When my Dad was in college in Boston, there was a nearby RadioShack where he got all his parts.
I believe this is one of those purchase from said RadioShack.
This alarm clock has been in my room (used by my brother) for as long as I can remember. I brought it to college with me as a desk clock. I thought it was a beautiful design, and I liked looking at it when I was working.
Cosmo Model CR 2001A
This past December I believe there was a power surge while we were on break. I came back to a broken hard drive and a busted alarm clock. I attempted to fix it. Here are some pictures of the insides for anyone interested!
There's a 9v battery in case of power outages to keep time.
A warning that I will not heed.
Taking off the front cover
I was stunned when I opened this up. It didn't hit me that in the 1980s, electronics were still very new.
The entire interior was very dusty and fragile.
A better look inside. The speaker is on the top, the clock circuit is on the left, and the AM/FM radio is on the right.
The circuit board for the switches and buttons is screwed to the top cover.
The circuit boards made back usually have phenolic as a substrate
Look at this crazy tuner! A string is wrapped around the potentiometer to move the pointer.
This is such a clever way of making a display.
The wires are kind of messy. Old circuit boards have a lot of smooth traces.
Top view of the radio board.
The clock doesn't display correctly.
I decided that perhaps the problem was in this IC chip.
This is the LM8560, which is used specifically for alarm clocks.
Thanks to eBay, I could buy one of these outdated chips!
I soldered in the new chip. It was painful, I broke several pads.
Notice anything broken? Me neither.
Broken pads are pretty hard to find, especially if you didn't make them. I had to jump some connections.
You also sometimes discover broken components! This capacitor was bulging like crazy and had a broken lead.
It's amazing how components deteriorate over time. There were plenty of resistors that didn't have paint on them anymore.
The college dorm life...
However, every time I desoldered, tested, or even touched a component, I risked breaking a very delicate and irreplaceable part.
Primum non nocere - "First, do no harm" - from the Hippocratic Oath (??)
I decided that I was probably going to do more damage than help, so I put the clock back together.
At least the radio works!
