The Record The Crystalume Caper

Terfyn

Don't worry. The Queen is not a follower of AVForums. I did hear they ordered a new head for the executioner's axe but I don't believe you were on the list.
Pleased the set up is coming together but I did not realise you could use FireWire for a HDD connection, most new HDDs use USB.

JCAllison

Hey Mr. T,
Oh, GOOD! Actually it wasn't the Queen that caused the trepidations, but as you may or may not know, there exists (at least here) at the present a whole polarized culture that thrives on taking umbrage with almost anything that is said. It doesn't matter, one side or the other is offended. It is not in my nature to be offensive. Still sometimes it concerns me that something I've written MIGHT have been taken badly.

Comforting!

Well, the FireWire seemed to start working just fine, once MarkE turned me on the "Legacy" Driver. Prior to installing THAT, Windows Movie Maker insisted that the Panasonic Camcorder was in use by another program.

Anyway, thanks for response and the encouragement about the concern of having posted something offensive. Hope this finds YOU doing well.

JC

MarkE19

Relax JC, nothing you have said is in the least bit offensive - and I'm really disappointed, you must try harder

As for stopping everything at the end of a recording - I find pulling the plug out seems to do it quickly & easily  

Mark.

JCAllison

Hey Mark,
Remember the post about the OLD UseNet NewsGroup called ? Back then, there were what came to be known as "The Great Flame Wars" that were waged on the UseNet. There was also back then a series of Browsers that were called "Netscape Navigator". One in particular was one called Netscape Navigator 3.0 Gold. Spiffiest Browser EVER. Had an HTML Editor. And it had a way to produce a faux E-Mail Address, which was used to make address for what were called "Sock Puppets". Of course one could NOT send an E-Mail to the faux address, but they were accepted by the UseNet as if they were the addresses of REAL Netizens.

I personally had an even 100 Sock Puppets, and used half of them to wage war on the other half of them. They came to be known as "The Megalodon Army", and there was in the Megalodon Army, an out fit known as The Ghurkin Rangers. There was General Vlasic, Major Del Monte, Colonial Claussen, there was even a "gay" Ghurkin "SweetPickle".

Each Sock Puppet had its own style of writing, accents, levels of education, favored sayings, and etc. Some of the characters were egregiously scatological, profane to the extreme, meant to be as offensive a possible, and nothing was sacred! There were no MODERATORS!

It was like when I write the Sci-Fi Novels, one has to write each character as an individual. The game was called "The King of Fauxs", and the object of the game was to guess who was writing who. There was a crew of Sock Puppets from China known as "Andrea Chen, and the Evil Minions", and another known as "Randy Lee Blaine, and the Mighty Birdtribe".  

Alas, as the King of Fauxs, I had quite enough of writing offensively. It was much too easy. Besides, everyone has been so nice to me here at AVF, that to be contentious or argumentative is  completely unnecessary.

Right. But then everything would have to be rebooted. Have mentioned previously that recording The Crystalume is going to eventually become a carefully choreographed routine. Presently, have not yet decided or grokked how it will have to be done, but once into it, the routine will become more and more apparent. Once all the elements are put into a workable order, then refinements can be made. Can see a time when we'll be making a complete recording in just a couple of days.

Anyway, am all set to take Ms. American for inspection first thing tomorrow morning. Cleaned her Windows, and adjusted the pressure in her Tires this morning. Hope you had a GREAT weekend. Take care.

JC

Kev Greenhalgh

Hey JC, Greenhalgh is pronounced Green-Alsh. It's a very common surname in the north west, (Lancashire).
In fact Halgh can be suffixed to any number of words denoting a place name or historical trade.

There's a town in Lancashire called Greenhalgh, as is the castle on't hill.

Also one of the first Royal Navy vessels I stepped foot on, HMS Broadsword,(F88) a type 22 batch 1 frigate was sold to the Brazilian Navy and is now called Greenhalgh

Greenhalgh castle built by Thomas Stanley

Stay groovy JC.

PS - I'm not ex-service/civil or military

JCAllison

Hey Mr. KG,
Who woulda thunk?

These are quaint customs.

Greenhalgh castle built by Thomas Stanley

Looked at this. Interesting.

Also interesting.

There WAS a time! NOW? Not so much.

All right.

Sorry about not responding sooner, but have been having some difficult drama with Ms. American 3.14159.

Took her to be inspected last Monday morning. It all went swimmingly till it came to her Brake Lights. Couldn't get them to light.

Brought her home, and found that while the Brakes Lights would work if the Circuit was bridged with a Jumper Wire, they wouldn't light if connected to the Hydraulically operated Brake Light Switch on the Master Cylinder. It was a BRAND NEW Brake Light Switch, and should have worked.

So after having driven the vehicle TO the Inspection Station, failed the Inspection, and driven back home, found that the Radiator Supply Tank was leaking! Not good!

After diagnosing the Brake Light Failure but not successful in getting it to work, removed the Radiator Supply Tank. Then early last Wednesday Morning, headed for Livingston, Texas (13 miles East of Onalaska), to: 1. Take the Radiator Supply Tank to Ben Nettles Radiator Shop for repair, and 2. Get a NEW Brake Light Switch from the NAPA Auto Parts Store.

Alas, Ben Nettles said that he couldn't fix the Radiator Supply Tank! Reason? Too complex to explain. Suffice it to say that the Unit is TOAST! But, the NEW Brake Light Switch WAS successfully acquired. By the time I got home from Livingston late Wednesday, I was over-done, and pretty much wiped-out.

Got up the next morning, and installed the NEW Brake Light Switch, only to find that it TOO failed to light the Brake Lights.

So the next possible culprit was the NEW Master Cylinder.

Went through all the contortions involved with diagnosing the Master Cylinder, and found it to be in perfect working order!

As a last resort, made a small roll of Sand Paper, and put it into each of the Electrical Connectors that get installed on the Brake Light Switch. Then crimped them closed a bit, added a dab of Dielectric Silicone, and put them onto the NEW Brake Light Switch. VOILA' Brake Lights!

But NOW we are dead in the water because of the Radiator Supply Tank issue.

Started looking for a replacement on the Internet. Seems they are EXCEEDING rare, and are selling for nearly $400.00! There IS some virtue to keeping a rare old vehicle such as Ms. American all ORIGINAL, but there is also virtue in having her function reliably.

Instead of getting another OLD Radiator Supply Tank (since I already have one), opted for getting a NEW, but totally NOT stock Unit for $130.99! Ordered it this morning. It will be here by next Thursday.

Am slowly getting the decks cleared for getting to The Scryer's DTTV and The Crystalume.

Have aught but to install the NEW Radiator Supply Tank when it gets here, and then getting the old Gal inspected, and licensed. Will then be all set to do some Crystalume rehearsal and recording.

Will keep you all updated if, when, and as progress occurs.

Hope this finds YOU all doing well.

Take care

JC

JCAllison

Hey All,
Wednesday, August 29, 2018, Early-Morning Update:

Much has happened since the last post to this thread.

Ms. American 3.14159 (the ONLY 1964 Ford Galaxie 500, Four-Door, Hard-Top, Fast-Back, Police Interceptor that Google finds on the whole World Wide Web) has STRUCK OUT!

As you may, or may not know, STRUCK OUT is a "baseball" term that means the batter has failed three chances to hit the ball.

After THREE attempts to pass inspection, Ms. American has FAILED in each attempt!

It was NOT due to lack of preparation. Each time, she was perfectly prepared, and each time she managed to conjure up some tiny thing at which to fail, followed by a MAJOR, totally unforeseen, and unexpected malfunction.

The upshot of this is that she has finally been parked, covered by Tarps, and is sitting abandoned indefinitely under her Carport.

Am saddened by this turn of events, but it is necessary. She had become an expensive, time-consuming, and TOTALLY un-rewarding project on which there is no longer going be time wasted.

Life goes on.

The upshot of all this is that NOW, we can get back to the "Recording The Crystalume Caper", which will begin just as soon as the situation that has been neglected while the abortive attempt to get Ms. American to being road-worthy, and street-legal is put back to some semblance of order and normalcy.

Will be in touch soon, hopefully with words of progress and production.

Anyway, hope this finds you all doing well, and taking excellent care.

JC

Terfyn

Story of my life. LOL

JCAllison

Hey Mr. T,
There are all kinds of things that take place in life. Have found that while some of them are unpleasant, they are seldom uninteresting. Not letting things get one down is the trick. Attitude is everything. Acceptance is key.

Anyway, it's once again, onward through the fog.

Take care.

JC

JCAllison

Hey All,
Saturday, September 8, 2018, Almost-Late-Afternoon Update:

Need some information that is wildly OFF-TOPIC! If it is objectionable, you have but to tell me so, and the subject won't be pursued any further with no hurt feelings.

Wouldn't be doing this were it NOT a desperation effort.

Wouldn't be doing this here if it were NOT for the fact that YOU guys, (of almost ALL people) are the only ones I know who can help.

With that said, here is an explanation of this plea which will delineate the information that is needed.

As you may or may not know, I happen to have two of the most famous and rare motor vehicles in the world. The first has been mentioned here, mostly in passing, and am not sure that the other one has even been mentioned at all.

The first one is Ms. American 3.14159, the ONLY 1964 Ford Galaxie 500, Four-Door, Hard-Top, Fast-Back, Police Interceptor that Google finds on the WHOLE World Wide Web. Ms. American came to live with me in June of 1986. She is a lithe, powerful, gorgeous, sadistic WITCH with a capital B! See HERE:

MS. AMERICAN 3.14159

The second one is Lorrie Van Haul, the LAST 1967 Dodge P200 Post Office Vehicle, out of 3,500 built. Lorrie came to live with me in August of 1975. She is just the most gentle, reliable sweetheart of a truck as one could ever hope for. See HERE:

MS. AMERICAN 3.14159

The information needed is regarding Lorrie Van Haul.

As you may or may not know, here in the USA, only the United States Postal Service (USPS) have any use for vehicles with Steering Wheels on the Right Side of the vehicle. That's because they are used to deliver mail to roadside Mail Boxes. Lorrie being a former employee of the USPS, has her Steering Wheel on the Right Side (thus the name LORRIE, which I know is not how it is spelled in Britain).

So here is the situation: Lorrie is fifty-one years old, and her Steering System has, over the years, become quite LOOSE. The part of Lorrie's Steering that is loosey-goosey is what is called the Steering Gear Box. It has, over the last half-century been properly maintained, lubricated, and adjusted till it no longer has any adjustment left. It is in need of either rebuilding, OR replacing.

So "WHY?", you might ask, is not this request for information being posed to an appropriate Automobile Forum instead of to a Home Entertainment Tech Community? Well, I assure you it HAS been. All to no avail!

Have been for the past month searching for an appropriate "Right Hand Drive, Manual Steering Gear Box". The research done has resulted in finding out that the Unit presently residing IN Lorrie is a Gemmer Y4D-335, Right Hand Drive Manual Steering Gear Box.

Have contacted ALL the companies in the USA that rebuild Steering Gear Boxes, and have not found a single one that either has or that can rebuild a Gemmer Y4D-335, Right Hand Drive MANUAL Steering Gear Box. Nor can they even find the Bearings, Bushing, Seals, and Gaskets to rebuild the Unit.

It appears that in ALL the world, there is NOT another Gemmer Y4D-335, Right Hand Drive Manual Steering Gear Box in existence!

Have contacted a Salvage Yard Network in Australia, thinking that they might perchance have a suitable unit. Alas, they were of absolutely no help.

So here is the "Plan B" on this rather knotty problem. ANY Right Hand Drive Manual Steering Gear Box might be able to be adapted to Lorrie. It would take but the fabricating of a Mounting Bracket that would position the Unit so that Lorrie's Steering Wheel Shaft would match up to the Worm Gear Input Shaft, AND the Pitman Arm would match up to the Drag Link.

With THAT strategy in mind, the next thing that is needed is to find someone, somewhere who makes, as a usual thing, Right Hand Drive Manual Steering Gear Boxes!

And so I said to myself: "Self, who do you know who might know, or could find out, who makes Right Hand Drive Manual Steering Gear Boxes?"

And I immediately said, it might well be an Englishman! (if that is still an acceptable term). So whom do I know who is English? AHA! The good people at AVForums!

So some here MIGHT NOT want to get involved with this. BUT then again, some MIGHT!

Here is the information needed: Who in Britain builds a Right Hand Drive Manual Steering Gear Box that would be heavy duty enough to work with a vehicle that has a 2,800 lb. Front Axle Capacity? Would anyone here happen to know, or be able to find out?

Both Lorrie and I would be forever grateful for any assistance that you might afford on this account.

Anyway, this project is imperative, in that without Lorrie, the cats and I would starve. So this needs doing, and has, alas taken precedence over working with The Crystalume and The Scryer DTTV System, which is patiently awaiting my attention.

Thanks in advance for any information. Hope this finds YOU all doing well, and taking excellent care.

JCAllison