Toshiba BomBeat RT-S90 SuperDuper Edition

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BMoney

BMoney

Member (SA)
I didn't want to thread-jack Team JVC's traveling tape so here goes a little preview of my Toshiba BomBeat RT-S90 SuperDuper Edition. It's what happens when you take an already great S90 from Ira and toss in a couple of bits from a beater I already had (that practically only lit up). Of course, Norm helped me out. Stripped everything down and totally rebuilt it.

But when it came to the dial...
I said, "Norm, it's not bright enough."
I said, "I want it bright like Ira's 40."
I said, "I want it green like Green Hornet's Black Beauty headlight green."
I said, "I want it green like it survived the Chernobyl nuclear disaster."
Norm just shook his head and said, "Ok, we can do that."

:w00t: Say what?! But he doesn't stop there. Nope. :no:
Norm goes and illuminates the dial like Cyclops for effortless tuning. :-O

{{{POOF}}} :frankenstein: The SuperDuper Edition is born.
No joke. :no: It is that serious. :yes: It will burn your retinas in a split-second. :cool:

bmoneys90640x480.jpg


bmoneyteamjvctape.jpg


bmoneys90blackout.jpg


I took these pics myself. No Photoshopping. No contrast adjustments.

More to come...

Special thanks to Norm & Ira. :bow:
 
Superduper

Superduper

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Staff member
HOLY COW! That's great photo skillz.

It's the BEST S90 on the planet. Bryan should be proud to have that boombox. I wish I never had to return any boombox I work on. But this one in particular because I really really liked that one. And great photography Bryan. Mine always has clutter in the background. Then again, my house is the size of your bedroom. :-O

I like THIS photo the best. Crappy photo quality, but indicative of how bright the lamps are -- viva la discolite. :w00t: Time to PARTY! No photoshop, no aux light source, just the S90.
11r7ztd.jpg
 
Gluecifer

Gluecifer

Member (SA)
Awesome! Fantastic work all round!!

Love the S90, she's a true gem!

A big, shiny EMERALD gem!!



Rock On.
 
redbenjoe

redbenjoe

I Am Legend
bryan --you are very welcome -
thanks for being such a great customer :angelic:

you and norm :super: have created one of the planets
most desirable objects

i wish mine looked 1/3 that good

:drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool:
 
blu_fuz

blu_fuz

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Mother of god that is bright! - Very very cool LED upgrade.


Can we start a "SuperDuper Edition" thread and have some decals made?
 
redbenjoe

redbenjoe

I Am Legend
blu_fuz said:
Can we start a "SuperDuper Edition" thread and have some decals made?
Click to expand...

------------------------------------------

great idea -- :hmmm: :thumbsup:
all the superduper editions should have this metal plate on them :::: :super:

:yes:
 
blu_fuz

blu_fuz

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I would put a metal plate on mine to show off what he has done. He is to boomboxes what "Roush" is to Fords.
 
Superduper

Superduper

Moderator
Staff member
I should say that boombox lighting is really hard to photograph because our camera's don't have the contrast sensitivity range that the human eye does so the captured image never looks quite the same. In real life, this dial is stunning. Ordinarily, day time operation renders the dial lamp barely visible at best, and invisible at worse. But on this dial, you can clearly see the difference between a lit, and unlit dial. Also, the red illuminated indicator looks a little washed out by the camera. Again, true reproduction is not really possible. But what I can say is that the indicator is a clear piece of acrylic with a single white stripe down the middle. Normally, it's barely visible and from across the room, you can't see at a glance where on the dial you are tuned. Now, the effect is a reddish glow showing you exactly whereabouts you are on the dial. Also, what you can't see easily is that the white indicator stripe illuminates a nice red color. Bottom line is....... see this in real life and the before/after effect is stunning.

Technical aspects of the upgrade:

Original: (1) incandescent lamp for each VU meter
After: Same, no change to keep the original spot-lighted/glow

Original (1) incandescent lamp illuminating both the Adres badge and tuner dial. Because they share that one lamp, not very bright except at night.
After: (2) super bright green LED's for the Adres Badge, + (2) superbright green LED's for the left side of dial, + (2) superbright green LED's for the right side of the dial

Original: Dial indicator -- no lighting at all.
After: (2) Red superbright LED's illuminating from top/down and floats with the indicator needle.

Implementation: Original dial lamp power appears to be sourced through a transistor and not directly to the voltage rail. Rather than potentially increase current to which could affect that transistor life, and also in an effort to retain original functionality of always on via AC, switched on via DC, and minimize effect and changes to orginal circuitry, the existing lamp was simply replaced with a mini-relay instead which in turn, will switch a new voltage regulator to power the LED's. The voltage regulator is then installed using metal standoffs behind the tuner dial and set to provide a rock steady 11.3 volts. The LED's are rated at 12 volts so this will ensure they are not overdriven and should give them decent service life. The regulator also means that regardless of how hard you push the amp, there is no voltage fluctuation to the LED's and they don't dim with the music. The original VU's still do that to so extent since it's connected directly to the voltage rail. Some fit/finish adjustments were necessary to make the new lamps fit. Bottom line -- replace lamp with LED sounds easy. In reality, it's really a bit more complicated than that.
 
Fatdog

Fatdog

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Having witnessed Norm's superb workmanship in person, all I can say is, he is legend.

He took an already exquisite boombox and made it better. Not too many can do that. :super: :cool:
 
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