An F1 clone comes alive (better late than never:)

[cfcubed]

Yes, so after finishing off that Mini-A have been working now & then on a (somewhat) low-budget F1 clone build based on some PCBs suds offered.

Tonight fired it up, did measurements & all is fine with it (after that big, ugly 5 ohm 10 watt paralleled w/R27 got both channel offsets < 20 mV).

It's top will be all heatsink (hinges in the back so its 'hood' can be lifted). Also plan to use amb's nice ε24 pPower switch driver circuit & use rear-mount screws in the faceplace so that only the centered vandal-resistant/LED switch will show.



Another big thanks to Nelson for making it possible for this sort of thing to happen

The fine print:There is the question of whether suds PCB offering meets the non-profit requirements for the use of the IP... At $100 USD for 2 full sets of boards shipped to US (total: 4 amp & 2 PS PCBs) covering alot of square inches & this single 2-set run/request, I'd think there is little or no profit. Just the small run based on PCB area would probably be several times that price from ExpressPCB for example. But by the looks of the marketplace thread, this offering didn't follow the traditional group buy way of things... There are a couple minor issues with the boards, like somewhat small traces, small pads & small holes... But no biggie for sure & silk screening is correct & matches the BOM I was able to construct.

Guess I'll post back after she's done (more alum shavings headed for the garage floor )

[Nelson Pass]

The last small batch of boards I bought for First Watt ran me
about $1 per square inch.

[cfcubed]

Originally posted by Nelson Pass
The last small batch of boards I bought for First Watt ran me
about $1 per square inch.

Thanks for the info...

These amp boards are 2" x 12" each & PS boards are 4.6" x 5.5", so that's 48" sq for amp boards + 25" sq PS (about 73 sq inches per full set) & cost me $50 shipped (the 2 full sets were $100 shipped)...

I only priced out 1 pretty small "ProtoPro" board (double-sided, routed, silkscreened, modified someone else's F1 files ) @ ExpressPCB & the price was $180 + shipping for a single [oops - make that 4] 21 sq in (max) board[s]. Didn't go further down that route, but I bet ExpressPCB are not the low-cost leaders [So I guess my "several times that" was a bit of an exaggeration]

It appears the ship has sailed for DIY F1 builds, but my recently-purchased Hornshoppe horns are supposed to be a great match for the F1 (or visa-versa since I'm posting in this forum

Thanks again!

[cfcubed]

Lots of casework going on here... Final finishing is TBD & note metal & HS are scrap/surplus from ebay (think < $100 USD not incl shipping for HS & all plate).



After a quick look around, I didn't find any other top-mount HS DIYs... But I think it may be the best thermally & there's no way I was putting any other components on top anyway.

Will be replacing that 16/17mm switch/LED w/a 22mm someday for sure

Need to remount amp boards & do some wiring...



For this build, I'm (sortof) thermally isolating the HS by keeping a gap around it. A portion of HS from this side was used in my mini-A...



Front & back panels do all bracketing...



Learning again casework takes a lot of time... Esp. when your "machine shop" is an old table saw, $70 HF drill press, pad sander & dremel. BUT it's quite therapeutic for me as a break from the day job.

[Nelson Pass]

Originally posted by cfcubed
Learning again casework takes a lot of time... Esp. when your "machine shop" is an old table saw, $70 HF drill press, pad sander & dremel.

That's really impressive metal work for those tools...

[cfcubed]

Originally posted by Nelson Pass

That's really impressive metal work for those tools...

Thanks!

For me the casework took:

* Having built something prior (that Mini Aleph). Learn to account for panel overlaps, alum plate finishing, etc.

* Taps. I standardized on 6/32... If anyone noticed a shortage of them in central NJ you know who to blame That HS consumed 3 or 4 taps alone, but used an adjustable clutch cordless drill for most tapping. Ended up getting 10 taps for like $12 shipped off ebay.

* Time. Lots of measuring & re-measuring & test fitting, etc. But again, looked forward to working on it after the day job.

* 80-tooth non-ferrous blade & full cover-up when cutting (makes a plume of aluminum shavings & dust)

Plan to finish it up over the long weekend.

[cfcubed]

Finished her up last night... Looking & sounding good to me (chilled to Norah Jones)



Yeah, that $14 (ebay) LED switch has to go someday, need a bigger one & can't get it bright enough even from rail voltage. The $25 Bulgin is the way to go



That little bit hanging from the top in the back is that momentary switch / relay latch. Ordered the wrong transfo (220v) for me and had to scavenge one from an old wallwart.

WRT the recent unfortunate discovery that the PCBs I used violate the copyright of the orig boards guess that was an important side-effect of this thread (my higher-res photos).

I did do diligence to try assess legitimacy of the boards & Nelson let me know there's no ill will for me, but any future F1 DIYers should pursue other means of getting there while they patiently watch that space for NP's boards.

Learned a lot about a lot of things on this one!

[Nelson Pass]

Perhaps Suds will redo the artwork to make it original - I have no
issue with not-for-profit sales of DIY boards, but I do expect
people to respect material that is marked with a copyright.

The way the laws work, if I don't protect copyrights, patents, and
trademarks now, then I have a poor position to protect them in
the future.

[cfcubed]

Originally posted by Nelson Pass
Perhaps Suds will redo the artwork to make it original <snip>

I decided there was room in this build for an additional personality, so I tried my hand at ExpressSCH & ExpressPCB:



Although it did take some hours getting the F2 schematic in (thanks yet again NP for sharing it!) & laying out the board, I found it another fun break from my daily grind...

Started by placing components in a similar arrangement to Nelson's boards, but as you can see, things did get a bit out of hand There is certainly no mistaking this board for the original and keep in mind this is my 1st attempt at PCBs...

Plan is to build these out & see about piggy-backing them on the F1 HS angle mounts & using another ε24 w/heafty 4PDT relays for each channel.

Originally posted by Nelson Pass
The way the laws work, if I don't protect copyrights, patents, and
trademarks now, then I have a poor position to protect them in
the future.

That only makes sense & isn't sharing the schematics & even assisting people to build clones above & beyond anyway?

The above reminds me of a case a lawyer neighbor told me about where if someone makes it a habit to cut through your property & you do nothing to prevent it, you may find yourself not being able to interfere with the path.... IOW, the trespasser gains the right to the shortcut through your property...

[Nelson Pass]

Another triumph for DIY.