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I don't think we need to declare war. I think if the world perceives the US as committing an act of war against a country, then we're at war. And the world will definitely perceive this as an act of war. Yay, we elected a total villain for president. Well done, MAGAts.

I think to understand that we'd first have to declare war. Right now we have a president (and military frankly) performing unsanctioned and unauthorized (and from all I can tell unprovoked) military actions. It's mind boggling.

Does anyone actually understand why we just declared war on Venezuela beyond the fact that some dissidents lobbied him at mar a lago earlier this year?

I’ve got the group buy case…planning on adding the 5mm aluminum bar to it. Thanks Pars! I’ll need to think some more about the regulators while I wait for some MMBTA06 to come in I didn’t realize I never received… What LED and bias resistors did you end up with in the end? I’ll put mine in the sheet once it’s up and running. Likely will use 402 / 240 with the LTST-C170CKT.

Any guess who we’re going to invade next? From a week ago: https://www.theguardian.com/law/ng-interactive/2025/dec/25/how-donald-trump-killed-international-law

Roughly based on the schematic Kevin provided (Based on the version with the extra 1N4007 diode), I did an SMD layout of the circlotron PSU. Yes, it looks familiar. The layout was adapted from the GRHV SMD board and modified for this application. The board size is 51 mm × 31 mm. The KSC5026 was replaced with STN0214, using a large copper pad underneath for heat dissipation. The 10 Ω / 5 W resistor can also be substituted with 4.7 Ω, which is generally easier to source. Don`t know if the two stn0214s can be replaced by PBHV2160.

I had tried both then with the 3 oz board there was not much difference the onboard regs were a bit better. The big difference was to attach the transistor's heatsink to the box to drive the heat out. It may depend on what box you use that from the group by was good for this. I wrote about it then The little amp is at my bed sometimes I forget to switch it off. There was not problem with it for about five years(?).

https://bbc.com/news/videos/cx2052jqqzqo

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jan/03/caracas-explosions-venezuela-maduro-latest-news-updates-live

I had tried both then with the 3 oz board there was not much difference the onboard regs were a bit better. The big difference was to attach the transistor's heatsink to the box to drive the heat out. It may depend on what box you use that from the group by was good for this. I wrote about it then

Actually yesterday, not today. I got up early on my 4 day holiday weekend, and decided to get my laundry done early. So loaded up the laundry and Maki and headed to the laundromat in Fairfax. Got it done and headed back home to Nicasio. Halfway home, on Nicasio Valley Rd. saw flashing lights.... Had to turn back and go the long way around. On Lucas Valley Rd. I had to stop briefly for an overturned car. Luckily no more blockages, and got home to discover that I still had power. Could have been much worse.

Definitely 47uf. I put .47uf there by mistake when I built it; took days to figure out what I'd done wrong :).

I endorse this message. https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/buldak

Late picture, and a little burnt, but it was delicious.

Double-checked the gerber file of the Megatron XL today. It shows 47uf caps to gnd nearby the 12AX7. Don`t know if it should be .47uf instead of the 47. The rerber file name is megatron12vxl3fp ver .27

I don't know that there is much difference between them, and since I've never been successful mounting the QFN packages, I don't know about any heat difference, but I would think the regulator contribution to this is swamped by the 32 PZTAs. If I could have mounted these successfully, that is the way I would have gone. After building 4 of these, wishlist for changes/additions to the board would be: Addition of Kevin's balanced protector circuit, with a manual mute switch. Implementation of a delay circuit (5 seconds) for power application to the board to allow for the Meanwell bricks to come up at the same time. I determined that this was the source of the large DC offset I was seeing on the SE output when the amp is fired up. #1 above could take care of this if you made sure to mute the output for a couple of seconds while it is powering up. These things do run hot. I have one of the ones I built for another user back for repair after it was left on with something on top of it. Amb notes on his forum when replying to a user who used his regs in a piece of Bryston equipment that they don't like heat very well. Since the LDO reg is really the only thing on his boards, this must mean that those reg chips don't like heat much. The GB boards were done using 3oz copper, making them about as good of a heatsink as you are going to get from a PCB (and a huge pain to work with).

My heart almost broke. So glad for that last bit.

I think it was a combo effect. I thought I cleaned the drip tray and dump trough after my last brisket, but probably not good enough. The belly was good and fatty, so there may have been more juice than previous runs. And there seemed to be more dust in the pellet bag when I was filling the hopper. So this may have led to it throwing more sparks than normal with the blower. I have sifted pellets previously to reduce dust, not this time. So - I will clean more thoroughly, sift my pellets, and buy less fatty belly (the last one will not happen). On a positive note. After cleaning, I ran it up to 500F and back down, no issues, then smoked a lovely slab of salmon (not pictured). It worked like a charm. So the my thoughts on it just being cosmetic seems to hold out for now. I will pick up some high temp paint to give the open metal a coat. Also as a side note, since I setup fiber internets I didn't put the grill on my network yet. The app would have told me if it got to cold, or in this case too hot. So adding the grill to the network is another task.

I don't do new year resolutions. However, I now have one for 2026. Eat more Korean food.

Shit, Mikey. I've read a few stories about grease fires but that's pretty extreme. Do you think it was just from the belly or was there some built up grease from the grill/smoker not draining properly or something? Regardless of root cause, that sucks.

Was thinking about you, Todd, and your nephew as I spend a few minutes out in the driveway tonight tinkering with the camera. I'm pretty shite at. lunar photography, but still had fun for 10 minutes until I couldn't feel my hands.

Ok, I really like the Royer SF-12 - just need gain. Currently using a MH ULN-2 with 3D card. Now I need to do the recording bit, any suggestions? I assume I will not be able to record directly off the digital outputs at a reasonable price point, so would something like a mixpre-3 ii be a reasonable choice? I suppose I could just use a laptop as well but keeping it small, battery powered and transportable would be handy.

Excellent - thanks! I'm only sorry we have such dick head regulators in our small island, spoiling IMGUR access for the 65 million crammed in to our speck of dirt.

Philippine Airlines inflight safety videos

Before I start working topside, I have a question about the onboard regulator vs the AMB. I have both, and given the ability to get it attached, which is preferred? Is it better to just use the AMB and get the heat off the board?