My Q-Watt project

What does "warm" mean?
Just power up the amp and leave it on for a while without playing music and then measure the bias. If it's around 30 mA then your good to go.
Hi Delange. The current through the 47.3R increases very slowly over a period of about 40 minutes.

I'm repeating this right now. I got 1.32V with pot wound down. Spent 5 minutes trying to get 2.74V (all the while the voltage tending to increase). Finally nailed the initial value, averaged over 10 seconds. Now, after 30 minutes I'm measuring 3.05V. Elector says I should not be concerned if it reaches 90 mA = 4.2V.

This process is not very satisfactory. I'm currently some way off 90 mA and I could have 50% error for all I know.

Please don't reject advice from other contributors, Q-Watt builders or not. It just leaves us all poorer and reliant on too few words from Elektor to get by.

If I had nailed my initial value immediately, when the junction temp was increasing at the highest rate, I would probably be reading 4V now not 3V...

So in the steady state (warm) should the quiescent current be 30mA or 60mA?
 
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Hi Delange. The current through the 47.3R increases very slowly over a period of about 40 minutes.

I'm repeating this right now. I got 1.32V with pot wound down. Spent 5 minutes trying to get 2.74V (all the while the voltage tending to increase). Finally nailed the initial value, averaged over 10 seconds. Now, after 30 minutes I'm measuring 3.05V. Elector says I should not be concerned if it reaches 90 mA = 4.2V.

3.05 volts over the 47 ohm resistor is about 65mA. Deduct 30 mA from the relay and you have about 35 mA which is fine.
I guess there is also the original potmeter at play: it is not easy to adjust very precisely with such a pot.
If that is the value you measured after abut 40 minutes I would say your Q-Watt is ready for action.

Please don't reject advice from other contributors, Q-Watt builders or not.

Don't worry I'm not. Its just that one particular annoying guy that I'm ignoring. His only intention is to create confusion and he always knows everything better. There seem to be al lot of DYI-Audio users who are ignoring him for the very same reason. One could say he his notorious... :)

So in the steady state (warm) should the quiescent current be 30mA or 60mA?

If you use the Elektor process with the 47 ohm resistors in the power supply leads then you need to read about 60mA in the positive supply lead.
This means the the bias current is 30 mA when you read 60mA in the above process and that is exactly what you need.

I would say congrats, your first channel is up and running !
 
Hi Kay! How is your build?

At the risk of re-opening the worm-can

Both emitter resistors = 0.4R (unchecked). 120mV / 0.4R = 0.3 Amps. Thats 10x higher than I expected? Why would you use such high bias current. What's your reference / background info? Are you getting this from the chip specs?

Sorry, Popchops,

it was a discalculation by me by the factor of 10. The correct values are 12 mV or 13,2 mV, respectively, at a bias current of 30 mA.

Best regards!
 
This thread is, as threads on Apex designs sadly use to be, quite derailing, or, in Ray Davies' words, »a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world« :-D.

Best regards!

Indeed it is.
I've made a habit of taking notes in notepad while reading the thread.
Mister Apex spits out a lot of designs, which is great. But the result is that one thread is filled with different designs / models and it gets difficult to keep track of everything.
The SR200 looks like an interesting amp and that is why I decided to built it.
 
I have completed my first prototype passive preamp :drink:
 

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Nah it's shocking.

The cheap Maplins stereo pot is so badly balanced that even after I trimmed it in the nominal position I get massive imbalance when I reduce volume.

I have an off the shelf Tisbury passive preamp in the post with stepped attenuators. Basic functions but exactly what I need.

You can't DIY for their price... even building a properly balanced attenuator is costly.

Pops.
 
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