Hi Dealio,
Well, if you're just getting started this all probably looks like Martian - but stick with it and it will make sense. You have picked a good way to learn about electronics, but it sounds like you might benefit from learning a few basics.
A firm grasp of Ohm's Law is the very starting point for this hobby. Calculating resistance, voltage and current in a circuit is a _must_, especially if you go modifying an existing design (like substituting diodes for a rectifier tube).
The PSUD simulator is an excellent tool, but no substitute for knowing what's going on and how the circuit works. Same for the LTSpice simulations - they are very useful, but only if you have a good idea of how things work.
Having said all that, a good place to start with this project is to model the original rectifier circuit in PSUD using the tubes. It is a Full Wave circuit (two rectifier tubes with a center-tapped transformer), which I believe is the default PSUD circuit when you launch the program.
Click on the transformer to edit it - your 300-0-300 transformer would be just "300" in the transformer edit window.
Click on the tube to change it to your 5V4 - I don't think it matters which one you use in this case, but if your number matches one in the model then of course go for that one.
Double-click the capacitor value to edit it - or click on the capacitor and edit the value in the window.
Finally, you can insert an LC filter section by hiliting the output-resistor and right-clicking to select "Insert". Edit the values.
Now you're ready to run - click "Simulate" to run the model. Nothing will show in the chart until you select a part from the list - so check VR1 to display the voltage across R1.
Once you have used this simulation tool a bit, it will be easier to use and you can experiment with changing values, adding filter sections, etc. I wish we had such programs when I was learning about electronics - would have been a lot less smoke in the house!! (Although, as long as nobody loses an eye or arm, smoking a circuit is a really educational experience all by itself
)
Changing the tube rectifier to diodes will most certainly involve adding some other parts - but that is something for another day.
See what you can do with the simulation, it should be a good tool to supplement the "required reading" stuff about Ohm's Law and solving basic resistor circuits for voltages and currents and resistances.
Best luck to you, hope you are interested in this stuff enough to stay with it through "Basic Training"
Sam
EDIT = I didn't see your latest post before I started writing! Glad you have your amp working! All of the stuff I wrote above is still good - hope you stick with it.
Best luck to you, and have fun!
Sam
Well, if you're just getting started this all probably looks like Martian - but stick with it and it will make sense. You have picked a good way to learn about electronics, but it sounds like you might benefit from learning a few basics.
A firm grasp of Ohm's Law is the very starting point for this hobby. Calculating resistance, voltage and current in a circuit is a _must_, especially if you go modifying an existing design (like substituting diodes for a rectifier tube).
The PSUD simulator is an excellent tool, but no substitute for knowing what's going on and how the circuit works. Same for the LTSpice simulations - they are very useful, but only if you have a good idea of how things work.
Having said all that, a good place to start with this project is to model the original rectifier circuit in PSUD using the tubes. It is a Full Wave circuit (two rectifier tubes with a center-tapped transformer), which I believe is the default PSUD circuit when you launch the program.
Click on the transformer to edit it - your 300-0-300 transformer would be just "300" in the transformer edit window.
Click on the tube to change it to your 5V4 - I don't think it matters which one you use in this case, but if your number matches one in the model then of course go for that one.
Double-click the capacitor value to edit it - or click on the capacitor and edit the value in the window.
Finally, you can insert an LC filter section by hiliting the output-resistor and right-clicking to select "Insert". Edit the values.
Now you're ready to run - click "Simulate" to run the model. Nothing will show in the chart until you select a part from the list - so check VR1 to display the voltage across R1.
Once you have used this simulation tool a bit, it will be easier to use and you can experiment with changing values, adding filter sections, etc. I wish we had such programs when I was learning about electronics - would have been a lot less smoke in the house!! (Although, as long as nobody loses an eye or arm, smoking a circuit is a really educational experience all by itself
)Changing the tube rectifier to diodes will most certainly involve adding some other parts - but that is something for another day.
See what you can do with the simulation, it should be a good tool to supplement the "required reading" stuff about Ohm's Law and solving basic resistor circuits for voltages and currents and resistances.
Best luck to you, hope you are interested in this stuff enough to stay with it through "Basic Training"
Sam
EDIT = I didn't see your latest post before I started writing! Glad you have your amp working! All of the stuff I wrote above is still good - hope you stick with it.
Best luck to you, and have fun!
Sam
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