September 28, 20205 yr comment_837785 9 hours ago, swt61 said: I missed you Fitz! Sounds like your aim could use some work then. Report
September 28, 20205 yr comment_837792 It hardly counts as "building", but I am snapping together a Pootie Pie. Report
September 29, 20205 yr comment_837867 Had a Vodavi phone system at work that one of the station ports didn't work. Normally I wouldn't even bother trying a repair on one of these and just replace the unit, but lacking any working ones on the shelf, I decided to have a go at it... and somehow actually managed to fix it. 😲 Random picture of one off the internet for reference: I had to replace one of those little blue transformers, the thermistor beside it, and some smd components on the back of the board, with ones I salvaged off a different broken unit. It took a few passes to track down everything that was damaged, but now it works as it should. Yay. Report
October 18, 20205 yr comment_839917 2 hours ago, luvdunhill said: A workbench! I assume that's the 54" model? If so, I'll be curious to hear your thoughts on it. I've been in dire need of a bench for a while and started cleaning my shop in earnest this weekend to make space. I haven't had a proper shop since we started building the addition on the house in 2016. It sucks! Report
October 18, 20205 yr Author comment_839926 35 minutes ago, n_maher said: I assume that's the 54" model? If so, I'll be curious to hear your thoughts on it. I've been in dire need of a bench for a while and started cleaning my shop in earnest this weekend to make space. I haven't had a proper shop since we started building the addition on the house in 2016. It sucks! Yeah, 54" model. I will have a few projects on it this week and will report back! Report
October 18, 20205 yr comment_839931 Just put up some shelves and cabinets in the shop space preparing for making things again! Report
October 20, 20205 yr Author comment_840045 It seems to work great! I am not a huge fan of using a long screw driver to attach the top - having pre-drilled pilot holes would be nice. Other than that; it’s bolted to the ground and super stable. I sanded and put a coat of finish on my phono preamp faces just now! Edited October 20, 20205 yr by luvdunhill Report
October 20, 20205 yr comment_840069 ^^ Thanks. I've got more cleaning to do and then need to measure and do some layout but there's definitely something like this in my future. Report
October 20, 20205 yr Author comment_840071 ^^ Thanks. I've got more cleaning to do and then need to measure and do some layout but there's definitely something like this in my future. Tomorrow I am going to cut up some remaining Baltic Birch ply to make some frames for speaker grills. That will involve a bit of clamping and screwing here and there. So, stay tuned! Report
October 20, 20205 yr comment_840072 1 minute ago, luvdunhill said: That will involve a bit of clamping and screwing here and there. This reminds me of a gymnast I met in a bar one time... Report
October 21, 20205 yr Author comment_840214 All worked well. Sliced up the ply into 1” strips and then used the pocket jig to make a frame. I think 1” is too narrow so will probably do 1-1/2”. Report
October 22, 20205 yr comment_840397 Finally got around to installing the replacement IEC inlet / EMI filter on my spectrum analyzer. Hit the power button and it powered up as it should, thank satan. Then I ran a signal into it and the results were a bit... strange. It displayed the frequency way offset from what it should be, and there was some weirdness in what was displayed, and the problem was the same on both inputs. So I went into the self-test menu and most stuff was fine, but every test for the digital filter board errored out. Oh dear. It seemed fine and reseating it didn't accomplish anything, so I spent the next couple hours with the service manual, checking voltages, clock signals, data lines, etc. Everything seemed to check out fine. Everything suggested it should be working. I decided on a whim to run the self-test again, and... it worked? Hooked it back up to a signal, and... it's fine now? Wat. I dunno what the actual problem was, maybe one of the other boards I pulled in the process of checking things needed to be reseated, maybe it just needed to warm up for a while longer to shake off the cobwebs, who knows. All I know is it's finally working again, and all it took was a $16 part, so I'm happy. Report
October 22, 20205 yr comment_840405 It seems quite obvious to me what happened. Brent must have put biscuits in the oven, which started the Earth's magnetic field to shudder, but then he started grooming that enormous head, lost all track of time, and the biscuits burnt, rendering them not worthy of consumption. Therefore the Earth's magnetic field returned to normal. Elementary really. Report
October 22, 20205 yr comment_840423 54 minutes ago, Fitz said: Brent ... is why we can't have nice things. Report
October 23, 20205 yr comment_840465 The replacement input jacks for my Fluke dmm finally showed up. When I desoldered the old ones, I found something that wasn't as it should be, and perfectly explained the problems I'd been having with the meter. A $20 part this time, and another piece of test equipment is back in working order. Report
October 23, 20205 yr comment_840467 1 hour ago, Fitz said: The replacement input jacks for my Fluke dmm finally showed up. When I desoldered the old ones, I found something that wasn't as it should be, and perfectly explained the problems I'd been having with the meter. A $20 part this time, and another piece of test equipment is back in working order. nice electrical isolation... I didn't realise fluke had put prototype micro optical isolators into just some of the input jacks... Edited October 23, 20205 yr by jamesmking Report
October 23, 20205 yr comment_840475 Just fixed my recently sold Linn Basik tonearm on an Ariston RD80 deck. Buyer rang me to give me the great news that he had loads of white noise and couldn't get anything from the right channel! Ooops!! Picked it up off him and found that when the cartridge had been fitted, the sprung pins in the tonearm/headshell connector were gummed up and weren't springing back. Lots of solvent spray and a bit of persuasion from fine needle nose pliers. Woohoo! Problem solved. Happy buyer and even happier me. Can probably afford a better camera now and post better pics! Report
October 23, 20205 yr Author comment_840508 Finished the front panels on my phono pre. Nevermind Stephen “Bishop”’s creepy photobomb ... Report
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