Newbie of All Noobs Asks for the Secret Knowledge

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#21
HeyBill!

Me too. I was an Electronics Warfare Systems Tech. Worked on radar homing and warning, radar jamming gear, chaff and flare dispensers. I didn't study EE (but know how to spell it). I became a ME.

There are some old Navy training manuals that cover vacuum tube and solid state electronics. Just think- when you and I were in the military, the PCs hadn't been invented and we depended on the US Mail.
 
#22
Duke58 said:
HeyBill!

Me too. I was an Electronics Warfare Systems Tech. Worked on radar homing and warning, radar jamming gear, chaff and flare dispensers. I didn't study EE (but know how to spell it). I became a ME.

There are some old Navy training manuals that cover vacuum tube and solid state electronics. Just think- when you and I were in the military, the PCs hadn't been invented and we depended on the US Mail.
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Me three! Aviation Electronics Technician, working on F/A-18s (a little later than you guys) and taught A-school electronics (radio, radar mainly). But it was ages ago, and I've forgotten more than I remember. Trying to retrain the brain can be a challenge.
 
#23
Hi Chris in Milwaukee-- I exaggerated about the lack of PCs in 1980s. We had a HP computer that we backed up onto heavy duty cassettes every night. Used it for collecting data on the jamming pods that had TWT's (Traveling Wave Tubes). Three of them on each jamming pod. The TWT's cost nearly $9k each, and every time they were used it seemed one of them broke.
 
#24
Try this - Learing by doing and don't get upset if it get's up in smoke.

Bonesthrower said:
Forgive me. I am the noob of all noobs. Those of you without patience for such should save themselves the trouble and flip the channel. Being an audio equipment lover who came to it back in the early 80s, I got away from it while I got established in a family and professional life. Now I find myself on the other side of the curve with a nearly empty nest and a little time on my hands. And so I have come to circle back to this old girlfriend, but found that my old stuff pulled out of storage-- NAD 3230, Alison Acoustics 8s and a mid-70s Dual 1219 my dad gave me -- are all pretty hobbled at this point.

I have been lurking for a bit around in the Pass Lab neighborhood bar here for some time since hearing about the ACA a few years ago and hearing the J and J2 a friend turned me on to. The idea of building my own decent audio equipment that bears some signature of all this beautiful stuff is more than I can resist and so here I am looking to get rolling. I am a noob for sure, but I come from adventurous stock and so here I am jumping in whole hog as we say in Nebraska.

My end goal I suppose is to get a pre amp in place with a couple simple mono blocks and drive some sort of speakers, all of which in the end I will have built myself. So: I have the ACA in hand as a starter project. If I figure it out, I will get another and make them monos. I need a pre-amp as well, and so I also have the Korg B1 amp project sitting here in a box. I figure all of these will get me rolling. If I want to upgrade at some point I suppose I will.

Here's the problem for guys like me:

The kits and instructions you guys have all put together are so good. I have been through them in my mind, and I have no doubt I will be able to put them together. I can follow instructions that are no harder than a Lego set. That's great, and I am thankful.

But there is another side to this: there is a way in which you have made it all too easy for a noob like me. As a result, I don't sense that I am learning what I need to learn. I have been reading the site for sometime and trying to make sense out of the basic language of (1) electronics; (2) audio signal jargon and so on. I am catching on to some of it, but I am still at a point where the language inside the discipline is a real challenge. All you guys living in Athens may forget what it is like for those who don't speak Greek.

And so I fear that when I return to the list from building some of the simpler stuff to the list to do some things that are a little more advanced -- that bi-amp active crossover project is very tempting for my plan to build some speakers I have in mind, for example -- I am concerned that I won't understand the secret language you all speak so easily to one another.

So here is the newbie who is not an-electrical engineering PhD question: where do I go to get the basic intro to the language being used? Where do I get the keys to the secret knowledge? Send me there. I promise I will keep my head down and do as I am told.

Bonesthrower
Lincoln, Nebraska
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This is what I do, and you have a GREAT ADVANTAGE over me. Your native language is English, mine not. Many time I have to search the meaning of words, thought I never hear in my entire life. But much more important is the next two phrases:

Someone has build this, so I must be able to understand it.
Never Give Up.

If you see a Circuit and you spent a hard time to understand, then try to place yourself into the person who made it in first place. it don't matter who it was, but try to follow his or her thoughts.
And yes, firstwatt.com is a good place to start with, and also Rod Elliots Site is a good one as well. Elliott Sound Products - The Audio Pages (Main Index)

Regards and lots of success..
 
#25
Bonesthrower, I was already involved with audio and electronics when I got onboard with the Pass philosophy. I had already built something like an A40. But I started with a the Penultimate Zen (Version 4). You should read thru and understand version 1, 2, and 3 first but version 4 really sounds pretty good on some music. Not so good for heavy metal/rock etc. Reading on thru the zen series 5 -9 talks about different topologies (basic circuit types) and futher audio amp understanding.
When you dont' understand something, your at the right place to ask questions:Pawprint:
 
#26
Duke58 said:
Enlist in the military and go to electronics school. They don't have any audio amplifier training that I know of, but you'll learn basic electronics...
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Here is the "next best thing:" Naval Electrical Engineering Training Series (NEETS for short). It explains ALL of the basics of electronics, one chapter at a time. There is much exploration of tube circuits - this translates directly into how solid state stuff works.
 
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