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Old 14-01-2013, 11:45
Doghouse Riley
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I'm into vinyl jukeboxes, but of course vinyl more or less died in the eighties.
However the old technology can be combined with the new with very satisfactory results.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06jp__aN0gE
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Old 14-01-2013, 13:12
2Bdecided
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Love it. Is this yours? How did you do it?
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Old 14-01-2013, 13:37
Doghouse Riley
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Love it. Is this yours? How did you do it?

Yep!

I've two wall boxes, this is an older one where I use the speakers to play mp3s on my laptop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EFV25tY0fc

I've known the technology has existed for a few years, as I subscribe to a few USA based jukebox enthusiasts message boards, but you need to find a really good jukebox wall box.
It took me over a year to find this one.

Briefly, the wall box is powered by an unseen 24volt DC transformer.
The information is transmitted to the adapter by electrical pulse train sequences as it would normally, to a conventional jukebox.
The little adapter recognises first, the make of the wall box, ie., Rock-Ola, Wurlitzer, Seeburg or Ami, then the individual model of the wall box (Rock-Ola made 13 different models) then whether the electrical supply is on 50 or 60 cycles, simply by a four digit code you give the iTunes play list.
The adapter recognises which of the 160 mp3s have been selected and then collects them from the iPod and passes them via an audio selector (my tuner/amp also powers other equipment) and then to the speakers.
The adapter is powered by a 9volt transformer, which also keeps the iPod battery charged up.
The title cards on the wall box you can print off from a pdf proforma.

I get 7 plays for an old 50p and I can open the cash box and get all my money back!

These adapters are made in the USA and is reviving the interest in jukebox wall boxes, in diners and cafes as the maintenance of the equipment is less costly than conventional jukeboxes.

I've two vinyl jukeboxes (we call them our 3cwt iPods) in our summerhouse at the bottom of the garden, that really only get used in the summer. They are always tucked up in bubblewrap with a "hot waterbottle" in the winter.

There you go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISeRK8vCa1M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i42Wuc_Pzoc
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Old 14-01-2013, 23:58
Doghouse Riley
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For those too young to know, but may be interested, the "matchbox" sized adapter and the iPod, replace about 90% of this.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=morLkJDxWyg
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Old 15-01-2013, 00:20
call100
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I admire the dedication and enthusiasm you have for those beauties. My wife would love one of those......Congratulations on a job well done....
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Old 15-01-2013, 10:26
Doghouse Riley
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I admire the dedication and enthusiasm you have for those beauties. My wife would love one of those......Congratulations on a job well done....
Thank you for your kind words.
The two vinyl machines are in our summerhouse at the bottom of our garden, I usually play them when I'm doing a bit of gardening.
The wall box is a bit of a compromise with my wife as we've only a semi and I've an electric piano and saxophones in our front room. Having a jukebox in there as well would make it a bit too crowded.
The vinyl jukebox "brotherhood" is world-wide, with thousands of enthusiasts devoted to helping each other keep these old machines working.
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Old 16-01-2013, 10:33
2Bdecided
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Wow - that's a whole new world! Many thanks for sharing it.

Cheers,
David.
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Old 16-01-2013, 12:03
Doghouse Riley
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Thanks for that, wall boxes combined with a jukebox are sometimes used in a domestic environment.
You'd have a full-size jukebox say in your lounge and connected to it a wall box in the kitchen. You can make selections of record choices by using the buttons on the jukebox or on the wall box.The sound could be heard in the lounge from the jukebox and in the kitchen from the two small speakers in the wall box, mine aren't connected as they aren't necessary. There are still plenty of enthusiasts who have this arrangement. I can't imagine my wife "allowing" that.
My wall box just sits on the top of a fold-down table. It weighs around 30lb so it's quite stable, when we need the table, I just sit the box on the base of the adjacent wall unit.

Wall boxes were pretty common in the States during the 40s to 70s. They were often positioned on the wall at the end of booth tables in diners, etc., you see them occasionally in classic films in scenes in diners or bars. You could have as many as a dozen wall boxes connected to a jukebox.

In this country they were often used in combination with a "hideaway" particularly in smaller establishments, that's the mechanism of a jukebox in a big cupboard either in a back room or a cellar.

This allowed the owners to have another table in the space a full-sized jukebox would occupy. The wall box could be positioned pretty much anywhere and the "hideway" would power some wall speakers.
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