Bottlehead Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: John EH on June 26, 2013, 10:13:35 PM
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If you're on the fence for buying a kit and worried you can't do it listen up a minute.
I bought my first bottlehead kit YEARS ago. I've put together numerous kits over the years and I'm waiting on the Crack Kit with Speedball upgrade.
Anyway that is neither here nor there. I had an older original Foreplay 3 that I decided to do the Extended Foreplay C4S upgrade to. Ordered the kit and I thought I'd breeze through it.
Well I didn't breeze through it. Been a while since I picked up the soldering iron and while I essentially put everything together right there were some gotchas.
Here's where you need to really pay attention. First sign of trouble you post a question here and YOU WILL GET AN ANSWER FROM THE GUYS WHO DESIGNED AND ARE SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS ON THE CIRCUIT.
Here is the link to my debacle. As you can see they held my hand through the whole thing
http://www.bottlehead.com/smf/index.php/topic,4441.0.html (http://www.bottlehead.com/smf/index.php/topic,4441.0.html)
Three pages of hand holding, fast responses and no wild goose chases. The troubleshooting steps provided were Barney Style, simple, and intuitive. No wasted motion.
So I'm telling you that if you are afraid of buying a kit, or like me haven't done it for a while and my eyes sure aren't what they used to be. I used to be the baddest mother humping solder-er in all the land. Now I see fuzz up close.
Anyway don't let your doubts stand in your way. You won't just get a box in the mail and that's the end of it. The community resource has always been top notch here and I see nothing has changed in my years away from the hobby.
Buy your kits already. They sound GREAT and its something you built.
No downside to it.
John
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Not to mention the amazement when your friends hear what YOU HAVE MADE and can't believe it. I had an old friend and his wife over Saturday. After hearing the music, and the differences between CD/SACD/LP, he said, "So you built this? Do you think I could do it?" The answer was "Sure!"
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True, True, - I had a couple of non-audiophile music lovers over the other day and they had the same reaction when seeing the Quickie. The first question was, "why does it look like that"? Cant blame um. My Quickie is bare bones electronic parts with a slab of polycarb to hold it all together. The only way it could looks stranger is if the polcarb was clear and I had LED's underneath so you could see all the wires and other stuff below (Hey Greg, there's a project for ya). All I had to say was, "I built that", and that pretty much shut them up.
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Eric,
Sometimes it's great to build something that doesn't look like much and then knock the socks off the competition at the race. They do it with cars all the time, why not audio?
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Yes, you need to be able to see good up close. Lots of small pads to solder.
I am almost 60 and like all grey haired people, the eyes don't focus close anymore. I used to use a flourescent ring magnifier, which works good, but prescription reading glasses are even better.
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And when all else fails, prescription reading glasses and the magnifier works.
Then there's the magnifying visor with the flip down 7X lenses and the super bright LEDs. But I have to be careful with that thing. Total chick magnet.
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Thanks for the post John. I finally took the plunge and ordered a Reduction a few weeks ago. While part of me is wanting it to be here NOW, part of me is saying "What the heck have I got myself into?" Like many I am worried about the close up blur, but also my shakes. I did solder up a kit on a printed board a while back so i figure I'll get through this one too.
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Well, there are times that I have the shakes as well. Of course, you have learned how to help steady your hand by resting/propping it on something steady. The good thing here is that most all the point to point wiring is easier than circuit board soldering.
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I have some 1.5x reading glasses that take away the fuzz. Also bought one of those LED lights on the flexible tripod. It's super bright and lights things up nicely. I also use a loupe to look before I work and after I solder.
Oh but 10 or 15 years ago when I built my first kit I could solder PERFECT in the dark.
John
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I think I would have to go back more than 10 or 15 years to say that! The surface mount resistors I can't do reliably. There must be a technique to it
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I think I would have to go back more than 10 or 15 years to say that! The surface mount resistors I can't do reliably. There must be a technique to it
Some of my old builds could almost be considered art. The soldering that is. Running cables neatly is an art form that is developed over years. Takes an artistic flair as well. I'm weak in that department but boy of boy could I solder. I'm still not bad but the Extended Foreplay retrofit is tough. The other one I did I built it in from the get go. That Foreplay is a thing of beauty.
I bought the speedball upgrade with the Crack and I'm just going to build it in. Soooooo much easier.
John
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Confession time regarding the eyes.
I'm building up the C4S boards on the Ex Foreplay and I mount it and feed in a wire from underneath and solder it in real pretty like and then snip the excess with a pair of dykes.
I look over and go hmmmmmm that needs to be clipped too........snip........and then I realized I clipped a resistor lead. F***. It was still touching so I just heated it and put a dab of solder on it and it was fine but that's how bad my 50 year old eyes are now.
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A little dab'll do ya!
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And when all else fails, prescription reading glasses and the magnifier works.
Then there's the magnifying visor with the flip down 7X lenses and the super bright LEDs. But I have to be careful with that thing. Total chick magnet.
I have an old Vivitar 135mm camera lens from the 1960's. It isn't worth any $, but it's a superb 2.5x magnifier. Mainly what it does is eliminate all the eyestrain involved in looking up close at solder joints and stuff. A 250mm would be way better than any 5x Hastings triplet.
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I have tried numerous ways to see up close. It seems that there is a different device for each situation. Loops are good for some stuff, illuminated viewers(connected to a sort of robot arm) work for other situations. I just remember an eye doctor telling me that the closer you can get the lens to your eye the better it can work for you. As it turns out, THAT isn't always what you want.Dam! I remember as a child, being able to clearly see the fingerprint on each finger in detail.
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I have found myself unable to identify, usally transistors, and photo'ed it with a digital camera ( sometimes shining a flashlight at a acute angle at the serface of it ) and looking at it on my computer screen.
Otherwise I was a total newbee and now do things that I wanted to do, but never dared to try. Recently I had a small tabletop radio stop working. It took me a hour to figure out that the speaker had blown (its more than 10 years old) I ordered a new speaker, made a new "custom" mounting bracket, now it should give me years more service. (plus I have been making new batery packs for the radio every 3 years or so) I would have thought about fixing it prior to building these kits but never had the confidence that I would see my radio working again.
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It's true. Kits can help us realize the simplicity(in theory at least) of making a working model out of parts. Once we see that can be done, we may realize the factory is using the theory, but with a lot fast, fancy equipment. Once this barrier is overcome, other projects gell which would have been a 'throw away' case in the past. An example I give is one where the battery cover on my camera broke. Of course, i couldn't just order a new one, the camera is obsolete. If I had the manufacturer repair, it would cost a bundle and take much time. Instead, I fashioned a support plate out of brass, drilled and tapped the necc. holes, and then epoxied, screwed, and clamped the lid. It now looks unique, and the lid actually works better than before.
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I have found myself unable to identify, usally transistors, and photo'ed it with a digital camera ( sometimes shining a flashlight at a acute angle at the serface of it ) and looking at it on my computer screen.
Otherwise I was a total newbee and now do things that I wanted to do, but never dared to try. Recently I had a small tabletop radio stop working. It took me a hour to figure out that the speaker had blown (its more than 10 years old) I ordered a new speaker, made a new "custom" mounting bracket, now it should give me years more service. (plus I have been making new batery packs for the radio every 3 years or so) I would have thought about fixing it prior to building these kits but never had the confidence that I would see my radio working again.
There is a great "magnifying glass" app for the iphone that turns on the LED and lets you macro zoom the camera under the bright light. There have been times when trying to read a part number that is buried away on the underside of a car where this has come in very handy.
Being a hardcore DIYer most of my life it's great to hear that the kits help give folks DIY confidence. At this point in my career that is just as rewarding as hearing that people like the products.
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I think that the products are likable because they are also moldable to the builders likes or tastes.
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I have found myself unable to identify, usally transistors, and photo'ed it with a digital camera ( sometimes shining a flashlight at a acute angle at the serface of it ) and looking at it on my computer screen.
Otherwise I was a total newbee and now do things that I wanted to do, but never dared to try. Recently I had a small tabletop radio stop working. It took me a hour to figure out that the speaker had blown (its more than 10 years old) I ordered a new speaker, made a new "custom" mounting bracket, now it should give me years more service. (plus I have been making new batery packs for the radio every 3 years or so) I would have thought about fixing it prior to building these kits but never had the confidence that I would see my radio working again.
There is a great "magnifying glass" app for the iphone that turns on the LED and lets you macro zoom the camera under the bright light. There have been times when trying to read a part number that is buried away on the underside of a car where this has come in very handy.
Being a hardcore DIYer most of my life it's great to hear that the kits help give folks DIY confidence. At this point in my career that is just as rewarding as hearing that people like the products.
Yep my iPhone has become my magnifying glass as well for everything.
Your kits do more than give DIY confidence. Your kits got me my job 10 years ago. I know I've told the story before on the old Bottlehead site so I'll be brief and tell it again.
Guy from another organization comes in my office to seek help with his technical library. I was resident pro in the area. Walks in my office and sees my Paramours and Foreplay 2 (at the time) and my Fostex backload horns. Before we get to business he says "What's that?"
My stereo.
"Where did you get that?"
Made it.
"How many watts?" (after hearing it loud)
Two.
"Two, mine is 500 and doesn't sound that good".
Why would you want 499 more if the first one sounds like shit?
Then I help the guy and before he leaves he asks me if I want a job as an electronics visual landing aid rep. I tell him I'm not that guy. I have vocational electronics training but now I'm a mechanical aircraft guy. Stereos just a hobby. I can't do it.
Then he points to my stereo and says "If you can do THAT you can do what I need you to do". He was right. Been doing it 10 years.
At my formal job interview they asked me if I was familiar with Constant Current circuits (all airport lighting worldwide is generally 6.6 and 20 amp constant current loops). I had just done the C4S on the Foreplay 2 and actually read the theory book they sent with the kit written by the guy named Buddah. I was actually way more spooled up on it than they wanted to hear.
Dead, 100% serious about all this.
John
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LOVE the story John, You never know who you are talking to.
There is something inspiring about meeting MANY of the people here. It's one of the primary reasons that I like this site better than any. In fact, unless I have need for some other product or service, I don't browse any other site that much. I kinda live here, and to think it all started with a Quickie heh heh
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LOVE the story John, You never know who you are talking to.
There is something inspiring about meeting MANY of the people here. It's one of the primary reasons that I like this site better than any. In fact, unless I have need for some other product or service, I don't browse any other site that much. I kinda live here, and to think it all started with a Quickie heh heh
Here's an exact pic of what he saw. I had just built the speakers. A conversation piece to be sure in any office.
http://fullrangedriver.com/singledriver/DIYRH10.html (http://fullrangedriver.com/singledriver/DIYRH10.html)
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John,
I'm glad you re-told that story, since I hadn't seen it before. What a great story! Really excellent...
Congratulations,
Adam