Portable phone:
----------------
My portable phone started blinking so instead of putting it 
on the charger,I tried a diferent approach to discharge the 
battery.I disconnected the charger from the phone line and
just let it blink.I cut a 1/4" slot in the plastic on each 
end and checking the 3 cells,I found:
 
                   Volts 
                1           2         3
                ------------------------
Start          1.21      1.21       1.21
2 hrs later    1.17      1.17       1.17
 
This wasn't working so I used 2 common pins separated by paper
into the tiny plug and clipped a 10 ohm resistor across the 
pack with an output of 3.32 volts .The resistor  got hot fast.
So I then used a 47 ohm.After 30 minutes,I got 1.92 volts total.
After another 30 minutes,I got .55 volts.
 
WHOOPS   I went too far.The 3 cells showed
 
            1.11        -.05       -.11
 
So I charged it overnight and got
           1.39        1.39        1.39
 
Ten days later,it started blinking again and showed
the normal voltages.
          1.24        1.24        1.25
 
It looks like I was lucky.It still works even after 
2 months.
==============================================
 
Bought some AA Ni-Mh batteries.The + end was flat and
wouldn't work in my Ni-Cd charger.I melted some solder and
added a tit to the + terminals.It works.The cells had
no insulation except for a white ring at the top.
I cut a piece of black insulated tape,used the tip of 
the soldering iron to burn a small hole in the middle
for the + terminal then installed it over the end 
of the battery.Works fine.
 
====================================================
Sometimes.I would have a bad VCR tape where part of the
front section,most heavily used,was damaged by a groove
(tracking section).I would use a rewinder to find the
end of the bad section,cut it out and rejoin to the 
input reel using Scotch tape on both sides of the joint.
I used the shorted tape for saving some VCR scenes for 
special give-aways.I also get short commercial tapes 
from the library that they don't want.
To get an idea of the time on the tape,I calibrated
my rewinder as follows:
 
file=rewinder
AMBICO rewinder--counter vs time
type of tape     counter        time
===============================
T-120            325           30 min.
                 280           50 min.
                 290           42 min  test in VCR
                 427           1:15    test   "
                 668           45 min  test   "
                 824           60    tested   "
                 850           60    tested   "
                 960           3:15  test     "
                               3:30  test     "
                1308           6 hours
 
 
T-160            824           23 min.
 
Big reels        230           24 min.  tested
 
Take T-120,go to 830,one hour, remove front but -
get 3:30 hrs left on good spool-
-size of  takeup spool must be involved .
==========================================
 
Some audio tapes are also shorted and saved.
I calibrated the counter on one radio.
 
file=turnsvs.min
Sharp radio in living room
 
turns      min.
-----      ----
998        60  120 Min.Maxell
860        54   clocked
850        55   
870        56
800-824    50
760-780    45
700        40
624        30-35
510        30  TDK 60

--- Maximus 2.02