AA4 Revisited
 

I decided this was too nice an amplifier to keep on a bread tin.
Therefore, my friend from the UK will be presented with a more
professional looking product. I ordered a black finish Hammond steel
chassis and bottom cover plate and proceded to go to work. I'm pleased
enough with the resilts that now I want one for me!

AA4 Revisited
 

Joe Bento wrote:
I decided this was too nice an amplifier to keep on a bread tin.
Therefore, my friend from the UK will be presented with a more
professional looking product. I ordered a black finish Hammond steel
chassis and bottom cover plate and proceded to go to work. I'm pleased
enough with the resilts that now I want one for me!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nice!

-Bill

AA4 Revisited
 

On 2009-05-10 14:50:02 -0600, Bill M said:

Joe Bento wrote:
I decided this was too nice an amplifier to keep on a bread tin.
Therefore, my friend from the UK will be presented with a more
professional looking product. I ordered a black finish Hammond steel
chassis and bottom cover plate and proceded to go to work. I'm pleased
enough with the resilts that now I want one for me!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nice!

Thank you, Bill.

I've been unemployed since March, and while actively searching for
electronics technician jobs around the Salt Lake area, I've been using
some of my idle time building all those roundtuit projects.

What a pleasure these vacuum tube projects are, considering my work
projects involve magnifiers, paste solder, and 0402 components.

But despite the wonderful advances in technology, I haven't seen a
really great solid state guitar amp.

Joe

AA4 Revisited
 

Joe Bento wrote:

On 2009-05-10 14:50:02 -0600, Bill M said:

Joe Bento wrote:
I decided this was too nice an amplifier to keep on a bread tin.
Therefore, my friend from the UK will be presented with a more
professional looking product. I ordered a black finish Hammond steel
chassis and bottom cover plate and proceded to go to work. I'm pleased
enough with the resilts that now I want one for me!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nice!

Thank you, Bill.

I've been unemployed since March, and while actively searching for
electronics technician jobs around the Salt Lake area, I've been using
some of my idle time building all those roundtuit projects.

What a pleasure these vacuum tube projects are, considering my work
projects involve magnifiers, paste solder, and 0402 components.


What? You haven't had the pleasure of hand soldering 0201
resistors? It takes steady hands, .015" solder and a stereo microscope.
:(


But despite the wonderful advances in technology, I haven't seen a
really great solid state guitar amp.

Joe


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

http://www.flickr.com/photos/materrell/

AA4 Revisited
 

Joe Bento wrote:


I've been unemployed since March, and while actively searching for
electronics technician jobs around the Salt Lake area, I've been using
some of my idle time building all those roundtuit projects.

I can't speak for employment in SLC but I recently had a lady in SLC
spend a copious amount of bucks to send me (in Puerto Rico) a small
table radio for repair. She couldn't find anybody in SLC doing such
work. Go figure.
Another guy in SLC that was on these forums went from noobie to
established 'radio guy' in about a year doing restorations but he moved
away.
There's some sort of market out there that may relieve the dependence on
welfare. Worth looking into.

-Bill

AA4 Revisited
 

On 2009-05-10 22:24:07 -0600, "Michael A. Terrell"
said:

What? You haven't had the pleasure of hand soldering 0201
resistors? It takes steady hands, .015" solder and a stereo microscope.
:(


Nope. Never hand soldered 0201's. The company I worked for did not
provide stereo magnifiers either. So, I'd place 0402 parts under a 5
diopter lighted magnifier with tweezers and syringe. A bit tedius, but
manageable. Nowadays, 0603 and 0805 components seem gigantic!

Then there's using a modified toaster oven to solder a populated board.
When you are building a one-off prototype, you can do wonders with
minimalist equipment.

Vacuum tubes? Leaded components you can actually hold? What a pleasure!


Joe

AA4 Revisited
 

On 2009-05-10 22:47:45 -0600, Bill M said:

Joe Bento wrote:


I've been unemployed since March, and while actively searching for
electronics technician jobs around the Salt Lake area, I've been using
some of my idle time building all those roundtuit projects.

I can't speak for employment in SLC but I recently had a lady in SLC
spend a copious amount of bucks to send me (in Puerto Rico) a small
table radio for repair. She couldn't find anybody in SLC doing such
work. Go figure.
Another guy in SLC that was on these forums went from noobie to
established 'radio guy' in about a year doing restorations but he moved
away.
There's some sort of market out there that may relieve the dependence
on welfare. Worth looking into.

Now that is interesting! I've certainly done my share of radio
restorations - the electronics, mind you. I haven't learned the
woodworking skills required for cabinetry.

Perhaps I need to advertise a bit. I always thought this area to be
devoid of any vintage radio activity. The lack of any sort of hamfests
around Salt Lake makes me really appreciate my annual pilgrimage to
Dayton.

Fortunately, I have always managed to save a bit of my salary to avoid
any dependence on assistance programs. Tapping into that savings now
just moves any retire date further off into the future.

Joe

AA4 Revisited
 

Joe Bento wrote:

On 2009-05-10 22:24:07 -0600, "Michael A. Terrell"
said:

What? You haven't had the pleasure of hand soldering 0201
resistors? It takes steady hands, .015" solder and a stereo microscope.
:(

Nope. Never hand soldered 0201's. The company I worked for did not
provide stereo magnifiers either. So, I'd place 0402 parts under a 5
diopter lighted magnifier with tweezers and syringe. A bit tedius, but
manageable. Nowadays, 0603 and 0805 components seem gigantic!


I used a pair of Ungar 'Loner' irons and a drop of RMA flux to solder
them to boards on the 'Module Line'. We had a brand spanking new Heller
Reflow oven that replaced to old pair of chain driven 'Pizza Ovens'.

Some of the Sallen-Key video lowpass filters were so critical that a
less than perfect solder flow on the resistors and 100 pF capacitors
would change the response. 14 1% components, and it was hard to hit a
10% specification. Sometimes swapping the pair of 100 pF caps would drop
a failed filter to less than 2% of center.


Then there's using a modified toaster oven to solder a populated board.
When you are building a one-off prototype, you can do wonders with
minimalist equipment.

Vacuum tubes? Leaded components you can actually hold? What a pleasure!

Joe


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

http://www.flickr.com/photos/materrell/

AA4 Revisited
 

"Joe Bento" wrote in message
news:2009051022023850073-joseph@removespamkirtlandcom...
On 2009-05-10 14:50:02 -0600, Bill M said:

Joe Bento wrote:
I decided this was too nice an amplifier to keep on a bread tin.
Therefore, my friend from the UK will be presented with a more
professional looking product. I ordered a black finish Hammond steel
chassis and bottom cover plate and proceded to go to work. I'm pleased
enough with the resilts that now I want one for me!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nice!

Thank you, Bill.

I've been unemployed since March, and while actively searching for
electronics technician jobs around the Salt Lake area, I've been using
some of my idle time building all those roundtuit projects.


Tried TV Specialists? I worked there in the 70's, wasn't a bad place to
work. They do a lot of warranty stuff.

AA4 Revisited
 

"Joe Bento" wrote in message
news:200905102305088930-joseph@removespamkirtlandcom...

Now that is interesting! I've certainly done my share of radio
restorations - the electronics, mind you. I haven't learned the
woodworking skills required for cabinetry.

Perhaps I need to advertise a bit. I always thought this area to be
devoid of any vintage radio activity. The lack of any sort of hamfests
around Salt Lake makes me really appreciate my annual pilgrimage to
Dayton.

Fortunately, I have always managed to save a bit of my salary to avoid any
dependence on assistance programs. Tapping into that savings now just
moves any retire date further off into the future.

Joe


Sounds like it may be time to retire back there. :

late (very) of Riverton/Bluffdale and Midvale...