The SMSL M7 DAC is coming in Monday. I wonder already whether I will return it or like it. Many say that the manual is next to impossible to use.
And a thermofuse and an air filter for the Rat - my Peugeot. The thermofuse is located in a resistor module for the fan.
And a thermofuse and an air filter for the Rat - my Peugeot. The thermofuse is located in a resistor module for the fan. I will NOT solder that one in place ... been there, done that
Back in April I bought a dead Yamaha B2 VFET amp from the 70's but had to get it delivered to my brother's house in Queensland because of the weight. A couple of weeks ago I finally went up there and among all the other stuff I collected, I brought that back home as well.
It was an interesting journey. I was expecting a two day turnaround ... fly up to Brisbane, grab a train to his place, fit a new distributor to the VW van, attach the trailer and drive the 450km home again. Well, the van made it 50km and overheated, apparently the water pump had failed. Considering it has 330,000km on the clock and I didn't service it in 10 years this was no great surprise, but it could have had the consideration to not die until I got home. So, my brother drove down and collected me and the box trailer, leaving the van at a small town service station.
Anyhow, I tried a trucker I've used for towing before, but he was off work with back issues, so I popped an ad on the Australian TruckIt website and tried to hire someone else but no joy there either. After a few days I bit the bullet and bought a used Suzuki Grand Vitara for AU$3000 and headed off again. I rented a U-Haul car trailer and loaded the VW van up, took it home, rolled it off using the starter motor, got 4 hrs sleep, drove back the service station to return the car trailer, then on to my brother's place and crashed out. I finally got home with the box trailer last Saturday.
The Suzuki was barely up to the job, which included dragging an over-engineered trailer and van (with motorcycle inside) over the Great Dividing Range, Australia's least car-friendly mountains. At times she got down to 20km/h in second gear! So anyhow, joy of joys, I have yet another vehicle restoration project and the place is looking like a car yard. And my Peugeot Decapotable is still sitting at the regional airport 35km away.
Backyard body count: Isuzu Elf 250 3.3L Diesel (1984), BMW Z3 1.9L (1998), Peugeot 207CC 1.6L (2008), Alfa 147 Ti TS 2.0L (2008), Fiat 500 Lounge Diesel 1.3L (2008), Volkswagen Transporter T4 2.5L (1994) and Suzuki Grand Vitara 2.5L (2000). Plus a 1984 motorcycle, a 6 x 4 box trailer and a dolly trailer still under construction.
The Suzuki and the Peugeot are working and registered, the Isuzu Elf is working but needs rust repairs, the Alfa runs but has a shorted alternator and the rest are major projects. It's gonna be a busy summer, especially since the yard grew two metres of new grass while I was away and the ride-on mower is dead.
It was an interesting journey. I was expecting a two day turnaround ... fly up to Brisbane, grab a train to his place, fit a new distributor to the VW van, attach the trailer and drive the 450km home again. Well, the van made it 50km and overheated, apparently the water pump had failed. Considering it has 330,000km on the clock and I didn't service it in 10 years this was no great surprise, but it could have had the consideration to not die until I got home. So, my brother drove down and collected me and the box trailer, leaving the van at a small town service station.
Anyhow, I tried a trucker I've used for towing before, but he was off work with back issues, so I popped an ad on the Australian TruckIt website and tried to hire someone else but no joy there either. After a few days I bit the bullet and bought a used Suzuki Grand Vitara for AU$3000 and headed off again. I rented a U-Haul car trailer and loaded the VW van up, took it home, rolled it off using the starter motor, got 4 hrs sleep, drove back the service station to return the car trailer, then on to my brother's place and crashed out. I finally got home with the box trailer last Saturday.
The Suzuki was barely up to the job, which included dragging an over-engineered trailer and van (with motorcycle inside) over the Great Dividing Range, Australia's least car-friendly mountains. At times she got down to 20km/h in second gear! So anyhow, joy of joys, I have yet another vehicle restoration project and the place is looking like a car yard. And my Peugeot Decapotable is still sitting at the regional airport 35km away.
Backyard body count: Isuzu Elf 250 3.3L Diesel (1984), BMW Z3 1.9L (1998), Peugeot 207CC 1.6L (2008), Alfa 147 Ti TS 2.0L (2008), Fiat 500 Lounge Diesel 1.3L (2008), Volkswagen Transporter T4 2.5L (1994) and Suzuki Grand Vitara 2.5L (2000). Plus a 1984 motorcycle, a 6 x 4 box trailer and a dolly trailer still under construction.
The Suzuki and the Peugeot are working and registered, the Isuzu Elf is working but needs rust repairs, the Alfa runs but has a shorted alternator and the rest are major projects. It's gonna be a busy summer, especially since the yard grew two metres of new grass while I was away and the ride-on mower is dead.
Antici ....
... pation. It's still in the box. Had to restock the cupboards and visit the doctor about some needed surgery, and the Suzuki has to be urgently prepped for registration in a new state so it's down the list a ways. Oh yeah, and that blessed mower <grumble, grumble>(sorry)
Worst case is I got myself some cheap VFETs.
... pation. It's still in the box. Had to restock the cupboards and visit the doctor about some needed surgery, and the Suzuki has to be urgently prepped for registration in a new state so it's down the list a ways. Oh yeah, and that blessed mower <grumble, grumble>(sorry)
Worst case is I got myself some cheap VFETs.
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Joined 2009
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Great find! I'm trying to wrap my mind around the ARRL publishing the Handbook for 100 years. Now I want a copy...
Just purchased an old Realistic SA-900 integrated amp and TM-90 tuner combo from fleaBay. Not quite a "find", but the amp itself represents a large part of my childhood interest in audio.
In the spring of 1973 my father was beginning to be interested in hi-fi, so he asked my audiophile uncle's advice on a starter system. They wound up taking a trip to the Radio Shack on Bragg Boulevard in Fayetteville, NC, where he purchased the amp as a combo that included a LAB-24A turntable (a truly wretched idler wheel job from BSR) and a pair of MC-1000 bookshelf speakers (okay for what they were at the time I suppose). According to page 33 of the Shady O'Rack catalog he paid the then-princely sum of $279.95 (equivalent to $1,887.52 today - ouch!).
The amp lived in my parent's living room until around 1985 when my dad purchased a (much) nicer JVC system. He passed the amp on to me, and I enjoyed it for the next few years until one channel croaked. I had it repaired, but apparently the tech replaced the blown power output IC without fixing the underlying cause of the failure; it worked for maybe two more months before dying for good. I wound up trashing it and have regretted it ever since. It may or may not not be "audiophile" quality, but we'll see. At all events it's nice to have the opportunity to come full circle!
I can't find the original listing so I swiped one from the web that shows both components.
Just purchased an old Realistic SA-900 integrated amp and TM-90 tuner combo from fleaBay. Not quite a "find", but the amp itself represents a large part of my childhood interest in audio.
In the spring of 1973 my father was beginning to be interested in hi-fi, so he asked my audiophile uncle's advice on a starter system. They wound up taking a trip to the Radio Shack on Bragg Boulevard in Fayetteville, NC, where he purchased the amp as a combo that included a LAB-24A turntable (a truly wretched idler wheel job from BSR) and a pair of MC-1000 bookshelf speakers (okay for what they were at the time I suppose). According to page 33 of the Shady O'Rack catalog he paid the then-princely sum of $279.95 (equivalent to $1,887.52 today - ouch!).
The amp lived in my parent's living room until around 1985 when my dad purchased a (much) nicer JVC system. He passed the amp on to me, and I enjoyed it for the next few years until one channel croaked. I had it repaired, but apparently the tech replaced the blown power output IC without fixing the underlying cause of the failure; it worked for maybe two more months before dying for good. I wound up trashing it and have regretted it ever since. It may or may not not be "audiophile" quality, but we'll see. At all events it's nice to have the opportunity to come full circle!
I can't find the original listing so I swiped one from the web that shows both components.
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Pretty quiet Black Friday/Cyber Monday for me. LED fog light bulbs for the SUV, a heated floor mat, some 110VAC DPDT relays to make a line transfer switch for the work PC, and a ethernet cable to replace the last of the cheap Aliexpress 10BaseT ethernet cables which were throttling the home network and was a debacle to figure out.
Likewise, I avoid the temptation to overspend during special sales. Not much this week, just a used Clarion 6xCD stacker / Radio and associated harness wiring for the Grand Vitara since it was missing the original radio, and a replacement brake light to replaced one with a crack in it.
I got a new workstation/bench.
Now I'm in the process of changing the universe in here to make it work for me.
Have you ever had such a mess on your bench that you just wanted to arm it off (use your forearm to sweep the surface like a broom) into the garbage?
Now I'm in the process of changing the universe in here to make it work for me.
Have you ever had such a mess on your bench that you just wanted to arm it off (use your forearm to sweep the surface like a broom) into the garbage?
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Joined 2009
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Ya but then every surface in the apartment becomes a 'catch all'... 🙁
I even had paperwork garbage piled on my DJ turntables until yesterday. No more. I want a tidy home and work area but that's at odds with my laziness.
I even had paperwork garbage piled on my DJ turntables until yesterday. No more. I want a tidy home and work area but that's at odds with my laziness.
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Joined 2009
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I’m pretty bad at spreading my stuff out. I’ve found the best solution is getting a big plastic box and putting all the stuff for one project inside it. I start lots of projects so I store these plastic boxes on a plastic storage rack. One day that’ll be full and I’ll actually have to finish a project.
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Been clearing up my workbench areas and all the component boxes. I've been at it for two weeks and it doesn't seem to end.