Leaderboard

Working on party favors for a little headphone/craft beer nerd get together this weekend. Took forever to cut the 3D rendering of the logo but all done and used the new keyhole bit to cut keyholes for mounting on the back. Putting sealer on tonight so I can finish with boat varnish tomorrow. Then just add the bottle openers and done.

Okay it is only FB funny, but I still thought it was funny.

A delicious omen for the weekend...

It's spelled Yacht Rock, but how is it pronounced? https://vimeo.com/618100982

The pentode experiment gets a little twist - with a beam tetrode. In my search for an acceptable output device, I went through the popular low-power transmitting tubes. The 807/6L6 family has such a wide, kinky curve in the low current region with typical Vg2 (250V) and was rejected as a candidate at the first glance. However, the curves around zero Vg1 looks quite linear. Lowering the Vg2 could sort of 'bring them down' to the low current region. With about 60V on the G2, the kinks are largely gone, and the linearity looks pretty good (pictured below X= 100V/div, Y= 5mA/div, Vg1= 0.5V/step). Another benefit is that Ig2 comes down considerably with such a low Vg2, which allows me to use the same simple G2 supply used with the GU-50 (zener diode paralleled with a 10uF cap). I compared quite a few tubes on the curve tracer. The National Union 807s (shown above) from WWII era seem to have the best linearity and are the most stable. The RCA and Sylvania tend to oscillate on my test jig. 1625s are about the same. Unfortunately I don't have enough National Union for a matched quad. The earlier 6L6/6L6-G are not officially rated for 400V plate voltage and have to be excluded. The Tung-sol 6L6WGB/5881 (the real deal, not the 'reissue') looks much more linear compared to the 6L6GC. The Sylvania 5881 (shown above) although has the same internal structure as the Tung-sol, doesn't seem to be as linear. The 1624 would be an interesting direct-heating variant that has a bit higher gain than the 807. The 2E26/2E24 brothers are suitable, too. Here are the 807s on the test bed: The result is convincing: The 100Vrms output FFT shows harmonics -115dB below the fundamental: The 1624 turned out to be a disaster. It was hard to get a clean, low capacitance filament supply. When attached to the signal path, the common-mode noise would kill the S/N and the capacitance would mess up the frequency response and THD. I have to admit I don't have much experience with direct-heating tubes in circuits where every uV counts. It would be nice if the few exotic direct-heating tube eStat amp owners can get their units measured and share their secret to success... The grounded-grid cascode output stage is such a nice thing that it allows us to play with many tube types, as long as they have enough plate voltage and power ratings and are reasonably linear. We could end up having unique amps that still have top-notch performance.

Another way to build floating shelves, without purchasing the steel supports.

I recommend watching this whole series to really learn about the world of yacht rock.

Upper Pool Curry and smooth, smooth Usual.

If the VHS pixelation is too much for you, connect to the internet using your best oxygen free copper cables, and its like a veil has been lifted ...

Thanks for posting. Glad he took the show more serious and think about the chicken scene a few times every year since it aired.

I have not, I have not played any besides the one I have. But that's a good point, you should -- if at all possible, go try play one in person. (I have a ginormous beast of a keyboard controller that I inherited for free, the Akai Professional MPK88. Honestly, I would not recommend it, it's not a good beginner's keyboard. And most of my others are "synth action" / non-weighted.) Yamaha and Casio totally dominate the digital piano market, and for a good reason. I think the hard part would be deciding on which one, but I think you're perfectly good choosing just from those two brands. I happen to be happy with all of my Alesis gear, and I found that one on a page of best MIDI controllers, and it was the only one with built-in sound, but I agree that you should stick with digital pianos, that way you get what you want straight out of the box. Something else I noticed is that some digital pianos come without a built-in stand, so if you're comparing standless pianos with pianos with built-in stand, I would add the cost of a good stand to the ones without, or just stick with ones with built-in stands. Sorry for the long delay in replying, I had an interview today. It went well, I think.

Fernando Perdomo made an entire album in the yacht rock style, and he's done others as well: https://fernandoperdomo.bandcamp.com/album/yacht

I might be more of a plane dream pop person.

In Poland, People Are Roleplaying Americans https://www.sadanduseless.com/roleplaying-americans/?fbclid=IwAR0yMTUSbWZVVOHaiqcFOjj0ezrCU3HUh7M47_pnPwfsXhMVOmpGGcxIlCY

Nothing against Mahler (rumor is he's okay), but Yacht Rock Tuesdays! At least until we're sick of Michael McDonald (which should have been a few decades ago). Hunting for tracks out there from the Yacht Rock-ettes, "The world's first, and only, female-fronted Yacht Rock cover band. Smooth AF." And I may have a new favorite website, Yacht or Nyacht? https://www.yachtornyacht.com Bad Brains' Sailin' On is a hard nyacht.

If only you lived nearby.

or for the purists ... indeed. How deep does the smooth rabbit hole go? all the way to The Danger Zone? that crazy talk sounds like what a fool believes.

He got his just deserts. She cut him out of her will. https://radaronline.com/p/nichelle-nichols-star-trek-startrek-last-will-testament-exclusive/

RIP Isabella - what a nice doggy. She had a great life from the pics. But it sure is tough to say goodbye to an animal companion. The difficult kind thing to do. And RIP Nichelle Nichols. Alas boldly gone.

"All the shadows and the pain, are coming to you. Yeah yeah yeah."

Sometimes I think I'm the only one who understands what "retirement" means. Or maybe I'm just fucking lazy.

Got my new little Mac Studio for work

Thanks everyone!!

So sorry Jim, RIP to a great pup.... And RIP to two what I consider legends in their fields! I had read that Nichelle spent a decent amount of time helping NASA get women & minorities interested in the Sciences.....

I pay other people with their own chain saws to deal with all that shit.

I read on the innernetz that mono is best in a geodesic dome or a pyramid, so there's that.

I did sous vide picanha for the first time today. A simple rub of spices, smoked salt and olive oil, then cooked in the bath at 133F for 6 hours. The 'grill' part comes from very briefly finishing on the pellet grill, just one minutes a side, with the flame box open and the temp at the absolute highest I could get it, about 700F! Served with fresh chimichurri, I was in meat heaven.

RIP Vin Scully 94. I was never a Doger fan but growing up in SoCal, I was a fan of listening to Vin. Edit - "..you think about the great great players, none of them were any better at what they did than Vin Scully was at what he did." - Bob Costas

Burt Metcalfe, show runner for ‘M*A*S*H,’ dies at 87 https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/02/arts/television/burt-metcalfe-dead.html

We had to let Isabella go yesterday. She was declining rapidly this last week so we took her to the vet to get a professional opinion on her condition. She had a good 12+ year run