Make:

• New in the Maker Shed - The Heliophone kit
• Retro ThingamaHat
• ThingamaHat
• ogi lumen + open source tools for neon, nixie tubes and LEDs
• ThingamaKIT
• Gakken Electronics experimentor set

Posted by: Gareth Branwyn on July 1, 2008 at 1:51 PM

Wow, Collin. That is seriously great. I laughed. I cried. I fell in love. You even supplied your own mutton chops!

I bought this little number from a Japanese ebay seller in December after seeing it on MAKE. Great toy, and the sound quality was surprisingly good. It's a fun build that should take a couple of hours.

Any tips on getting it to work? I built this a few months ago and all I get is scratching noises. It looks like it ends up cutting a new groove while it's playing back rather than following the one originally cut. I've tried adjusting the needle without much success.

Posted by: Collin Cunningham on July 31, 2008 at 9:21 AM

First off - you really have to holler loudly get a usable recording, get very close to the cone and pretty much shout. You could also try using an amplified instrument or or other audio source played directly into the phonograph's cone (if you just want to test.

If that doesn't work, you could try reinstalling the cone with epoxy or other stiff glue substance - the double-sided tape included can be challenging to use effectively. Once the cone is attached rigidly, it will be much better at conducting incoming vibrations.

The needle adjustment is very important - try revisiting it if you haven't tried all the positions. It seemed to work better for me tilted farther away from the cone side

It took me a good while to set it up properly, but I did learn a few things in the process.

good luck!

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