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Once again this year I'm prepping to ride a century in support of the Kelly Brush Foundation. Between Zwifting as required by the rainiest spring in history, the MTBs, and getting outside as much as possible this summer I'm piling on the miles in preparation this year and should in proper form before the event. Once again this year it'll be an in-person ride up in VT, with friends mostly coming from near-by so we should have a strong crew of 8 with some riding the 50 and most doing the full 100 miles. For me this is the 12th century that I've done in support of either Northeast Passage or Kelly Brush and I'm hoping the recent trend of good weather continues. So the mission remains the same, I'm trying to raise a bunch of money again this year with a goal of $3,000. As usual, all of the donations are tax deductible and maybe some legislation will get passed this year to make that more meaningful but really, I'm hoping the motivation isn't just to get a write off. So for those that are interested, here's the link to my personal fund raising page - Nate's Fundraising Page. Any donation large or small is very much appreciated. A bit about KBF - they are a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting individuals with spinal cord injuries in finding ways to get out and enjoy an active lifestyle. For me, this is a cause close to my heart. I love the outdoors and the freedom to explore it in a variety of ways and have worked with organizations like the KBF for the last twenty years to help others do the same. Last year's crew with Kelly at the starting line.

I enjoyed this and feel old.

Sonoma Nibbles

Fed some hummingbirds (with 1 part organic cane sugar : 4 parts water) , in Sonoma.

I enjoy rum above other spirits and there was a surprising rum tasting / dinner thingy. Sooooo poorly attended that me and my older son basically sat at a table with three ladies that work in the industry...learned a lot from them and also the head chef only had us to deal with...LOL. Odd but delicious experience. HS

Nibbling on Brits?

Nibbles 'N Brits would have been even better.

I'd go for the second one. Pretty stuff either way

My unorthodox handtool shelf is coming together. Handfitting the figured walnut drawer front and need to come up with some access piece for the top.

Brit Nibbles. Enhance!

In

👍 there we go!

Good work by a good man. And now you're in the plus column on your donation page!

The Dreamer - Joseph, Pt. 1 Neal Morse 2023 https://album.link/i/1687520898 Example: New Prog album released yesterday from Neal (formerly of Spocks Beard fame). I have not given it a deep listen though. And from the onset I am a little mixed. There is some grand music going on here. He has gone back to religious themes. This one, as you might tell is of the technicolor dreamcoat style. The music is good enough that I want to dig a little deeper. It could raise itself to the levels of jesus crist superstar, which I like, or it could end up with gebnbneric songs of praise, that seem to land flat for me. Neal had some other albums like that that I didn't connect with. We shall see, but I do really like the music, had me in a heavy groove several times.

That is certainly some wiring voodoo.

The unofficial mostly modern T2 troubleshooting and verification guide. Weclome, this guide covers the mostly modern T2 which has the following schematic: The gerbers for the amp can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1r3g2TAtBUaBdiMorTWX7yYgeJ7maQbYW and the gerbers are staxt2nc3fdh7.zip The guide is intended for both pre-power on verification of an amp build, verification of voltages on power on and general troubleshooting. All tests are performed using a Brymen BM869s and peak DCA75. Using a different multimeter may effect the results slightly but you should still get similar behaviours and ball-park figures. Transistor and Diode Location Section 1. Build verification with no valves installed and no wires/volume control connected to the amp All of these checks can be performed with a multimeter from the top side of the amp board leds Checks. All 3 leds on each channel should read about 0.55V voltage drop in forward bias (multimeter + terminal/red lead connected to led + and multimeter - terminal black lead connected to led -) and open circuit in reverse bias (swap the probes around) when tested with a multimeter in diode check mode. The leds will not light from the diode test due t the current draw if the components around them. The exact forward voltage drop will depend upon the characteristics of the red led but anything significantly different here indicates a problem. 0 voltage drop in both directions indicates a short across the led or the components it connected to. check for solder bridges and failed short transistors. 0L indicates in both directions means the led has dry solder joints or is blown. using a multimeter in resistance mode check the leds D23 close to the -360VDC psu input. In forward bias expect around 4M ohms. With the probes reversed you should get open circuit. D24 is the led closest to the octal socket for the EL34 and should read about 1.8M in forward bias and about 1.9M in reverse. D1 is between in the 9 pin sockets but close to the heatsinks. This should read about 1.5M in both directions. Readings in both directions of a few hundred K ohms or lower indicate the led may have been leaky or a transistor it is connected to has gone short circuit or a solder bridge. Input terminal checks With the multimeter in resistance mode and the - terminal connected to the amp ground, and the positive terminal connected to the + input of the amp you should get about 340K and the same for the - input. Naturally expect the same results for the other channel. If significantly different suspect incorrect resistors for R94, R7 (positive input). Or R95, R8 on the - input. Output terminal checks With the multimeter in resistance mode and the - terminal connected to the amp ground, and the positive terminal connected to the + output of the amp you should get about 0.5M and the same for the - output. Naturally expect the same results for the other channel. Valve Socket Checks. With the multimeter in resistance mode and the - terminal connected to the amp ground, and the positive terminal expect the following resistances for both EL34s: (socket viewed from the top of the amp). (note the 0.5M reading may start lower and quickly ram up and the small capacitors in the circuit are charged by the multimeter). For the 6922s (socket viewed from the top of the amp) Diode Checks of transistors Note it is possible for a transistor to fail in such a way it has very little gain but still has a diode drop and so diode checking transistors is not a foolproof measure of a transistors health. But 0V drop when not expected indicates a short etc. Diode checks KSA1156 checks Q1, Q2, Q3 two of the ksa1156s (Q2 and A3) measure the same in diode mode the centre one (Q1) differs slightly. All combinations of probes and pins on a transistor result in open circuit unless otherwise shown otherwise: + indicates positive multimeter probe attached, - indicates negative multimeter probe attached n/c indicates no probe attachment. Note: for the other channel EACH KSA1156 is rotated 180 degrees about the y (vertical) axis. Peak DCA in circuit testing Q1-3 The peak DCA 75 identifies all 3 transistors as PNP silicon. The centre with a hfe or around 28 and the other two with slightly higher hfe of 30 to 31. This test is reliable, anything significantly different indicates a problem. Note it is easier to do these tests from the underside although you can hook up the dca proe hooks to something like a sensepeek weighted self standing spring loaded probe tip assembly and test easily from the top (https://sensepeek.com/pcbite-20 Diode check and Peak DCA 75 for Q23P FJPF2145 This is reliably identified as a NPN with hfe 26 and is part of the virtual battery connected to the + output side of the channel. NOTE: It has a mirror image pinout compared to the ksa1156s. Diode check and peak DCA 75 check for Q5 2SK216 This is reliably identified as a N channel mosfet with body diode and has a transconductance of 23.3mA/V. Although not part of the virtual battery it is directly connected to it. WANRING This transistor has a live mounting tab and must be fully insulated from the heatsink. A resistance check from the metal tab to the heatsink it is mounted on absolutely must read open circuit. Diode measurement for this transistor does not show a stable reading. In this case dec indicates a reading that decreases over time. The next two transistors in the heatsink row are Q23N and Q4 which perform exactly the same role and are exactly the same type of transistors as Q23P and Q5 respectively and should measure about the same I got 28mA/V for the Q4 so expect a little variance here). NOTE: on the other channel the order of the 2SK216 and FJPF2145 are reversed. Diode check and peak DCA 75 check for Q35 and Q36 FJPF2145 These are the current providers (driven by Q34) for a 10mA constant current source that feeds the input 6922s. The job is equally divided between them and they should measure the same. The DCA75 reliably identifies them as NPN silicon hfe 25-26 Diode check and peak DCA 75 check for Q15 and Q10 (10M90S) These are identified out of circuit by the dca75 as N channel depletion mosfets. However, in this circuit they provide anode current and are wired in such a way the DCA75 can not identify them and reports no component. The DCA75 should not report any shorts and the metal mounting tab is live and absolutely must be insulated from the heatsink they are mounted on. Q15 and Q10 are identically configured and should measure the same. The gate and cathodes are connected together with resistors totalling only 400ohms so the diode drop voltages will be lower than for the other transistors also unlike the other transistors all combination of probes will result in a voltage drop. The voltage drop should be the same in the forward and reverse directions. Diode check and peak DCA 75 check for Q28 and Q29 (KSA1156) These are identified out of circuit by the dca75 as PNP silicon. However in this circuit they are wired in such a way the DCA75 can not identify them and reports no component. Each should measure the same. Diode check and peak DCA 75 check for Q26 and Q27 (2SK216) These transistors do not produce stable diode voltage drops. Diode check and peak DCA 75 check for Q25 and Q24 (2SJ79) These transistors are not easy to get a stable reading on. Diode and peak dca75 Check Balance servo Q37 - Q40 (MPSA06) 4 of the MPSA06es have their collectors and bases shorted together and so can be considered to only have two pins as far as diode checking concerned. NOTE for any transistor with shorted pins only two dca75 probes were used (one to the shorted pins and the other to the non shorted pin) to avoid the dca just reporting probes shorted. Understandably ni this case the dca75 can not identify the component as a transistor and instead reports a 9.87V zener. All other transistors are correctly identified and hfe provided. Diode and peak dca75 Check Virtual Battery Q16 - Q18 (STN9360) and Q20 (MPSA06) the other virtual battery in the channel (just to the left) should measure similarly and is identically laid out. Q20 pt 1 has collector and base shorted. All 4 stn9360 should diode measure similarly. NOTE for any transistor with shorted pins only two dca75 probes were used (one to the shorted pins and the other to the non shorted pin) to avoid the dca just reporting probes shorted. Understandably ni this case the dca75 can not identify the component as a transistor and instead reports a 10V zener. All other transistors are correctly identified and hfe provided. The stn9360 are pnp and the remaining non shorted mpsa06 as npn Diode and peak dca75 check Q30 and Q31 (FJPF2145) Each transistor provides a separate 5mA current source and are directly connected to the virtual battery. With the led D24 across their base and emitter. Each is identically configured and should read the same. Dca75 reliably identifies both transistors as npn both hfe 18 Diode and peak dca75 check Q32 (on seperate small heatsink) and Q33 (FJPF2145) this forms a 20mA current source which is controlled by Rv5 and sets the DC offset. DCA75 reliably identifies both transistors as npn both with hfe 26 Diode and peak dca75 check Q34 (FJPF2145) Q34 provides control for Q35 and Q36 which creates a 10mA current source. The dca75 says no component detected. <<< IN PROGRESS >>> #include <usual_disclaimer.h> #include <usual_high voltage_warnings.h>

1, 2, 3, 4, cretins wanna hop some more ...

An Eastern European dual citizen polyglot (Is there any other kind?), that could probably help 'Stretch with his pronunciation.

Fancy nibbles! Are you with some Brits? Obviously, I didn't say other Brits given your current citizenship.

Upper Poolside Nibbles.

I showed amazing restraint today. This sold for just over $400 shipped. 5D Mk II, 80K shutter activations, a pile of memory cards, SIX (5 pictured) batteries, two chargers, cables etc. Guy also had a 40mm pancake, a tripod slide mount thing and some other kit. All of his auctions ended this morning, when no one was around. I resisted bidding on any of it. I've set my sights on a 5D Mk IV and am sidestepping the alarmingly cheap 5DIIIs and 1DxIIs, no matter how tempting they might be. Tonight. Tonight there's gonna be some shit.

Willie Nelson & Sinéad O'Connor - Don't Give Up

Working on a punch list for a finished project. It was quite hot, even in the city. Happily, it's supposed to cool off tomorrow.

OOF. Found the first real casualty of moving today: That's a bootleg house remix of Air's "All I Need" that is now utterly destroyed. The bootleg mix is not on YT, of course. I don't really buy vinyl anymore (I own ~2K records and don't use them for DJing) but this is one I'm going to make a point to replace. Hopefully Discogs (bless its heart) doesn't block the sale of it on their marketplace.

Went to the retina specialist Got shots in both eyes. Too much Fun for one day.