The Amp Garage

Glad you're nailing down the problem, Andy.

I like your "no-shit" approach to construction. It looks neat & tidy, while at the same time looking very handmade.

W

It made perfect sense to me at the time, but I can see where I left lots of places for ambiguity to creep in. Thanks for plugging those up for me! The idea is sound - my description of it wasn't

W

You could do it with a multimeter and household AC, too. Choose ONE lead from each secondary (ignore the CT). Connect them together. Power each primary normally from the wall/suicide cord/whatever. Measure the AC voltage between the two unconnected secondary. It'll either be twice the voltage of a s...

Before this gets too far - does it have any merit as a radio? I don't know my way around that market, but some old sets are worth $$ - maybe even enough $$ to buy the parts for the amp you want to build.

Just a thought...

W

Thanks from me as well. I've had a couple of folks asking about attenuators lately. This makes it easy.

W

It almost sounds like an idea that was hatched the week that inventory was running low on certain parts

When stacking caps, the ESR's would add in series, wouldn't they? I would think that would be a bad thing.

W

I must say, Andy, you sound like you're having a blast at your new gig. I hope you're still finding time to huff solder fumes, tho.

W

We've got 120V 1000W halogens here at work but hands down, you win the prize!

I wonder if 3350 K refers to the color. Isn't lighting color measured in Kelvins?

W

light bulbs seem to work as power attenuator, simple vvr. I still need to gig one out to know, it sounds good in the shop. So .... anybody got an idea to chassis mount a socket Just drill the hole a little bigger to accommodate your larger "pilot light" - everything should work out just fine :D W

I wondered if conventional solder was going to get either expensive or hard to find or both. I plan on ordering a pound or two the next time I order parts. Last time I checked, Digikey had no leaded solder, but Electrosonic still had a few varieties available. Ultimately, we're probably all going to...

I've never had any luck soldering directly to chassis with mine.

If a butane iron is a blacksmith's tool, I hesitate to tell you what I use for chassis joints. It's the copper soldering iron that slips on over a regular propane torch.

W

I guess I'll dare to be different - I haven't owned an electric iron in about 5 years. My iron of choice has been an old Weller Portasol I "inherited" from my previous employer. All the things mentioned above do certainly apply - there is a lot of heat available, so you have to get a feel for how mu...

Thanks. ... I know that buying bulk would help. I'm only planning to build one amp though (at least I think)... Anyone ever said that before? :D I've never gone the kit method, but you can probably do better sourcing the parts yourself if you're patient enough . A common problem is that not everyth...

I wonder - did the guy faking the caps (the outside layer) think he was putting a real cap inside? It would be ironic if someone else had "faked" him!

Still sux, tho.

W

I used to be hooked. Well, maybe still am. I still am a coffee hound. There are three Timmy's here in my town. There is absolutely no substitute, IMO, for their best cup-o-joe. The problem here is that they're not that consistent. Their best brew only seems to happen about one time in 20 cups. I don...