomes and separating the metal, I had more time for the job than it was worth for both myself and the client. Therefore, I present to you the ERI LPX lawn fountain:
Upon completion, my wife and daughter, who are natural-born skeptics, even had kind words to say. It seemed like a simple project at first; enlarge the dry well for the basement sump pumps and install some type of mounting base for the old antenna. It turned into a little more than that.
It took several hours of backbreaking labor, a concrete form, and a few bags of ready-mix concrete to create the mounting base. Several wheelbarrow loads of gravel, some rocks from the old wall in the woods, and a pond pump from the hardware store round out the installation.
I am not sure what else to say.
Bumper Stickers
I found this box of bumper stickers at a transmitter site the other day. And you might say “A box of bumper stickers, wow.” which would be nearly identical to the reaction I had. But then I started looking through them and realized that many were from the eighties and early nineties.
It is sort of like a way-back radio promotions time machine. On the back of most of these bumper stickers, there is some type of offer; 10% off, $2.00 off, etc from different local businesses. You remember those things; tire repair shops, miniature golf, non-chain restaurants, and fast food places, retail stores that aren’t Walmart, and so on. There were several that had bumper sticker spotting contests, including one, where if the bumper sticker was spotted covering another radio station’s bumper sticker, they would stop you on the spot and give you $1,500.00. Now that is exciting!
I picked a few of the more interesting examples:
Being an engineer and coming upon new, unknown data, I decided to quantify it. Therefore I made a spreadsheet of all the different radio stations and any other information I could find on the back of the bumper sticker:
| Call Sign or Identifier | Frequency | Location | Date |
| 92 MOO | 92 FM | ?? | ?? |
| 94.9 ZHT | 94.9 Mhz | Colorado | 1998 |
| B.Rock | 97.7 MHz | ? | ? |
| B96 | 96 FM | Chicago, IL | 1990 |
| CFX-95 | 95 FM | Central Michigan | ?? |
| FM 96 | 96 FM | Montreal, QC | 1985 |
| Groove 103.1 | 103.1 MHz | ?? | ?? |
| KAKS KISS 108 | 108 FM | ?? | ?? |
| KATD | 95.3 FM | ?? | ?? |
| KAT-FM | 92.9 MHz | ?? | ?? |
| KATT | 100.5 MHz | Oklahoma City, OK | 1988 |
| KBBY | 95 FM | ?? | ?? |
| KBOO | 90.7 MHz | Portland, OR | 1986 |
| KBPI | 105.9 MHz | Colorado | ?? |
| KCFO | 102 FM | ?? | 1984 |
| KCFX | 101 FM | Overland Park, KS | ?? |
| KDKA | 1020 KHz | Pittsburgh, PA | 1986 |
| KEDG | 103.5 MHz | Kern County? | 1993 |
| KENO AM Stereo | 1460 KHz | Las Vegas, NV | 1988 |
| KEGL | 97.1 MHz | ?? | ?? |
| KFMG | 107.9 MHz | San Diego | 1983 |
| KGBX | 1260 AM | ?? | ?? |
| KHIP | 93.5 MHz | San Francisco, CA | Early 80’s |
| KHTR | 103 FM | St. Louis, MO | 1983 |
| KIIS | 102.7 MHz | Los Angeles, CA | 1988 |
| KISS 108 FM | 108 FM | Medford, MA | 1992 |
| KLBS | 1330 KHz | ?? | ?? |
| KLZX | 93 FM | ?? | 1989 |
| KMEL | 106.1 MHz | CA? | ?? |
| KMEL | 106 FM | CA? | 1990 |
| KMET | 94.7 MHz | ?? | ?? |
| KMGX | 104 FM | ?? | ?? |
| KMJI | 100 FM | Englewood, CO | 1986 |
| KNCI | 98.5 MHz | ?? | ?? |
| KOMP | 92.3 MHz | Las Vegas, NV | 1986 |
| KOUL | 103.7 Mhz | ?? | ?? |
| KPXI | 100.7 MHz | ?? | ?? |
| KRKO | 1380 KHz | ?? | 1990 |
| K-Rock | 1310 AM Stereo | Albuquerque, NM | 1989 |
| KRQR | 97.3 MHz | San Francisco, CA | ?? |
| KSHE | 95 FM | St. Louis, MO | ?? |
| KSHE | 95 ? | St. Louis, MO | 1995 |
| KTAR | 620 KHz | Phoenix, AZ | ?? |
| KTYD | 99.9 MHz | ?? | 1984 |
| KUFO | 98 FM | ?? | ?? |
| KVIL | 103.7 MHz | ?? | ?? |
| KXOJ | 100.9 MHz | ?? | 2000 |
| KXXX | 105.3 MHz | Dane County? | 1990 |
| KYMS | 106.3 FM | CA ?? | 1986 |
| KYNK | 1430 AM | ?? | ?? |
| KYST Radio Alegria | 920 KHz | ?? | ?? |
| KZOK | 102.5 FM | ?? | ?? |
| KZST | 100 FM | Santa Rosa, CA | ?? |
| KZZP | 104.7 MHz | ?? | 1989 |
| Pirate Radio | 100.3 MHz | ?? | ?? |
| Pirate Radio 100.3 | 100.3 MHz | ?? | ?? |
| Power 104 | 104 FM | Huntsville, AL | 1986 |
| Power 106 FM | 106 FM | Los Angeles, CA | ?? |
| Q-105 & 1380 AM | 105 FM/1380 AM | Tampa, FL | ?? |
| Q-106.5 | 106.5 Mhz | St. Louis, MO | 1989 |
| Q-94 | 94 FM | Cookeville, TN | 1983 |
| Rock 103 | 103 FM | Memphis, TN | 1984 |
| Rock 105 | 105.9MHz | Nashville, TN | ?? |
| Rock 107 | 107 FM | PA | 1983 |
| Top 106 FM | 106 FM | ?? | ?? |
| TV-69 | Channel 69 | Gainesville, FL | 1986 |
| WAAF | 107 FM | ?? | ?? |
| WAIL | 99.5 FM | Key West, FL | 1987 |
| WALK | 97.5 Mhz | Long Island, NY | 1992 |
| WAPE | 95 FM | Orlando | ?? |
| WAZY 96 ½ | 96.5 MHz | ?? | 1990 |
| WBAP | 820 Khz | Dallas, TX | 1986 |
| WBFG | 97.7 MHz | Effingham, IL | 1987 |
| WBT | 1110 KHz | Charlotte, NC | ?? |
| WCBW | 105 FM | St Louis, MO | ?? |
| WCCC | 106.9 Mhz | Hartford, CT | ?? |
| WCKX | 106.3 MHz | ?? | ?? |
| WCNX | 1150 KHz | Middletown, CT | 1984 |
| WCUZ | 101.3 FM/1230 AM | Greenville, SC | 1987 |
| WDVE | 102.5 MHz | Pittsburgh, PA | ?? |
| WGN | 720 KHz | Chicago, IL | 1986 |
| WHHU Y-102 | 102 FM | ?? | 1988 |
| WHLY | 106 FM | Orlando, FL | 1986 |
| WHTZ Z-100 | 100 FM | New York, NY | Early 90’s |
| WIYY | 98 FM | ?? | ?? |
| WIZN | 106.7 Mhz | Burlington, VT | 1990 |
| WJMX | 106 FM | ?? | ?? |
| WJZM | 1400 AM | ?? | ?? |
| WKLH | 96 FM | ?? | ?? |
| WKVT | 92.7 Mhz | Vermont | 1992 |
| WLIZ | 98.7 Mhz | Detroit, MI | 1985 |
| WLLZ | 98.7 FM | ?? | ?? |
| WMAS | 95 FM | Springfield, MA | 1990 |
| WMAS | 1450 AM | Springfield, MA | 1990 |
| WMJQ | 102 FM | Gainesville, FL | 1993 |
| WMLI | 96.3 Mhz | Dane County ? | 1989 |
| WMMQ | 92.7 MHz | Lansing, MI | 1985 |
| WMMS | 100.7 MHz | ?? | ?? |
| WNEW | 102.7 FM | New York, NY | 1989 |
| WNFI I-100 | 100 FM | Ormond Beach, FL | 1984 |
| WOVR | 103 FM | ?? | |
| WPSC | 88.7 (TV-6) | Wayne, NJ | ?? |
| WQUT | 101 FM | ?? | 1986 |
| WQXM | 98 FM | Tampa, FL | 1983 |
| WRKT | 104 FM/1300 AM | Broward co, FL | 1984 |
| WRO | 95 FM | ?? | ?? |
| WRQK | 107 FM | 1986 | |
| WRRO | 1440 KHz | ?? | ?? |
| WRSI | 95.3 FM | Greenfield, MA | 1985 |
| WRX | 103.7 Mhz | ?? | ?? |
| WSHO SHO Radio | 98.3/103.5 FM | Schenectady, NY | 1989 |
| XX FM 95 | 95 MHz | Honolulu, HI | 1986 |
| Y-95 | 95 FM | St. Louis, MO | 1988 |
| Z-100 | 100 FM | New York, NY | ?? |
| Zeta 94.9 | 94.9 FM | ?? | 1987 |
Right.
Well, if anyone is interested in any of these, contact me off line. There were some other, generic stickers like “Good times, Great Oldies” that did not have any identifying information.