Card Radio Teardown
Added 2025-03-23 12:54:32 +0000 UTCI probably would have thought to include a teardown in the original video if I’d been firing on all cylinders - but regardless here it is as a short separate video
I regularly forget to include a teardown until someone reminds me that it’s missing from a video. The reason for this is with most IC based devices, what’s inside isn’t of any interest to me - I tend to learn nothing other than 'well there it is - the circuit board'. I do appreciate however that many others do find this reveal to be fascinating, so I really need to try to remember to include it where possible.
Comments
Yes that’s one of the big reasons behind the extra ‘Teardown’ video - they mentioned wanting to see it. So hopefully when it goes public later they’ll find it interesting.
Techmoan
2025-03-25 15:56:33 +0000 UTCHackaday have picked up your video https://hackaday.com/2025/03/22/card-radios-remembered/
Chas Large
2025-03-25 15:40:18 +0000 UTCGlad to hear that your voice has improved since the last video.
Holger P Kleinert
2025-03-24 20:56:37 +0000 UTCTA7792: FM/AM Receiver IC, TA7766: FM Stereo Decoder IC, TA7767: Stereo Audio Amplifier IC. They were made by Toshiba. All Datecodes seem to be from 1985.
Holger P Kleinert
2025-03-24 20:50:03 +0000 UTCIn the last video I commented that I had seen the Sony radios for sale in Japan in 2006. I get the impression that they were being sold mainly as a souvenir so maybe they were never sold outside of Japan. Having bought one, and already having the SW100 at the bottom left of the picture I thought it might be fun to get a TR55 as shown top right. I then discovered collectors value them in a similar manner to Apple 1 computers
Duncan
2025-03-24 20:16:12 +0000 UTCThanks for signing up, you’ll find quite a few extras on here if you dig around.
Techmoan
2025-03-24 13:53:06 +0000 UTCJust joined your patreon as I've been enjoying your vids for years and wanted to support you and wish you well. You're sounding so much better in this video. Wishing you a speedy recovery.
Alex White
2025-03-24 13:42:46 +0000 UTCGood update video Mat and good hear voice is stronger
MJFJ
2025-03-24 12:59:35 +0000 UTCI am glad that you are recovering from your vindictive virus. That card radio though, seems to have a long road back to an active lifestyle. Perhaps you could just follow up with testing it with a normal button cell just to hear if the circuit is still working? Just to show that there is still hope in the world. Or not.
Urban Lindeskog
2025-03-24 09:07:36 +0000 UTCYou’re sounding a lot better than you did a few days ago, Mat! This teardown reminds me of dissecting a frog back in School. Impossible to do it non- destructively and zero chance of putting it back together, let alone bringing it back to life.
Roland Bogush
2025-03-24 08:52:40 +0000 UTCI had the FM Card radio, it was great at the time. Will take a look in the loft.
Ian Stokes
2025-03-24 07:30:56 +0000 UTCI had something similar years back, it was a radio built into a compact disc case. https://www.ebay.com/itm/326407063463
RomulusNR
2025-03-24 01:29:11 +0000 UTCDefinitely sounding better!
Brad Jones
2025-03-23 23:31:15 +0000 UTCThe chips all have 85 on them as well, so I'm pretty sure it was made in 1985. Although first developed for NASA in the 1960s, surface-mount chips were still pretty cutting-edge in cheap consumer electronics in the mid-1980s.
VWestlife
2025-03-23 22:02:04 +0000 UTCYour voice is much improved here, Mat. Glad you're on the mend.
Galactician
2025-03-23 19:34:20 +0000 UTC"Should have used that on the cybertruck" 🤣🤣
Gunstick
2025-03-23 19:12:02 +0000 UTCAt least now the battery can be disposed of safely and separately from the rest of the e-waste =P And yes, glad to hear you're recovering.
Pietro Gagliardi
2025-03-23 19:05:20 +0000 UTCI wasn't expecting this, you didn't mention it in the video but I figured the lack of a teardown was due to the sealed unit nature of the device. It's good to see that they can be dismantled. I was interested in seeing the internals. even though i'm no expert, it highlights aspects of the construction. The Reditune video had the electroncis neatly lined up and whle this is aesthetically pleasing i suspect this made production simpler as one person could solder in a component then the second person knew exactly where the next bit went. As for chips i don't have an encyclopaedic knowledge on them but people in the comments do and it's nice to see the chip i figure is an off the shelf FM tuner chip to be an off the shelf FM tuner chip. Also with AM radios where they have put the internal aerial as they can only be so small. Edit: I've just seen the video and i was right in my initial assumption, the process is destructive. It was interesting to see the guts though. HRegarding the glue isopropyl alchol works to dislodge some glues, usually hit glue but a few others too.
Martipar
2025-03-23 17:02:56 +0000 UTCThere were a lot of requests just to see inside - most notably from Hackaday.
Techmoan
2025-03-23 16:35:36 +0000 UTCPraise God ... TING! ... from whom all blessings flow...
CheeseParis
2025-03-23 16:33:51 +0000 UTCMy favorite part of the video was hearing you sounding much better. Hope you're feeling better too!
Art Nitzschke
2025-03-23 16:32:42 +0000 UTCThanks for the teardown and congrats on your improving health. The insides are more complex as I imagined. If it were worth it, I bet it would have been repairable, yet finding the right battery looks impossible
CheeseParis
2025-03-23 16:31:38 +0000 UTCGood to hear you sounding more like yourself! I suspect with a LOT of patience and careful application of heat that one of these could be non destructively taken apart. Not worth it, but theoretically possible.
Page One Project
2025-03-23 16:21:49 +0000 UTCThis posted right during my church service while I was singing, “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow…” Put it in a different perspective. (You can conquer the world with a little grit, and a Swiss Army Knife.)
CrimsonPig808
2025-03-23 16:19:34 +0000 UTCMy previous "prise it open" comment wasn't about seeing what's inside or learning anything. The rechargeable battery was dead. There was a chance that a replacement could be swapped in. Batteries have come a long way.
evilution
2025-03-23 16:01:55 +0000 UTCThat is the slimmest tuning capacitor I have ever seen!
Andrew Bosch
2025-03-23 15:47:43 +0000 UTCI would have expected them to be non-repairable, it usually is with this kind of technology...
MrHammond
2025-03-23 15:43:02 +0000 UTCI was noticing the same, and less shakiness :-D.
MrHammond
2025-03-23 15:42:20 +0000 UTCAfter seeing the primary video about the card radios, I thought maybe someone would jokingly suggest doing a teardown video, but didn't think it would be worth doing. And while I don't ken much of what's inside, it was a worthy effort, but only because you had a "sacrificial" model available.
Mark Hesse
2025-03-23 15:10:58 +0000 UTCForeshadowing the construction of all mobile phones. That little spring probably electrically connected the front and back panels. I’ve seen that in slim calculators as well. I believe it was to provide a safe discharge path for static electricity, bypassing the circuitry.
Listener Bob
2025-03-23 15:03:01 +0000 UTCBonus video, love it, thanks. Nice little video for the Public next week to keep the algorithm happy while you ease yourself back into it, Mat.
CBits Tech
2025-03-23 14:50:46 +0000 UTCThanks for making the extra effort to film a teardown. Even though very few people in the audience can probably make sense of it (I certainly can't), everyone is curious to get a glimpse of the secret ingredients. There is more going on inside than I expected, and it was a bit surprising to see neatly packaged ICs in there. I had assumed it would be a Chip-on-PCB setup with a black blob of epoxy covering a die that was glued directly to the PCB, like you’d find in a cheap calculator.
Tunix
2025-03-23 14:36:27 +0000 UTCYou sound so much better!
Dirk Koenig
2025-03-23 13:42:34 +0000 UTCYour voice sounds better in this video than the last one. Small day by day improvements!
David Peaker
2025-03-23 13:35:53 +0000 UTCThanks for the teardown! One tip, which you probably already know: A little heat can help to loosen up adhesive.
Bruce Grembowski
2025-03-23 13:33:23 +0000 UTCI actually brought me to tears to hear you sounding amazing as ever, again.
Jeanne (dissonant witchcraft)
2025-03-23 13:29:14 +0000 UTCYou sound great today. I always love extra videos. The level of engineering in these tiny things is really incredible. Who needs a screwdriver when you have a mega multi-tool? The swipe at Cybertruck was a sweet bonus. 🤍
Grace Robbins
2025-03-23 13:05:05 +0000 UTCGlad to see your getting better good to have you back
Max
2025-03-23 13:03:11 +0000 UTCNice! Was hoping to get a peek into one.
Thomas Ruecker
2025-03-23 12:55:59 +0000 UTC
