Leaderboard

Pre-Test - all is looking good, though all my suitable thermometers are broken..

Arcade Fire last night in SF. Full house, the crowd was ready to party and the band showed up and brought the energy. Most fun show I’ve been to all year. If you like these guys, catch them on this tour!

Wilco fans, got a grail this morning at a local record show

I'm afraid the race is going to be a lot less fun than we'd like. Max and Checo have a lot of chances to score a doublet and it's even possible that Max lets Checo win to wash his bad image on last race. Ferrari should be looking at the rear mirror to avoid Mercedes getting the head over them and stealing the sub championship in the very last race. Ferrari is going to struggle keeping the front tyres alive long enough. I for one I'm going to enjoy whatever it happens, but I'm looking forward to the next season. Winter is too long for F1 lovers

Saw my favorite band (or the lead singer Mark Burgess and other non-original members) The Chameleons last night. Met the guitarist in the Mexican restaurant next door, had a nice chat. Got to meet up with several folks I know from FB-land, one couple came from about 2 hours away! Fun times! After their set, Mark came out and was chatting with a bunch of us at the Merchandise table. I got this idea - having had my son with me to see his two-person live show recently - to ask him to wish my son a happy birthday for next month. Mark was awesome to oblige, and I have a nice video I will send Andrew on his BDay!

gerbers will be available after much more checking. lots and lots of editing was done. but if you really want to be first, i can arrange for gerbers to be delivered. you can do the checking before making boards. i got to hear a cfa3 driving vintage klipsch belle. stunning. also it was running stupid hot. so this will take care of all of that. should make all the raal owners real happy. (and deaf) (and fried diaphrams) connex switching power supplies recommended. a linear power supply would be very large and heavy.

a pre turkey day new year teaser. sanken output transistors, in parallel. with appropriate switching power supplies, capable of about 25 amperes. can be built with 30v, 35v, 40v power supplies if you change out the pzta06/pzta56 with bf722/bf723 then you can go up to 60v supplies. with 40v supplies and big enough heatsinks, 100 watts rms into 8 ohms. lets see how much joamat can shrink this one. balanced output impedance, .5 ohm

Hazelnut Bombolone

(shared) Bacon Cheese Burger and chips/fries (Not shown magnolia salad)

Setting up for a fun one tomorrow with so much still left in play. Battle for 2nd between Perez (p2) and Leclerc (p3) who are tied on points. Ferrari Boyz trying to hold off the late charging Mercs in the constructors. Ditto Alpine and McLaren. Sir Lewis with his last chance of winning a Grand Prix this season. Let’s see if I can get up in time for the 5AM PST start 🙃

Initial episodes of Fleishman Is in Trouble are fun, especially likely to divorcees and/or parents.

Now I’ve listened to CFA3smd something with switched mode power supply for almost 2 months and I’m happy with it. So, no plan for a golden reference supply. I’m too lazy and I think the switched power supply is good enough for me. Next “project” is how to power a Tube Hybrid. The Hybrid needs +100V, -5V and 6.3VAC for the tubes. The PSU has to be rebuilt. The amplifier board is finished, in theory…

The stage is cloaked in mystery, or at least a red fog, before the Stromae concert begins. Here with Claire, Sophie and her gf Ella.

My guide to golden reference high voltage (grhv) variants Here is my attempt at documenting some of the different GRHV board variations. (this will be work in progress for sometime) feel free to private message me with any additions comments, corrections etc. please note the schematic for version 1.5 has been reverse engineered by me from the gerbers and may contain error(s). location of the gerbers: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B_iJFfZStuVhSE5nOHBVdTByR1k golden reference filename naming guide fat - boards which are wider and have less height than the non fat variants L bracket mounting only same as the non fat variants. fat with S as the last character of the filename - boards which are wider and have less height than the non fat variants and the height is about 6.3mm less than the fat variant. these boards also feature more screw hole options for the mounting the pcb to the case including an option of not using an L shaped bracket and mounting the transistors directly to the vertical face of a heatsink/side of the case. a silkscreen cut line is included to guide removal of the L bracket mounting roles to facilitate direct transistor to heatsink mounting. dual - has both positive and negative hv supply with additional bias and both positive and negative low voltage supplies on a single pcb left - has a single negative hv rail and both positive and negative low voltage supplies right - has a single positive hv rail and bias no new in the filename version - 1.5 boards high voltage starts instantly board has high voltage VAC power. Topology is much simpler then version 1.7 and 1.8 and therefore not considered golden reference. new in the filename actual golden reference boards with extensive post pass transistor regulation. new without sw in the filename- version 1.7 high voltage starts instantly board has high voltage VAC power. new with sw in the filename - version 1.8 or later boards same topology as 1.7 but high voltage will not start until dc power supplied to the cpc1117n no dual and no fat in the filename - minimal width and quite high. NOTE placement of the screw terminals for input VAC can vary considerably depending on if the board is a fat, fat S or non fat. Overview of the versions It is the extensive post pass transistor regulation that marks the golden reference out from the other power supply designs as such version 1.5 and earlier not classify as a golden reference since they lack any post pass transistor regulation. No details of versions before 1.5 or version 1.6 could be found in the gerber archives. Apparently pre 1.5 versions had on board heatsinks and ground lanes but there gerbers and not available in the google drive archive. No schematic could be found for version 1.5 although after reverse engineering it was found that the circlotronps.pdf is similar in topology but modified to support 900V output. No bill of materials could be found for version 1.5 and it is not certain what is the power rating for the larger resistors. All versions have the pcb tracks on the underside with no tracks on the top. All versions have no ground plane ALL versions have bleed resistors to help discharge the high voltage caps although version 1.5 and a few variants of 1.7 use a single high power resistor and the rest two 1/2W resistors in series. All versions have the same basic voltage regulator based low voltage positive and negative supplies All versions have the same bias supply although v1.5 has different resistor values. ALL versions use a LT1021-10 voltage reference All the versions 1.5, 1.7 and 1.8 use a C2M1000170D pass transistor All the versions use a 10M90S pre regulator although version 1.5 controls it with a zener string and 1.7 and 1.8 control with a DN2540. 1.7 and 1.8 are almost identical in topology although 1.8 does not automatically start the high voltages. DC must be applied to the CPC1117N to start. note 1.8 does not have provision for screw terminals for the DC to switch on the cpc1117n. versions 1.7 and 1.8 have more post regulation using a second 10m90s (which is not present in version 1.5) after the 1N4007 protection diode. version 1.5 uses a 10ohm current sense resistor and versions 1.7 and 1.8 use 5.1ohm by default. version 1.5 uses a 10K resistor to ground in the 3 series resistor chain to decide the output voltage, 1.7 and 1.8 use 20K to get 400V output. The other 2 resistors in the chain are the same for version 1.5 and version 1.7/1.8 version 1.5 uses two stn0214 which are replaced by two KSC5026M in v1.7/1.8 version 1.5 uses two stn9360 which are replaced by two BC557B in v1.7/1.8 Known non golden reference boards which are variations or predecessors to version 1.5 and golden reference variants NOTE These have not been looked at in detail by me or fully reverse engineered. The cyclotron power supply series follows a similar evolution to the golden reference. earlier cyclotron psus (circlotronps.PDF) use a variation of version 1.5 topology with modifications to bring the output up to 900V. However since it lacks any post pass transistor regulation it can not be considered a golden reference these psus do not have new in their name. The later cyclotron power supplies have the words new or newver in their name on quick inspection of the gerbers appear to be modifications for 900V of the version 1.7 power supplies, have post pass transistor regulation and may be considered golden reference variants. The filename conventions follows the guide above with dual, single, S and SWS versions available. circlotronhvpowerdualnew.zip appears to be derived from the version 1.7 topology with a similar complement of transistors. On the underside of the pcb there are two additional stn0214 transistors compared to the version 1.7 plus 3 mount points for a total of 500V worth of smd zeners. circlotronhvpowerdualnewer2.zip ditches the zener string and introduces another stn3960 and includes sw and sws variations. The kgsshv8g.pdf power supply appears to be an predecessor version of version 1.5. There are very close similarities in topology including no post pass transistor regulation. Current sense is still controlled by a 2n3904. The pre-regulator is 10m90s controlled by a zener string and a quad of transistors like the version 1.5. However the pass transistor is two parallel fqpf8n80c. The control transistors are 2sa1486 instead of stn9360 and 2sc3840 instead of stn0214. Both types of control transistor are no longer in production and hence the conclusion this is older than version 1.5. Apparently these boards are classified as KGSSHV ------------------------------------------------ Version 1.5 boards ------------------------------------------------- predecessor to the golden reference with no post pass transistor regulation the board uses a single high wattage bleed resistor for each cap uses multiple stn9360s, stn0214s uses a serial zener string for to control the 10m90s pre regulator. LT1021-10 voltage reference based single sided board kgsshvpssicfetdual2.zip this has both positive and negative rails, a simple voltage regulator based low voltage positive and negative supply and 580V for stax headphones bias board size approx. width 152.7mm height 165mm silkscreen revision 1.5 kgsshvpssicfetsingle2.zip this has a single rail identical to the kgsshvpssicfetdual2 in topology and 580V for stax headphones bias board size approx. width 76.5mm height 165mm silkscreen revision 1.5 ------------------------------------------------ Version 1.7 boards ------------------------------------------------- considered the first known golden reference board version (given the lack of information on version 1.6) has extensive post pass transistor regulation. the board uses two serial bleed resistors for each cap uses a single stn9360s and multiple BC557B and KSC5026M uses dn2540 and 10m90s for stage early voltage control for the input to the c2m1000170D LT1021-10 voltage reference based double sided board kgsshvpssicfetdual2new.zip this has both positive and negative rails, a simple voltage regulator based low voltage positive and negative supply and 580V for stax headphones bias board size approx. width 152.7mm height 165mm silkscreen revision 1.7 kgsshvpssicfetsingle2new.zip this has a single positive rail identical to the kgsshvpssicfetdual2new in topology and 580V for stax headphones bias board size approx. width 76.5mm height 165mm silkscreen revision 1.7 single bleed resistor for each cap kgsshvpssicfetsinglenewleft.zip this has a single negative rail identical to the kgsshvpssicfetdual2new in topology and has a simple low voltage positive and negative regulators based supply board size approx. width 76.4mm height 165.3mm silkscreen revision 1.7 kgsshvpssicfetsinglenewright.zip this has a single positive rail identical to the kgsshvpssicfetdual2new in topology and bias supply board size approx. width 76.4mm height 165.3mm silkscreen revision 1.7 kgsshvpssicfetsinglenewleftfat.zip this has a single negative rail identical to the kgsshvpssicfetdual2new in topology and has a simple low voltage positive and negative regulators based supply board size approx. width 138.7mm height 103.1mm silkscreen revision 1.71 kgsshvpssicfetsinglenewrightfat.zip this has a single positive rail identical to the kgsshvpssicfetdual2new in topology and has a 580v stax bias supply board size approx. width 138.6mm height 103.1mm silkscreen revision 1.71 kgsshvpssicfetsinglenewleftfatS.zip this has a single negative rail identical to the kgsshvpssicfetdual2new in topology and has a simple low voltage positive and negative regulators based supply has more mounting options for the pass transistor, 4 holes for mounting to a case and can be used with or without an L shaped bracket board size approx. width 138.7mm height 98.6mm (slightly less height than the fat non S version silkscreen revision 1.71s kgsshvpssicfetsinglenewrightfatS.zip this has a single positive rail identical to the kgsshvpssicfetdual2new in topology and has a bias supply has more mounting options for the pass transistor, 4 holes for mounting to a case and can be used with or without an L shaped bracket board size approx. width 138.7mm height 98.6mm (slightly less height than the fat non S version silkscreen revision 1.71s ------------------------------------------------ Version 1.8 boards ------------------------------------------------- same topology as version 1.7 making this a golden reference board adds a cpc1117n and 600ohm resistor to control high voltage startup the high voltage will not start-up automatically. This negates the need for a external relay for delayed start-up and just requires dc power to be supplied to the cpc1117n (not present in earlier versions) for the high voltage to start-up. if you want the board to power up instantly simply omit the 600ohm resistor and cpc1117n and it will act just like the version 1.7 instant start boards. boards same size as the equivalent version 1.7 pcbs silkscreen 1.8 there does not seem to be a dual version of this board kgsshvpssicfetsinglenewleftSWS.zip this has a single negative rail almost identical to the kgsshvpssicfetdual2new in topology and has a simple low voltage positive and negative regulators based supply board size approx. width 76.4mm height 165.3mm silkscreen revision 1.8 kgsshvpssicfetsinglenewrightSWS.zip this has a single positive rail almost identical to the kgsshvpssicfetdual2new in topology and has a bias supply board size approx. width 76.4mm height 165.3mm silkscreen revision 1.8 kgsshvpssicfetsinglenewleftfatSW.zip this has a single negative rail almost identical to the kgsshvpssicfetdual2new in topology and has a simple low voltage positive and negative regulators based supply board size approx. width 138.7mm height 103.7mm silkscreen revision 1.8 kgsshvpssicfetsinglenewrightfatSW.zip this has a single positive rail almost identical to the kgsshvpssicfetdual2new in topology and bias based supply board size approx. width 138.7mm height 103.7mm silkscreen revision 1.8 kgsshvpssicfetsinglenewleftfatSWS.zip this has a single negative rail almost identical to the kgsshvpssicfetdual2new in topology and has a simple low voltage positive and negative regulators based supply has more mounting options for the pass transistor, 4 holes for mounting to a case and can be used with or without an L shaped bracket board size approx. width 138.7mm height 98.6mm (slightly less height than the fat non S version silkscreen revision 1.8 kgsshvpssicfetsinglenewrightfatSWS.zip this has a single positive rail almost identical to the kgsshvpssicfetdual2new in topology and has a bias supply has more mounting options for the pass transistor, 4 holes for mounting to a case and can be used with or without an L shaped bracket board size approx. width 138.7mm height 98.6mm (slightly less height than the fat non S version silkscreen revision 1.8