Consider the date this was uploaded.

The simplest and most direct answer I have is the same as for so many other things: cost. If it costs half a penny more to beef up the connector pins and you're making a hundred thousand exampels of something, that really adds up.

@@uxwbill Thanks for the answer, though you would have thought that cost would be offset by the profits of selling more "Lego" style safer CPUs...but I am pretty sure Intel & AMD have run the numbers as you said.

It had to be held on somehow. It's entirely possible the stud clips went flying off into oblivion somewhere.

@@uxwbill I actually found spring-mounted clips up in the drywall I had to pull down and hook on! But ty so much for replying!!! Knowing I was looking for something around where your stud clips were helped a lot!!!!!

For whatever reason, the Klein Tools CO detector likes to report false readings when it is moved in any way, or held in any other direction than with the sensor facing straight up. It's a rebadged Uni-T product, and the Uni-T manual mentions this. That seems to me like a serious design flaw. I have thought a little about how best to remake this video. Some commenters suggested buying a "reference" test bottle of CO gas. I also revisited the manual for the Fieldpiece detector, which contains a testing method. While not absolute, I think their test could still give a relative idea of how similar the detectors are to one another.

I have not had either of these cars for more than a decade.

I wondered if there might be a group of singers. Perhaps that happens at times?

@ i dont know keep trying theres always next year

I believe the uneven brightness is a product of partial vacuum loss in the display. I suppose it could also be caused by the filament heater not being as hot on one side as it is on the other. Unfortunately, for as neat and interesting as I think vacuum fluorescent displays are, they are an endangered species. Not only do they wear out over time as electrons are boiled off the filament heaters and depleted, they require more complex circuits to drive them. One of their last great strongholds was in microwave ovens. I was looking at many of those for sale the other day, and not a one still had a VFD. They've vanished from cars, most DVD/Blu-Ray players and as a result of the devices they were commonly used in no longer being manufactured (VCRs). Their last great stronghold now is in stereo components.

@@uxwbill Yeah. Once it warms up on the high brightness setting, the dim side is nearly as bright and readable, but the difference is still noticeable. As far as the stereo functionality, I find that I get more reliable FM reception when set to mono. The volume potentiometer seems to be worn out as well. Adjustment is noisy and inconsistent. I have the same problem with Klipsch amplifiers for PC audio systems. The pots go bad far too quickly.

That's true of FM stereo in general, as the L-R difference signal is amplitude modulated and thus subject to all manner of interference. Some receivers cope with that interference better than others. Have you tried cleaning the potentiometers with a good quality chemical cleaner?

To my knowledge, I haven't.

I have not attempted to service the backlighting lamps in these modules, and this car is no longer in the fleet. It's very likely the bulbs have burned out, as opposed to their being bad solder joints. They are informally known as "grain of sand" or "grain of wheat" bulbs. I am not sure what specifications (voltage, power consumed, etc.) they have, as I've never tried to replace them. You could likely retrofit the control panel with LEDs. To do so will require some circuit modifications for the needed current limiting resistor. You'll also need a multimeter, a resistor calculator for LEDs (available elsewhere online) and some basic soldering equipment. Someone may be offering this service in exchange for a fee, and that may be the best way to go. There are lots of places that specalize in rebuilding the backlighting for many different kinds of instrument panels and even radios.

I have had it for a long time now. (AI suggestions: 1. "I do not wear an Apple Watch." and 2. "I do not have an Apple Watch." Sound like it's batting a hundred again!)

@@uxwbill Ah yes the same AI that Mark Zuckerberg thinks will replace his software engineers.

I do not have any interest in Toyota products.

It wasn't so much that, but rather that I'd been very busy earlier in the day setting up for, watching and ultimately hosting live streams. Out of all of these, it was the setting up that involved a LOT of work. (Also, I note with much amusement that the KZbin "AI" is now suggesting verbatim the text of comments I made earlier. Look out, for here comes the rise of the machines!) For those of you reading this years in the future: there probably will come a time when we can't believe we ever laughed at these things. That time is not today, at least not for KZbin.

I suppose that's one way to do it!

Indeed it does. It's also a very decent performing little radio.

MiniDV, running in an HDV camcorder.

Be that as it may, this was by my own admission a terrible product review because my testing methodology didn't work.

Thank you for watching. There are certainly some I've slept through in years past, often because after coming home from work, I was just completely bushed. On New Year's Eve, I'd spent most of the day watching, setting up for and ultimately hosting live streams. In particular, it was the setup that involved the most effort -- shuffling things around, testing equipment, planning for what do and similar things.

In my case, it was less a matter of "getting old" than I'd just had a very big day watching, setting up for and hosting live streams. (The setup and hosting in particular were a lot of work.) Not that I don't know some of the other joys associated with growing older...but as I often say, as long as you're still having birthdays, you can't be doing too badly!

I live in a place where there has been thousands of Pakistanis and Indians imported over the years, and they are always setting off fireworks most days of the year at midnight and after. So it was unusual to find they did not bother for New Year 2025. Very quiet indeed and even Yuletide has been quiet with low effort all round.

Sometimes there are, and sometimes there are not any fireworks. Check out some of my previous New Year videos, if you'd like.