Craig Sawyers

You're absolutely right - I'm an R4 addict. The only things I won't listen to are The Archers (loathe it) and anything that is a phone-in (Money Box Live, Any Questions and Any Answers). I discovered bare-foot running two weeks ago by listening to Woman's Hour, which had a guy on who has written a book called Born to Run and extols the virtues of bare-foot running. Bought the book, devoured in in three days, bought Vibram five-fingers, and am now adapting to running in what is basically a tight fitting foot glove with a 2mm sole - no padding, no heel, no support. Mock the Week is excellent - with the odd factoid that Dara O'Briain is a Maths and Theoretical Physics graduate.

The wild west frontiersmen has the right idea and made hats out of them. Good luck with the .22 - sounds like you need badly to get rid of the damned things in a permanent way.

It's just got worse - Wimbledon has started. So now if it isn't World Cup, it's Wimbledon. And what is left in the odd slots left is either a repeat or of zero interest. At least I'm mildly interested in tennis. Lots of pay-per-view movies over the next few weeks I think.....

It *definitely* needed big-screen 3D. We decided that it would be pretty long and unimpressive in either 2D or small screen (even large home theatre size).

That looks really sexy! I like the re-siting of the 3W power resistors to the non-component side of the board too.

Kevin - the pics of your build show a volume control extension shaft that looks insulating. Is there a particular reason that it should be? Reason is that I have stock of 1/4" aluminium(aluminum) rod.

Ok guys - what is the secret? I've just experimentally tried out a 2SJ109 and I failed fairly miserably to get it in the holes.

Thanks struts and voltron. I didn't keep a tally, but I guess it must have been ten hours for both boards, or maybe a little more, spread over three days. I don't have a flip over frame to help soldering, so I stuck a piece of carpet onto piece of plywood just larger than the big board with carpet spray glue. Used a lead bender to assist component preparation while the boards were propped on two transformers - then put the carpet gizmo on top and flipped it. Worked a treat.

Hokay, finished the boards. Remaining is: 1. Japanese semiconductors - expected early next week 2. Transformers. Being built by Paul Houlden, ex MD of Avel Lindberg and supplier to Krell and other high end manufacturers. Cores are on order, so finished transformers should be around 3 weeks delivery. Primary specced at 240V 50Hz and his design regulation is 7%, centre potted fixings. Any other T2 builders in 240V territories who are interested, let me know and I'll put you directly in touch. 3. Ceramic insulators. 4. Casework. Here's a pic of the stuffed boards http://www.tech-enterprise.com/tekstuff/T2stuffedboards.JPG

I've replied to Doug in a PM. But a good friend Paddy Glenny started up a brewery locally in Witney Oxfordshire, initially called The Glenny Brewery. He sold out to Wychwoods (his most famous brew, Hobgoblin is still brewed), maybe 20 years ago and went off to Nelson in BC Canada - setting up another brewery called the Nelson Brewery in 1991. Their most famous beer is Paddywhack. Last time I saw Paddy, he was doubling up as a Park Ranger paint ball coding Grizzlies. I kid you not. This is done (apparently) to keep track of the population. It is not a low-risk activity. Last time I heard from him, he had been attacked by a juvenile black bear and walked 20 miles out leaving a trail of blood. He survived to tell the tale. He didn't survive the next encounter, and became a Grizzly statistic. So Doug - go into brewing - it is a fine profession - but don't go in for colour coding Grizzlies.

Just RE-ordered the 4171G from Future. Except this time I've ordered 200 of the suckers - having spotted the voltage weakness around the bolt hole I have no intention of running out of them soon.

I do beg your pardon - I'm talking out my ass. Subbuteo is completely different to table football. I should know - despite a life long hatred of the football/soccer I have in an alcoholic fug played both games. Badly.

The picture of the hawk reminded me of a story. I don't know if you have a table football(soccer) game in the US - but it is basically a table with a series of rods that control the players, and two of you face off and have a game of table soccer. The guy that designed it tried to call it "Football Hobby" - bear in mind that this was introduced in 1947 - to find that someone had already trademarked the name. So instead he called it Subbuteo, because Sub Buteo is the latin name of the Hobby Hawk.

Well, that is not a bad idea. So I've filled out the form, to be assessed by a "sales associate". Lets see....

I've just been flailing around trying to avoid using the 4171G ceramic insulators, since they aren't expected in to the various stockists until the end of July (nominally). I've been talking to Kevin privately thoughout this as I reasoned things through. The result of that flailing just resulted in my spending a bit of money and stocking up the spares drawers. The short conclusion is: THERE IS NO OPTION BUT TO USE THE 4171G! I tried to use the Bergquist elastomer "alumina and beryllia replacement" with 6kV breakdown, type K10. I sourced insulating bushes with 2.54mm bush length so they went into the heatsink bracket and insulated the screw. Then I spotted the fallacy - there is still a breakdown path from the inside edge of the device mounting hole to the hole through the heatsink bracket - which is just the thickness of the washer away (0.15mm). That limits the potential to 0.15 x 3kV = 450V best case (air breaks down at 3kV/mm). Since the device tabs run up to 630V above ground this is a recipe for disaster. The nonsense is of course that Bergquist supply a TO220 bolt mounting stamping out of this material, which makes a joke out of its 6kV material specification. The alumina washers that Kevin ended up specifying are 1.78mm thick, separating the device tab and heatsink by that amount. That should hold off 1.78 x 3kV = over 5kV!

Awsome - could do with some of that scenery nearby. Nothing that big in the UK - the biggest hill is Ben Nevis at 4300 feet. I did some thing more boring - leg 1 of the Ridgeway Relay. This is an 89 mile trail run in 10 legs of varying milage. Nominally 11.2 hilly miles for my leg, 'cept I got lost at around 8 miles and faffed slowly around for 2 extra miles finding out where the hell I was. Then had to put the afterburners on once I found the route to claw back a bit of time. So totally knackered, and ended up last on my leg in a crappy time I'm not going to admit to. The truly tough event is a trail race along the whole length called the Ridgeway Challenge. Won last year an a massive new record of 12h30m - working out at an average pace of 8m40s per mile. The guy looks like he has been out for a three mile trot and not an 89 mile trail run Picasa Web Albums - alan - Ridgeway Chal...

That Dusty is a real bummer. Hope you're wrong, and it works out OK.

Tube sockets arrived today. Really crappily packed - wrapped in bubble wrap, but stuffed in an ordinary large brown envelope with a string wrap seal. Envelope was disintegrating, so it could have arrived empty with the sockets somewhere between here and Hong Kong (from DIY HiFi Supply). The good news is that they thoughtfully put a customs declared value of $50 (and not $152) on, so it slipped though the radar and attracted to tax. So hats off to them for that. Nice to get one over on our tax police. The other good news is that shipping from HK to UK was only $7.

You know, I never thought of that - but they for sure would get all the toilet humour and out and out rudeness straight off. Sort of like a medieval Roald Dahl in a really rude mood.

Yeah - Gargantua is pretty tough going. It is a long time since I read it, and never tried Bakhtin's book on Rabelais - maybe I ought to re-read it and then follow it up with Bakhtin. When next I feel in the mood for a little light reading

Congratulations! Let us know what they sound like! And I so understand the sneaking past the wife syndrome; although she is used to it now. Maggies, Martin Logans, Podiums and Quad 57's have all been the subject of "What ON EARTH are those!" over 20-odd years.

There is bugger all on UK TV at the moment - it is saturation, wall to wall football/soccer, all channels. The whole schedule is stuffed for anyone who could care less about the sport.

It's a rich part of European language culture, which we shoud embrace, celebrate and frequently use. Try dipping into Chaucer, or Rabelais' "Gargantua" (where whole chapters are devoted to foul and offensive insults) for fine exceptionally rude literature from 14th - 16th centuries.

Awesome Kevin! Mention of the platinum reminds me of my Dad, who ended his working life in charge of Quality at Burgess Microswitches. For some years the spring loaded rubber swing doors to the factory were propped open with a hefty spool of metal ribbon - 30-40lbs or so. No-one gave it much thought - must be steel - and so just pushed it into place each morning. My Dad eventually took a chunk and sent it off for assay just to find out what it was. Yup - platinum. Today's price is around

That is just not fun at all - hope the antibiotics clear things up pronto.