Dieselpunk Preamp of Doom and the Beast with Two Backs

[Ray P]

...before we move down south.

When? where? Does the south have an attraction for all things Dave?

[Thermionic Idler]

We've still got a 1000-watt motor from an old Cuisinart sitting in storage.

No we haven't, it got taken down the tip a few months back.

[Thermionic Idler]

...before we move down south.

When? where? Does the south have an attraction for all things Dave?

I have to move for work. Given the choice I'd stay in NE Derbyshire, I love it here. I was made redundant last year and spent quite a lot of this year job-hunting - this is why the build on the Beast stalled for so long, I wasn't about to splash out on FPE panels with only the redundancy settlement to live on.

I was very fortunate to finally secure a job in September with a significantly better package and prospects than the one I got made redundant from - an offer I couldn't refuse, as it were. But the office is in Surrey and I can't work remotely so... off we go.

[Ant]

That's great Dave, glad you're squared away again

There's nothing more soul destroying than a long job hunt relying on a dwindling settlement. Its bloody awful

Cheers ant

[Ray P]

Good news Dave, I hope it all goes well for you both.

Will we have the critical mass for a southern AT meeting, perhaps somewhere along the M4?

[Thermionic Idler]

That's great Dave, glad you're squared away again

There's nothing more soul destroying than a long job hunt relying on a dwindling settlement. Its bloody awful

Cheers ant

Thanks Ant - yes it truly is the worst thing in the world. I kept quiet about it on here but there really were a couple of points where I came very close to completely losing it, believing my professional career was over. Which I actually wouldn't have minded had I been able to afford to retire!

Anyway, on a happier note Ant, you'll be pleased to learn we've inherited a GL75 which is in reasonable nick apart from the fact it doesn't start... so will need a bit of fettling at some stage - we're just working out what kind of fettlage we require.

*grabs steering wheel to wrestle back on topic*

[Ant]

Bring it over whenever you like dave, i'll get it going

[jack]

This is an awesome project - really pleased it's coming together...

...also good to hear the job news. Really good that you have a new role - hope it works out for you.

Down south isn't *that* bad, but I understand where you're coming from, if you get my drift. Good luck with the new role!

[Mike H]

- we're just working out what kind of fettlage we require.

Apparently, this is a Word. Just did a google search on it

[pre65]

Nothing like a bit of fettilidigiation to calm the nerves.

[Thermionic Idler]

Thanks for the kind words. Hopefully more progress will be made next week - I'd like to get them finished by the end of the year but we'll see - the output stages still need doing but after that there shouldn't be much else, as the circuit boards and other bits are pretty much done.

This is quite a nice thing to look at - it's a skeletal top-down view from the CAD model showing how everything is laid out for mirror imaging. The ventilated covers are there to hide the stuff that isn't symmetrical! I think this improves on the original Beast layout as the speaker outputs are now directly beneath the output stage instead of back at the other end of the chassis, and the input wiring doesn't run anywhere near the mains transformers.

[Ant]

That's the difference between you and me dave, you have full proper cad drawing and plan to build something, I have a picture in my head and maybe a scribble or two on the back of a fag packet!
I may have to look at getting some sort of cad package at some point.......

[Cressy Snr]

A fab project all round Dave.

[izzy wizzy]

That's the difference between you and me dave, you have full proper cad drawing and plan to build something, I have a picture in my head and maybe a scribble or two on the back of a fag packet!
I may have to look at getting some sort of cad package at some point.......

Or Sketchup for free. Steep learning curve but then so is most CAD packages. Do the tutorials and off you go. It's not CAD but it's fantastic for doing layouts and visualising stuff that's in yer head. It's as accurate as you want to make it.

Cheers,
Stephen

[Thermionic Idler]

Really not as much progress this week as I would have liked - long commutes muller my evenings. However, yesterday I took delivery of this year's Christmas pressie - an Olympus PEN-F - so thought I'd try it out with a few shots of work done so far. Still getting used to the camera but these are still better than the pics from my phone (given what the camera cost they damn well better be)...

One completed ventilated cover...



Top view of fitted valve sockets and fuse holders



Bottom view - including the tag boards, the panel is 4mm thick so I had FPE drill threaded blind holes to secure everything...



Better view of the soft start / dc block units:



And a moody monochrome of a dead EL509S