Leaderboard

Smoked chuck roast. Much better than I expected. And a great excuse to use plenty of horseradish cream sauce.

I could not love this any more without taking my pants off.

Table updated. This GB is now officially closed. Submitted latest version Gerber files and corresponding final quantities to the fab house. Will update with ETA of manufactured boards when I receive confirmation.

You have such a way with words, Stretch.

Found a new bucket list drive... heaven for me:

I'm not saying that 3 weeks of quarantine has had any long term effects on me, but last night I taught myself to shave my head. In spite of some classic New England weather (colder today than it was last night, alternating bright sun and cold rain), I managed to get outside and continue hacking away at what I estimate is 8 years of brush growth. I had to stop in the middle at one point because cloudburst, but I was able to get back out and work for another hour. I may or may not have mentioned this, but I continue to be old, fat and cartoonishly out of shape.

I use FreeNAS + Roon + Raspberry Pi 4 or Audio Cast M5 or Apple TV. The Roon Server runs on the NAS where the files are stored. I have lots of compute (Xeon E-2136), RAM (64GB) and disk resources (80TB) in a small form factor that lives in my closet. I use a Node 304 case, which is as tiny as you can get for this setup. I use the RPI4 to connect to my SACD player which has a USB input that can do DSD, and the M5 for patio speakers and a portable speaker and ATV for everywhere with a TV. I have one exception where I need something custom, which is the input to Metric Halo / Headphone rig. I am building an embedded device that will run full OSX and be the size of a RPI4 and can connect via Ethernet to the MH. It all works amazingly well. Browsing around via the library via an iPad is fun and educational.

On the theme, this is a nice little listen. John Prine & Bill Murray Discuss Their Early Days Of Music, Comedy & More Bonus

The last 3 nights have all concluded with some John Prine 😥 jazzing it up with some sidewinder

That was fucking awesome! That is definitely the most new (to me) artists I discovered in under 6 minutes. THIS is the Rolling Stone article about the video.

I used two transformers. both with electromagnetic shields, static shields and potted from http://www.mueller-rondo.com/kontakt.htm . (The low voltage transformer can be used for the blue hawaii - the 6922 windings are just not used the other voltages and currents are fine.) low voltage: transformer two windings 6.3V 4.5A for EL34 heaters one winding for each channel NOTE these windings are -400VDC to ground two windings 6.3V 1.5A for 6992 heaters one for each channel and my HT delay board two windings 15.5V 0.4A for golden reference LV board + and - 15VDC high voltage transformer one winding 365V 0.2A for dual golden reference HV board -460VDC. NOTE 365VAC gives 516VDC which gives less than 10% margin before reaching the 550V limit of most high voltage 550V 470uF input caps on the golden reference HV... so be careful if your household mains voltages are usually higher than spec. one winding 322V 0.2A for dual golden reference HV board +400VDC and +580V stax bias one winding 192V 0.18A for golden reference HV board +220VDC The blue hawaii just fits in a single 2u case 400mm deep, using 1 transformer with less windings - one less high voltage and two less 6.3V, golden reference LV board and golden reference HV board. The mini T2 has two transformers AND an extra HV board so the issue is not height but depth, to give you a size idea the transformers are Low voltage diameter 105mm height 55mm High voltage diameter 115mm height 65mm not having shields in the transformers will result in some hum and electrical interference if you turn the volume all the way up if you go single case. Not potting the transformers might make them a little smaller. putting the transformers into a separate case makes both the blue hawaii and mini t2 absolutely silent. you cant easily use the space bellow the mini t2 amp boards because they have 4 pillars which screw into the bottom of the case so you don't bend the amp boards when inserting or removing the valves. Neither the golden reference LV or HV boards will fit bellow the am boards because of this. for both my blue hawaii and mini t2 builds I went with the following case https://modushop.biz/site/index.php?route=product/product&path=102&product_id=195 its 2u, 400mm deep and has large heat sinking and is fully aluminium so fairly easy to drill. The heat sinking is overkill for the mini t2 - which runs quite cool, but the blue hawaii needs those large heat sinks, For the umbilical chord I used 1KV silicon rubber multi-strand copper hookup wires (https://www.mouser.co.uk/Search/Refine?Keyword=CT2956) for good flexibility and Russian 19 pin military connectors (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/19-pin-Soviet-Military-connector-Female-Male-Set-Oty-1/254196620095?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649). I then covered the bundle with expandable nylon braid and tested the leads with an insulation tester and they passed 5 minutes at 2500V with 20+Gohm resistance. They failed insulation at 5KV. P.S. if you build golden reference HV boards kemet do 550V 470uF caps which are 65mm high and will fit in a 2u case https://www.mouser.co.uk/Passive-Components/_/N-5g73Z1yzvvqx?Keyword=kemet+550V+470uF&FS=True. Be careful Kemet also sell 680uF 550V caps that are 80mm high and will need a 3u case to fit . (https://www.mouser.co.uk/ProductDetail/KEMET/ALC10A681EL550?qs=%2Fha2pyFadug678O2NPlQ%2F8WMW0dBZWV2y30oREQu6XgezeenvV90cA%3D%3D). for the +220VDC golden ref board you can save some money and go kemet 470uf 450V or even 400V. I didnt simply because I might re-purpose the 220V board to a higher voltage sometime.But the 550v 470uF kemet caps are not cheap. P.S. the golden reference LV board is not necessary, only the servos are run from the + and - 15V lines so you could just populate the low voltage section of the GRHV board. However, if you don't want thumps on switch-off the + and -12V lines require large capacitors so the servos stay powered while the HV lines fade. I found ~15000uF to 22000uF is required but these caps are physically too large to fit in the simple LV section of the GRHV board. They fit fine in the GRLV board, but a full GRLV board is extra expense just to avoid switch off thump. I use GRLV boards in lots of projects so again they can be repurposed...