| SY |
I was amused to see some good-natured jibes in Phred's direction in another thread; the subject was a prototype that he made. Particularly amusing to me, since if that's his worst, it's better than my best. Compound that with EC daring me to show my work, and it can mean only one thing: ugly prototype contest!
Now, I have to admit that I'm terribly impressed with the quality and appearance of so much of the work shown here by the members. A lot of it is real audio eye-candy, masterpieces of design and execution. I'm in awe of the guys who can pull that off. This contest is for the rest of us.
My first entry dates from a few days ago, during a discussion of the influence of an input tube's cathode source impedance on feedback ratios. It's the Mullard input stage, executed as only a real artist like me can: |
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| SY |
| My second entry, looking at the effect (or lack thereof) of operating points and mu on constant-current diff amps. It's what prompted EC's dare. Here ya go, buddy! |
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| Vivek |
| Really ugly but nice. :D |
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| UrSv |
| Very neat. I especially like the star ground and separation of signal and supply... |
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| Bricolo |
| My gainclone prototype |
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| Will |
You can't beat mine I tell Ya !!!:smash:
Valve Buffered Inverted GC |
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| uvodee |
believe this but I would put you all to shame!
my prototypes are truly worse. They are that bad that my wife hides the camera when i am working on one!
:D
Jean-Pierre |
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| Ropie |
Though I built my first/prototype IGC straight into a rather small, scruffy box, it was a real pain if any components needed changing (which they frequently did) hence the 'rat's nest'...
It sounded pretty good though. |
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| JOE DIRT® |
| I think Ropie wins the medal on this contest:o |
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| Sandy H. |
This was for a variable power supply for testing my first amp. Sadly, I still haven't finished the real box. . .
and another
Sandy. |
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| wintermute |
My very first mic preamp/mixer :) No longer functional, as some wires fell off ;) (made in '89 to mix voice with music for a radio play for uni!).....
Tony. |
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| Magura |
I see we have a new CLEAR no. one :D
Magura :) |
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| SY |
Well, Sandy's is my fave so far. The use of a Coke box is very southern. Had you thought about putting the box up on some cinderblocks?
This is all very theraputic to me. |
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| Ropie |
| quote: | Originally posted by JOE DIRT®
I think Ropie wins the medal on this contest:o |
Thanks Joe, I think Bricolo's has a certain "safety first" charm to it (ie, the risk of being trodden on or swept up whilst on :D ) |
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| Netlist |
This reminds me of an old thread.
I did nothing special to make it ugly, it just happened.. ;)
Is the contest still open? One channel of ZenV4.
/Hugo :) |
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| Ropie |
| I think it's quite stylish Hugo, reminds me of some architectural concept models from colege ;) |
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| JOE DIRT® |
| LMAO!!!....this gets better and better!!.....I think I`m gonna have to dig up something now to show.......I think Netlist should get the medal now!!..hahahaha |
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| Da5id4Vz |
I dont know if Netlist's project qualifies, the capacitor wiring is way too neat. Now if he hadnt used the crimp connectors...
The copper is cool.
I love the window reflection. |
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| Netlist |
| quote: | Originally posted by Ropie
I think it's quite stylish Hugo |
It was originally intended to be a project one could hang on the wall, hence the copper plate ;)
| quote: | Originally posted by JOE DIRT®
I think Netlist should get the medal now!!..hahahaha |
I love medals, if made of copper :D
| quote: | Originally posted by Da5id4Vz
...the capacitor wiring is way too neat. Now if he hadnt used the crimp connectors...
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Originally the wires were just wrapped around the screw terminals. I used the connectors because we are not allowed to post unsafe information or pictures :clown: :angel:
/Hugo :) |
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| JOE DIRT® |
ok...I dug a pic of my first attempt at making a infared transmitter
so who gets the medal now!!!!!...LOL |
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| JOE DIRT® |
| bottom view:smash: |
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| Ropie |
| quote: | Originally posted by Netlist
It was originally intended to be a project one could hang on the wall, hence the copper plate ;)
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Excellent idea - see my old post http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/show...&threadid=23211 (reply #13)! I think there would be a market for this kind of thing :cool: (once safety issues are solved :att'n: ) |
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| SY |
| quote: | Originally posted by JOE DIRT®
ok...I dug a pic of my first attempt at making a infared transmitter
so who gets the medal now!!!!!...LOL |
Not you. Way too neat. :smash: |
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| Sch3mat1c |
Ooh, ooh, I've got one...
Tim |
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| Da5id4Vz |
| Could be a winner, if it were not for the MARBLE WORKBENCH! |
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| Magura |
I may have a chance here. I had to dig out a 10 year old project. Its a battery powered headphone amp. Back then it was made to run my big sennheisers off my portable cd player.
Magura :) |
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| Sch3mat1c |
| quote: | Originally posted by Da5id4Vz
Could be a winner, if it were not for the MARBLE WORKBENCH! |
I assure you, it is the crappiest laminate job, seeing as I did it! :o ;)
Tim |
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| Wombat |
| This is not really a prototype but the way i try to find the right parts for speakers. |
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| Gary P |
Can I jump in too?
This is the prototype of my 47 P-P differenial power amp. It is in daily use at this time...
Here is the top side...
Gary |
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| Magura |
HOLY S***
There goes first prize!!!!
Magura :) |
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| moe29 |
| my old Stephen King BZLS :devilr: |
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| phase_accurate |
| quote: | | my old Stephen King BZLS |
I think designs with proper PCBs will not count :xeye: ;)
Regards
Charles |
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| Magura |
I agree....lets disqualify Moe!!! :D
Magura :) |
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| moe29 |
| ok... i see! BUT i did have some cardboard in the mix...:D |
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| wintermute |
Well this isn't audio but I think it definitely falls into the category of ugly :)
Any one guess what it is? the semis are SCR's.......
edit: there should really be two diodes, although it works fine without, it was added as an experiment for protection.....
Tony |
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| roddyama |
Tony,
I particularly like the soldering iron wounded wire.:cannotbe: :) |
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| KBK |
You guys are cracking me up :D . This is hilarious! stunningly.
I am in absolute AWE of the ZEN amp. Total. Stunned. Silence.
That has GOT to be the winner. So far.
As for speaker crossovers, when I am prototyping them.... they look just like that. |
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| Fred Dieckmann |
The grandfather of ugly prototypes for all us Solid State nerds.
From Bell Labs in 1947 |
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| Christer |
Fred,
Is that the Bardeen/Brattley transistor that predated Schokleys
planar version? I have never seen pictures of it, just read about
it.
Maybe time for some semiconductor DIYing anybody? :)
BTW, maybe we should ask Upupa Epops to be the judge in this
contest. :) |
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| wintermute |
| quote: | Originally posted by roddyama
Tony,
I particularly like the soldering iron wounded wire.:cannotbe: :) |
Yeah I'm not sure how that happened, could have been recycled wire ;) definitely adds to the asthetics though
:rolleyes:
Tony. |
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| KBK |
Tim, I did not think that yours was spectacular, until I just noticed in the photo... the tube that is sticking straight up. Wow. All that and high voltage too!
What more can a guy ask for? It brings a tear to my eye.
Makes me feel like I am in first year digital/electronics class all over gain. breadboards... wires... rat's nests.... |
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| wintermute |
Yeah I reckon Tim's takes the cake! I cracked up when I saw it :D
Tony. |
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| Hybrid fourdoor |
| quote: | Originally posted by Fred Dieckmann
The grandfather of ugly prototypes for all us Solid State nerds.
From Bell Labs in 1947 |
Well I work at TI so I've been subjected to Kilby's prototype that came out some 10 years later....
1958 Integrated Circuit; |
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| Sch3mat1c |
| quote: | Originally posted by KBK
Tim, I did not think that yours was spectacular, until I just noticed in the photo... the tube that is sticking straight up. Wow. All that and high voltage too! |
Thankee! :D Indeed, that project had 400~450VDC on it.. nice that those breadboards can handle it ;)
It's cold in the basement so I've temporarily relocated... and this way I can plug around with stuff right when I get the urge, say after reading forums :)
Tim |
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| SY |
| Oh, Tim does that bring a nostalgic tear to my eye! That's exactly what my living rooms looked like for years, until The Wild Child came along and I was banished to the garage. |
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| ddog |
I once soldered TDA2030 directly to speaker elements connectors just to test if element was working one, it was like gainclone, and it was ugly one :D Too bad i don't have pic of it :(
maybe this could be used to completely eliminate speaker cables, but then there would be lots of vibrations in amp... |
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| joensd |
Andrea Ciuffoli´s hot follower:
Not a winner but just to show that pig´s work can work like a horse. |
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| Christer |
I think the price should go to Kilby, except, didn't he already
get a price a few years ago? :) |
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| eeka chu |
Well that made me feel a lot better! I've just returned from my semi-conductor lab... or as some people might see it, my computer desk.
I'm so annoyed! I have lost one soldering iron, I think I might have put it in the bin by accident, the station is in the post and I'm left with a 12 watt Weller iron, using a tip I made from a steel nail, with a heating element that gives a 240v sputtering sound when the lead isn't straight.
Have you ever tried to solder solid turrets with 1N5004 diodes and smothing capacitors on them using a 12 watt iron?
I love that point where the iron is just a fraction of a watt below the part's dissipation rating so you only melt the top 10th of a mm on a join.
I spent half an hour one day trying to solder a 1/4" jack with that iron. I ended up with burnt hands, melted plastic everywhere and a Bic lighter held under the tag trying to get it hot enough. I am serious. A new meaning to "forcing the heat in". It kept teasing me and sticking, then snapping back off. It never formed.
To keep up with this earthly approach, I recently made a few heater supplies using the E6 strings from my lead guitar for want of some copper wire.
I believe this is the only approach to wiring. At first the strings are new and electrically sterile sounding; cold. After many weeks of analog based musical energy being produced with them, the strings begin to take on a warm tone and are far more pleasing in audio systems than clean silver conductors. Due to some incredible convenience, which is proprietary information, I am able to get these strings... er... wires... on a regular basis. As such, I can offer you an amazing introductionary price of just $30,000 per metre*.
Please email if you're interested. Serious customers only!
*n.b. my version of a metre may not be the same as your version of a metre. strings may not actually improve audio performance of your system. strings may or may not be layered with cheap snack products.
Alternatively, I do have a poor ******* option available which is based around empty Kit Kat wrappers. These are kick *** conductors but you may need to increase your voltages to somewhere closer to a few kV to achieve a conductive thru the chocolate smudges. :smash:
John |
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| wintermute |
Was going through the parts box last night looking for some resistors (drawback of being colour blind, can't be sure at the shop that what the parts bins are labeled as are actually correct), and found the first bridge rectifier I ever made (was probably one of the first things I ever soldered which shows!!!!!)
I included an 8mm dia cap for scale. I'm not sure what I made it for but I suspect it was for my first amp (10W/channel) and the diodes were way bigger than necessary, would have found them in an old TV or something.
Tony. |
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| Bricolo |
| quote: | Originally posted by wintermute
Was going through the parts box last night looking for some resistors (drawback of being colour blind, can't be sure at the shop that what the parts bins are labeled as are actually correct), and found the first bridge rectifier I ever made (was probably one of the first things I ever soldered which shows!!!!!)
I included an 8mm dia cap for scale. I'm not sure what I made it for but I suspect it was for my first amp (10W/channel) and the diodes were way bigger than necessary, would have found them in an old TV or something.
Tony. |
we got a winner :D |
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| pjacobi |
| quote: | Originally posted by wintermute
[...] (drawback of being colour blind, can't be sure at the shop that what the parts bins are labeled as are actually correct)[...] |
Do you know of WhatColor (http://www.hikarun.com/e/)?
Does help me a lot to decipher color-coded graphs etc. on the WWW.
Now, if I only had a version of this for real life...
Regards,
Peter Jacobi |
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| wintermute |
| quote: | Originally posted by pjacobi
Do you know of WhatColor (http://www.hikarun.com/e/)?
Does help me a lot to decipher color-coded graphs etc. on the WWW.
Now, if I only had a version of this for real life...
Regards,
Peter Jacobi |
Thanks Peter,
Just downloaded it, I think it will come in very handy.
edit: need a handheld computer with a built in camera, then you would have a version for real life :)
Tony. |
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| Jax |
I dug into my boxes of stored junk from history...
I found my old regenerative receiver prototype.
It works. Tube is a 6SN7 with one half being the detector and the other an audio amplifier. Plate supply 12V. It tunes the lower part of the shortwave band with the larger variable cap and the regeneration is controlled by the smaller, the "throttle".
;) |
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| eeka chu |
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=330750
Ulgyness - 75 / 100
Seemingly directionless wiring earns it a great
number of ugly points. However, I felt injust in
awarding a higher score due to the kind of cute
looking wooden stand, that looks like it might have
taken at least four minutes to fabricate. I am
particularly impressed by the use of quite straight
edges, but this does not help the score. Had there
been any markings on the stand, this could have
taken ten or twenty points away. The the use of fibre
board and uncovered, chassis / frame mount
component's is a definite addition. An excellent
uglyness score!
Lethality - 40 / 100
Again, the wiring alone could earn it a first
class lethality rating, but you mentioned
12V, which is far too safe. There is also too much
insulated wire here. I am hoping that there is
at least a mains transformer involved somewhere.
Had this been a 400v circuit, with an electrolytic can
within it, this could have easily made 90 points or
more.
Function - 100 / 100
I decided to add a functionality extra. I
have awarded the 100 points as an ugly
prototype that works still beats one that
doesn't. If it doesn't work, it's not a
prototype. Intermittent operation would
score +50 only, for instance, if you require
help from someone else while testing the
circuit, since eight seperate wires need
holding 'the right way' for it to work.
Overall - 215 / 300
33 - C minus
66 - C
99 - C plus
132 - B minus
164 - B
196 - B plus
228 - A minus <-- Jax's Regenerative Receiver
260 - A
292 - A plus
300 - First class prototype, with merit |
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| Bas Horneman |
MY VSPS
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| rabbitz |
| Knew those driver plastic shipping thingies would come in handy one day :D |
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| lineup |
| quote: | Originally posted by SY
...... daring me to show my work,
and it can mean only one thing:
ugly prototype contest!
----------------------------
My first entry dates from a few days ago,
during a discussion of the influence of an input tube's cathode source impedance on feedback ratios.
It's the Mullard input stage, executed as only a real artist like me can: |
Ugly prototype ... hmmm
I might have a contribution. Or two.
Because, I seldom build more than a few exemplars of any amplifier.
So ... any next amplifier will be another prototype of a (slightly) different diy amplifier setup.
Wait some hours, please.
Now putting my digital camera litium batteries into my re-charger.
And I will turn up with some nice image(s) of some really ugly old prototype design of mine. |
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| Wavebourn |
High end pure class A room heater (see white fan near heatsink: without it output FETs unsoldered themselves)
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| lineup |
Wavebourn. my friend
ooooohhhhh
you take the price :D |
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| Wavebourn |
| quote: | Originally posted by lineup
Wavebourn. my friend
ooooohhhhh
you take the price :D |
Thanks!
When may I expect that capacitors from your former avatar to be shipped?
:D |
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| lineup |
never, of course :devilr:
but if you manage to get your hands on one
Mark Levinson 33
from some eBay auction, like I did for a few bucks,
you can rip apart the power supply
... why not, go ahead man :D
see image |
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| lineup |
here is the ouput stage of
my Mark Levinson bargain
not bad .. at least a bit better than any Wavebourn prototype
:hot: :hot: |
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| Wavebourn |
| Nice looking, but horribly repairable. If it was designed by my student I would give 2 (American equivalent is F) |
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| lineup |
:D
hope Mark L. doesn't read
he would give up business out of his failure .... |
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| lineup |
here is my first prototype
is one basic power supply prtotype, like i often do them
- hardwire, short wires between active components
- compact and logical
- no more junk than is needed for good electronics
- no case (only me here to get electrified & cooked)
Notice:
1. we have by law warning texts on cigarett packages in sweden
Rökning dödar = Smoking kills
2. input pins are labelled: N=neutral, L=live (hot)
3. output has got some handy screw onto cable connection
for V+ and V- ... the dual DC output voltage
4. why i have one different connection for 0 Volt output
heaven knows
5. the 4.5 VA transformer is originally for PCB
but I do rarely use any stinking plastic circuit boards
if I did,
how could i ever enter this great contest
for most ugly prototype made by DIY
Lineup :cool: audio regards
Lineup Audio forum - for some even uglier designs |
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| Wavebourn |
| quote: | Originally posted by lineup
:D
hope Mark L. doesn't read
he would give up business out of his failure .... |
Why?
He makes money.
I taught students when economics worked, so easy to repair gear was preferred. Today, when recyclonomics works instead, gear has to clean the market for new production dying peacefully. Do I like it or not, it is the reality of the modern life. |
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