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Car and Chrono

Car and chrono.

Here are more pictures of my Okean 3133 Final Edition chronograph, such as they are.

It's color matched to Ford's blue oval.

The main entry on this watch is here My Okean 3133 Final Edition and there is a story there.

Love mechanical chronos, and when I got into watches some time ago I decided I would build a collection specifically of affordable chronos... but due to lack of funds have got only three so far, with there being no new addition since 2013... but am still hopeful.

I said "affordable" mechanical chronos and the two prime examples are the Poljot 3133 and China's ST19** series. 

Unfortunately, Poljot is out of production already but still can be found.

Also note the stopwatch is on - the red central hand is moving.

My Watches and Clocks Playlist

My Faulty Sony ICF-SW11

Seeing as I am also into shortwave (mainly) radios, here is another radio from my battery of consumer world radios.

Bought in 2007.

It is a portable analog radio (with 9SW, MW, LW and FM bands) so you shouldn't expect much from it in terms of functionality, also the analog tuning dial has its very obvious limitations, like being unable to determine exactly the frequency you are tuned in to or being unable to tune precisely to a given frequency.

That said, I liked its shortwave reception when I used it a bit soon after I bought it, and thought that it was pretty good on shortwave, all things considered.

However it then developed a major problem with the tuning dial - the pointer first refused to move - then recently regained that ability but the range is shifted upwards somewhat but it doesn't seem to affect ability to tune itself. Described in below video in Russian.

Also it seems now that its reception ability has deteriorated a little - 9 years after it was bought.

Sony still has a couple other much more advance shortwave radios but I am not sure if they still make them or just sell out old stock.

But this radio is still made by Sony and the serial numbers are over 2,000,000 now.

Delirium 168

Some trance on sunday

Electronika 53V x 2

Some Thoughts on Mafia III (2016)

Seeing as occasional gaming is also my hobby, here is my short review of Mafia III 2016 -- just some points that are most salient.

I completed the game about a week ago, the proof of which is in this playlist.

There were some good moments.

The city itself looks nice though not in all weather. Sunny days are generally great.

Sometimes the sunlight sort of floods the inside of buildings and saps the color. Sometimes it is nice at night, sometimes it is too dark.

The story is pretty good, however the confusion of many side- or optional missions is sometimes too much. 

If you want non-linear, you go play GTA series.

But sometimes you want a clear-cut linear story without much distraction. Mafia I and II provided such stories. Mafia III deviates here somewhat though not on the scale of a typically messy GTA game.

If I were to rate the game, it would definitely be behind the first 2 installments but overall not as bad as some claim.

It also is very buggy.

Also the controversial topic of racism is covered boldly but very unrealistically and with a lot of injustice to all sides, I think; also the treatment is cheap and over-the-top. For example, I am not buying the idea of there being "Dixie mafias" at the time controlling dr ug and pros tituion rackets.

Story-wise, the most surprising thing is (spoiler)....

Two Telemeter Scales on My Chronos

Not two different scales, but rather two differently graduated Telemeters scales on a couple of my mechanical chronos.

Here is one - the 2011 Океан Final Edition

The telemeter scale is in red on the outside of the hour marks and it is apparently graduated in nautical miles having about 10 units in total, that is, measuring the distance up to 10 nautical miles or thereabout.

And here is the other - my 2013 Strela 3133 45 mm by Volmax.

Here the scale is in kilometers and has about 19 units.

Basically the telemeter is a device used to measure distances to remote objects.

Per wikipedia,

...the telemeter chronograph is a feature of a wristwatch, i.e. a complication (and the chronograph is itself a complication) which allows the user to approximately measure the distance to an event that can be both seen and heard (e.g. a lightning bolt or a torpedo strike) using the speed of sound. The user starts the chronograph (stopwatch) at the instant the event is seen, and stops timing at the instant the event is heard. The seconds hand will point to the distance measured on a scale, usually around the edge of the face. The scale can be defined in any unit of distance, but miles or kilometers are most practical and commonplace.

It is important to keep in mind different telemeter scales graduation to avoid simple errors.

Flooded My Scuba Dude Vostok Amphibian and Discovered Surprise

Congrats to me, I managed to flood my 2012 Scuba Dude Vostok Amphibian by swimming with a loose (unscrewed) cap on the winding "head" (whatever you properly call it). 

The watch doesn't work any more.

I used the opportunity to open the watch as don't like to open working watches and... I found a surprise surprise!

 I describe the surprise in this little video.

As you can see it has a Vostok Europe auto-winding rotor (and Vostok Europe is not necessarily related to the Vostok company proper).

At first, I though that maybe even the movement itself was a Vostok Europe but it is unlikely.

More pictures for your enjoyment.

Vostok Watches | Bi-Directional Movement

River Cruise and Ship Spotting 2 in July 2016

River ship spotting 2 in Moscow from last summer.

Starting off with the Moskva-89 motor ship on which I went.

On my way I passed the Princess Anastasia (Княжна Анастасия).

 The newer Moskva-198 below.

The Alexander II.

 Some utility boat.

The TO-004.

Spotted...cars in Moscow: On a Moscow Central Circle train

A little train journey along the Moscow Central Circle, aka Line 14.



The line was originally built in 1908, passenger service re-opened in October 2016 - 82 years after it was suspended in 1934 previously.

Nothing much to see out the window though.

The train itself is a ES2G Lastochka high-speed electric train.

 Spotted...cars in Moscow: On a Moscow Central Circle train: A little train journey along the Moscow Central Circle, aka Line 14 . The line was originally built in 1908, passenger service re-open...

Collection of Slava wristwatches -slideshow

Fall Bike

Bicycling in the fall 2016 aka autumn.

 

New discipline in cycling - catch (or escape) the train.

My Radio Shack: Meridian RP-705 Radio

Beside watches and clock, my other major interest is radios, so here is something from my radio blog.

For completion's sake, here is another radio from my collection, and it comes from the bottom of the pile... whatever, meaning it is a cheap radio - more in execution than in actual price as it still cost me the equivalent of 30 dollars at the time.

The radio in question is a 2009 Meridian RP-705 (Меридиан РП-705).

However it is symptomatic of the back-and-forth going nowadays in radio re-branding which affects not only the top- or mid segment (Grunding/Eton/Sangean/Roberts etc.) but also the very bottom.

Because this Meridian is a clone of the Aitkenson International AT-M2630R, in fact, there is a reference to it in the manual.

What's more there is at least one other clone available currently in Russia - the Supra ST-123 (Supra is a distributor of electric and electronic goods operating primarily in Russia and the CIS and pretends to be a Japan brand which it is not).

I wanted to give this radio as an example of the worst in my collection and it probably is, however some use can still be got out of it as you will be able to see in the video below.

A video review and demonstration of operation in Russian.

The box.

It was made for a company called ZAO MiG which has in the meantime (since 2009) disappeared without a trace... but the radio remains and still works just not very well.

Sorry for the backdrop in below pictures - this outhouse needs a new lick of paint. Soon.

As I said I managed to link it to the Aitkenson International AT-M2630R by Aitkenson International Far East Limited of Hong Kong which appears to be a well known firm specializing in this kind of radio appliances on the cheaper end of the spectrum.

Here is its website - Aitkenson International (Far East) Limited.

Many models of radios can be found, some look interesting,  - DSP / PLL, multi-band (with SW) and so on.

And here is the unit in question - AT M2630R.

More photos of my Meridian.

It is definitely not a good radio, not a fair one - just one notch above very poor but still usable, you know.

My main complaint is too much noise during tuning, reception, some kind self-induced noises, jumpy tuning, etc., all kinds of interference.

But it has power source redundancy, by which I mean that it can be powered from the mains as it has an in-built AC/DC adapter, it can be powered using batteries and it also has an accumulator battery which it can charge while powered from the mains. So in this respect at least it gives you something for your money. 

The charging function works well. I guess it could be useful if you are at a location where there are frequent power outages. Many China radios have this feature, including Degen and Tecsun models. However I don't recall coming across it on Sonys, Grundigs etc., at least not on those in my collection.

Polaris Mechanical Alarm Clock with Hen

The newest addition to my collection is this China Polaris mechanical alarm clock.

If you watch the video you will see that it has an animated hen figure pecking at something in tact with the TIC TOC which is cool. I think so anyway.

It also has a central seconds hand which I think is not that often found on mechanical alarm clocks.

It was sold as new where I bought it locally but I believe it must be NOS. 

Overall, I am very pleased, especially so considering it cost me the equivalent of only under 10 dead presidents.

I had to tighten the legs and to tighten the screw on the bell stopper thing on top which was loose and getting in the way of the hammer (can be seen in video) but other than that so far so good.

Maybe I will make some pictures later and post them in this post which will be my main entry on this alarm clock.

I also did some internet digging to verify the name of the company which was new to me but which is real and long established (since 1915) - the Yantai Polaris Watch Factory.

Chinese watch wiki has some info on it - Yantai Polaris Watch Factory.

The manufacturer's site is here in Chinese. But no such alarm clocks anymore.

Also mentioned it on WUS - Polaris mech alarm clock with hen.

And started a thread on the Russian watch forum - Китайский будильник Polaris.

UPDATE: power reserve on full winding is about 55 hours - more than two days. 

Using Chrono Telemeter Function on SpaceX Explosion

About a week ago a Space X vehicle exploded at launch pad.

Out of curiosity I decided to use the telemeter function of my Okean 3133 Final Edition chronograph to get the distance from the event to the camera.

I describe both the chronograph and the telemeter function in this video.

Well, it gave me a rather precise figure of 2 km 150 m.

That is the distance between the event (launch pad) and the camera.

So now you know.

CORRECTION (Sept 22, 2016): It just might be (IT IS!) that the telemeter scale on this watch is graduated not in kilometers but in nautical miles (after all, the watch is called OCEAN).

If so, the distance will be closer to 4 km (2 miles and 1.5 cable lengths).

P.S. The telemeter function on a mechanical chronograph works as follows.

The dial has a specially graduated scale called the Telemeter scale.

When you SEE an event (space x explosion) you push the chrono start button (pusher) when you HEAR the event you hit STOP, after which the chronograph hand (red central hand) shows you on the telemeter scale the distance to the event.

Of course it's based on the fact that the speeds of light and sound in the atmosphere are known as is the difference between them.

Strela 3133 mechanical chrono - far the days come by letter box

ChN-03 FIVE Daily Alarms

The ChN-03 cataloged on this blog here is one of the final generation of the famous Electronika digital watches of the old USSR.

For an old-school type watch it is quite advanced.

It has a large display with two full lines of information, various other features, including an automatic timekeeping adjustment, but specifically the ChN-03 version has FIVE daily alarms as I show in the below video which is in Russian but I mainly show the alarm tunes that it can play.

And I also carried out a battery replacement job on it myself.

Just open the back which is easy to do by prying it open gently.

You don't have to unscrew the large plate just remove the little battery compartment thing holding the button in place. 

Be careful, it's very jumpy.

New battery installed, it's 392, I think, cover it back which is a pain but can be done ultimately.

 

Finished.

DLT's A Jolly Good Show circa 1995-2001

Radio time - somebody's trying to revive the disgraced DLT's career.

So far without much success.

My Summer Choice: Electronika 53V

The summer of 2016 has been very hot and humid in Moscow so far.

The temperature has been hovering around plus 30 degrees Celsius for much of the summer, only today it is a bit cooler but still a respectable +25 C.  

This kind of weather wreaks havoc on leather straps as you are permanently sticky so my watch choice under the circumstances is my Electronika 53V old school digital watch already catalogued on this blog.

The plastic strap on this model is not the easiest thing to use but I think I can just cope with it.

And the photo video below shows how I once performed a battery replacement job on it.

In fact it is still running on the same battery.

HoroLex: Лето. Жара. Электроника 53В: Мой летний выбор - Электроника 53В . Помучился с пластмассовым браслетом, но вроде приноровился. Часы на ремнях берегу на зиму, в ...