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#1
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Winter Projects?
Here's the second generation of my ugly amp, note the
duct tape safety shielding, now mandatory in Canada. (Red Green would like this amp!) http://home.golden.net/~wjm/ugly/uglyamp2.jpg I was hesitant to dismantle the el84 version, since I was really enjoying the sound. This version is built around JELabs 45/2a3. Those are some Canadian 2A3 in the picture, but the amp runs nicer with a pair of 45's. Good sound from this little amp, not much slam, but nice tone. Zero audible hum. Listening through my $25 dollar pipes(wood $20, spkrs $5). http://home.golden.net/~wjm/ugly/speaker.jpg ($75 if you include the Japanese wood plane from Lee Valley). Those are little 5.25 inch Radio Shack automotive full-range drivers, could $1K Lowthers actually sound 200 times better than these? Funny, I get more enjoyment from this $150 setup than sitting in the local "Hi-Fi" boutique listening to their $25K display system I miss the little el84 amp and will have to build another one when winter sets, it should help heat the room as room as well. The other project I've been considering, is something like a kt66/kt88 PP using the old Harmon Kardon iron from that chassis. Hunting around for a suitable design, looks are not important! Haven't tried battery bias yet, but that'll be easy to add in with the open chassis concept. I need more alligator clips! billy |
#2
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"Fred Nachbaur" wrote in message news:AT94b.112971$K44.62722@edtnps84... billy wrote: Here's the second generation of my ugly amp, note the duct tape safety shielding, now mandatory in Canada. (Red Green would like this amp!) http://home.golden.net/~wjm/ugly/uglyamp2.jpg [...] Aaarrrrgghhh!!!! Duct tape!!! runs screaming into the flaming woods The true irony is that the crap isn't used for ducts. Too gooey when new, too brittle when it ages. Cheers, Fred has to remove duct-tape poop from handheld VHF radios on an almost daily basis PS - the rest of it looks great! ;-) -- +--------------------------------------------+ | Music: http://www3.telus.net/dogstarmusic/ | | Projects, Vacuum Tubes & other stuff: | | http://www.dogstar.dantimax.dk | +--------------------------------------------+ There is a duct tape that's actually used for ducts. It's thin aluminum with adhesive backing. Jeff T |
#3
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dag Billy!.. could ya NOT have used hockey tape for that!
OK, just to assure the rest of the world.. we only tinker with tube amps when we're NOT playing hockey or drinking beer. nuff said.. Last winter I build some speakers from the "Accolade 2" plans that Lowther are good enough to post on the web. Inside are two pairs of RSC (radio speakers of canada) whizzer-cone speakers, total cost of about $25Cdn. They are the BEST speakers I've ever heard... and having spent way too much time trying to line up internal baffles has NOTHING to do with this opinion.. honest. Speakers can be fun to muck with too.. whizzer-back-damping, damar varnish... EC (from canada, eh) |
#4
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Hey!
Got to love the Ugly Amp! My stuff is so dependant on wiring layout, and you've got 'gator clips! Anyhow, my hat's off. The amp transcends "ugly", it's "fugly"! I wish i had a chance to hear it... "billy" wrote in message m... Here's the second generation of my ugly amp, note the duct tape safety shielding, now mandatory in Canada. (Red Green would like this amp!) http://home.golden.net/~wjm/ugly/uglyamp2.jpg I was hesitant to dismantle the el84 version, since I was really enjoying the sound. This version is built around JELabs 45/2a3. Those are some Canadian 2A3 in the picture, but the amp runs nicer with a pair of 45's. Good sound from this little amp, not much slam, but nice tone. Zero audible hum. Listening through my $25 dollar pipes(wood $20, spkrs $5). http://home.golden.net/~wjm/ugly/speaker.jpg ($75 if you include the Japanese wood plane from Lee Valley). Those are little 5.25 inch Radio Shack automotive full-range drivers, could $1K Lowthers actually sound 200 times better than these? Funny, I get more enjoyment from this $150 setup than sitting in the local "Hi-Fi" boutique listening to their $25K display system I miss the little el84 amp and will have to build another one when winter sets, it should help heat the room as room as well. The other project I've been considering, is something like a kt66/kt88 PP using the old Harmon Kardon iron from that chassis. Hunting around for a suitable design, looks are not important! Haven't tried battery bias yet, but that'll be easy to add in with the open chassis concept. I need more alligator clips! billy |
#5
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"Engineer" wrote in message ... billy wrote: Here's the second generation of my ugly amp, note the duct tape safety shielding, now mandatory in Canada. (Red Green would like this amp!) http://home.golden.net/~wjm/ugly/uglyamp2.jpg (snip) Haven't tried battery bias yet, but that'll be easy to add in with the open chassis concept. I need more alligator clips! billy I'm 100% in favour of experimentation (and I've built my share of "uglies"), but I strongly advise either the "breadboard" approach or a true "open chassis". Much better than your "crock-clip birds nest" which can go open or short with no warning. Poof! Splut! With a "breadboard" you literally take a piece of wood, say 12 inches square (or as needed), and you screw down (or even nail) tube sockets (use stand-offs), transformers, etc., plus a pile of tag strips, then connect everything by soldering hook-up wire in place - it's actually quicker than what you have done. But MUCH SAFER! Brass nails are good as soldering points, and can actually make this a quite stable mock up, even sort of nice with attention to detail. It is also good to have a useful experimental design, since it will always sound better than the finished......... :-) I agree with your safety precausions. I remember in the military getting my fingers into some nasty high voltage, nothing really happend (I think:-0) but it was mandatory to go to the doctor for a check. As I walked thru the door, the doctor almost trimbled over in laughter..........It turned out that, because of my hairstyle at that time, I looked exactely like the picture he had in his head, from when they called to tell that "someone eletrocuted" was on his way ) The stupidity prize goes to a friend from school, putting up a lamp in the ceiling, taking off the insulation of a 230V live wire, with his teeth!!!! Since he survived, I still can't help laughing, when I think about it, need I say he went down that ladder pretty fast...... Karsten, Denmark The "open chassis" approach is similar - just use large recycled chassis with lots of tube socket holes and tag strips strategically placed. Then you just hook up under the chassis - again, always by soldering. I used to use an old, stripped military receiver chassis. Tube circuits carry high voltages and tube power supplies can deliver very large peak currents, both to fatal levels. Those reservoir capacitors can really ruin your day if you don't discharge them properly before poking about. Remember, safety first. Solder all hook-ups. Never use crock-clips on plate supplies! Nor anywhere else, come to that, except on a DMM. "Live long and prosper" by doing it right. Cheers, Roger -- Roger Jones, P.Eng. Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. "Friends don't let friends vote Liberal" |
#6
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billy wrote:
Here's the second generation of my ugly amp, note the duct tape safety shielding, now mandatory in Canada. (Red Green would like this amp!) http://home.golden.net/~wjm/ugly/uglyamp2.jpg (snip) Haven't tried battery bias yet, but that'll be easy to add in with the open chassis concept. I need more alligator clips! billy I'm 100% in favour of experimentation (and I've built my share of "uglies"), but I strongly advise either the "breadboard" approach or a true "open chassis". Much better than your "crock-clip birds nest" which can go open or short with no warning. Poof! Splut! With a "breadboard" you literally take a piece of wood, say 12 inches square (or as needed), and you screw down (or even nail) tube sockets (use stand-offs), transformers, etc., plus a pile of tag strips, then connect everything by soldering hook-up wire in place - it's actually quicker than what you have done. But MUCH SAFER! The "open chassis" approach is similar - just use large recycled chassis with lots of tube socket holes and tag strips strategically placed. Then you just hook up under the chassis - again, always by soldering. I used to use an old, stripped military receiver chassis. Tube circuits carry high voltages and tube power supplies can deliver very large peak currents, both to fatal levels. Those reservoir capacitors can really ruin your day if you don't discharge them properly before poking about. Remember, safety first. Solder all hook-ups. Never use crock-clips on plate supplies! Nor anywhere else, come to that, except on a DMM. "Live long and prosper" by doing it right. Cheers, Roger -- Roger Jones, P.Eng. Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. "Friends don't let friends vote Liberal" |
#7
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#8
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Snip
A piece of soft chip board makes a good breadboard. Wouldn't it be easier to use brass plated 6 guage x 5/8'" long phillips head screws available cheaply at any hardware store, rather than hammer in nails? Good point! Well of course.... :-) Karsten The tube sockets lugs can be directly soldered to an array of screws set out to suit, and connection points kept neat and tidy, with short wire runs, and with soldered joints. No need for any alligator leads, which become intermittent. On breadboard power supplies I have, I also strap and screw down chokes, transformers, switches, caps, and I use an electric drill with a phillips bit in it to drive the screws, so bloomin easy!!! snap |
#9
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"jim" wrote in message ... "All Ears" wrote in message k... Snip A piece of soft chip board makes a good breadboard. Wouldn't it be easier to use brass plated 6 guage x 5/8'" long phillips head screws available cheaply at any hardware store, rather than hammer in nails? Good point! Well of course.... :-) Karsten The tube sockets lugs can be directly soldered to an array of screws set out to suit, and connection points kept neat and tidy, with short wire runs, and with soldered joints. No need for any alligator leads, which become intermittent. On breadboard power supplies I have, I also strap and screw down chokes, transformers, switches, caps, and I use an electric drill with a phillips bit in it to drive the screws, so bloomin easy!!! snap Hiya, Off topic a bit but might be of interest... Prototypes/hook ups are often done on bits of timber etc. I have sometimes just layed things out on the bench top and soldered them together to prove a point. When you're happy, you move on to the final, finished thing. You seen those cutaway models of car engines etc they do so you can see the internal workings ? Built an amp like that about 20 years ago with no chassis at all !! With a remote PSU, the only tranny in the amp was the OPT. Stand up 6" x 4" tranny with frames either end with lots of convenient bolt holes. On top of this was bolted a roughly 8" cube, as I remember, built up by soldering together pieces of 10 SWG copper wire. Diagonals across the 6 faces gave it rigidity... race car chassis used to use the same 'space frame' technology. Octal valve bases were soldered direct to internal 10SWG frames to take 2 x 6V6GTs and a 6SL7. All earth/ground returns were through the frame. It all fitted inside the 8" cube, and since everything was visible, I spent weeks laying out passives in the right positions and choosing the right colour hook up wire, before soldering everything together so it looked OK from any angle. Looked fantastic !! The weight of the OPT at the bottom meant it was never going to fall over, and it was nice to watch resistors and caps working while listening to the music. After 36 pints of lager you could almost see the music going through the thing !!! After 3 weeks the wife suggested it could kill one of the children... Plans to encase it in a glass case never came to anything and I scrapped it. Nowadays, 20 something designers call this an, 'industrial' look... They obviously don't have wives and children. regards jim Hi Jim - I'mfinally running a hop with two kids around (just turned 5 & 7), and, other than constant interruptions, they seem to have an instinctive sence of what's *really* dangerous & *really* bad - other than killin' all the power when I'm away from the bench, and minor thefts of "beads' (new resistors), no worries. If you decide to make another see-through, though - forget glass - there are ammazingly good transparent plastics nowadays, easy to work with, clear glue joints, hheat resistant if need be, and available for short $$'s if you buy remanants. You're right, though, the see-through thing has been used and abused by everyone from wrist watch designers (and I'm not talking about skeleton clocks / watches of yesteryear) to goofy companies like mac. -dim |
#10
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Hi Jim - I'mfinally running a hop with two kids around (just turned 5 & 7), and, other than constant interruptions, they seem to have an instinctive sence of what's *really* dangerous & *really* bad - other than killin' all the power when I'm away from the bench, and minor thefts of "beads' (new resistors), no worries. hiya dim You don't need me to tell you... you'll make sure those kids are OK. If you decide to make another see-through, though - forget glass - there are ammazingly good transparent plastics nowadays, easy to work with, clear glue joints, hheat resistant if need be, and available for short $$'s if you buy remanants. You're right, though, the see-through thing has been used and abused by everyone from wrist watch designers (and I'm not talking about skeleton clocks / watches of yesteryear) to goofy companies like mac. -dim Going back twenty, odd, years, -- I like things to look nice and used to turn things upside down so people could look at all those pretty caps and resistors.. **** me, they used to say.. That looks complicated !! Just went on from there.. Let it all hang out !! If you've got it, flash it about !! Folk used to look at this open frame thing I had created as though it was the warp drive off the Starship Enterprise ! Killed conversation though !! People sat watching to see if they could see the music going through it !! regards jim |
#11
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"jim" wrote in message ... Hi Jim - I'mfinally running a hop with two kids around (just turned 5 & 7), and, other than constant interruptions, they seem to have an instinctive sence of what's *really* dangerous & *really* bad - other than killin' all the power when I'm away from the bench, and minor thefts of "beads' (new resistors), no worries. hiya dim You don't need me to tell you... you'll make sure those kids are OK. If you decide to make another see-through, though - forget glass - there are ammazingly good transparent plastics nowadays, easy to work with, clear glue joints, hheat resistant if need be, and available for short $$'s if you buy remanants. You're right, though, the see-through thing has been used and abused by everyone from wrist watch designers (and I'm not talking about skeleton clocks / watches of yesteryear) to goofy companies like mac. -dim Going back twenty, odd, years, -- I like things to look nice and used to turn things upside down so people could look at all those pretty caps and resistors.. **** me, they used to say.. That looks complicated !! Just went on from there.. Let it all hang out !! If you've got it, flash it about !! Folk used to look at this open frame thing I had created as though it was the warp drive off the Starship Enterprise ! Killed conversation though !! People sat watching to see if they could see the music going through it !! regards jim Hi Jim - Got the same obsession - used to restore vintage cars (and later antique clocks & cameras) for a livin' (sure paid better than this toob foolishness), and after a while, you start getting obsessed by *details*, - as in chuckin' up every screw and getting the lat guy's screwdriver burrs off, and hittin' them with 400 paper - not polished, just 'correct'. Partially as penance for all the butchery I've done when I was starting out, and partially after sein' a Bugatti 35 at an auction, with the owner /restorer standing as guard /mother hen near it. I started pointing out the finish on the block to my friends, as the guy slapped my hand away (thought i was goin' to touch the aluminum, he wasn't havin' any of *that*. Anyhow, spent about an hour milking him for his tricks & gaping at the gorgeously bent & immaculately welded exhaust manifold ("Tig?" "No, just torches - spend 30 years working with gas, you might get it."). Anyhow, got to rebuild a couple of bugs, and *every internal engine part was a work of art* The connecting rods (milled) had machining marks which were simply showing off how good the machinist was - a much simpler finish pattern would have been more practical (like bead-peenin', which would'a made the rods stronger), and no one other than a mechanic would ever see these things, but this was *aht* The Hunger Artist? Every toob geek should give that a read.... Anyhow, now i love working with solid-core cloth wire, and get bummed when the best wiring layout is aesthetically poor... And yeah, I want everyone to see 'under the hood", but settle for taking pictures... /morning rant -dim (gettin' to ... errr ... work.) |
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