Craig Sawyers

I'm not particularly into watches - I use a military quartz watch like this https://www.silvermans.co.uk/tabid/62/MILITARY/WATCHES/CWC+G10+ISSUE+WATCH+NO+DATE/0/SKU/4-189-13590-0/Default.aspx. At UKP145, if it goes wrong (it never has) just buy another. But for fun and laughs this is the building of the most complex watch that Patek have ever made https://youtu.be/I1L15xehfEA . Not that you could ever wear something that size and weight, but that is not the point I guess - it is a thing of mechanical beauty in its own right.

Did I actually get as far as 5 posts until I got my ass kicked?

Don't agree with that. The only thing that determines the fundamental response of a bass driver is the resonant frequency and Qts. Shove it into a box of the right size to push Qts up to 0.7 or so for a Butterworth alignment and off you go. Sure there are various opinions about one large driver, or multiple small ones, but the "speed" is always about the cabinet. Ported has to be done right to prevent a perception of slowness, likewise transmission lines. I prefer to keep things simple and fundamental. Either H frame dipole with EQ and no box at all, or closed box either of the correct size or with EQ to extend bass further. Suspect that my sub project is two of the late great Shiva X2 12" drivers in a push push arrangement to prevent cabinet rock.

That is an interesting page. I really really like the idea of the Stereo Integrity 24" driver, weighing 115lbs http://stereointegrity.com/product/hs24-24-subwoofer/

I have a mate with very deep pockets who has a Wilson Watchdog sub http://www.wilsonaudio.com/product_watch_dog.shtml. It is a bit of a beast.

So-called low-field MRI uses NdFeB magnets to generate around 0.3 to 0.4 T over a volume you can get a human into. Have a look at this http://usa.healthcare.siemens.com/magnetic-resonance-imaging/0-35-to-1-5t-mri-scanner/magnetom-c Problem is that unlike a superconducting magnet, you can't turn it off, so shipping and re-siting is a really big deal.

This http://www.lfo.org.uk/tristan-und-isolde/. Awesome.

Or along the same lines, a campground is a good place for sex because the excitement is in tents.

Happy birthday!

Never seen those beasts, but apparently British, The price in US-speak - in the region of three quarter million. Depending on finish. Now where is the cheque book

In the UK I use these guys to buy black high tensile metric screws. http://www.modelfixings.co.uk/ht_metric_countersunks.htmand http://www.modelfixings.co.uk/high_tensile_steel_caps.htm In general it seems that high tensile screws are black. Or black enough. Powder coating has the problem with paint build up - so you can't get a socket or driver in the slot anymore. Or if you do, it damages the powder coat and the bare metal shows thought. Got the badge on that one.

That is old King's Cross station in London, probably around late forties. It was massively remodeled in the 1960's through to present time and now could be a station just about anywhere. Looks like this now But at least it boasts platform 9 3/4 from the Harry Potter movies.

I've just sprung for an LDR passive attenuator, having looked at and tried various standard rotary (TKD etc), switched resistive attenuators, and flirted with tapped transformer attenuators without trying them. We'll see once I get them boxed up.

Ah - goddit. Must have had brain fade. Alternative way of doing it is to get matched pairs from Spencer and mount them in an isothermal housing. Something like the old 2SJ75 package of two discrete matched J74 that predated the funky plastic packaged dual 2SJ109. I just got four J74BL quads matched to 10mA. Each quad is matched to the second decimal place, so easily good enough for a roll your own 2SJ109. 2SJ75GR available from the usual source, but at $32. Or buy a bunch of LSJ74 and match. Not cheap at $6 each. Basically the cheapest way is to buy matched from Spencer at $9 each and then pair them to give a cost of $18 per pair.

Linear Systems LSJ109 is fairly easily available. In the UK https://www.micross.com/ecommerce/for about UKP1.30

I bought J74BL's from him a month or so ago with tight matching. Excellent service, and warp speed shipment. But he was about out of K170's when I ordered the J74's.

I've just done precisely that. I needed four quads each matched to 10mA +/-0.25mA and he said no problem. Since his prices seem so good, there is no major loss if they turn out to be duds. But with 100% positive feedback I have some modest hope they will be OK.

Have a few beers on me. In addition I'll have a few beers anyway and think of you on your birthday A great birthday to you sir.

I thought this had to be a spoof, or an April fool joke - but no http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/may/05/microwave-oven-caused-mystery-signal-plaguing-radio-telescope-for-17-years

May your functions always converge - happy birthday Shelly!

Having suffered a 6 week election campaign with wall to wall media (they are usually 4 weeks) I can't tell you have much I enjoyed that Grahame! I'm going to vote for the wolves.

This http://www.cft.org.uk/way-upstream

Mezzanine boards are sometimes a smart idea. One amp I did had one board full of voltage regulators. The amp board plugged in a bit like an old 7000 series Tektronix scope, so each regulator had a direct feed to each stage of the amp. It meant that each element could be optimised without compromising the other.

Actaully on Saturday, but this http://www.lovetheatre.com/tickets/4132/American-Buffalo?gclid=CJv5sbL3lcUCFSWWtAodSDEApgwith both Damian Lewis (Homeland, Band of Brothers) and John Goodman (more movies than you can shake a stick at, including Argo). An awesome afternoon at the theatre.