Tuesday 31 May 2016

It Lives (Part Nine - Part Deux)

After two days intense workshop activity, the panel backlog is almost sorted and I have run out of Switchcraft 112A jacks again. The RF Nomad was first back on the bench, and after I realised the new RS brackets gave it a little Heathkit vibe, I decided to go with the look and mount the main control board using waxed string with a cork insulator. Rather than use the supplied RG8X harness I opted for BNC and crafted a nifty little remote antenna station.

Saturday 28 May 2016

Public Service Announcement - PCB Backets

Some UK DIYers may remember that Maplin used to stock really useful little right angled PCB brackets, then they just disappeared (not helped by the appalling thing that is the Maplin website).

Anyway after a half arsed search lasting several months, I found replacements via RS so here's the obligatory comparison photo

Far left are the original Maplin brackets, then the RS ones:

15mm (code 427-991)
25mm (code 427-997)
50mm (code 428-001)
70mm (code 428-007)

Full dimensional drawings on the product pages at RS

Enjoy...

Wednesday 25 May 2016

The Bonce Hour

I found a very nice old EEG on eBay, I snapped it up and it arrived today. Cue hours of fun hooked up to me and a voltage controlled echo...

Sunday 22 May 2016

It Lives (Part Nine)

The RF Nomad crackled into life this afternoon. I'm going to have to wait a while before I can drill the panel, but that gives me plenty of time to figure out the best antenna arrangement

Friday 20 May 2016

Voltage Sauce

I'm tidying up a few old modules this week. This is Harry Bissell's PV-1 pitch to voltage converter based on the Moog Etherwave. When hooked up to a shortwave radio it makes an amazing voltage source. In the background is my newly arrived RF Nomad awaiting conversion...

...However there's a slight problem. Having just got out of hospital, I'm banned from the workshop for two weeks. And my panel blanks arrived yesterday...

Wednesday 11 May 2016

Radishes...

...with beer

Oktoberfest starts early !


Tuesday 10 May 2016

Quad Decay Module

I sort of finished this module today. It's a Barton 4x Decay, or Quad Decay as I prefer to call it. It's basically just four simple envelope generators. I decided to add a switch and resistor to each circuit to allow a little live tweaking. Around 16K seems about right for me. There's only one problem, my stock of Switchcraft jacks isn't due for another ten days...