The new "My Ref" Rev C thread

samsagaz said:
i see, so the PCB / SCH design are copyrighted.
It is not that simple. As a general rule the first person to make a design has the copyright, if the design is something that is different from common practice. E. g. a layout for a normal unregulated power supply will not be considered so special, but some parts of the regulated power supply from Nelson Pass are so special that they are even patented.

The designer can prohibit the use of that design, but it is a long and difficult legal process, where the most tedious task is to proove that it is really his design and that the design has not been used by anybody else before. This task becomes easier, if you have a patent or an official copyright. Both cost money, so a DIYer will usually not aquire either. A legal suit also does, so copying schematics or layouts from here and infringing the copyright is not a big risk.

It is different with Nelson Pass' circuits. Some of them are even patented. And while he is very liberal in allowing the use for DIY, commercial use would probably involve a contract and a monetary compensation. And his name and company logos or name tags are very probably registered trademarks that must also not be copied. That Chinese is either willing to take a risk or is not aware that is committing a crime.
 
I think copyright protects the layout, so if you change the layout, then you do not infringe the copyright.

Patent will protect the specific design, so if there is no patent, there is no protection, but patents are granted only because it is novel and you have to convince the patent office that your idea is indeed novel and has advanced "the state of the art". But if the patent office thinks that "anyone skilled in the art" can arrive at the same design, then you wont have a patent.

Once you have a patent, then it is the responsibility of the patent owner to enforce the patent, and so is copyright.

Is it wrong therefore to use someone's idea or copyright?

Well, companies do it all the time. A recent example is Palm using multitouch. Apple is hinting that they have patents on it. Eventually if this goes to trial, a judge/jury decides.

Another example is Google: They knew that copying books is a copyright violation but they did it anyways. The publisher's sued them and settled. For google, violating copyright was a business decision.

IMHO, I think the designs shared in an open forum like DIYAudio should be public domain (or equivalent), because the authors typically do not intend to commercialize the product and the copycats can deliver a heck of a deal. More people would benefit out of these designs.

Regarding whether the Chinese care or do not care about copyright and patents. If you read up on the topic you will find out what really is going on. We know that in the US (as well as everywhere else) people download billions of illegally uploaded songs and movies. Can we say that no body cares?
 
Re: Re: Fuses?

nenne said:
Hi, need some help on fuses. Powered my kits up with a 40watt lightbulb in series with mains. Relayes klicked in ok and mesured dc on outputs -0,1 mV, 3.2mV. Fuses were T2,5 A.
When power up directly from the mains both fuses blew. Kit is powered by a single toroid 300VA 230V 2x25V. Noticed when I got it that it messured 120x65, 10 mm higher than from spec, wonder if this being a thicker core may impact on inrush current? Is it ok to use 3(?) or 4 A fuses? My memory says that 4A was a bit too much. Softstart?
I have checked for short between chip and heatsink, insulation is ok.

Thanks again Udaily and Peter for a great GB.

Took me 9 hours to build the kits.


troystg said:



I started with 2 x 160Va trafo's on a 250mA fuse. Lasted the first pwr up but not the second.. I then went to a 5 A fuse and it is holding well. 5 A @ 120 volts here.. 5A @ 220 seems like an awful lot.. I wouldn't expect you to need more than 2-3 Amps. Softstart should NOT be needed for less than 400VA...

Now I have tried T3.15 A to but they get blown away too, if kits is connected directly to mains. The bigger core has an impact on the inrush current because of the time it takes fore the winding to load the core and this being bigger 120x65 instead of 120x55 maybe a bit of the problem. I' m not 100% on this being a hobbyist, so if some guru could brighten up the area on this question it would be appreciated.

Kits play ok now, and hardly warms the heatsink s, so it's about how much I can spend on fuses:D This is with a 40watt lightbulb in series with the mains.

I'll by some 4 A and even 5A to for testing, see how that works.

Oh and here is a pic of kits http://picasaweb.google.se/my3post/My_RefRevC#5304281948164704082

They have a temporary shelter in an old ampcase from another century, will change that later.
 
AndrewT said:
Hi Nenne,
go to soft start to allow the use of a close rated mains fuse.

Hi Andrew, thanks for your reply. I may be misleading a bit. It is not the mains fuse that keep lighting up the area (T3,15A) it lives there rock solid. The secondary fuses keeps bringing up light in my face. Have to do some searching for a softer start, there might be some here on diyAUDIO? Kits will last longer with such so this is a must.

Don't want to blew anything else up so the bulb is still there during burn in. And the sound is Oh My, Oh My, for a few dollars more, it just amazing. Raise my glass to you Mauro, Russ, Brian, and 2 guys who made this GB so smooth, Peter and Udaily!

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

Noticed that heatsink on one channel was a little bit warmer than the other, so I thought that was only some diff in the circuitry until I added some pressure and sound got weaker on that channel. Back to bench for fixing a bad soldering, ain't no pro here.

cheers nenne:D
 
fuse the primary to stop the transformer/rectifier/smoothing bank setting fire to the house.
fuse the secondary AFTER the smoothing bank to prevent the rest of the downstream circuit setting fire to the house.

If either of these fuses are too big, then the protection they offer is weakened.

Power Resistors and/or Power Thermistors come to our aid.
 
Here is how to use that CL60 or THOSE CL60 depending how many :)
This is a Nelson Pass power supply and is really more suitable for Class A so dont go trying to use it on your MyRef, but the way the thermistor and 33pf cap is wired can be beneficial and used in your supply.
Uriah
 

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Humming along.

Hi Al,

After the euphoria of getting my amp going I have been having hum problems and thought it might be useful reading for somebody else on the GB.

Basically, I found I had serious hum after wiring everything together using a cheap 24K log pot as passive preamp. Input was from a CD and going into 98 Db speakers.

As suggested on this forum, I first tried joining the neutral, 0V output from the transformers to ground and that did help a lot but there was still hum at more than unacceptable levels.

After a few days of changing things around without any effect I finally noticed that the hum varied in volume when I was handling the wires between transformers and the PCB.

These were of heavy gauge, multi-strand wire. I replaced them with mono filament 1.5mm dia. wire and the hum disappeared.

Now waiting for my cabinet.

BYE